Dollars & Sense articles from November 1996

Dollars & Sense archives from November 1996

Good health for sale. (drug firms edging out doctors)
November 1, 1996... You're feeling a little peckish perhaps, some indefinable malaise of the intestinal tract or maybe it's the thyroid gland. So you're surfing around for distraction and, suddenly there it is - Claritin! The commercial doesn't say what it does, but...

The Dole tax cut. (drawbacks of Bob Dole's proposed tax cut scheme)
November 1, 1996... "The stakes this election? Keeping more of what you earn. That's what Bob Dole's tax cut plan is all about. The Dole Plan starts with a 15% tax cut for working Americans. That's $1,600 more for the typical family. A $500-per-child tax credit....

Cereal-aisle wars. (cereal prices)
November 1, 1996... Wondering why cereal prices took a nose dive this summer? Cereal - mostly name brands such as Kellogg's Mueslix and General Mills' Honey Nut Cheerios - is what America loves to eat. People in 37% of households stumble out of bed to eat bowls of...

Trashing recycling: the new face of anti-environmentalism. (anti-recycling)
November 1, 1996... The crisis is over. You can relax, stop recycling, and throw it all in the trash. In fact, you'll save money and help the environment if you do. Or so you learned, if you read (and believed) the New York Times magazine on June 30. Staff writer...

Supermarket buyout mania. (grocery industry mergers)
November 1, 1996... One day last summer I walked into my favorite local supermarket, the Purity Supreme in Medford, Massachusetts. But the shelves were half empty, and there were signs saying the store would be closing in a few days. Along with shoppers like me,...

Farewell to welfare: but not to poverty. (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families)
November 1, 1996... Welfare as we knew it is gone. What is in it's place? A federal mandate to states to force poor mothers into the low-wage labor market anyway they see fit. What is not in place, however, is sufficient funding, guarantees or even incentives to...

Once upon a time: a brief history of welfare.
November 1, 1996... Perhaps the most powerful rhetoric in the recent welfare reform debate is the call for an end to "dependency." What could possibly be worse than depending on the government in a country built on the myth of pulling oneself up by one's bootstraps?...

Welfare wisdom. (evils of Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act)
November 1, 1996... SCAPEGOATING IMMIGRANTS In the game "Mad Libs," children call out nouns, verbs, adjectives, names, etc., to fill in the blanks of a pre-written story. Since the kids don't know the story when they supply the words, the game yields nonsensical...

Feminists and the welfare debate: too little? too late?
November 1, 1996... Of the 100 people who showed up at the National Organization for Women rally at the White House protesting President Clinton's decision to sign the new welfare law, many wore little yellow cards pinned to their lapels reading "SHAME." "SHAME,...

A 12-step program for recovery from welfare reform.
November 1, 1996... Hi. My name is Ann and I'm in recovery from the Welfare Reform Struggle. What else can I do now that the Appeasement Democrats have capitulated to the Right and ended "welfare as we know it"? For the past two years, I've felt out of control...

The return of slavery: lessons from workfare in New York City. (effects of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act)
November 1, 1996... This is a true case. Evelyn is a 25-year old single mother of two children ages five and seven. She lives in Brooklyn, New York. She has a GED diploma and has worked temporary jobs as a cashier and a waitress. She has been receiving $577 monthly...

Welfare by trial and error. (interview with Steven Savner of the Center for Law and Social Policy on the bright prospects of the new welfare law)(Interview)
November 1, 1996... The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) in Washington D.C. has been in the eye of the welfare storm, analyzing how states have used federal waivers to change their own welfare systems to determine what might happen under the new law. D&S...

Beyond 'skills': job training that works. (Project QUEST)
November 1, 1996... In San Antonio, Texas, "Stacey Richards" is out of work. The 33-year-old mother has not managed to hold a full-time job for more than two weeks at a time, and her home life makes it hard for her to stay in school. She picks up her husband from...

Under Attack, Fighting Back: Women and Welfare in the United States.
November 1, 1996... The litany has become all too familiar: incumbent politicians prattle about "ending welfare dependency" while aspiring representatives resurrect hoary myths linking hard work and salvation. Meanwhile, feminist scholars and progressive economists...

Rents out of reach. (unaffordable housing)
November 1, 1996... Just out of a shelter for homeless families, Harriet and her two young children live in an unsubsidized two-bedroom apartment in Chicago. Her entire monthly income consists of a welfare allotment of $377, plus $129 in Food Stamps and whatever...