| LIFE-NET NEWS |
| by Ret Z. |
| Covering Poverty Widely in a Net of Many Voices |
| June 6, 2007 | No Profit; No Proceeds |
| Volume 11 Number 3 | All-Volunteer |
| "Give a family a fish, and they'll eat a meal; give them a Net, and they'll have fish for Life." |
| NYC Mayor Tries Cash Incentives to Reduce Poverty |
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What if poor parents were paid to talk with their kid's teacher? Or to visit a dentist, or get job training? New York's mayor believes such incentives can reduce the nearly 20% poverty rate in his city.
Similar incentive programs in other countries have a proven track record and broad political support. In Mexico, such an approach has helped to raise school attendance, improve nutrition, and reduce extreme poverty. The World Bank enthusiastically backs the idea, which is being practiced in about 30 countries. The poor are just as interested in advancement as anyone. But a nighttime office cleaner can't spare the hourly wages to attend parent-teacher night, that, say, the daytime salaried worker in that office could. The mayor, a Republican, is not above importing policy, as long as it works. He plans to copy London's tax on downtown driving to fight global warming. The city will start the privately funded, anti-poverty experiment in September, measuring it against a control group of nonparticipants. Those in the pilot plan can earn up to $5,000 a year by meeting criteria related to health, education, and work. That amounts to a 25% raise for a family of four living below the poverty line of about $20,000. If the plan succeeds, the mayor wants to commit public funds to expand it. The incentives approach reinforces an emerging political consensus on how best to help the poor. The New Deal and Great Society programs generally didn't require people to change behavior to get assistance -- thus the birth of the "welfare queen." But the welfare reform of 1996 showed that people really do want to do for themselves; they just need an incentive, or a consequence. Not only did plunging welfare rolls prove that point, but so has another incentive-based tool for the poor: the Earned Income Tax Credit. That direct payout is available only to those who work. Studies show it has reduced both family and child poverty. Source: Christian Science Monitor |
| To Save the Planet, Work Less |
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Americans are working harder than ever before. The dogged pursuit of the paycheck coupled with a 24/7 economy has thrust many of us onto a never-ending treadmill. "We now seem more determined than ever to work harder and produce more stuff, which creates a bizarre paradox: We are proudly breaking our backs to decrease the carrying capacity of the planet," says Conrad Schmidt, an internationally known social activist and founder of the Work Less Party, a Vancouver-based initiative aimed at moving to a 32-hour work week. "Choosing to work less is the biggest environmental issue no one's talking about."
A backlash against overwork fatigue, the Work Less Party is one of a growing number of initiatives aimed at cutting work hours while tackling unemployment, environmentally unfriendly behavior, and boosting leisure time. According to Schmidt, author of Workers of the World RELAX, which examines the economics of reduced industrial work, working less would allow us to produce less, consume less, pollute less, and live more. "As a society, we're working exponentially hard to decrease sustainability and it's making us miserable -- just look at how antidepressants are on the rise," he says. "In order to reduce our ecological footprint, we have to take working less very seriously." Longer hours plus labor-saving technology equals ever-increasing productivity. Without high annual growth to match productivity, there's unemployment. Maintaining growth means using more energy and resources, both in manpower and raw materials, which results in increased waste and pollution. When people work longer hours, they rely increasingly on convenience items such as fast food, disposable diapers, or bottled water. Built-in obsolescence has become standard business practice, leaving mountainous landfills in its wake. "When people are time-starved they don't have enough time to be conscious consumers," says Monique Tilford of the Centre for a New American Dream. If the world started clocking American hours, then it would be detrimental to its environmental health. According to a paper issued by the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington DC, if Europe moved towards a US-based economic model, it would consume 15-30% more energy by 2050. This would impact fuel prices worldwide and boost carbon emissions, resulting in additional global warming of 1-2 degrees Celsius. Any reductions in greenhouse gas emissions made through conservation, cleaner fuels or green technology would be overwhelmed by increased industrial output. "If you want to protect the environment," says Schmidt, "you have to consume less, which means you have to produce less, and you have to work less." Source: AlterNet |
| Crime Down, Surveillance Technology Credited |
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After climbing into his patrol car one May day, Detective Harris flipped open his dashboard-mounted laptop computer and, with a few clicks, was able to access live images of the streets ahead from video surveillance cameras. A few more clicks, and he could view up-to-the-second police reports in this city of 70,000, which within the past half decade posted crime rates as high as twice the national average and where an average of five cars were reported stolen every day. And if that were not enough, electronic listening devices mounted around the city send an electronic signal to alert officers within seconds of a shooting.
