On his 16th birthday on Thursday , a Saugus High School student took out a .45-caliber handgun from his backpack , authorities said , shot five boys and girls on campus , killing two of them , and then shot himself .\nThe shooting prompted a mass response from local and federal authorities as they searched for the teen , who they found within hours and was in grave condition at a hospital .\nAt 9:23 a.m. a 16-year-old girl was pronounced dead from her wounds . During a press conference just before noon , Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said a 14-year-old boy had also succumbed to his injuries .\nTwo other girls , a 14- and 15-year-old , and also a 14-year-old boy , were in hospitals , recovering .\nA sixth victim was also hospitalized for a non-shooting injury .\nTerrified Saugus High School students flee from danger to a nearby home\nAt noon , Capt . Kent Wegener said investigators were at multiple scenes , including the quad area of the school , the suspect ’ s home and two hospitals . The suspect ’ s girlfriend and mother were at the sheriff ’ s station in Santa Clarita .\nThis is an active shooter situation . The suspect described to be a male Asian , black clothing is outstanding . — SCV Sheriff ( @ SCVSHERIFF ) November 14 , 2019\nStudents are escorted off campus after a shooting occurred around 7:30 at Saugus high in Santa Clarita , CA Thursday , November 14 , 2019 . ( Photo by David Crane , Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG )\nSaugus 9th grader Hannah Scooping and her mother , Laura Scooping-Medina , outside of Saugus High School in Santa Clarita , CA Thursday , November 14 , 2019 . ( Photo by David Crane , Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG )\nA parent waits outside of Saugus high after a shooting occurred around 7:30 at Saugus high in Santa Clarita , CA Thursday , November 14 , 2019 . ( Photo by David Crane , Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG )\nPolice react after reports of an active shooting at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita . ( Photo by David Crane , Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG )\nStudents are escorted off campus after a shooting occurred around 7:30 at Saugus high in Santa Clarita , CA Thursday , November 14 , 2019 . ( Photo by David Crane , Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG )\nStudents are escorted off of campus at Saugus High after a shooting occurred around 7:30 at Saugus high in Santa Clarita , CA Thursday , November 14 , 2019 . ( Photo by David Crane , Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG )\nSheriffs on scene at Saugus High after a shooting occurred around 7:30 at Saugus high in Santa Clarita , CA Thursday , November 14 , 2019 . ( Photo by David Crane , Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG )\nStudents are escorted off campus after a shooting occurred around 7:30 at Saugus high in Santa Clarita , CA Thursday , November 14 , 2019 . ( Photo by David Crane , Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG )\nSheriffs on scene at Saugus High after a shooting occurred around 7:30 at Saugus high in Santa Clarita , CA Thursday , November 14 , 2019 . ( Photo by David Crane , Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG )\nStudents are escorted off campus after a shooting occurred around 7:30 at Saugus high in Santa Clarita , CA Thursday , November 14 , 2019 . ( Photo by David Crane , Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG )\nA student is re-united with her parent after a shooting occurred around 7:30 at Saugus high in Santa Clarita , CA Thursday , November 14 , 2019 . ( Photo by David Crane , Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG )\nStudents are escorted off of campus at Saugus High after a shooting occurred around 7:30 at Saugus high in Santa Clarita , CA Thursday , November 14 , 2019 . ( Photo by David Crane , Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG )\nPolice react after reports of an active shooting at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita . ( Photo by David Crane , Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG )\nParents waiting to unify with children at Central Park after school shooting at Saugus High School . ( Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz , Pasadena Star-News , SCNG )\nPolice escort students after a shooting Saugus High School after a school shooting . ( Photo by Rick McClur , Contributing Photographer )\nParents wait to be reunited with their children outside Saugus High School after a school shooting . ( Photo by Rick McClur , Contributing Photographer )\nSaugus high students are led off of campus after questioning at Saugus High after a shooting occurred around 7:30 at Saugus high in Santa Clarita , CA Thursday , November 14 , 2019 . ( Photo by David Crane , Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG )\nLaura Schooping-Medina comforts her daughter , Saugus student Hannah Schooping , 15 , outside of the campus at Saugus High after a shooting occurred around 7:30 at Saugus high in Santa Clarita , CA Thursday , November 14 , 2019 . ( Photo by David Crane , Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG )\nSaugus High School students reunite with their families in Central Park after a mass shooting at their Santa Clarita High School that left two dead Thursday morning , November 14 , 2019 . ( Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz , Pasadena Star-News/SCNG )\nScott Cheshire reunites with his 16-year-old daughter Maci in Central Park after a mass shooting at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita High that left two dead Thursday morning , November 14 , 2019 . Maci who stepped out of her classroom ran back to her history class after hearing gun shots . ( Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz , Pasadena Star-News/SCNG )\nSaugus High School students wait to reunite with their families in Central Park after a mass shooting at their Santa Clarita High School that left two dead Thursday morning , November 14 , 2019 . ( Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz , Pasadena Star-News/SCNG )\nSaugus High School students reunite with their families in Central Park after a mass shooting at their Santa Clarita High School that left two dead Thursday morning , November 14 , 2019 . ( Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz , Pasadena Star-News/SCNG )\nParents look for their children in Central Park after a mass shooting at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita left two dead Thursday morning , November 14 , 2019 . ( Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz , Pasadena Star-News/SCNG )\nSaugus High School students reunite with their families in Central Park after a mass shooting at their Santa Clarita High School that left two dead Thursday morning , November 14 , 2019 . ( Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz , Pasadena Star-News/SCNG )\nA first responders line Centurion Way outside Saugus High School after a school shooting occurred Thursday , November 14 , 2019 . ( Photo by Hans Gutknecht , Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG )\nParents wait for children to be released at Highlands Elementary near Saugus High School where a shooting occurred Thursday , November 14 , 2019 . ( Photo by Hans Gutknecht , Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG )\nLaw enforcement at the home of the suspected shoot near Saugus High School after a school shooting occurred at the school Thursday , November 14 , 2019 . ( Photo by Hans Gutknecht , Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG )\nStudents are escorted off of campus at Saugus High after a shooting occurred around 7:30 at Saugus high in Santa Clarita , CA Thursday , November 14 , 2019 . ( Photo by David Crane , Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG )\nA first responders at Saugus High School after a school shooting occurred Thursday , November 14 , 2019 . ( Photo by Hans Gutknecht , Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG )\nLaw enforcement oversees the evacuation of students from Saugus high after a shooting occurred at the School in Santa Clarita , CA Thursday , November 14 , 2019 . ( Photo by David Crane , Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG )\nA victim is removed from Saugus high after a shooting occurred at the School in Saugus , CA Thursday , November 14 , 2019 . ( Photo by David Crane , Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG )\nJust after the shooting , all schools in the William S. Hart School Union High School District were put on lockdown .\nJust arrived at Saugus High School . Anxious family members are hanging behind at the school , as students are escorted , even though they are being asked to move to a nearby church where the students will be bused to the reunification site . pic.twitter.com/LE1Jdu9dOE — Elizabeth Chou ( @ reporterliz ) November 14 , 2019\nFamilies were directed to Central Park on Bouquet Canyon to be reunited with their children , with some waiting hours until that occurred .\nThis is a developing story . Please check back for updates .


An airline passenger arriving at the Fort Lauderdale airport retrieved a firearm from his checked luggage and opened fire at a baggage claim Friday afternoon , killing five people and injuring eight others .\nThe gunman was taken into custody and is being interrogated by law enforcement , but authorities said Friday it was too soon to say whether the shooting was terrorism-related .\nWhile authorities have declined to release the names of either the victims killed or the gunman , Sen. Bill Nelson identified the gunman as Esteban Santiago and said the man was carrying a military ID card that authorities were still working to authenticate .\nRelatives of the gunman confirmed his identity and told reporters that the 26-year-old had recently been treated for mental health issues .\nAn aunt , Maria Luisa Ruiz , told NorthJersey.com that Mr. Santiago had appeared happy after recently becoming a father but that about a month ago he began experiencing a mental health crisis .\n“ Like a month ago , it was like he lost his mind , ” she said “ He said he saw things . ”\nShe said Mr. Santiago , who was born in Puerto Rico , had spent time in Iraq with the Army National Guard and was currently living in Anchorage , Alaska .\nThe suspected gunman ’ s brother , Bryan Santiago , told the Associated Press that his family had recently gotten a call from his brother ’ s girlfriend saying that he was getting psychological treatment in Alaska where the couple lived .\nBroward County Sheriff Scott Israel declined to comment on whether the gunman had just arrived to the airport on a flight , but Broward County Commissioner Chip LaMarca wrote in a post to Facebook that the gunman was a passenger on a flight that landed at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and had checked his gun in his baggage . After landing at the Florida airport , the gunman retrieved his luggage , went into a bathroom to load his firearm and subsequently began shooting people in the baggage claim area , Mr. LaMarca said .\nSheriff Israel dispelled rumors that there was a second shooting at the airport , saying the baggage claim in Terminal 2 where the gunman opened fire was the only site of gunfire .\n“ At this point , it looks like he acted alone , ” Sheriff Israel said , adding it was too early to speculate on the gunman ’ s motive for carrying out the shooting .\nHe said when deputies arrived on scene that the gunman was taken into custody “ without incident ” but declined to elaborate .\nNo flights were arriving or leaving the airport Friday afternoon and airport Director Mark Gale said it was unclear how long the airport the would remain closed .\nLaw enforcement officials said they first began receiving calls reporting gunfire in Terminal 2 of the airport at 12:55 p.m Friday .\nNews footage from the scene showed people evacuating from the airport and standing on the tarmac as first responders rushed to the scene . Throughout the afternoon , people could be seen streaming out of airport exits and at various points crouching behind emergency vehicles to take cover .\nFormer White House spokesman Ari Fleischer tweeted that he was at the airport when shots were fired and that “ everyone is running. ” He later wrote that the scene seemed calm and that “ the police aren ’ t letting anyone out of the airport . ”\nFlorida Gov . Rick Scott called the shooting “ a senseless act of evil ” and late Friday said some of those injured and hospitalized were fighting for their lives .\nPresident-elect Donald Trump tweeted Friday , after emerging from an intelligence briefing on Russian hacking , that he was also monitoring the situation .\n“ Monitoring the terrible situation in Florida . Just spoke to Governor Scott . Thoughts and prayers for all . Stay safe ! ” Mr. Trump wrote .\nThe Federal Aviation Administration issued a statement indicating that as of 2:15 p.m. , any flights inbound and within 50 miles of the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport would land at the airport but that other flights might be delayed or diverted .\nAirport officials later provided an update saying the airport would be closed for an extended period of time and that no flights are currently taking off from or landing at Fort Lauderdale .


