Good Monday morning.
Let’s start the week out with a dose of reality. It was a beautiful fall weekend, after all, likely filled with apples, and pumpkins, and raking, and maybe – if you were lucky – freshly fried cider doughnuts.
These are all the fringe benefits of fall. OK, well, maybe not the raking part. And thankfully, the best of what the season has to offer – the gloriously colorful leaves, the crisp air, the smell of woodsmoke – can all be enjoyed free of charge. But the other stuff – especially the pumpkin and apple-picking, and the corn mazes, and the doughnuts – that can cost a pretty penny.
Increasingly, fewer and fewer people can afford such luxuries. Here are some facts and figures, (note that the numbers vary a bit, depending on which source you’e citing, but you’ll get the general idea)…
- The poverty threshold for one person is approximately $13,000 annually; for a family of four, it’s about $26,000 per year.
- The U.S. poverty rate is 11.4%, which means roughly 37 million people are living in poverty.
- Poverty impacts more than 11 million children.
- The number of Americans living in deep poverty (a total cash income below 50 percent of its poverty threshold) is 3 million.
- Over, all some 93 million people across this country live in poverty.
- However, there is a significant racial disparity when it comes to poverty. It impacts about 20% of Black families, 17% of Hispanic families, and 10% of white and Asian families. families. Native Americans have the highest poverty rate: 25%.
Across the globe, 1.3 billion people live in multidimensional poverty, according to the UN, almost half of them children and youth. At least 80 percent of humans on this planet are subsisting on less than $10 A DAY.
There is some good news to report. Though the Covid crisis and its attendant job losses pushed more people over the threshold into poverty, child poverty actually DECREASED – a lot, according to the most recent Census.
Why was that? Two words: Government assistance. The pandemic proved, among other things, that policy matters when it comes to combatting poverty.
Specifically, the one-year expansion of the federal tax credit. As part of the American Rescue Plan, passed to offset the economic hardships brought by the pandemic, the value of the child tax credit increased and families were able to receive it monthly.
The expansion was not renewed, unfortunately, and depending on the outcome of the rapidly-approaching midterms, policies regarding the poor could be changing – or, at the very least, will stall, if Congress is divided and the White House is unable to get much more of its agenda passed.
Also, here’s some not-so-great-news: Income inequality – or distribution of wealth between the richest and the poorest – increased in 2021 for the first time since 2011, according to the Census Bureau. So, the top 1 percent is getting steadily richer, owning 15 times more wealth than the ENTIRE bottom 50 percent combined, while many of the rest of us, not so much.
In fact, according to a report requested of the Congressional Budget Office by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, the middle class is falling further and further behind, taking on more debt.
I could go on like this for a long time, because there’s no end of data out there. But let’s get to the point, shall we?
Today is the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. Says the UN:
The observance of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty can be traced back to Oct. 17, 1987. On that day, over a hundred thousand people gathered at the Trocadéro in Paris, where the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed in 1948, to honor the victims of extreme poverty, violence and hunger.
As mentioned above, policies matter. Universal basic income is one idea that has been tried by several countries and states to mixed success. It is gaining in popularity, though, and a number of candidates running for office at various levels of government have espoused it. I personally don’t know enough about it to have an opinion one way or the other, but I’m learning more.
The weather is taking a not-to-nice turn. It will be overcast all day, with showers at times and temperatures in the low 60s.
In the headlines…
President Joe Biden called embattled British Prime Minister Liz Truss’ abandoned tax cut plan a “mistake,” and said he is worried that other nations’ fiscal policies may hurt the U.S. amid “worldwide inflation.”
“I wasn’t the only one that thought it was a mistake,” Biden said. “I think that the idea of cutting taxes on the super-wealthy at a time when…I disagree with the policy, but that’s up to Great Britain.”
This morning will bring the first opportunity for investors to give their verdict on the UK government’s rapidly changing plans for the nation’s public finances.
Xi Jinping defended his hard-line reign, presenting himself to a congress of China’s ruling elite as the leader whose tough policies had saved it from the ravages of the pandemic and was now focused on securing China’s rise amid multiplying global threats.
A day after Biden drew criticism from conservatives on social media for giving unsolicited dating advice to a young teen girl in California, the president he was again in hot water for claiming the “economy is strong as hell.”
Biden warned that former President Donald Trump’s hold on the Republican Party would spill into state government on Saturday during an event to boost Democrat Tina Kotek in Oregon’s tight race for governor.
With increasing numbers of Venezuelans arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border as the Nov. 8 election nears, Biden has turned to an unlikely source for a solution: his predecessor’s playbook.
Democratic candidates outraised their Republican opponents in 10 of the most competitive Senate races as the midterm campaigns headed into the final stretch before Election Day, new fundraising reports filed with the FEC show.
