Center for Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP)
The center outlines the ways in which the compromise on the debt ceiling impacts the nation. Most notably:
- Imposing work requirements on states to receive SNAP benefit support while simultaneously cutting job training programs. Hint number one that this isn’t about valuing work over benefits. It’s just about punishing the poor.
- Meanwhile, it would substantially reduce planned IRS funding under the Inflation Reduction Act, making it more difficult for the agency to enforce tax collection and easier for tax evaders to get away.
- It also cuts funding for education, research, environmental protection and other programs while carving out defense.
CBPP: Debt Ceiling Agreement Reflects Improvements Over House Bill, Harmful Provisions Remain
Now, benchmark that against this study:
Poverty reduction through direct payments confirmed.
Cash grants made directly to poor families or individuals have led to fewer deaths among women and young children, according to a new analysis of more than 7 million people in 37 countries. In countries that began making such payments, deaths among women fell by 20%, and deaths among children younger than 5 declined by 8%, researchers reported on Wednesday in the journal Nature. The impact was apparent within two years of the programs’ start and grew over time.
NYT: How to Lower Deaths Among Women? Give Away Cash.
Global Turmoil Brewing
Our “Closest” Ally - Ken Klippenstein
“Whether Israel’s escalating threats of war with Iran over its nuclear program are saber-rattling or something more serious is a mystery even to the CIA, according to a portion of a top-secret intelligence report leaked on the platform Discord earlier this year. The uncertainty about the intentions of one of the U.S.’s closest allies calls into question the basis of the ‘ironclad’ support for Israel publicly espoused by the Biden administration.”
The Intercept: Leaked Report: “CIA Does Not Know” If Israel Plans to Bomb Iran
India on the Rise, Pakistan Declining
Two of the most significant nuclear powers, forever at odds with one another, are moving in separate directions. Not a great sign, and something to keep an eye on. The first link is an article in Al Jazeera that notes the significant uptick in economic activity in India. 6.1% growth in the first quarter of 2023 is no joke. It’s the best recovery in the world.
Aljazeera: India’s Economy Picks Up Speed Amid Global Slowdown
The link below is to the Intercept podcast that speaks to the turmoil in Pakistan right now.
The Intercept: Imran Khan's Ousting and the Crisis of Pakistan's Military Regime
Unf*cker Comment of the Week
Pete M: “My tardy contribution to the definitions game. Capitalism: We will all enjoy greater total availability of goods and services if the surplus from the production by enterprises is concentrated toward investors, founders, and leaders of enterprises because they will have incentive and capability to build additional productive enterprises. Socialism: If the surplus from the production by enterprises is broadly distributed to all stakeholders, more individuals and households will enjoy a comfortable standard of living and will be able to reach their full potential to participate in society. Further, we will all enjoy the peace of mind of feeling that we live under equitable, inclusive, and sustainable rules. It’s not a switch, it’s a slider; and for 50 years we’ve been consistently twitching the slider toward absolute capitalism. It’s time to pull it back. It doesn’t have to go all the way to absolute socialism; it just needs to get a lot closer than it is.”