Perhaps nowhere is the lack of action by Congress more acute than with its failure to extend unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed. Meanwhile, the families who stand to benefit from the extension struggle to pay for food, heat and other basics.
READ MORE from Congress on the Long-Term Unemployed — Let Them Eat Cake?
If the old adage that there is strength in numbers has any truth, then funding for job training programs could see a boost next year. Goodwill Industries International and Goodwill® members are joining hundreds of national and state organizations to make the case to Congress that it’s time to invest in America’s job training system.
READ MORE from Goodwill® Aligns with Hundreds of Groups to Boost Job Training Funding
I’ve written before about how this Congress seems to have started to move past the intensely bitter ideological battles that marked much of the past three years. Another sign of that came this week as the GOP-controlled House and the Democrat-led Senate approved a one-year extension of the nation’s borrowing authority, otherwise known at the debt limit. What made this event so newsworthy wasn’t the passage of the legislation, but rather what didn’t happen.
After years of wrangling capped by a surprise defeat last year in the House, Congress finally mustered the votes to clear a five-year reauthorization of the farm bill. The bill includes the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps. Under the bill, funding for SNAP would be cut by $8 billion over the next decade. The cuts are slightly higher than the $4 billion reduction in the original Senate farm bill but far less than the $40 billion reduction advocated by House Republicans.
READ MORE from Congress Passes Farm Bill – SNAP Cuts Minimized
The White House has referred to the theme of President Obama’s State of the Union (SOTU) as “Opportunity for All.” While watching, I was able to identify a number of opportunities for Goodwill® advocates to advance efforts that support the people we serve. Depending on which news channel you follow and which papers you read,
READ MORE from What the President’s State of the Union Address Means for Goodwill® Advocates
While “omnibus” isn’t the way most people spell relief, in our nation’s capital nothing short of a huge sigh of relief was felt as the $1.1 trillion FY 2014 Omnibus Appropriations bill that funds every nook and cranny of the federal government passed the House and Senate by significant margins and headed for the president’s desk last week. And like most things that manage to pass Congress these days, there was a little something for everyone to like — and dislike — about the bill.
READ MORE from How Does Washington Spell Relief? O-m-n-i-b-u-s
This week, Congress has been working to adopt a $1.1 trillion spending bill that will finalize government funding for the remainder of FY 2014. The bill has advanced in an uncharacteristically bipartisan manner, without finger pointing, bickering or threats of a government shutdown. In addition, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the bill will not
READ MORE from As Congress Averts Crisis, Goodwill® Helps Heroes Get Hired
Recently, President Obama talked about the need for stability in Washington. I trust he wasn’t talking about the Washington Monument and National Cathedral, both of which became a little wobbly after the earthquake. I’m pretty sure he was talking about the need for Congress to take care of routine business, like passing budgets and appropriations bills, reauthorizing certain laws like the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), generally not terrorizing the world over not raising the debt limit, things like that. And perhaps Congress already got the message.
This time of year always makes me think about tradition and the fact that winter celebrations are common among most cultures around the world. At the macro level, lights, singing and festivals are all age-old traditions that help to dull the edge of a bleak season of long, dark and cold nights. What I enjoy even more are those quirky traditions that develop at the micro level among families.
READ MORE from What Can Congress Learn from a Shower Squeegee?
Twas the night before Congress adjourned, when all through the House (and Senate) Not a person was working, not even a mouse. The bills were all filed to repeal Obamacare, In hopes that November soon would be there.
Twas the night before Congress adjourned, when all through the House (and Senate) Not a person was working, not even a mouse. The bills were all filed to repeal Obamacare, In hopes that November soon would be there.
The Thanksgiving holiday fell later this year, which caused retailers great alarm since there would be six fewer shopping days left between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Congress is also running out of time between the holidays to accomplish their year-end goals, and yet they aren’t feeling the same level of angst. There are a number of unfinished items to work on but given that the holidays are upon us, I feel the highlights are best depicted as the Twelve Numbers of Congress. Sing along if you’d like.
READ MORE from Your New Holiday Carol: The Twelve Numbers of Congress