Views of Nation ’ s Economy Remain Positive , Sharply Divided by Partisanship\nHow we did this For this report on views of the nation ’ s economy , we surveyed 12,638 U.S. adults in January 2020 . Everyone who took part is a member of ███ ’ s American Trends Panel ( ATP ) , an online survey panel that is recruited through national , random sampling of residential addresses . This way nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection . The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender , race , ethnicity , partisan affiliation , education and other categories . Read more about the ATP ’ s methodology . Here are the questions used for the report , along with responses , and its methodology .\nThe public ’ s views of the nation ’ s economy remain more positive than at any point in the past two decades . In addition , more Americans say President Trump ’ s policies have made the economy better ( 44 % ) than worse ( 29 % ) , while 26 % say they have not had much effect .\nThe public ’ s ratings of economic conditions turned much more favorable shortly after Trump took office in 2017 , as a result of a surge in positive views among Republicans . These attitudes have shown little change more recently .\nToday , 57 % of Americans rate the national economy as excellent ( 16 % ) or good ( 42 % ) . This is virtually unchanged from last September , when 56 % of the public held positive views of the economy . A third of the public views economic conditions as only fair ; just 9 % say the nation ’ s economy is in poor shape .\nThe national survey by ███ , conducted Jan. 6-19 among 12,638 adults , finds that views of the economy – and the impact of Trump ’ s policies – continue to be deeply divided along partisan lines .\nCurrently , 81 % of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say the economy is excellent or good . These views have changed only modestly over the past two years . But between November 2016 ( just before Trump ’ s victory in the presidential election ) and March 2017 the share of Republicans with a positive view of the economy approximately doubled , from 18 % to 37 % . And by November 2018 , they had doubled again , to 75 % .\nBy contrast , Democrats ’ assessments of economic conditions have changed only modestly since before Trump took office . Currently , 39 % of Democrats and Democratic leaners say conditions are excellent or good . In November 2016 , 46 % had a positive impression of the economy .\nOverall , the public holds more positive than negative views about the impact of Trump ’ s economic policies . While 44 % say that the president ’ s economic policies have made economic conditions better , 29 % say they have made the economy worse ; 26 % say Trump ’ s policies have not had much of an effect .\nPublic views of how Trump ’ s policies have affected the economy are more positive than they were for Obama ’ s policies at the same point in his presidency , when overall assessments of the economy were much more negative than they are currently . In February 2012 , roughly equal shares said Obama ’ s economic policies had made things better ( 33 % ) and worse ( 35 % ) ; 25 % said they had not had much effect . At that time , only 11 % of the public rated the economy as excellent or good , with overwhelming majorities of both Democrats ( 84 % ) and Republicans ( 94 % ) rating the national economy negatively .\nHowever , optimism that conditions would improve was relatively high eight years ago . Today , public outlook for the economy a year from now is mixed : Currently , 29 % of Americans say conditions will be better , 26 % worse , while 45 % say they will be about the same as now . In February 2012 , 44 % expected economic conditions to improve ; just 10 % said they would get worse , while 42 % said they would be about the same as they were then .\nOpinions about the impact of presidents ’ policies and the future course of the economy also are highly partisan . In the current survey , an overwhelming share of Republicans ( 80 % ) say Trump ’ s policies have made economic conditions better . Democrats are divided : Nearly half ( 48 % ) say Trump ’ s policies have had a negative impact , 38 % say they have not had much of an effect and 14 % say they have helped the economy .\nViews about the state of the economy a year from now are somewhat less partisan , but while nearly half of Republicans ( 46 % ) expect economic conditions in the U.S. to be better a year from now than they are today , just 15 % of Democrats say the same .\nOverall , 57 % of Americans say current economic conditions are excellent or good , but these views vary across demographic groups : older people , those with higher incomes , men and whites are particularly likely to say the economy is in good shape , while these views are less widely shared among younger people , those with lower incomes , women , blacks and Hispanics .\nThese demographic gaps are little changed over the course of the last few years . Americans ages 65 and over are the most positive in their evaluations of the economy , with 70 % saying it is in excellent or good shape . By comparison , about half of 18-29 year olds ( 47 % ) say the same . And while more than six-in-ten white people ( 64 % ) offer positive evaluations of the economy , that compares with roughly half of Hispanic people ( 49 % ) and just a third of black Americans ( 33 % ) .\nThere is a 12 percentage-point gender gap in these views : 64 % of men say the economy is doing well , compared with 52 % of women . And while 64 % of college graduates say economic conditions are excellent or good , 54 % of those without a college degree say the same .\nViews of the economy also differ starkly by income . Among those with annual family incomes of $ 100,000 or more , 72 % have positive views of the economy , with one-quarter rating it as excellent . Roughly two-thirds of those who make $ 75,000- $ 99,999 ( 65 % ) and $ 50,000- $ 74,999 ( 64 % ) rate the economy as excellent or good .\nHowever , less than half of those who make less than $ 30,000 ( 44 % ) rate the economy positively , with just 10 % saying they rate the economy today as excellent .\nAmong Republicans and Republican-leaning independents , a large majority ( 81 % ) rate the economy as excellent or good . Conservative Republicans are particularly likely to view the economy positively : 88 % do so , including 41 % who say the economy is in excellent shape . Among moderate and liberal Republicans , 72 % offer positive ratings , with 18 % saying economic conditions are excellent .\nOverall , 39 % of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents rate the economy as excellent or good , and there are only modest ideological differences in these views .\nWhile majorities of Republicans in all age groups offer positive ratings of the economy , older Republicans and Republican leaners are much more likely than younger Republicans to do so : 90 % of Republicans ages 65 and older rate the economy positively , while 68 % of those under 30 say the same .\nAmong Democrats and Democratic leaners there is only modest variation in these views by age , although Democrats 65 and older view the economy more positively than those under age 65 ( 47 % vs. 37 % ) .\nIn both parties , those with higher incomes and those with college degrees are more likely to say current economic conditions are excellent or good . And the partisan gap is similar across all educational and income levels . For instance , 89 % of Republicans with a college degree rate the economy as excellent or good , compared with 47 % of Democratic college graduates – a 42 point gap . Among those without a college degree , the gap is nearly identical ( 45 points ) .\nAcross income and partisan groups , high income Republicans are the most likely to see the economy as in excellent or good shape , while low income Democrats are least likely to say this . But partisanship is a bigger factor than income in these evaluations : In fact , Republicans with incomes of less than $ 30,000 ( 69 % ) offer significantly more positive ratings of the economy than Democrats with incomes of $ 100,000 or more ( 52 % ) .\nOpinions about the state of the nation ’ s economy are correlated with views of Trump ’ s job performance . People who have the most positive views of economic conditions – the 16 % of adults who say the economy is excellent – overwhelmingly approve of Trump . Nearly nine-in-ten ( 86 % ) approve of his performance , including 76 % who strongly approve .\nYet those who say economic conditions are good are not nearly as supportive of Trump . Half of this group approves of his job performance , with only about a third ( 36 % ) strongly approving .\nIn part , this reflects partisanship in views of both the economy and Trump . For instance , among Republicans who view the economy as good ( half of all Republicans and leaners ) , 82 % approve of Trump ’ s job performance . But among the roughly one third of Democrats who give the economy the same rating , only 11 % approve of Trump ’ s performance .\nAmong the 15 % of Republicans who rate conditions as only fair , a narrow majority ( 55 % ) approves of his job performance . Among Democrats who view the economy as only fair , just 4 % approve of the job Trump is doing .


