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Happy Birthday to Ya, Stimulus
Break out the bubbly … or not. Thursday, Feb. 17, marked the second anniversary of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. For the occasion, various camps inside the Beltway gave their reflections on the $787 billion piece of legislation intended to shore up the collapsing economy. Needless to say, there’s quite a sweeping range of…
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Justice Still Delayed for Black Farmers
John W. Boyd Jr., the steadfast leader of the National Black Farmers Association, was in high spirits last December. President Barack Obama had just signed a bill authorizing $1.25 billion to settle a long-standing discrimination case filed by thousands of black farmers against the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The feat was hailed as a landmark…
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Obama Defends 2012 Budget Cut Plans
On the heels of criticism over his 2012 federal budget proposal, from both the left and right, President Obama joined the fray in a Tuesday morning news conference where he defended his choices. The president notably responded to the impression that his budget, with its focus on small domestic programs, puts too much on the…
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White House on 2012 Budget: Wait, Let Us Explain …
President Barack Obama unveiled his budget request for the 2012 fiscal year on Monday, a thick document upwards of 2,000 pages that’s had people grumbling well before its official release. The White House says the proposal would shave $1.1 trillion off the federal deficit over 10 years — but the spending cuts needed to achieve…
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Beyond the Same Old Abortion Debate
It started with H.R. 3, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act. Introduced in late January by Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), the bill would prevent tax benefits for health care plans that cover abortion and also change language in the Hyde Amendment that allows government funding for abortion in cases of rape, incest or endangerment…
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Rights Groups Skeptical About Phase-Out Plans for Fannie, Freddie
The Obama administration released a plan on Friday for restructuring the housing finance market. The strategy lays out three options (the better to avoid Republicans immediately ripping it apart) for winding down the government-sponsored Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and transitioning, over at least five years, to a more privatized mortgage market. The White House…
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What Has 'Let's Move!' Done in a Year?
Happy first anniversary of first lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! campaign! To mark the occasion on Wednesday, Mrs. Obama visited an Atlanta elementary school to highlight its healthy eating programs and spoke at North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, Ga., encouraging parents to advocate for a healthier nation. “We have a voice,” she said to…
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Recy Taylor: A Symbol of Jim Crow's Forgotten Horror
Sept. 3, 1944: It’s a damp evening in the Alabama black belt, nearly midnight, but services at Rock Hill Holiness Church in the small town of Abbeville have just let out. Recy Taylor, a 24-year-old sharecropper, sets out along the town’s fertile peanut plantations, accompanied for the walk home by two other worshippers from the…
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Obama's Meeting With Black Leaders: A Little Too Laid-Back …
Less than two months after his last sit-down with the National Policy Alliance, on Tuesday President Obama met again with the group of African-American advisers. A coalition of 10 — nine of which represent black public officials, including the National Conference of Black Mayors and the National Black Caucus of State Legislators, plus the Joint…
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National Black HIV/AIDS: Going Beyond 'Awareness'
Today, National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, we are reminded that African Americans have the highest rates of HIV in the United States. Let’s also take a look at what’s being done to help pull those numbers down. Last summer the White House announced the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, an approach to fighting the epidemic that recognizes…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
