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Refusing to Expand Medicaid: Political Decisions with Deadly Consequences

Blurb

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) had three major provisions to promote expanded health coverage to Americans: a mandate for employers with fifty or more full-time employees to provide health insurance; an individual mandate to purchase insurance (with federal subsidies to assist families with incomes below 400% of the federal poverty level); and expansion of Medicaid coverage to all individuals with incomes at or below 138% of the federal poverty level.  (138% of the federal poverty line is now $16,105 per year for an individual or $27,310 for a family of three.)

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by Fred Kammer, SJ

"We Belong to Each Other": Forgetting Our Oneness at a Town Hall Meeting

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In late August last year, two months after the U.S. Senate had passed a bipartisan immigration reform bill, I attended a Town Hall meeting called by Congressman Steve Scalise.

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by Sue Weishar, Ph.D.

Why Lynch Italians?

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Throughout the history of our country newcomers have been vilified as dangerous others—less than human. As the New Orleans community honors its Italian heritage this weekend it is an opportune time to reflect—have we learned from the mistakes of our collective past?

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The 1891 Lynching in New Orleans

This weekend local residents will celebrate their Italian, as well as Irish, ancestry at parades and block parties with the joy and abandonment for which New Orleans is famous. On the Feast Day of St. Joseph, March 19^th, St. Joseph Day altars will be featured at churches with Italian roots throughout the metro area.

Won't raising the minimum wage cost jobs?

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The minimum wage debate is hot. The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013 (FMWA) would raise the minimum from $7.25 to $10.10 over three years and then index to inflation. Why?

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By Fred Kammer, S.J.

Martin Luther King, Jr.: Becoming maladjusted for the beloved community

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Dr. Alex Mikulich reminds us of the call of Dr. King to resist systemic and structural injustice in all its forms.

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By Alex Mikulich, Ph.D.

I am struck every Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday by the contrast between the way American society treated the living Dr. King and the icon the nation venerates today.

Let Us Count the Reasons…

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There are many good reasons to support the comprehensive immigration reform bill, S. 744, introduced by a bi-partisan group of Senators (the Gang of Eight) April 16 and voted out of the Senate with strong bi-partisan support (68 to 32) on June 27.

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Why Support the Senate’s Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill

By Sue Weishar, Ph.D.

There are many good reasons to support the comprehensive immigration reform bill, S. 744, introduced by a bi-partisan group of Senators (the Gang of Eight) April 16 and voted out of the Senate with strong bi-partisan support (68 to 32) on June 27.

Gutting the Voting Rights Act

Blurb

On June 25, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court effectively gutted the enforcement provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act in Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder, Attorney General et al.  In the words of Congressman John L. Lewis, who risked life and limb in the struggle for Civil Rights, the Court struck a “dagger in the heart” of the Voting Rights Act.

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U.S. Supreme Court Removes Key Enforcement Provision

By Alex Mikulich, Ph.D.

On June 25, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court effectively gutted the enforcement provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act in Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder, Attorney General et al. In the words of Congressman John L. Lewis, who risked life and limb in the struggle for Civil Rights, the Court struck a “dagger in the heart” of the Voting Rights Act. [1]

Minimum Wage: Gateway to Worker Dignity

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Why does the Catholic Church continue to support increases in the minimum wage?  Because, as Bishop Stephen E. Blaire of the Diocese of Stockton told the U.S. Senate last month, “A just wage is a moral issue…”

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by Fr. Fred Kammer, SJ

Their Stake in Medicaid Expansion

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A report this month from the Kaiser Family Foundation highlights the disproportionately negative impact on people of color of decisions by Gulf South governors and legislatures and those in other states.

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State Medicaid Decisions Impact People of Color

By Fred Kammer, S.J.

New Hope for Immigrants

Blurb

Finally there appears to be a way for millions of undocumented immigrants in the U.S., the majority of who have lived here for more than ten years and have strong family and community ties,  to earn legalization and eventually citizenship.

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A Way Forward for Immigration Reform

By Sue Weishar, Ph.D.