Social Security is running out of money . America gives too much aid to other countries . Nothing is made in the U.S.A. anymore .\nThose are some of the reasons why working class whites feel the economy is headed in the wrong direction . Some 53 % of these folks said they are very dissatisfied with the country 's economic situation , well above the share among whites with college degrees or working class blacks and Hispanics . Another 25 % said they are somewhat dissatisfied , according to a new CNN/Kaiser Family Foundation survey .\nWhat 's more , they think their children will suffer as a result . Half feel their kids ' standard of living will be worse when they hit the same age .\nThis gloomy view , however , does n't extend to their own financial circumstances .\nNearly two-thirds of working class whites say they are satisfied with their own personal financial situation . More than three-quarters are optimistic about how things are going in their own lives . A similar share of those who are working feel their jobs are secure .\nTake Pete McGuire of Mansfield Center , Connecticut . McGuire , who runs a landscaping company with his wife , was frustrated recently when he could n't find work boots made in the United States at Cabela 's , an outdoor recreation retailer .\n`` We 're not making anything , '' McGuire said , noting that the few American products he does find are often more expensive . `` I 'd be willing to pay a little more to buy something made in the U.S.A. to keep somebody working here . ''\nThe 61-year-old ticked off why he thinks the nation is in trouble : The national debt is growing . The federal government is doing more to help other countries than struggling Americans . Veterans are being ignored .\nRelated : Working class whites blame Washington , but still want more government help\nHis four daughters will have to deal with all of this . And most of them `` are making ends meet by the skin of their teeth . '' Two are stay-at-home moms and one is a teacher 's assistant in an elementary school . The one who is doing the best financially became an accountant after graduating from the University of Connecticut .\nAs for his own financial security ? `` We 're comfortable . We are paying our bills , '' said McGuire , who recently applied for disability because of back problems that have forced him to cut back at the landscaping firm .\nMcGuire feels he was able to build a more secure life because the economy was better during most of his working years . After he graduated high school , he was always employed -- in textile factories , for the state , in a construction company and finally at his own small business , often holding second jobs on the side pumping gas or mowing lawns . His wife , who has a bachelor 's degree , works for the city of Norwich , providing job coaching for mentally handicapped kids . He has a small pension and retiree health care , thanks to his tenure with the state Department of Transportation .\nNowadays , he feels , it 's harder for blue-collar workers to make a decent living .\n`` When was the last time a factory worker got a pay raise of more than a dime or a quarter ? '' he said .\nWorking class whites were less likely to get a boost in pay than their college educated peers . The poll found some 42 % of working age people in this group said they or someone in their household had received a raise in the last year , compared to 54 % of whites with college diplomas .\nIt 's not surprising that many working class whites have a negative view of the nation 's economic direction , said Gary Burtless , a senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution . Americans are often more dour if their political party is not in power . And since many working class whites lean Republican , they feel the Obama administration has made things worse . ( Some 53 % of working class white Americans CNN/KFF surveyed said they were Republicans or leaned that way , while 33 % said they were Democrats or Democratic-leaners and 11 % independents . )\nRelated : The anatomy of a white working class Trump voter\nPlus , Republican nominee Donald Trump and his onetime rivals spent the past year decrying how troubled the nation is , he said .\n`` People are more likely to the take the party line about the state of the economy than their own private economic circumstances , '' Burtless said . `` If we had a President McCain or a President Romney , they 'd say the economy is n't so bad . ''\n`` Everything Obama and his administration does is wrong , '' said Gibson , 82 , who just retired as the owner of a real estate escrow business . `` I 'm not sure Obama knows what he 's doing and he does n't listen to people . ''\nThe president 's actions have n't directly hurt Gibson 's finances , however . He worked well beyond the typical retirement age because he liked it and now plans to live off savings and investments . His daughter and grown grandson are also employed and doing fine .\nBut among his circle of friends , there 's a lot of concern over the economy , national security and America 's standing in the world .\n`` It 's a feeling that everyone is on pins and needles , '' he said , noting that the economy is only growing at a 1 % rate and many people have dropped out of the labor market because they ca n't find jobs . `` You do n't know what 's going to happen . We 're a ship without a captain right now . ''\nOthers , like Nicole King , feel the nation 's problems have been building for a while and blames both parties for not coming together to address the issues .\nKing , who watches both CNN and Fox and listens to NPR to get a variety of views , said she is concerned about the shaky state of Social Security and the mounting national debt . She also fears the next generation is not as hard working , which will further damage the economy .\n`` All those things together do n't paint a very positive picture , '' said King , 40 , who feels her job in a bank 's IT department is secure . `` The U.S. as a brand is not as strong as it once was . ''\nThe Charlotte , N.C. , resident and her husband are on a very strict budget so they can save money for retirement and their children 's college education . They buy used cars and gave their older daughter , who is 3 , a piggy bank so she will learn the value of money at an early age . And they worry that their daughters will not be as comfortable as they are because the economy is so troubled .\nPart of working class whites ' frustration with the nation 's direction stems from their feeling marginalized in society , said Arlie Hochschild , a professor emerita in sociology at the University of California , Berkeley , and author of the new book , Strangers In Their Own Land : Anger and Mourning on the American Right .\nThey think the nation views them as uneducated and racist , Hochschild said . Their pro-life views are demonized , while they feel under attack from the rise of secularism . And the tipping point is that their path upwards on the economic ladder is blocked by the decline of the middle class .\nYet , at the same time , they draw happiness from living in their own isolated enclaves with family , neighbors and fellow churchgoers nearby .\n`` People are more optimistic personally than they are about the country as a whole , '' Hochschild said .\nWhite , Working Class & Worried is a CNN partnership with the Kaiser Family Foundation - an extensive survey of white , working class Americans and voters who form a backbone of the support for Donald Trump . See more tonight on Anderson Cooper 360 and see full coverage at CNN.com/WhiteWorkingClassAndWorried .\nAbout the survey : CNN partnered with The Kaiser Family Foundation to conduct an in-depth survey of the white working class in America , their politics , their perceptions of America 's changing demographics , the economy , immigration , their personal finances , their faith , among others . This group has become increasingly important to the 2016 presidential race since they have been a key support to Donald Trump 's bid for the White House . Here are the full results of the survey .


We all heard Patricia Arquette calling for wage equality and women ’ s rights last night on the Oscar stage , with her new Supporting Actress award in hand . Meryl Streep and J-Lo just about went nuts cheering on her feminist speech and Planned Parenthood was giddy with glee on Twitter .\nCOSIGN ALL OF THAT , @ PattyArquette : `` It is time for wage equality ... and equal rights for women in America ! '' # Oscars2015 # fyeahfeminism — Planned Parenthood ( @ PPact ) February 23 , 2015\nWith their passionate pleas for gender equality in the workplace , I wonder how these same figures and women ’ s organizations will react to this morning ’ s news that Hillary Clinton paid women on her staff only 72 cents for every dollar paid for men while working in the U.S. Senate . From the Washington Free Beacon :\nDuring those years , the median annual salary for a woman working in Clinton ’ s office was $ 15,708.38 less than the median salary for a man , according to the analysis of data compiled from official Senate expenditure reports .\nThe inequality in Clinton ’ s office is a bit ironic , considering the causes the former Secretary of State professes to promote .\n20 years ago , women made 72 cents on the dollar to men . Today it 's still just 77 cents . More work to do . # EqualPay # NoCeilings — Hillary Clinton ( @ HillaryClinton ) April 9 , 2014\nThose “ ceilings ” she speaks of seem to have been right over her and her staff ’ s own heads .\nIn June , the Free Beacon also broke the news that in the 1980s Clinton defended a man who raped an underage girl – a scandal which will be remembered as The Hillary Tapes .\nYet , groups like Planned Parenthood and EMILY ’ s List continue to honor her “ efforts ” on behalf of women . And as for those same A-list celebrities who cheered for wage equality last night , they appear to have no problem being chummy with the former First Lady .\nI wonder , after these pay gap revelations , if Clinton will now feel the wrath of these famous feminists and popular women ’ s rights groups , or if the latter will continue to air their grievances against the “ real threat ” – the suffocating patriarchy .\nThe answer is too obvious to be placed inside one of those golden envelopes .


U.S. stock markets rebounded Tuesday after one of their worst drops in history a day earlier , as President Trump Donald John TrumpThe Hill 's Morning Report - Trump shifts his tone on coronavirus Senators balance coronavirus action with risks to health Coronavirus adds new element to rising US-Iran tensions MORE and Congress advanced economic stimulus plans and the Federal Reserve took actions to shore up the financial system in the face of the coronavirus pandemic .\nThe Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 1,049 points , or 5.2 percent percent , recovering a portion of its nearly 3,000-point drop on Monday , the third worst day in its history .\nThe index , which peaked at more than 29,500 just last month , briefly hovered below 20,000 in the morning hours , before rebounding to a 21,238 close .\nThe market jumped after the Federal Reserve announced it would expand its bond-buying efforts to include corporate bonds in an effort to help provide businesses with short-term funding .\nTraders took further solace as the Trump administration took up a plan to send stimulus checks to all Americans . On Monday , Sen. Mitt Romney Willard ( Mitt ) Mitt RomneySenators balance coronavirus action with risks to health GOP Sen. Cotton calls for monthly cash payments to Americans during coronavirus pandemic Mnuchin to pitch Senate GOP on third coronavirus package Tuesday MORE ( R-Utah ) floated the idea of sending every American $ 1,000 checks to bolster the economy .\nMeanwhile , Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Addison ( Mitch ) Mitchell McConnellThe Hill 's Morning Report - Trump shifts his tone on coronavirus Mnuchin to pitch Senate GOP on third coronavirus package Tuesday Overnight Health Care : Trump says coronavirus crisis could last through summer | House bill hits new roadblocks | Schumer to propose 0B for third aid package | Researchers launch first vaccine trial | Dow plunges after Fed cuts rates MORE ( R-Ky. ) said the Senate would approve a $ 104 billion House-passed stimulus package , providing for free coronavirus testing and bolstering paid sick and family leave .\nTreasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin was also at the Capitol to pitch a broader , $ 850 billion stimulus bill .\nStill , the outlook remained dour for the near-term , as social distancing and efforts to prevent further coronavirus spread shuttered businesses , canceled large events and ground much of the economy to a halt .\nAnalysts said a global recession was a near certainty , and S & P Global said the U.S. was likely already in a recession .


After a chilly month for job growth in December , hiring warmed up a bit in January . But not by much .\nThe U.S. economy added 113,000 jobs last month , according to the government . That 's an improvement from December , but was far weaker than hoped . Economists had been expecting an addition of 178,000 jobs .\nThey called the report `` disappointing '' and `` weak , '' but characterized broader economic growth as `` steady-as-she-goes . ''\n`` The U.S. economy is very stable , '' said Julia Coronado , chief economist , North America for BNP Paribas . `` 2014 might not be a breakout year , but it 's not a disaster either . ''\nMany economists had also been hoping that December 's weak job gains would be revised much higher , as many experts were quick to write off the December report as a fluke . The number was revised higher , but only by 1,000 jobs to 75,000 .\nLowest unemployment in 5 years , but : The unemployment rate was 6.6 % in January , as 10 million Americans were counted as unemployed . Overall , the unemployment rate has improved substantially since it peaked at 10 % in 2009 and is now at its lowest level in more than five years .\nThat said , much of the decline in unemployment has come for a discouraging reason : some Americans are dropping out of the labor force . As of January , only 63 % of Americans over age 16 participated in the labor market -- meaning they either had a job or looked for one . Although there was a slight improvement in January , participation is still hovering around its lowest level since 1978 .\nWhile some of the decline is partly due to baby boomers retiring , economists are also concerned about the long-term unemployed , who may be giving up on the job market altogether . Following the report , one of President Obama 's top economic advisers , Jason Furman called the unemployment rate still `` unacceptably high . ''\nAbout 3.6 million Americans have been unemployed for six months or more . Those who were relying on extended government benefits lost that lifeline in December .\n`` These figures provide a stark reminder that despite the progress that has been made , the after-effects of the recession still linger and are creating hardship for many families , '' Furman wrote in a White House blog post .\nThe Federal Reserve has been stressing that its stimulus policies depend on the economic data , and while it has been aiming for an unemployment rate of 6.5 % , it 's expected to distance itself from using that number as its main measure of the job market .\n`` Using the narrow , widely reported unemployment rate alone could suggest a misleadingly optimistic state of affairs , '' Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren said in a prepared speech Thursday , ahead of the jobs report .\nRecently appointed Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is scheduled to testify before two Congressional committees next week .\nWhere are the jobs ? Surprisingly , more than half of January 's job gains came from traditional blue collar sectors . Goods-producing industries added more jobs than the services sector for the first time since 2005 .\nConstruction firms added 48,000 jobs and manufacturers added 21,000 jobs . The mining industry added 7,200 jobs .\nBut that was one of few bright spots in the report . The health care sector cut 400 jobs -- the first month of job losses since 2003 . Health care had been an industry with strong job growth throughout the recession .\nProfessional and business services added 36,000 jobs , but a large part of those jobs were through staffing agencies . About 15,000 jobs were added at restaurants and bars . Sporting goods , hobby , book and music stores cut 22,000 jobs .\nOverall , the U.S. economy lost 8.7 million jobs in the financial crisis . As of January , 7.8 million jobs have come back , but once economists also account for population growth , they expect that it will still take years to get back to a pre-recession job market .