"This is something else," Detective Harris, 30, said with a smile. The convergence of those technological crime-fighting tools is in large part the reason why police statistics show that the crime rate here has declined by more than 50% in the past three years, East Orange officials say. Significant pockets of East Orange remain perilous. But by almost any measure, the declines recorded here are substantial. From 2003 to 2006, murders declined by nearly two-thirds, rapes by nearly a third and robberies by half, according to police statistics. Property crimes have also declined, with burglaries down by more than half and car theft falling by two-thirds. What's happening in East Orange is the byproduct of the work of the city's 300-member police force, which has remained about the same size over the past few years; more than a million dollars in new electronics and surveillance equipment, most of it paid for with money seized from criminals; and a fine-tuning of the Compstat data collection program for crime statistics pioneered by the New York Police Department. That has meant getting the latest crime statistics to officers in real time via computers instead of paper printouts back at the station house. Or using Compstat numbers to identify problem areas where surveillance cameras should be focused and manpower concentrated. The department has also begun collecting DNA samples at every crime scene and deploying officers on Segway Personal Transporters. Residents say that the pastiche of crime-fighting tools used by the department is helping to change the tenor of many neighborhoods. Barbara Jackson, a community advocate, unabashed gadfly, and 30-year resident, recalled an East Orange that was as tricky to navigate as a minefield. Now "things are changing," she said. "Our crime is going down, and I'm really proud of that." Police director Jose M Cordero has made a crackdown on so-called quality-of-life crimes a priority -- the hope being that attention to relatively minor issues like loitering and curfew violations by youngsters will deter such infractions from evolving into more serious crimes. Source: New York Times |
| Children Raise Funds for Post-Explosion Recovery |
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A child-led fund drive is helping children affected by the March 22 fire and subsequent explosions of munitions at an armory on the outskirts of Maputo, the capital of Mozambique. For 15 hours, exploding munitions rained down on neighborhoods within a six-mile radius, killing more than 100 people and injuring more than 400. The munitions were left over from Mozambique's civil war, which ended in 1992.
The children-to-children fund drive is looking to raise at least $3,500 for child-focused rehabilitation; to repair the houses of at least 40 children and their families (20 households); and to provide wheelchairs and other apparatus for at least 20 children disabled by the explosions. Church World Service (CWS) is also seeking funds to help with explosion recovery. With CWS coordination, child representatives from the youth department of CWS's local partner the Christian Council of Mozambique (CCM), children participating in the Child-to-Child Program of Radio Mozambique, and 10th grade classes of two Maputo-city high schools have joined together to lead a Maputo-wide effort to gather support for children and families impacted by the explosions. Immediately following the explosions in March, the CCM worked with government authorities to remove unexploded ordnance and shrapnel from neighborhoods. The removal program continues. CCM has also been advocating for the relocation of the armory. In May, the government began daily convoys to remove the weapons to an area some 27 miles away from Maputo. Source: Church World Service |
| Tax Credit Omits Many with Very Low Incomes |
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The child tax credit (CTC) is a $1,000 partially refundable federal income tax credit for each qualifying child under age 17. In 2007, tax filers may claim a refundable credit (over and above any tax liability) equal to 15% of the excess of earnings over $11,750, up to the $1,000 maximum per child.
The earnings threshold means that families with very low incomes get no benefit from the credit, and others will receive only a partial credit. Many families with young children tend to have lower incomes and are left out. In 2007, 30% of qualifying children under age 2 in working families had family incomes too low to benefit from the full credit, compared with 27% of children overall and 24% of children 10 and older. The CTC is the single largest federal cash assistance program for children. The Joint Committee on Taxation (2006) estimates that the CTC will provide $46 billion in subsidies to families with children in 2007. By comparison, the earned income tax credit (EITC) provides less than $43 billion. Federal outlays on food stamps will total about $35 billion in 2007, and spending on other family support programs (the largest of which is Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, TANF) will equal about $24 billion. Enacted as part of the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, the CTC originally provided a $500 tax credit for each dependent child under the age of 17. The Economic Growth and Tax Relief and Reconciliation Act of 2001 and the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief and Reconciliation Act of 2003 doubled the credit to $1,000 and made it partially refundable. Families with earnings over $10,000 could receive at least a partial credit in excess of their tax liability. The refundable portion of the credit increased with earnings. Like many other federal income tax provisions, the $10,000 refundability threshold was indexed for inflation. Source: Eligibility for Child Tax Credit by Age of Child |
| AIDS: Between Patents and Patients |
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It is clear that pharmaceutical companies are not in the charity business. They need to recoup the billions invested in breakthrough drugs, and do this by acquiring a patent that protects their proprietary know-how for years, even decades. The patent allows them to reap the benefits of a virtual monopoly for an essential drug, and legally prevents cheap copycat versions from flooding the market and drastically bringing down prices. Yet on the other hand, can we let millions in Africa and elsewhere suffer and die, when the medicine that could save them is available, but costs too much because of such patent protection?
The biggest scourge in sub-Saharan Africa is AIDS. Even though a cure for the disease is a long way off, a new generation of antiretroviral drugs has made living with HIV at least manageable in the West. But these treatments are far less available where they are needed most. Since the AIDS virus keeps mutating and more resistant strains keep cropping up, what is at issue is access to "second line" antiretroviral therapy, which costs at least ten times as much as the older drugs. "After five years of treatment, some 20% of our patients need to switch to second line drugs, so we are seeing a doubling of drug costs in the next two years if prices remain at the current level," said Dr Tido von Schön-Angerer, a German pediatrician who heads the campaign for Access to Essential Medicines at Doctors Without Borders (MSF). Until a month ago, the sticker price for Kaletra, the patented antiretroviral drug produced by US based Abbott Laboratories was $2,200 (1,635 euros) per patient for a year's supply in developing countries defined as "middle tier." Abbott has since lowered its price to $1,000. In comparison Kaletra costs $7,000 in the US and $500 for the least developed nations in Africa, with the huge profit margins from the rich industrial nations cross-subsidizing the poorest countries. "We believe in differential pricing," said Abbott spokesman Dirk van Eeden. "Our approach is to charge the lowest possible price where the need is greatest in the least developed countries. We are making no profit whatsoever in Africa." "Once we see much greater generic competition," said von Schön-Angerer, "Abbott's prices will be undercut even further." "Even if governments in Africa could guarantee fully stocked pharmacies at rock bottom prices," said Markus Preissner, head of the Research Division for Pharmaceutical Distribution at the University of Cologne, "there is still the problem of whether essential medicines and vaccines wind up with the end users -- the patients who need them." The logistics of delivering supplies to patients in remote areas, the overwhelming lack of doctors and health workers to administer the medicines, and even the huge price differential between the same pill sold in Africa and Europe are massive problems. "There need to be control mechanisms in place," said Preissner, "so that life-saving medication that has been sold cheaply in Africa does not wind up being resold in Europe at a much higher price, with only the profiteers benefiting." Source: Deutsche Welle |
| Camden to Vet all Redevelopment Plans |
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Adapted from a piece by Camden city council president Angel Fuentes:
For several years prior to and during my recent successful re-election to Camden City Council, I met with many of my Ward 4 constituents and other residents of Camden concerning a very important and oftentimes controversial issue faced by municipalities statewide: the use of eminent domain by city government. As the state Legislature debates and enacts legislation providing further statutory guidance in the use of eminent domain by municipalities, in the end it is not so much redevelopment requirements and parameters, but a municipality's engagement and accommodation of the affected residential neighborhoods that will matter most. The city has learned this the hard way. In anticipation of the introduction of redevelopment plans in Camden and the potential use of eminent domain in the acquisition of properties, I previously sponsored an ordinance that would subject all city redevelopment plans to a 10-point review that would engage the city's neighborhoods and foster their active participation in the entire redevelopment process. Furthermore, the 10-point review would ultimately seek to minimize the impact and maximize the benefits to those city neighborhoods affected by a redevelopment plan. Where property would potentially be acquired -- particularly through eminent domain -- my 10-point review requires:
Source: Courier-Post More: Fuentes' 10-Point Plan |
| # LNN # Small # Hauls # |
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| Life-Net News Extras |
| Welfare Reform: An Evaluation |
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Poor American families with children now have higher average incomes, in inflation-adjusted dollars, than they did 14 years ago. They are earning a higher percentage of their incomes through work, not government aid.
A recent report from the Congressional Budget Office said the average annual income of families with children in the lowest quintile (fifth) of income distribution grew 35% between 1991 and 2005. That is the second-largest percentage increase of any quintile. (The largest increase, 53%, went to the highest-income quintile.) It seems likely that the welfare reform passed in 1996, which forced mothers receiving federal aid to get schooling, job training and jobs, is a factor behind these strong statistics on earned income. The most significant income gains occurred during the Clinton years. In the Bush years there has been a retreat: The average annual income of poor families with children grew from $12,400 in 1991 to $18,800 in 2000. But by 2005, it had declined to $16,800. The CBO reports that another form of government support -- the Earned Income Tax Credit -- is a main reason why poor families with children have seen income growth. The average annual EITC payment for poor single mothers grew from $400 to $1,500 between 1991 and 2005, and from $900 to $2,400 for other low-income households with children. The percentage of income derived from EITC also increased for these families. The CBO report does show a large decrease in Americans' dependency on traditional forms of "welfare." In 1991, Aid to Families with Dependent Children payments accounted for 30% of the income of poor families with children. But by 2005, only 4% of their income came from AFDC's replacement -- Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). In 1991, more than half of all low-income families with children received some AFDC money. But in 2005, only about 2 in 10 got TANF assistance. Source: Philadelphia Inquirer |
| Weather Channel Faces Global Warming Frankly |
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"If The Weather Channel isn't talking about climate change and global warming, who is?" said Kaye Zusmann, the vice president for program strategy and development for the network. "It's our mandate."
The network sees the engagement with the issues surrounding climate change as important for content and for business. "We have a point of view, and we think it's really important to articulate why it's happening. Secondarily, it's good business," said network president Debora J Wilson. "Many consumers want to know, 'What should I do?'" The lightning rod for controversy is Heidi Cullen, the network’s resident climate expert. In December, she raised the ire of Fox News and others by writing on her weather.com blog that the American Meteorological Society should not give its "seal of approval" to any meteorologist who "can’t speak to the fundamental science of climate change." There are now more than 1,700 comments on that one post. Cullen, a tiny woman who speaks with conviction, said she believed that people were "finally seeing climate connected to weather," but that a lot of information still needs to be disseminated. "If you turn on the local forecast, you wouldn't necessarily know that global warming exists." Far from being intimidated by the political backlash, Cullen and executives at the channel say they have embraced the issue of global warming. Cullen is host of the weekly show Forecast Earth, formerly named The Climate Code, where she has entertained such guests as former Vice President Al Gore. She also appears on the channel's other programming with segments on hybrid taxicabs in New York City and the development of more fuel-efficient aircraft. The network's other programs have also directly engaged the elephant in the room -- or the polar bear on the melting ice cap: A recent anniversary roundup of The 100 Biggest Weather Moments listed global warming as Number 1. And the network is training its meteorologists so that they can discuss long-term trends as well as five-day forecasts. Recent developments, from the strong scientific consensus about global warming to President Bush's proposal to set goals for cutting global emissions, seem to have made the network's embrace of the topic less risky and more closely tied to its service-journalism mission. And rather than jeopardizing its relationships with potential advertisers, which include car and airline companies, said Jason Maltby of the ad agency MindShare North America, the network's focus on global warming might make it more attractive. Source: New York Times |
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