Requests for the first lady, who is also the president’s most popular surrogate, are piling up ahead of the midterm elections. Her visits can deliver a morale boost and a fund-raising opportunity.
The final weeks of the intensely competitive 2022 election suggest former Vice President Mike Pence’s fortunes have shifted as he lays the groundwork for his own potential campaign for the White House in 2024.
Polls show voters liked direct payments from Biden’s 2021 economic rescue bill. But they have become fodder for Republican inflation attacks.
A class of political newcomers with remarkable military records are challenging old ideas about interventionism — and the assumption that electing veterans is a way to bring back bipartisanship.
Some far-right congressional candidates are facing headwinds in races that once appeared to be prime opportunities for the party to win seats, complicating GOP plans to take back the House and fueling Democratic hopes in their effort to retain control.
Former President Barack Obama took a shot at cancel culture and knocked “buzzkill” Democrats for getting caught up in “policy gobbledygook.”
Trump attacked American Jews in a post on his Truth Social platform, saying Jews in the United States must “get their act together” and show more appreciation for the state of Israel “before it is too late.”
“No President has done more for Israel than I have. Somewhat surprisingly, however, our wonderful Evangelicals are far more appreciative of this than the people of the Jewish faith, especially those living in the U.S.,” Trump wrote in his post.
Trump also said he “could easily be” the prime minister of Israel.
Trump’s media company fired an executive last week after he shared internal documents from a Securities and Exchange Commission whistleblower complaint with The Washington Post and spoke with the newspaper.
Trump’s two adult sons wanted stakes in their father’s media company even though they were barely involved, according to one of the co-founders of Trump Media & Technology Group.
The House Jan. 6 committee investigating last year’s Capitol riot would need to negotiate with Trump if he were to offer to testify live in response to the panel’s subpoena, Rep. Adam Kinzinger said.
In a new clip released by filmmaker Christoffer Guldbrandsen, Trump loyalist Roger Stone is caught saying he would support the former president’s impeachment and would oppose his re-election bid, adding, “Run again, you’ll get your fucking brains beat in.”
Trump raised $24 million in the third quarter, a 41% increase over the previous quarter, but he spent $22 million to do it.
The iPhone manufacturing hub of Zhengzhou locked down one of its most-populated districts to tame a virus flareup, with creeping restrictions throughout China underscoring the constant threat of disruption companies face while the country sticks to Covid Zero.
As we enter our third pandemic holiday season, some doctors are fearing a seasonal surge in Covid.
For the first time in the pandemic’s history, the variants that make up the mounting wave look drastically different, depending on where you are in the world.
Dr. Anthony Fauci sat down with ABC News to talk about his tenure in public service, the COVID-19 pandemic during which he became perhaps the country’s most famous doctor and the controversies that have consumed the last two and a half years.
Fauci praised Operation Warp Speed, Trump’s campaign to quickly create a Covid-19 vaccine, as “a very positive thing”.
Fauci said COVID-19 was politicized by a “triple whammy” as the pandemic hit an already divided nation during a contentious election year.
The husband-and-wife team who co-founded BioNTech, the biotechnology company that partnered with Pfizer to develop an effective messenger-RNA shot against COVID-19, predicted that a cancer vaccine could be widely available within the next decade.
The race for governor is now a toss-up, according to RealClearPolitics. The site’s rolling average of polls from Sept. 30-Oct. 12 shows Gov. Kathy Hochul up by only 5.3%, with nearly 7% of voters undecided.
It’s not too late for Hochul to come out of hiding & do multiple debates with me across New York, starting immediately!” Rep. Lee Zeldin said in a Twitter post, along with a graphic showing the race moving from “lean Democrat” to “toss up.”
Newsday, Zeldin’s hometown paper, endorsed Hochul, saying she “has moderate and pragmatic plans at the ready that encourage us to support her bid.”
Zeldin received the “Total & Complete Endorsement” of Trump in the race for governor of New York.
“I have watched and known Congressman Lee Zeldin for many years. He is a great and brilliant lawyer who was a ‘must see’ for others in Congress when they had a complex legal problem that was holding up legislation,” Trump stated.
Polls in New York have shown crime as a major consideration in the governor’s race, and ads by underdog Zeldin and the super PACs supporting his candidacy have derided Hochul for not doing more to address crime.
Zeldin said that if he is elected, people currently looking to move out of New York due to rising crime will change their minds because they will see the city “is heading for a different direction.”
Hochul could be giving two politically-connected slot parlors — including one whose lobbyists donated to her campaign — a leg up over competitors to win awards for full casino licenses downstate, sources told The NY Post.
Hochul shifted blame to the state Legislature for helping her secure nearly $1 billion in taxpayer funds that critics claim she’s using as a slush fund to unethically buy votes in the upcoming election against Zeldin.