The unemployment rate is now a misleading number . Yes , the rate has fallen dramatically from its peak . But much of that decline has been the result of the fall in the labor force participation rate . It has fallen from a peak of over 67 percent in 2000 to 62.8 percent in August . So there is a long-term trend downwards , which accelerated in the Great Recession .\nIf the unemployment rate falls because discouraged workers are leaving the labor force , that is nothing to cheer . And it is certainly no basis for a Fed rate hike .\nWhy the bullish sentiments of some Fed officials for a rate hike ? I increasingly believe that there are unstated reasons buttressing their hawkish stance . They are likely concerns over financial stability issues . These officials certainly understand that a long period of low interest rates must result in financial bubbles . Capital has been mispriced and , hence , misallocated .\nAdditionally , margins have been squeezed for banks and other lenders . Finally , money market mutual funds have no sustainable business model at very low rates . These funds must pay to attract money , but can earn very little on their investments .\nNegative interest rates would make these problems even worse , which surely explains the aversion of Fed officials to negative rates . The Fed has learned from the experience of countries that have taken rates into negative territory .\nIf Fed officials see a need to raise interest rates for financial stability reasons , they should make that case . Anemic economic growth and weak job growth just do not sustain the case for higher rates . For these and other reasons , I see no rate hike in September .\nNotwithstanding the weak case for a September rate hike , Yellen has put the credibility of the FOMC on the line with her talk of a rate hike . I can still see the Fed hiking rates at the December meeting as it did in 2015 . I can not foresee two hikes in 2016 . If there is an increase in rates in December , the Fed will pause again .


President Obama touted a provision in his Affordable Care Act on Thursday that would require health insurance providers to return money to consumers , pushing back on Republican criticism a day after the GOP-led House voted to delay key parts of the law .\nThe president ’ s signature health care overhaul -- commonly referred to as ObamaCare -- has come under fire by many Republicans who have worked to defeat , delay or gut major parts of it .\nAt the White House event Thursday , Obama highlighted more of the financial benefits tied to it -- specifically , a half billion dollars in rebates going to 9 million people under a provision of the law .\nInsurers must spend at least 80 cents of every dollar on medical care or quality improvement , or refund the difference . That 's the $ 500 million consumers are getting in rebates averaging about $ 100 . For Americans who get insurance through their work , the rebates go to their employers to be refunded or used to lower premiums .\n`` If they 're not spending your premium dollars on health care , they have to give you some money back , '' Obama said , appearing with a group of health care consumers in the East Room .\nThe president ’ s comments come a day after House lawmakers voted to delay two key components of ObamaCare , in an effort to chip away at the plan after the administration acknowledged new issues with its implementation .\nObama also noted that some states , ahead of the law 's requirement that most Americans obtain health insurance , are anticipating lower premiums because of health insurance marketplaces that are being set up under the law so consumers can comparison shop for the coverage .\nObama pushed his pitch a day after the Republican-controlled House voted for the 38th time to eliminate , cut funding or scale back the 3-year-old law since the GOP took control of the House in January 2011 .\nRepublican leaders swiftly organized the votes after the administration , in early July , said it would delay until 2015 a requirement that businesses with 50 or more workers provide insurance coverage or pay a penalty .\nThe House voted 264-161 for a measure that would do exactly that . But they also voted 251-174 for a measure that would delay the individual mandate -- the requirement on individuals to buy health insurance -- for a year as well .\nRepublicans argue that both delays are necessary . While they endorsed the delay for businesses , House Speaker John Boehner and other GOP lawmakers say it 's unfair to deny everyone else a similar reprieve .\n`` It is not fair that the president is choosing to protect big business from ObamaCare , but not hardworking American taxpayers , '' Rep. Marsha Blackburn , R-Tenn. , said on the House floor ahead of the vote .\nShe also said the delay was an admission that `` this is a train wreck , and it is not ready for prime-time . ''\nBut Democrats sharply disagreed , and accused Republicans of wasting time with yet another set of votes against the health care law . Rep. Joseph Crowley , D-N.Y. , said Republicans were n't simply trying to delay the requirements . `` It is their intention to destroy the Affordable Care Act ... to do away with it , to annihilate it entirely , '' Crowley said .\nThe votes marked the 38th time the GOP majority has tried to eliminate , defund or scale back the program since Republicans took control of the House in January 2011 . It is unlikely the Democrat-controlled Senate will advance the latest bills .


A top tech official for the ObamaCare exchanges said just days before the launch of the troubled health law website that people inside the White House were nervous the site would be unavailable after its launch and would be a big embarrassment , ███ has learned .\nA Sept. 25 email chain from HealthCare.gov project manager Henry Chao , obtained by ███ , suggests Obama administration officials had more fears than they let on publicly that the website would have problems before its Oct. 1 launch .\nIn the email to a number of apparent colleagues , Chao suggests the administration should design a more palatable way to tell the public that the website was not working in case it failed after the launch , saying that such a move could help prevent the media from “ just ramping up the hyperbole about hc.gov not [ being ] functional . ”\nThe email refers to a meeting the previous day , Sept. 24 , that included White House Chief Technology Officer Todd Park and CMS chief Marilyn Tavenner .\n“ When Todd Park and Marilyn was ( sic ) here yesterday one of the things Todd conveyed was this fear the WH has about hc.gov being unavailable , ” wrote Chao .\nHe added of Park : “ He will come back again and ask on 9/30 because after knowing him for the past 3+ years I can tell when he will hang on to something for a long time . Todd does have a good point and I think we should have a more comprehensive answer as to how we will ensure high availability . ”\nChao also attached to the email an image of HealthCare.gov saying , “ The system is down at the moment . We ’ re working to resolve the issue as soon as possible . Please try again later . ”\nA White House official tells ███ the “ fear ” referenced in the email refers to warnings that glitches were likely during the rollout , as with any rollout of a major website .\nIn this case , the official added , the glitches they were worried about apparently had to do with high traffic , which did occur . The official said that is “ a good indication that there 's high demand for the product . ”\nThe Obama administration has repeatedly blamed the website ’ s problems on unexpectedly high traffic .\nIn the email , Chao suggested the team should come up with a more palatable way to explain problems with the website so that the media did not pounce .\n“ Can you think about a better way to convey to the public when the site is not available ? ” wrote Chao . “ I am picturing in my mind all the major print and online publications taking screenshots of what is below and just ramping up the hyperbole about hc.gov not [ being ] functional . ”\nPresident Obama told reporters at a Nov. 14 news conference he was never told directly of the problems with the website before its launch .\n“ I was not informed directly that the website would not be working as -- the way it was supposed to , ” he said .


WASHINGTON ( ███ ) - U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said on Sunday he was willing to bring healthcare legislation up for a vote but was waiting for the go-ahead from President Donald Trump , who sent mixed signals last week about a bipartisan bill that would shore up insurance markets .\nSenate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell waits to speak to reporters following a policy luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington , U.S. October 17 , 2017 . ███/Eric Thayer\nThe Republican president said on Oct. 12 that his administration would stop paying billions of dollars in subsidies that help insurers give discounts to low-income households under the Affordable Care Act , or Obamacare . Last week , he praised and then dismissed a bipartisan bill to reinstate the subsidies for two years , until a broader replacement to Obamacare can be negotiated .\nThat legislation , introduced by Republican Senator Lamar Alexander and Democratic Senator Patty Murray , has drawn support from several Republican senators .\nAsked if he would put it up for a vote this week , McConnell , the Senate majority leader , punted to Trump .\n“ What I ’ m waiting for is to hear from President Trump what kind of healthcare bill he might sign , ” McConnell said on CNN ’ s “ State of the Union . ”\n“ If there ’ s a need for some kind of interim step here to stabilize the market , we need a bill the president will actually sign , ” he said . “ I ’ m not certain yet what the president is looking for here , but I ’ ll be happy to bring a bill to the floor if I know President Trump would sign it . ”\nMcConnell said he believed Trump had not made up his mind about short-term legislation that would fall short of his promise for a full repeal and replacement of Obamacare .\nTrump promised during his presidential campaign to get rid of Obamacare , the signature healthcare law of his predecessor , Democrat Barack Obama . However , his fellow Republicans , who control Congress , have failed to do so because of deep party divisions .\nHouse of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan , the top Republican in Congress , opposes the Alexander-Murray bill . With Trump waffling , its chances appeared to dim .\nDemocrats , meanwhile , pushed McConnell to bring the bill to the floor , saying the legislation would prevent insurance premiums from rising sharply .\n“ The president holds the key to preventing premiums from going up . Now that Leader McConnell has made it clear he will put the Murray-Alexander bill on the floor as soon as the president supports it , the president should say that he does , ” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement .\nSchumer told NBC ’ s “ Meet the Press ” all 48 Democrats in the Senate back the bill .


Washington ( CNN ) - President Obama continues to alter his signature promise in selling the Affordable Care Act back in 2009 and 2010 .\n`` If you like your plan , you can keep your plan , '' he said back then .\nBut that simple pledge has had to change as the Affordable Care Act has been implemented and a small percentage of Americans , albeit millions of people , have received cancellation notices from their insurance companies . And for the second time in two weeks , he 's tweaked the line .\nWhen President Obama spoke Monday night to a group of supporters , he said : `` While virtually every insurer is offering new , better plans and competing for these folks ' business , I realize that can be scary for people if you just get some notice like that . ''\n`` If you had or have one of these plans before the Affordable Care Act came into law and you really like that plan , what we said was , you could keep it if has n't changed since the law 's passed , '' added Obama .\n`` You 're grandfathered in , '' although he again noted insurance companies had the power to change it themselves .\nCNN White House Senior Correspondent Jim Acosta asked White House Spokesman Jay Carney on Tuesday if the president could go back , would he `` use the same words again '' and promise Americans they could keep their plans ?\n`` Well , the president , as awesomely powerful as the office is , ca n't go back in time , '' Carney said . `` And what the president is focused on is what we are all focused on which is getting this right for the American people . ''\n`` It is on us , '' Carney later added . `` Let me be clear , I 'm not – I am embracing the responsibility that the administration and that everyone involved in the market place has , to make sure that those individuals are getting the information that they need . ''\nThe President made his comments Monday in an address to Organizing for Action , the pro-Obama group formed from the President 's 2012 re-election campaign .\nEven though some people are getting kicked off existing plans , Obama has argued they 're probably going to get a better deal .\n`` Now , insurers are offering these new options , and they do n't just want to keep their current policyholders ; they want to cover the uninsured , too , '' he told supporters .\n`` And because of the competition between insurers , and the new health care tax credits , most people will be able to buy better plans for the same price or even cheaper than what they 've gotten before . Now , some Americans with higher incomes will pay more on the front end for better insurance with better benefits and better protections that could eventually help them a lot , even if right now they 'd rather be paying less . ''\nHe made similar points at a health care event in Boston last Wednesday .\nThe new line is a far cry from the shorter , bumper sticker ready pledge he made as he sought to calm nerves that health insurance reform would not ruin plans that Americans liked and were comfortable with even though many of those plans did n't cover things like prescription drugs , hospital stays or maternity care .\nIt was n't a one off back in 2009 and 2010 and even later during his 2012 re-election campaign . New York Magazine put together a montage of the very many iterations of it .\nBut it turns out the president did n't have the power to make that pledge . As insurance companies upgrade plans to comply with new Obamacare coverage rules , they are dropping plans for potentially millions of Americans who buy their insurance on the individual health insurance market .\nInsurance companies appear to be doing this for a variety of reasons ; some are pulling all their plans from certain states where they have fewer subscribers in order to save money , others seem to be .\nBack in 2009 , as a White House correspondent for ABC , CNN 's Jake Tapper challenged the president on his promise . And even back then , there appeared to be an asterisk .\n`` Well , no , no , I mean – when I say if you have your plan and you like it and your doctor has a plan , or you have a doctor and you like your doctor that you do n't have to change plans , what I 'm saying is the government is not going to make you change plans under health reform , '' Obama replied .\nAh ... the government is not going to make you change plans . Though the government might impose a situation that would cause a change of plans . So the promise was never quite as presented . And yet the president kept presenting it that way .\nBut that caveat did n't make it into the subsequent campaign speeches that featured the line .\nThe cancellations will not affect most Americans , but they could hurt public support for the law . Just 17 % of Americans said they 'll be better off under the law , but 41 % said it wo n't have much of an effect on them , according to a CNN/ORC International poll conducted in late September , just before the HealthCare.gov website went live . At that time four in ten said they would be worse off under the law .\nThose numbers are similar to a Gallup poll conducted just over a week ago , in which 36 % of Americans said they did n't think that in the long run the Affordable Care Act would make much of a difference to their family 's health care situation . Just over a third said the health care law would make matters worse , and one in four said that Obamacare would make things better .\nRollout of the exchange websites that are supposed to allow Americans without insurance to shop from a selection of plans side-by-side has been troubled , to say the least . The website has been plagued by glitches , crashes , and is currently the subject of a Congressional investigation .\nFrustration with the law and the changes it causes in the health insurance landscape could be temporary growing pains as Americans get used to the reforms . But the frustration is likely to outlast problems with the website as Americans focus more on the cost of plans offered under Obamacare and on the choices available .\nCNN reported Monday on notes from an Obama administration `` war room '' meeting where officials expressed concern that once Americans had access to more information about the plans available , they might experience sticker shock .\nAn architect of the Affordable Care Act , MIT professor Jonathan Gruber , told CNN 's Wolf Blitzer recently that most Americans will benefit from the law as it stabilizes the insurance market , fosters competition and guarantees coverage for almost all Americans .\nMost Americans get insurance from either the government or their employer and wo n't be affected much by the law , he said .\n`` About 5 to 6 percent get it on their and some of them will pay more , the young and health and not poor will pay more to get their health insurance . It 's a lot of people , but its small relative to the people who are going to gain and very small relative to the people who are n't affected , '' added Gruber .\nBut he also ceded that there will be winners and losers as the law is implemented . Some people will pay more and be forced to change their insurance . That 's a small percentage of the country , but a large number of people .\n`` Very very few people have to pay more and not get better insurance . That 's a very small fraction , '' said Gruber . `` Most of the people who will have to pay more will get better insurance than what they had before . ''


Many people think of the right 's Obamacare hatred as an outgrowth of straightforward partisan and ideological truths . Movement conservatives broadly oppose the idea of taxing wealthy people to subsidize the lower and middle classes . They do n't like regulating the private sector very much either . Add in the political incentives they faced to uniformly oppose President Obama 's agenda , the zero Republican votes for the Affordable Care Act , and you 've planted seeds of lasting hostility .\nBut the hostility has become so deeply rooted that it now stands on its own , detached from the ideological and partisan antipathies that gave rise to it .\nIt has forced conservatives to blind themselves to the law 's positive , unobjectionable qualities , and police those within their ranks who dare to acknowledge them .\nTalking Points Memo 's Josh Marshall called this reactionary phenomenon Obamacare McCarthyism . It ensnared Rep. Jack Kingston , R-Ga. , who 's running for Senate in 2014 and had the temerity to suggest that Republicans should n't just idly mock the law when it stumbles . A few years ago , Sen. Mike Enzi , R-Wy0. , said he liked the concept of insurance exchanges -- which are crucial components of GOP-backed Medicare privatization proposals and other conservative reform ideas -- and now a hardline super PAC is using his words against him , as if he 'd called for the creation of a public option .\nBut on the battlefields of partisan warfare , this sort of post-principled contempt , combined with the inception of benefits , has turned the fight over Obamacare from a dispute over first principles , into a culture war , in which signaling matters more than tactical victories .\nThe repeal campaign -- once marked by earnest and sustained efforts to wipe the law off the books -- has all but burned itself out . But the law remains a potent political organizing force -- a rallying cry Republicans believe they can use to channel the right 's Obamacare obsession into voter turnout .\nAn astute friend remarked to me on Tuesday that the GOP 's position on Obamacare is coming to resemble its position on abortion in one key way : loudly , consistently , uniformly opposed , but ultimately not really driven to eliminate it . The backlash they 'd face would be brutal , but they might stand to gain by fighting it on the margins and keeping the issue alive .\nThe comparison holds at a state level too . The most effective Obamacare saboteurs have been GOP governors and legislatures who resisted the opportunity to create their own exchanges and have refused to expand Medicaid with federal dollars , as the law allows .\nMore generally , conservatives are wielding Obamacare the way they wielded culture war issues in the 1990s . The particulars are enormously different , but the political objectives are similar : pick an issue that both unites conservative voters and appeals to the discontent of moderates and use it first and foremost to fracture the Democratic coalition .\nI do n't think they 're going to fracture the Democratic coalition . But I can imagine the issue remaining an effective mobilizing tool for an otherwise agenda-less party through the end of Obama 's presidency .\nOf course , the culture wars of the '90s did n't all unfold the same way . Abortion and gun rights have proven to be more durable polarizing tools than immigration and gay rights .\nMy suspicion is that over time , as Affordable Care Act beneficiaries become friends , neighbors and family members of the law 's most ardent foes , hostilities will wane . The word `` Obamacare '' will have much less unifying power on the right when the law has 30 million beneficiaries than it does with 1 million ; and liberals will protect it from broader attacks on social insurance programs with relish , just as they use conservative Medicare and Social Security privatization proposals to their political benefit .\nBut the bitterness wo n't just disappear . We 're a long way from Southern governors clamoring for the Medicaid expansion , or building their own exchanges , let alone directing their own constituents to enroll on Healthcare.gov . And that 's a huge bummer for uninsured people in those states who hoped Obamacare would work as well for them as it 's likely to work in the rest of the country .


The US has announced a countrywide ban on some e-cigarette flavours amid concerns about vaping among teens .\nThe ban applies to mint and fruit flavours that are offered in cartridge-based e-cigarettes , like the popular pods sold by Juul .\nThe US will continue to allow menthol and tobacco flavours , as well as fruit flavours delivered in other ways .\nThe action has been under consideration for more than a year , with several states passing similar rules .\nSouth Korea , India , Brazil are among the dozens of countries that have announced sweeping vaping bans . Others , like China , have announced restrictions .\nHealth and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said the Trump administration wanted to continue to offer adults an alternative to traditional cigarettes , while responding to concerns about growing addiction to a new product among teens .\n`` By prioritizing enforcement against the products that are most widely used by children , our action today seeks to strike the right public health balance , '' he said .\nFifty-five people have died and more than 2,500 people have been hospitalised with injuries linked to vaping , US health regulators say .\nInvestigators have said they believe vitamin E acetate , which is sometimes added to marijuana vaping products , is playing a role .\nCiting the crisis , President Trump said in September the US would ban all e-cigarette flavours except tobacco , but the administration loosened its position after pushback from the industry .\n`` We have to protect our families . At the same time , it 's a big industry . We want to protect the industry , '' Mr Trump said this week .\nJuul , the biggest e-cigarette company in the US , had already pulled its flavoured pods from the market , but Thursday 's action forces competitors to make a similar move , within 30 days .\nAdvocates for stricter rules have said that teens will switch to menthol if other options are eliminated .\nBut officials said they would take steps against menthol and tobacco flavoured e-cigarettes if the Food and Drug Administration sees that their use among teens is rising .\nThe US also recently raised the age for purchasing tobacco products to 21 . E-cigarettes are also governed by those rules .


In the nine square miles that cover the 73111 ZIP Code in northeast Oklahoma City , there isn ’ t a single grocery store . The last one closed over the summer .\nThere are , however , four dollar stores in the area , where 32 % of the 11,000 residents live below the poverty level—roughly three times the national average .\n“ That ZIP Code is one of the unhealthiest in our city , ” said Oklahoma City Councilwoman Nikki Nice . “ Changing that starts with access to food . ”\nThis week , the City Council is scheduled to hold a public hearing on a plan requiring new retailers in the area to designate at least 500 square feet of space to fresh food . The measure is expected to pass .\nForcing dollar stores to change is one tactic local governments around the country are using to address the lack of access to fresh fruit , vegetables and meat in “ food deserts. ” Cities are also trying to bring in fresh produce by creating zoning allowances or public financing to attract grocery stores .\nOne of Oklahoma City ’ s lowest income areas , ZIP Code 73111 , has four dollar stores but no grocery stores . Officials are considering a measure to require all retailers there to designate some space to fresh food .\nMedian household income Grocery stores Dollar stores $ 20,000 $ 40,000 $ 60,000 $ 80,000 City border 44 ZIP code 73111 OKLAHOMA CITY Downtown 40 35 Will Rogers World Airport 2 miles Median household income Grocery stores Dollar stores $ 20,000 $ 40,000 $ 60,000 $ 80,000 City border 44 OKLAHOMA CITY ZIP code 73111 Downtown 40 35 Will Rogers World Airport 2 miles Median household income Grocery stores Dollar stores $ 20,000 $ 40,000 $ 60,000 $ 80,000 City border 44 OKLAHOMA CITY ZIP code 73111 Downtown 40 35 Will Rogers World Airport 2 miles Median household income $ 20,000 $ 40,000 $ 60,000 $ 80,000 Grocery stores Dollar stores City border OKLAHOMA CITY 44 ZIP code 73111 Downtown 40 35 Will Rogers World Airport 2 miles\nDollar stores , which carry everything from greeting cards to household supplies , sell food but it is often packaged or frozen , like chips , canned soups and frozen meats . Politicians and advocacy groups say the stores ’ presence in—and saturation of—low-income neighborhoods eats into the profits of full-service grocery stores , which have higher overhead , and causes some to close . Dollar stores say they offer a good value for shoppers and never intended to be full-service grocers .\nThe U.S. Department of Agriculture defines food deserts as low-income areas where residents don ’ t live near grocers or other food vendors that carry affordable and nutritious food .\nThe USDA estimates that 39 million people , or 12.8 % of Americans , live in food deserts . Residents of these neighborhoods often must travel significant distances to reach stores with fresh food . Compounding the problem , many don ’ t have reliable means of transportation .\nFrom his house in Oklahoma City ’ s 73111 ZIP Code , an area dotted with suburban neighborhoods and home to the city ’ s sprawling zoo and science museum , Gregory McCauley estimates it takes him more than an hour by bus to get to a grocery store .\nHis 2006 Pontiac G6 doesn ’ t run well , so he limits driving distances to a mile or so and relies on the bus for longer trips .\n“ Most of the time I just go by the little convenience store to get what I can , or the dollar store , ” said the 47-year-old , who works as a cashier at Leo ’ s BBQ , a popular restaurant . He has nothing against dollar stores , saying they provide a service to a community with no other option . But he is also certain that having a supermarket nearby would help him make better dietary choices . “ To get real food , I have to go to a grocery store , ” he said .\nFood deserts have proven a stubborn problem for cities . The Obama administration announced its Healthy Food Financing Initiative in 2010 to help deliver healthy food to communities with inadequate access . But as local governments have taken on the issue in recent years , they have redrawn the battle lines to include dollar stores .\nDollar stores are one of the few bricks-and-mortar stores expanding at a time when online sales have prompted other retailers to close or contract , fueled by low- and middle-income shoppers searching out value and convenience .\nDollar Tree Inc. , which bought Family Dollar in 2015 , and Dollar General Corp. dominate this landscape . The retailers went from operating just over 20,000 stores in 2010 to around 30,000 by the end of the decade .\nDollar General isn ’ t and never intended to be a grocery store , but every store offers its customers essentials such as eggs , milk and bread , said spokeswoman Crystal Ghassemi .\n“ We ’ re proud to serve these communities and to provide them an option , ” Ms. Ghassemi said . By January 2020 , 650 Dollar General locations will sell produce , she added , which is about 4.1 % of the company ’ s 16,000 stores .\nThe company said restrictive zoning ordinances and moratoria weren ’ t the solution to the issues , and those measures would only adversely affect their customers .\nDollar Tree and Family Dollar offer a “ broad range of basic essentials to families at low prices they can afford , ” said a spokesman , and don ’ t intend to be grocery stores .\n“ Dollar stores help alleviate the effects of ‘ food deserts ’ in urban communities by helping serve the underserved , ” the spokesman said . He added that the majority of Dollar Tree and Family Dollar locations are within a few miles of a full-service grocer .\nThe first known local initiative to block new discount stores from opening in proximity to others was in 2016 in Wyandotte County , a part of Kansas City , Kan. That ordinance required a special-use permit to build a small-box variety store within 10,000 feet of another . Three years later , Tulsa , Okla. , passed a similar zoning law .\n“ It seemed like every time dirt was turning in my district , it ended up being another dollar store , ” said Tulsa City Councilor Vanessa Hall-Harper , who championed the effort for more than a year . “ I have never said we don ’ t want any of these dollar stores . I ’ m just saying they ’ re a problem when they ’ re allowed to proliferate in communities . ”\nTulsa ’ s ordinance restricts the opening of new dollar stores within a mile of another in Ms. Hall-Harper ’ s district . To entice grocery stores into the neighborhood , the city also loosened parking requirements for any new supermarket .\nSHARE YOUR THOUGHTS What are some community efforts that could help fill in the gaps of grocery stores ? Join the conversation below .\nOther cities followed suit . In May , the Oklahoma City council placed a 180-day moratorium on new small-box discount stores in the 73111 Zip Code . This month , the city council in Fort Worth , Texas , passed a measure blocking new dollar stores within two miles of another store . Similar rules were enacted in New Orleans and Mesquite , Texas , just outside of Dallas .\nEarlier this year , Birmingham , Ala. , Mayor Randall Woodfin created a “ healthy food overlay district ” as part of an initiative to address the city ’ s outsize food deserts . An estimated 69 % of the population lives in one .\nThe three-pronged effort includes plans to limit dollar stores , loosen restrictions to invite new grocery stores and allow more farmers markets .\n“ We ’ re looking for a comprehensive and strategic approach , ” said Josh Carpenter , the city ’ s director of innovation and economic opportunity . “ There are the short-term repercussions for not being able to cook a healthy meal but also the long-term health consequences for a community that has been deprived of access to healthy food over time . ”\nDollar General has 16,000 stores . An earlier version of this story incorrectly said it had over 14,000 . ( Dec. 15 , 2019 )


