Crackdown on Immigrants Who Use Public Benefits Takes Effect

ANITA SNOW / The Associated Press Feb 24, 2020 Droves of immigrants, including citizens and legal residents, drop social services out of fear they will be kicked out of the U.S. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Food Stamps Saved My Life

Sherry Brennan / OtherWords Dec 11, 2019 As a kid, the SNAP program helped me eat, study and succeed as an adult. Americans today deserve the same investment. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

A Crash Course on How to Handle Homelessness

By Joel Bellman Nov 15, 2019 Here’s why previous efforts haven’t worked, and what to do instead, from an education gleaned in the streets of Los Angeles. Dig deeper ( 12 Min. Read )

California Parents of 13 Plead Guilty to Torture and Abuse

AMY TAXIN / The Associated Press Feb 22, 2019 David and Louise Turpin will spend at least 25 years in prison each. The children had described being beaten, starved and put in cages. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Trump Again Seeks to Cut Energy Aid to Those in Need

DAVID SHARP / The Associated Press Feb 18, 2018 “If the president ... did away with that funding, I have no idea how we’d survive in the winter,” says a Maine diabetic who is on disability after losing part of a foot to infection. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

The Next Big Fight (Video)

Robert Reich / Truthdig Jan 31, 2018 Fresh off passing massive tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy, Republicans want to use the deficit they’ve created to justify huge cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

American Perceptions of Social Programs Are Result of Longtime Racist Political Strategy (Video)

Eric Ortiz / Truthdig Apr 12, 2016 The ruling class of America has been effective at labeling anti-poverty programs as a black phenomenon, even though the majority of people who benefit from government assistance are white. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Where Do Happy People Live?

Staff / Truthdig Sep 26, 2013 An author claims countries with effective social programs and labor unions harbor content citizens; Pope Francis excommunicates a Catholic priest for favoring gay rights; and can you count how many lies Obama told in his U.N. speech? These discoveries and more after the jump. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Poverty Damages the Mind

Staff / Truthdig Aug 31, 2013 There is a strong connection between scarce resources and cognition: The more a person struggles financially, the less he or she can channel brain processes to completing other tasks. When you can't make ends meet, the weight of worry occupies a large portion of the mind. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Ryan’s Budget Is Good for the Rich, Bad for Everyone Else

Tracy Bloom / Truthdig Mar 13, 2013 Rep. Paul Ryan has figured out a way to balance the budget: Give corporations and wealthy people tax breaks they don't need while aggressively cutting health and social programs that middle and lower-income Americans do. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Your Guide to the Sequestration Horrors

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Feb 23, 2013 On March 1, the $85 billion collection of budget cuts known as the sequester could wipe out federal programs at such varied places as national parks, the Pentagon and the FBI. Hidden among those cuts are reductions in services that are crucial to Americans' everyday lives -- education, health care and jobs. The Guardian tells us what to expect. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

‘Left, Right & Center’: One Fiscal Cliff Down, Boehner, and Al Gore’s Big Payday

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Jan 5, 2013 Truthdig Editor-in-Chief Robert Scheer and the other "Left, Right & Center" panelists consider the fiscal cliff deal and the issues it left untouched: the debt ceiling and the threat of “reform” to social services. They also dissect the re-election of John Boehner as speaker of the House as well as the FTC’s decision on Google and antitrust and anti-competition laws. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )