Free Republic

In his newspaper blog, Battle Creek Enquirer reporter Justin Hinkley stated that because school choice doesn't provide transportation, low-income families often are unable to access choice while wealthier families take advantage and leave their home districts. "That's turned some schools into ghettos of poverty," Hinkley wrote. However, a 2013 study on Michigan charter public schools done by Stanford University, and a recently released study by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy proves Hinkley's claim is wrong. The Stanford University study found that charter public schools had significantly more "economically disadvantaged" students than traditional public schools. Dev Davis, research manager at...

Housing: Under pressure from civil-rights activists, federal bank regulators have killed tougher mortgage rules requiring minimum down payments and credit scores for loans bundled into securities. Here we go again. The Fed, FDIC, SEC and three other agencies regulating Wall Street have adopted the same weak underwriting standards the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau set earlier this year for loans. The Dodd-Frank Act was supposed to require banks and other issuers of mortgage-backed securities to retain 5% of the credit risk of the bonds on their books to avoid the moral hazard that led to the financial crisis, when lenders quickly...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration says low-income residents in states that decide to opt out of a big Medicaid expansion in the new health care law will not risk federal penalties as an unintended consequence.

Squeezed by rising living costs, a record number of Americans — nearly 1 in 2 — have fallen into poverty or are scraping by on earnings that classify them as low income. The latest census data depict a middle class that's shrinking as unemployment stays high and the government's safety net frays. The new numbers follow years of stagnating wages for the middle class that have hurt millions of workers and families. "Safety net programs such as food stamps and tax credits kept poverty from rising even higher in 2010, but for many low-income families with work-related and medical expenses,...

One in five mothers in America have children with different fathers, a new study shows. Researchers found that the trend was higher in minority groups and mothers with low income and education backgrounds. The data was taken over a 27-year period from nearly 4,000 U.S. women who had been interviewed more than 20 times. The study's author Cassandra Dorius said of the one in five figure: 'To put it in perspective, this is similar to the number of American adults with a college degree. It's pervasive.'

Foreclosures, plant closings, offshored jobs, underwater mortgages, miserable rates of unemployment, stagnating incomes: Is there any end to the woes of the struggling American middle? Apparently not, because now comes news of a trend guaranteeing trouble ahead for the more than half of the nation that make up the moderately educated and moderately earning middle — even if the economy improves. That seismic shift, outlined in a new report from the National Marriage Project and the Institute for American Values, is towards more divorce, more out of wedlock births and, ipso facto, fewer kids with a hopeful future. Family breakdown,...

Fresh off passage of a sweeping health care overhaul, the Obama administration is supporting legislation to provide mandatory paid sick leave for more than 30 million additional workers, who are some of nation's lowest-paid employees.

DETROIT -- Detroit's homeless and low-income residents have another opportunity for a chance at millions of stimulus dollars. The money is available to help low-income residents from becoming homeless and homeless residents to find housing. Thousands of people lined up Tuesday. Some people in line falsely believed they were registering for $3,000 stimulus checks from the Obama Administration. City officials told Local 4 that Detroit was granted $15 million to help residents pay bills and their rent or find temporary housing for the homeless. Watch: Thousands Line Up For Stimulus Check Applications

Low-income Americans, beware. Facing budget deficits, two of the nation's most populous states, California and New York, are proposing changes in Medicaid that could affect the eligibility of hundreds of thousands of people or decrease funding for hospitals, doctors, dentists, and pharmacists. Last month, California cut reimbursements to providers by 10 percent. With the legislature deadlocked over the budget, some healthcare facilities are now close to bankruptcy since no money is flowing to providers. Other states are tacking on fees or cutting funds for charity care in hospitals. And, as more states face falling tax revenues, there could be more...

"In January 2004, Congress passed the District of Columbia School Choice Incentive Act of 2003, the first federally funded school voucher program in the United States. Now known as the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, this initiative provides scholarships of up to $7,500 to more than 1,900 low-income students in the District. A recent U.S. Department of Education (DOE) evaluation of the program should provide policymakers with some encouragement, as the report demonstrates that the Opportunity Scholarship Program is having a positive impact on students and families alike.[1]" "The DOE evaluation reviews the first two years of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship...

An influential member of the Federal Reserve called for more financial education to help low-income mortgage borrowers Monday. In a speech given at the National Interagency Community Reinvestment Conference in San Francisco, Janet Yellen, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, said the mortgage crisis could hit lower income and minority communities the hardest. Community impact "The foreclosure crisis is likely to have a profound impact on the communities you work in, with effects that go well beyond the housing sector," she said. A rise in foreclosures could drive down property values and increase crime, as well...