“ I think we ’ re overreacting , ” says Chris Mejia-Argueta at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology . “ I am very certain we ’ re not going to run out of food . ”\nIn the food industry , a rapid adjustment to this unprecedented shift in demand is underway . And while some items are in short supply , the prospect of an overall shortage of food is far-fetched , say industry experts . Sure , shoppers may have to substitute brands and food items . But there is still plenty of food to go around , and logistical bottlenecks are easing .\nAs restaurants shut their doors to help slow the spread of COVID-19 , Americans have been shopping more for groceries and eating at home . Everyone has seen the empty supermarket shelves , particularly during the first week of state-ordered lockdowns . Those scenes , coupled with recent reports of dumped crops and milk , have jolted shoppers who fret about food supplies going forward .\nMountains of rotting squash in Florida . Midwest dairy farmers pouring milk down the drain . A South Dakota pork processing plant ordered to shut down after 400 employees tested positive for coronavirus .\nThen there are the empty supermarket shelves where the flour and yeast – and toilet paper – used to be . It ’ s enough to make a shopper worry if there ’ s enough food to go around .\n“ I think the entire American public is getting a lesson in the supply chain , ” says Mike Troy , editorial director of Progressive Grocer . “ I bet they wish they weren ’ t . ”\nThey might especially wish they weren ’ t if they knew , say food supply experts , that the lessons they ’ re getting are likely wrong .\n“ I think we ’ re overreacting , ” says Chris Mejia-Argueta , director of the Food and Retail Operations Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology , referring to reports of disruptions to the food industry . “ I am very certain we ’ re not going to run out of food . ”\nStill , he understands why people may feel anxious if they don ’ t grasp exactly how the food supply chain is adapting to meet the crisis and simply see headlines about rotting vegetables and shuttered slaughterhouses . “ It ’ s human nature to worry about things that are a mystery to us , ” he says . The “ black box ” aspect of the food system “ creates uncertainty . And uncertainty leads to hoarding and fear . ”\nThose feelings were on display last week in a Massachusetts supermarket where a woman wearing a face mask rooted at the back of near-empty shelves of dried beans . She rolled her cart down the aisle , then scooped up a couple dozen cans of black beans , pintos , kidneys .\nMelanie Stetson Freeman/Staff Food supply chain expert Chris Mejia Argueta , director of the Food and Retail Operations Lab at MIT , poses by his home , on April 7 , 2020 , in Cambridge , Massachusetts . He says better understanding of the supply chain can help prevent hoarding .\n“ Emergency beans , ” she told an onlooker . “ Can ’ t have enough . ... Or maybe this is too much ? ” She moved as though to put some back , but then thought better of it , and shrugged . “ Nah . Could be last chance . ”\nTo reduce such uncertainty , says Mr. Mejia-Argueta , “ we have to remember that the episodes we ’ re hearing about are local , and expected . ”\nThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration insists there are no nationwide shortages of food , though inventories may run low in grocery stores before restocking . “ Food production and manufacturing are widely dispersed throughout the U.S. and there are currently no widespread disruptions reported in the supply chain , ” it reported last month .\nNone of which means that grocery shopping will feel normal any time soon . Hoarding should fade as at-home stockpiles have been built . But shoppers may still need to substitute , says Mr. Mejia-Argueta . When a favorite Italian pasta is absent , a store brand will have to do . Instead of Cheerios , we ’ ll eat oatmeal . Substitution helps the supply chain by spreading demand more evenly across a store ’ s stock .\nGrocery retailers and the supply chain as a whole are busy adapting , too . They are figuring out how shoppers respond to variable supplies of items and how much they need to stock and to put on display . And , by knowing in advance what ’ s available from their suppliers , they can use promotions to nudge shoppers to choose some products over others , “ without us even knowing it , ” says Mr. Mejia-Argueta .\nBefore the pandemic , 54 % of U.S. food dollars were spent on meals away from home . Now suppliers are scrambling to redirect food from restaurants and food service to retailers for at-home eating , a sudden and unprecedented shift in consumption .\nTake bacon , for example . Doug Baker , an executive at FMI , the food industry association , points out that “ the 20 pounds of bacon intended for food service may be repackaged under a store brand in 1 pound consumer packages. ” But that doesn ’ t happen overnight .\nLikewise , logistics resources are being diverted into food transport . “ One of the hardest parts now is how to move cargo from its source to where people need it , ” says Mr. Mejia-Argueta . “ More truckers are needed , so truckers are being diverted into the food supply system from other sectors that are momentarily quiet. ” Trucks that used to carry auto parts might now be hauling flour .\nAs a supply-chain scientist , Mr. Mejia-Argueta has looked at what could happen to severely disrupt food production and distribution . The main risks would come from panic purchasing and hoarding , workforce shortages due to illness , and a disaster-case economic crisis .\nEvidence of every one of those worst-case scenarios is already present , but not to any extent deemed threatening .\nGet the Monitor Stories you care about delivered to your inbox . By signing up , you agree to our Privacy Policy\n“ I would tell people , to be honest , that you don ’ t need to worry . The supply chain will be resilient and robust enough to manage this without any issue . We will find a way , ” he says .


Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue maintains a , well , sunny view of the current farm economy . “ I don ’ t think there could have been a better time to be in agriculture than today , I really mean that , ” he recently mused on his podcast , The Sonnyside of the Street . In the latest episode , “ Do Right and Feed Everyone , ” Perdue chatted with veteran farm broadcaster Max Armstrong . “ I ’ m bullish on agriculture—with the diversity , with the opportunity of e-commerce and direct sales , ” Perdue gushed . “ People are still fascinated with the way food is produced ! ”\nArmstrong mostly played along with Perdue ’ s schtick , but at the end of the interview , he pushed back : “ What do you say to that younger operator who entered this industry maybe five , six , seven years ago , and doggone it , things have gotten a lot tougher ? ” Armstrong asked , adding : “ This is long , dark tunnel for them . ”\nThe question wasn ’ t frivolous . Away from Perdue ’ s recording studio , the farm economy is circling the drain . The trade war initiated by Perdue ’ s boss , President Donald Trump , shows no sign of abating . Prices for corn and soybeans—by far the two biggest US crops—hover near or below farmers ’ production costs . Cotton farmers and winemakers are also being slammed by the trade war , and dairy farmers are in the grip of a long and brutal slump . Then there ’ s climate chaos : Record rains in the spring delayed planting through much of the Midwest , and early blizzards slammed the fall harvest . ( Here ’ s a report from the ground I did for Bite podcast . )\nThe Trump administration has responded to its trade mess by essentially parachuting cash into farm country , handing out $ 12 billion to farmers hurt by the trade war in 2018 and another $ 16 billion this year . In 2019 , trade aid and other government programs will account for nearly 40 percent of farmer profits , according to the American Farm Bureau Federation . As trade talks flounder , “ a third round of payments for farmers increasingly is seen as inevitable , particularly if a trade deal with China is not reached soon , ” the Washington Post reported Tuesday , citing anonymous sources within the agriculture department .\nDespite the influx of government cash , conditions are so bad that the farm economy is tanking anyway . Farm bankruptcies spiked 24 percent in September , compared to the same month a year before . With debt loads rising and commodity prices stuck in the mud , conventional agriculture banks are “ placing stricter terms on farm loans and doling out less money , ” the Wall Street Journal reported Monday . As a result , farmers are increasingly turning to “ more lightly regulated entities ” for financing to buy the season ’ s seeds and chemicals . These new-wave banks offer loans with “ interest rates double those of traditional farm banks , ” the Journal added—putting farmers at risk of catastrophic losses if the season goes badly .\nWhile data on farmer suicides are scant , there ’ s evidence of an uptick amid all the debt and bankruptcies . In a wrenching article published this week , the Washington Post ’ s Annie Gowen reported that “ leaders and social workers in rural America say that , anecdotally , they ’ re seeing more ” suicides , and calls to crisis hotlines are rising . Gowen goes on to tell the story of South Dakota ’ s Chris Dykshorn , who , as financial troubles mounted on the corn , soybean , and cattle farm he took over from his father , killed himself this summer at the age of 35 .\n“ What we see happening is what farmers have done over the years—many of them have to have off-farm jobs in order to survive during this period of time , ” Perdue advised . In other words : get a job . In early October , Perdue delivered a similar lecture to struggling dairy farmers at an industry expo : “ In America , the big get bigger and the small go out…I don ’ t think in America we , for any small business , we have a guaranteed income or guaranteed profitability . ”\nCommodity farmers supported Trump overwhelmingly in 2016 , and they ’ ve stuck with him , according to a recent poll . It remains to be seen whether the ongoing crisis , and Perdue ’ s public posturing , will change that .


The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent the views of ███.com .\nLiberals can ’ t be happy with simply ruining the lives of decent conservatives for cheap political gain . They have to ruin hamburgers , too .\nThe burger is the ultimate Normal food , and horrible liberal elitists are trying to screw it up with lame alternative burgers because they are terrible .\nLet me be clear , to quote an awful ex-president : Nothing I write here is open to debate . I ’ m turning the epistemic closure thing back on the libs . It is impossible to disagree with my ground beef rantings , and if you do , you are racist , sexist , and a burgerphobic cisdinner hate criminal of hatred .\nLet ’ s clarify something else . Hamburgers are the King of American Casual Food . You can eat it in a bar , you can eat it in a car . Just don ’ t eat it in some trendy coastal eatery because they ’ ll screw it all up and you ’ ll end up dreaming of a Big Mac .\nSloppy Joes are gross . They are burgers ’ ne ’ er-do-well little brother , 35 and living in the basement nursing emotional damage because mom liked burgers better . And who wouldn ’ t ? Sloppy Joes are orangey muck plopped onto a bun . They provide none of the firm but juicy consistency , or the satisfying interplay of extras and condiments , that make the burger nature ’ s perfect food . They are mere goo and are unworthy of a proud and free people .\nNaturally , artisanal Sloppy Joes are probably about to become a thing .\nHot dogs are likewise terrible – what the hell is a hot dog anyway ? With their troubling shape , unnatural smoothness , and nauseating consistency , the hot dog is a mutant entrée , a devolved sausage without flavor or purpose . You have to waste perfectly good chili – chili that should be in a bowl topped with sour cream in a just universe – just to make a hot dog taste like something .\nEven the name is unappetizing , unless you are Obama . My kid says hot dogs are really tacos because of the bread V , and he makes a good point . Except tacos are tasty and hot dogs are awful .\nEat a burger , like a man , damnit . And don ’ t be a Fredocon and whine about how the bun has gluten .\nMillennial elitist dorks are all about screwing up burgers . “ Gourmet ” burgers , they call them . But they are a sad simulacrum of true burgers , and a crime against nature . The menus of those precious gastropubs that spring up in the gentrified blue coastal urban centers are loaded with “ specialty burgers ” with cutesy names and inane combinations of ingredients . It ’ s sad . Unable to create anything of value , these goateed hipster monsters can only pervert and deform that which is pure and beautiful . A burger is simple goodness . And , as they do with everything else , liberals screw them up .\nA burger requires , at the threshold , good meat . There lies the first problem . This meat must come from a cow . But many of these dorks will try to create a sort of patty from something else , like ( shiver ) vegan pea protein . Note that peas are terrible , and only by putting them on a burger in place of a beef patty can these offensive soft green nuts be made worse .\nThis is an abomination and if you ever encounter one , call an exorcist stat .\nBut the elite can even screw up meat . Somewhere along the line , maybe when the waygu craze started , they decided that soft , tasteless beef with the consistency of wet newspaper was the bomb . You get an $ 18 burger ( I live in LA – air costs $ 1 a breath ) with this fancy meat , and it ’ s like mush . Why is it so hard to make “ good meat ” actually good ?\nBut it ’ s artisanal , which means overpriced and bad . “ Oh , the cow was grass fed and massaged and hugged and it ’ s favorite band was Styx , ” they ’ ll say , like I want to be friends with the damn Dinner Horse . I want to eat it , and I want it to taste like beef . But fancy elitist liberal beef doesn ’ t taste like beef . It tastes like ruined dreams and the Deep Thoughts of Kamala Harris .\nBeef . Normal beef . You can fry it on the grill or cook it over a flame – see , I totally embrace diversity – but it can ’ t be some weird mushpatty . Not if you want a burger instead of some pathetic charade on a bun .\nThe bun . I ’ m open minded . You can do the traditional sesame seed style , or a potato roll . If you want to get kinky , throw it on rye for a patty melt . I will even accept a ciabatta in some cases . But a pretzel bun ? What the hell is that ?\nStop doing horrible things just to try to freak out the squares .\nCheese . Some of you eat burgers without cheese for reasons I can not fathom . This is wrong and you are wrong . But worse than putting no cheese on your burger is putting the wrong cheese on your burger , thereby making it a wrong burger .\nAmerican cheese is the quintessential burger cheese , and the name probably explains why liberals hate it . Cheddar is acceptable . Bleu cheese ? That ’ s borderline – sure , I ’ ve tried it , but who hasn ’ t gone through an experimental phase ?\nSwiss ? Gross . Provolone ? What ’ s wrong with you ? Gruyere ? Now you ’ re just screwing with us .\nThings to put on burgers break down into condiments and other stuff . Optional condiments include mustard and mayonnaise . Not Miracle Whip . I am not even sure what that is . Also , no Sriracha , no guacamole , no BBQ sauce . Mandatory condiments are ketchup and more ketchup . One of a hamburger ’ s key roles is to serve as a ketchup delivery system . There ’ s this one trendy place in LA that will remain nameless and patronless that serves this weird tomato fruit roll-up it calls a “ ketchup leather. ” They got the leather part right . The burger , which hipster doofuses rave about , tastes like an old shoe .\nSpecial sauce aka thousand island dressing aka ketchup + mayonnaise is an acceptable alternative to ketchup . Note that “ ketchup ” does not include “ catsup ” or grody Whole Foods/Trader Joe ’ s “ organic ” ketchup . The only good ketchup is mass-produced stuff you buy in a regular supermarket where they don ’ t sell kale .\nOther stuff . Bacon ? Not my scene but I won ’ t judge . Lettuce ? Eh ? Take it or leave it . Tomatoes ? Yes . Pickles ? Yes . Onions ? Yes , grilled , fresh , or – if you are awesome – both . But nothing weird . No “ tomato jam ” or “ onion chow-chow . ”\nIt ’ s not hard . Don ’ t be weird for the sake of being weird and you ’ ll have a decent burger . Start messing with something that works and you get Obamacare .\nLook . They ’ ve taken Hollywood . They ’ ve taken the media . They ’ ve taken the college campuses . And they ’ ve messed them all up . We can ’ t give up burgers , too .\nMy upcoming book Militant Normals : How Regular Americans Are Rebelling Against the Elite to Reclaim Our Democracy contains no burger recipes , because normal people don ’ t need burger recipes . Normals take meat , throw it on a grill , put it on a bun , put some stuff on it , and eat it like the heroes they are .\nAnd liberals ? They screw up everything they touch . The arts . Academia . Dinner .\nSo , confirm your normality by rejecting burger mutations . And confirm Kavanaugh , too .


