Researchers found that cutting off support leaves lasting scars on the most vulnerable segment of the TANF population—the neediest families: “TANF enrollees with pre-school aged children or larger families are both more likely to be food insecure and, at least among those required to enter the workforce quickly, in poorer mental health.” The projections show that despite “very large direct monetary savings…for both individuals and for the US government, TANF may also harm women who could not subsequently work (whether due to young children at home, large family sizes, mental illness, and/or physical illness). Some may have ended up relying on weak financial networks or become homeless.”
Blast from the Past. At Daily Kos on this date in 2010—Vice President Biden: 'The test ban treaty is as important as ever.':
It's turning out to be a rather eventful week for nuclear weapons news, on both the domestic front and the international stage. For the sake of clarity, I'm going to deal with what's going on in the US in this post, and address international issues separately.First of all, the Obama administration is in the home stretch regarding the Nuclear Posture Review (NPR); the President's national security team met yesterday to discuss the options they will present to the president, so he can make his final decision regarding "U.S. nuclear policy, strategy, capabilities and force posture" for at least half of the next decade. It is a legislatively mandated review, and I've written about it in several previous posts. Since the meeting was behind closed doors, we don't know many specifics, but national security expert and Ploughshares Fund president Joe Cirincione has laid out what form he thinks the final NPR should take.
Secondly, today, the administration continued to prove its ability to multitask on nuclear weapons issues. Vice President Joe Biden gave a speech at the National Defense University in which he basically expanded on his Wall Street Journal op-ed piece from several weeks ago, in which he discussed the proposed budget for the nuclear weapons complex, and why it is important in the overall national security picture.
As Travis Sharp noted over at the Nukes of Hazard, Biden's speech today took the middle ground regarding criticism of the new nuclear budget.
Tweet of the DayIt's so weird how we waged two wars against Iraq with a decade of crippling sanctions in between and somehow it's a total violent mess. — @chrislhayes On today's Kagro in the Morning show, we sandwiched regular guests Greg Dworkin and Joan McCarter in between some particularly astonishing GunFAIL follow-ups today. Why won't Obama lead? Oh, he's leading? Well, why won't he lead someone else? A 2016 polling roundup. Oklahoma lawmakers love teh dum. A look at the Dem side of the 2016 spectrum vs. the Gop side. Obamacare signups pass 11 million. Trey Gowdy wants more special investigative committees. More discussion of the crumbling King case. Stuff I don't like is the new treason. Still on the verge of a DHS shutdown. Jeb's "his own man." And Republicans are getting the voter suppression band back together, too. High Impact Posts• Top Comments