When Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at the March on Washington, he described a “fierce urgency of now.” He reminded a divided nation that we need one another, and that we are stronger when we march forward, together. “We cannot walk alone,” he said. “And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back.” A half century later, Dr. King’s words still have great meaning and life.
Tax day is right around the corner, but some low-income New Mexico families will not file a return because they do not owe any income tax or are not getting a refund for taxes that were withheld from their earnings. That can be a big mistake. Many such families may qualify for refundable tax credits. “Refundable” means that working families can file and receive the credit even if they earn too little to pay taxes and/or are not getting a refund for taxes that were withheld from their earnings.
The question to raise the city’s minimum wage will be on the ballot for the November 6th general election. While this in itself is a victory, there is still a lot of work and education to be done before election day. Opponents have caused great confusion about how a minimum wage increase would affect employment. The fact is, it would create jobs.
After much anticipation, the Supreme Court ruled to uphold the Affordable Care Act (ACA)—otherwise known as ObamaCare—by a 5-4 decision. While there is great confusion among the public about what the ACA will do to our nation’s health care delivery system, one easy way to understand the law is this: The ACA makes health insurance companies play fair. No more denying you coverage because of pre-existing conditions; no more dropping your coverage when you get sick; no more billing you into bankruptcy; and no more annual or lifetime limits—just to mention a few of the many benefits.
Both budget proposals claim to balance the federal budget within 10 years, however, a new report released by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) shows that while Ryan’s budget reduces the deficit over the short term, it increases it over the long term. The CPC’s budget does the opposite.
The number of children experiencing homelessness in New Mexico is growing fast. We have 16,260 homeless children—that’s enough kids to fill The Pit, UNM’s basketball arena. These children are often hungry, frequently sick, and always fearful of what each new day may bring. They never know how long they’ll stay in one place and many of them suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder or other emotional problems. They live in a world basically invisible to most of us. They have no power and no voice to be heard by the policy-makers who could help.
Even as he paints a drab picture of the American health care system, Daschle was also optimistic about Americans’ future and what we can all do to address health care costs in this country. He emphasized that the issue is "emotional, very, very difficult and extremely challenging. What we do know is that we can’t afford to fail to fix the problems because at the current rate it is unsustainable.”
The debt ceiling deal recently reached by the White House and Congress has some negative consequences for current and future college students who rely on some forms of federal financial aid to help pay educational costs. According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, the debt deal cut overall financial aid funding by $4.6 billion through 2021. This will increase costs for students by nearly $7.4 billion from 2012 through 2016.
If you’re one of those folks trying to balance a job while getting a college education, filing your federal income tax forms probably hasn’t been a huge priority. But there is still time to file and there are several reasons students should file – even if they owe no income tax.