Donald Trump is famed for his head-snapping reversals . One day he ’ s taking troops out of the Middle East ; the next he ’ s sending more in . One day he ’ s on the verge of an agreement with China on trade ; the next he ’ s tweeting about holding off until after the election .\nOn one thing , however , Trump and his administration have been clear , consistent , coordinated and relentless : waging a war on the poor . Not a war on poverty but a war on the most vulnerable themselves .\nColumnists In-depth political coverage , sports analysis , entertainment reviews and cultural commentary .\nDespite low unemployment , millions of Americans — the Brookings Institution estimates an astounding 44 % of all workers in the prime working ages of 18-64 — struggle to get by on median wages of little over $ 10 an hour or $ 18,000 a year . The working poor face soaring costs of housing , health care , transportation , utilities and , of course , debt — all rising faster than their wages .\nThe official “ poverty rate ” is far lower than any accounting of the true needs of a family . The National Center for Children in Poverty estimates that the average family needs about twice as much income as the poverty level to meet basic needs .\nCruelly , the Trump response to this is to make it worse . The administration and Republicans in Congress oppose raising the minimum wage and won ’ t even allow a vote on it in the Senate . Now the administration proposes lowering the poverty line over time by pegging the inflation adjustments lower than the actual increase in costs . All programs that help low-wage workers would be affected . The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities projects that 250,000 seniors would get less help in purchasing prescription drugs , 300,000 children would lose health care under the Children ’ s Health Insurance Program ( CHIP ) . This rule combined with others that the administration has imposed will cost literally millions of low-wage workers to face cutbacks in food assistance .\nStudent loan debt is now $ 1.5 trillion , primarily loans taken out by the children of middle- or low-income families trying to better themselves through education . Bernie Sanders , running for president , has pledged to eliminate all student debt , paying for it with taxes on the wealthy , and to make all public colleges tuition free . Elizabeth Warren has joined in a plan to eliminate the debt for most students and make colleges tuition free .\nTrump is reportedly worried that these plans are very popular . His administration is scrambling to respond . One proposal , as the Washington Post reported , is to cap the loans a student could get in relation to their projected income . That ’ s right , the Trump plan may call for reducing student debt by cutting the availability of loans to students — effectively closing the doors to college to the children of middle- and low-income families .\nAdd to this Trump ’ s most recent plan to take $ 2 billion out of the Pell Grant program — which supports college grants to children from families with less than $ 50,000 in income — to pay for sending NASA back to the moon . The maximum Pell Grant once covered nearly 80 % of the cost of tuition , fees , room and board at public four-year college ; now it covers less than 30 % .\nThis is a program that needs more funding , not less .\nTrump , of course , brags on his economy and the low unemployment . He argues — without evidence — that his tax cut is trickling down to workers . What he doesn ’ t realize is that this economy continues to generate jobs that won ’ t support a family . That ’ s why so-called poverty programs — from CHIP to food stamps to public housing to low income heating assistance to Medicaid — are so necessary . They give vital support to low-wage workers who do some of the hardest , most taxing jobs in our country .\nCuts in student aid , cuts in Pell grants , cuts in food stamps , cuts in the poverty level — Trump is putting low wage workers and their families in a box with no way out except down . Our country is paying a very high price for this meanness .


Approximately 6.1 million individuals dropped off the food stamp rolls since President Donald Trump ’ s first full month in office in February 2017 , according to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture ( USDA ) .\nThe USDA data showed that 6,074,074 individuals discontinued their participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program ( SNAP ) between February 2017— when the president completed his first full month in office— and November 2019 .\nHousehold participation in SNAP declined as well , with 2,489,315 households discontinuing SNAP .\nThere are currently 36,223,717 individuals and 18,448,588 households that are participating in SNAP .\nWhen Trump took office , 42,297,791 individuals and 20,937,903 households were enrolled in SNAP .\nTrump recently made it a point in his annual State of the Union address to stress that he helped the poor move off welfare to find jobs with his recent enactment of work requirements .\nUnder these work requirements , which had been enacted at the state level during the Obama years , those between the ages of 18-49 and without children or dependents who receive food stamps for more than three months in a 36-month period must work , go to school , receive job training , or volunteer to receive benefits .\nAnother way the USDA has been trying to keep enrollment in the food stamp program down is through the use of data-mining practices to identify food stamp fraud .\nAccording to a report from the Government Accountability Office ( GAO ) , computer algorithms went through SNAP purchase data in seven states and matched it up with retailer and eligibility data to see if there was fraud .\nIn Mississippi , the state reported $ 2 million in SNAP overpayments since the state started incorporating data-mining into its fraud detection efforts .\nBut the study was limited , as all seven states said high costs , data limitations , and organizational support affected their ability to use more advanced artificial intelligence-gathering techniques to ferret out fraud .\nOther states , however , have done similar things with analytics for different welfare programs at the state level . Utah became one of the first states to modernize its unemployment insurance analytics system in 2006 after spending $ 14 million to overhaul it . In 2015 , the state had one of the lowest fraud rates in the country at 1.3 percent .


U.S. officials turned away a 17-year-old Palestinian incoming Harvard freshman last week after he was questioned about his friends ’ social media posts , according to the Harvard Crimson .\nThe 17-year-old , a resident of Tyre , Lebanon , was deported about eight hours after arriving at Logan International Airport in Boston and said in a written statement obtained by the Crimson that immigration officials questioned him for hours and searched his phone and computer .\nThe teen , whom ███ is not naming because he is a minor , said he was questioned on his religious practices and instructed to unlock his devices , according to the Crimson .\nAfter about five hours , he said , an immigration official “ called me into a room , and she started screaming at me . She said that she found people posting political points of view that oppose the US on my friend [ s ] list , ” according to the Crimson .\n“ I responded that I have no business with such posts and that I did n't like , [ s ] hare or comment on them and told her that I should n't be held responsible for what others post ... I have no single post on my timeline discussing politics , ” he added .\nThe student ’ s visa was then canceled and he was told he would be deported , according to the newspaper .\nIn an email to the Crimson , U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson Michael McCarthy said `` Applicants must demonstrate they are admissible into the U.S. by overcoming ALL grounds of inadmissibility including health-related grounds , criminality , security reasons , public charge , labor certification , illegal entrants and immigration violations , documentation requirements , and miscellaneous grounds . ''\n`` This individual was deemed inadmissible to the United States based on information discovered during the CBP inspection , '' McCarthy added , according to the Crimson .\n███ has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment .\nHarvard said the university is negotiating with immigration officials to resolve the matter before the Sept. 3 start of the fall semester .\nTwo Harvard graduate students were similarly blocked in 2017 under the Trump administration ’ s initial travel ban , although they were eventually allowed into the U.S .\n“ The University is working closely with the student ’ s family and appropriate authorities to resolve this matter so that he can join his classmates in the coming days , ” university spokesperson Jonathan Swain told the Crimson .\nThe student says he is also in touch with AMIDEAST , the nonprofit that awarded him a scholarship to Harvard and that has agreed to provide legal assistance , according to the Crimson .\n“ Visa records are confidential under U.S. law ; therefore , we can not discuss the details of individual visa cases . Generally , visa applicants are continuously screened , both at the time of their application and afterwards , to ensure they remain eligible to travel to the United States , ” a State Department official told ███ .