Voters in November will decide whether the state should borrow $4.2 billion for capital projects to combat climate change and to protect the environment and public health in what would be the largest environmental protection fund in state history.
Former state Budget Director Laura Anglin died at the age of 57.
Mayor Eric Adams’ most recent tax forms, which he released to the press last Thursday night, appear to contradict financial disclosures he made to the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board for the 2021 calendar year.
The 24-page itemized filing, released by City Hall two days before they were due to the IRS, shows Adams received a total of $245,324 in income last year — that’s between his yearly salary as Brooklyn borough president, pension, and rental income.
The filing shows Adams is now declaring taxable income on the four-unit Brooklyn rowhouse he declared as his residence — a change from past years when he claimed he had enough deductions to zero out the tens of thousands of dollars in rent he collects.
The Adams administration has quietly tapped a City Council member’s wife and another top Bronx Democratic supporter to fill two, high-ranking, $177,000-a-year Parks Department jobs.
New York lawmakers on the left are fierce critics of the real estate industry. But some are embracing new housing development, even if it’s not fully affordable.
Astoria, Queens residents — fearing a wave of luxury apartments will price them out of their longtime homes — are turning their sights toward an upcoming vote in the City Council in hopes of reshaping the sweeping Innovation QNS project.
Police officials announced on Saturday the arrest of an 18-year-old man suspected of the fatal shooting of a teenager in a subway car in Queens during an argument between two groups of young people.
Third-party Congressional candidate Mike Itkis, who is challenging Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler, has released a sex tape to highlight his sex positive campaign platform.
Former Hillary Clinton senior staffer Huma Abedin is leaving the door open for a potential run for elected office.
A young Queens Republican eyeing Albany is getting some out-of-state help from an ultra-wealthy couple known for funding far-right candidates across the country.
GOP House candidate Colin Schmitt’s ex-girlfriend hosted a fundraiser for his Democratic rival, Rep. Pat Ryan, in the competitive race for New York’s 18th Congressional district in the Hudson Valley.
For more than a decade, MTA officials told one story about the East Side Access project to bring LIRR service to Grand Central, while construction managers repeatedly warned it would cost billions more and take years longer to build than the agency said.
Four cops fatally shot a parolee brandishing a gun during a confrontation on an upper Manhattan street early yesterday, police said.
About an hour after a speeding State Trooper rammed her dad’s SUV causing a crash that prosecutors blame for killing her younger sister, Tristina Goods, 12, was in a police interrogation room without a parent present – an apparent violation of the law.
Rising gas, electricity, oil and even propane prices have prompted many New Yorkers to turn to firewood for heat.
Suffolk County law enforcement and technology managers were alerted to a “possible ransomware event” nearly three months before overt signs of a large-scale intrusion were officially detected on Sept. 8.
Suffolk County owes outside contractors nearly $140 million after missing payments for more than a month, causing financial strain for “vendors at every level” as the county grapples with the malware attack, county Comptroller John M. Kennedy Jr. said.
A group looking to take down aging, obsolete dams in the Hudson Valley got a boost on Friday, in the form of a state grant to begin work on eventual removal of the Mill Creek Dam.
After several high-profile shootings the Pine Hill Neighborhood Association and SNUG will hold a discussion on gun violence at 5 p.m. tonight at the Madison Avenue playground.
Touted as upstate New York’s “original Cannabus,” the Saratoga Springs-based company The Hive 518 wants to spearhead the movement to make marijuana mainstream at social events.
Albany Community Land Trust unveiled its latest home makeover last week, the latest of more than 110 the organization has done since 1987.
South Albany Airport, a small, privately-owned public use airport in South Bethlehem, this weekend celebrated its 75th anniversary.
It would cost the city nearly $20 million to make all of its sidewalks and pedestrian infrastructure compliant with the American Disabilities Act. The city is preparing a transition plan to do just that.
City police said they shut down two large parties in a building on Fourth Street in downtown Troy this past weekend that drew hundreds of people.
Solomon Syed has said goodbye to News10ABC — and to TV news — after 10 months at the station. He was appointed deputy commissioner of public information at the Office of Children and Family Services.
An altercation Friday evening outside a freshman dorm at the University at Buffalo North Campus left a 19-year-old student from SUNY Buffalo State fatally stabbed and police searching for ‘a person of interest.’
Kanye West continues to create outrage. The outspoken rapper contended in a new interview that George Floyd died of the drug fentanyl, and not from the actions of the Minnesota police officer who was convicted of his murder.
California’s governor blocked the parole of Charles Manson follower Patricia Krenwinkel on Friday, more than five decades after she scrawled “Helter Skelter” on a wall using the blood of one of their victims.
An activist investor is pushing for a say in the proposed merger of News Corp and Fox, a deal put forth by Rupert Murdoch, the chairman of both companies.