Old Milwaukee Light by: Jeremy Hempel, February 04, 2008 A new report has come out comparing Milwaukee public highschool students and students enrolled in the Milwaukee Parent’s Choice Program. The Milwaukee Parent’s Choice Program or MPCP is a system of private schools available to low-income families (<$35,000) living in Milwaukee. About one in four high school students who live in the region are in the MPCP program boasting over 18,000 students. There are a total of 122 private schools that parents can choose from for their children to attend. Jay Greene, PhD, has conducted a study on the class of...

Over the years, politicians and, especially, college and university administrators, have led us to believe that federal aid to education was a ticket out of poverty, but that may be just another urban legend. “The more money a college-bound student’s family makes, the more likely he or she is to apply for federal financial aid, electronic records show,” Kara Wedekind of the Capital News Service writes. “It’s a situation that some experts say is caused by families scared off by college costs, even as the federal financial aid application deadline passed Monday.” “Dependent students in the lowest income bracket submitted...

My grandson, a student in a Georgia Public School, is being tasked by his 7th Grade Social Studies Teacher to debate the question "what has President George W. Bush done for the poor people of our Country," not to include Katrina...rto

Two months after Sacramento County enacted one of the nation's most aggressive affordable housing policies, the Building Industry Association of Superior California filed Monday to scrap the plan, calling it an unfair and unnecessary tax on developers that would drive up housing prices. During the two years county officials spent drafting a plan to provide housing for the poor, building industry officials resisted the plan and tried to loosen its stringent requirements. Affordability plan for low-income residents is called unfair tax that hurts others. The building industry's suit filed in Sacramento Superior Court reiterates those same arguments. "Is it fair...

Chattanooga Housing Authority officials plan to install personal computers and high-speed Internet access in all of the public housing units at The Villages at Alton Park.   "We want young people in public housing to have the same access to technology as someone growing up in a middle class home," said John Hayes, deputy director of planning and development.   Housing officials will use a $250,000 Hope VI Neighborhood Network grant to provide the computers and unlimited Internet access for up to 200 public housing residents in The Villages for two years. After that, residents will have access to high-speed Internet services...

..........Marcia Smith, Polk schools' food-service director, worked this week at Lake Wales High School, one of several schools converted into a feeding station. One family pulled up with five or six children packed inside the car and was full of appreciation for the free peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, milk and fruit they received. "Those children were so excited when we had food for them," Smith said. Even without Charley, food-service workers say they see evidence some children get little to eat beyond what's served at school. "They clean their plates, and they want more, and you just know that's...

Here is a story you’re unlikely to read in the spate of press attacks on Wal-Mart these days: When Hartford, Connecticut, tore down a blighted housing project, city officials hatched an innovative plan to redevelop the land: lure Wal-Mart there, entice other retailers with the promise of being near the discount giant, and then use the development’s revenues to build new housing. Wal-Mart, after some convincing, agreed, and city officials and neighborhood residents celebrated a big win — better shopping, more jobs, and new housing in one of America’s poorest cities. But then, out of nowhere, outsiders claiming to represent...

Justice Kennedy's New Move Left: Soft on Crime by Thomas Sowell Posted Aug 15, 2003 Justice Anthony Kennedy won an outburst of applause at a recent meeting of the American Bar Association in San Francisco when he criticized mandatory sentencing laws. "Every day in prison is much longer than any day you’ve ever spent," Justice Kennedy said. "A country which is secure in its institutions and confident in its laws should not be ashamed of the concept of mercy." Two centuries ago, Adam Smith had something to say about mercy as well: "Mercy to the guilty is cruelty to the...

Scott Garrett for CongressI wanted to drop everyone a note regarding where Assemblyman Garrett will be this weekend, and what he will be up to. Please pay special attention to the note after the schedule on an upcoming debate, and how to get tickets.Saturday:9:00am Scott will be attending a candidates Breakfast hosted by the Ridgewood GOP, and the Ridgewood Republican Committee with Special Guest Steve Malzberg. The Breakfast will be at Café Wineberrie, 30 Oak Street, Ridgewood, NJ11:00am Scott is scheduled to be at the Bergenfield Street fest/Sidewalk Sale. The Bergenfield Republican Club has a booth on Washington Ave. Please...