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off the charts
POLICY INSIGHT
BEYOND THE NUMBERS

In Case You Missed It...

| By CBPP

This week on Off the Charts, we focused on SNAP (formerly food stamps), the economy, state budgets and taxes, housing policy, Social Security, and health reform.

  • On SNAP, we excerpted Stacy Dean’s statement on new data showing the number of Americans having trouble affording adequate food.
  • On the economy, Chad Stone explained that today’s disappointing jobs report shows that the labor market continues to improve only at a glacial pace.  We also highlighted Jared Bernstein’s New York Times Economix blog on the struggles of low-income workers.
  • On state budgets and taxes, Chris Mai noted that local education jobs grew in August but remain well below pre-recession levels.  Nicholas Johnson busted the myths around replacing a state’s income tax with a bigger sales tax.
  • On housing policy, Will Fischer noted that tax reform offers the opportunity to rebalance federal housing subsidies to better align spending with need.
  • On Social Security, Kathy Ruffing explained that Social Security disability benefits are hard to get, even during recessions.
  • On health reform, Jesse Cross-Call unveiled our new website with an in-depth guide to major health reform provisions.

In other news, we released statements by Chad Stone on the August jobs report and by Stacy Dean on the new Agriculture Department report on “food insecurity.” We also revised our paper on how states should react to recent income tax revenue growth and updated our backgrounder on the number of weeks of unemployment benefits available in each state.

A variety of news outlets featured CBPP’s work and experts recently.  Here are some highlights:

This is Why Food Stamp Reliance Has Exploded
The New Republic
September 5, 2013

This chart shows why $270 billion in housing aid hasn’t solved homelessness
Washington Post, Wonkblog
September 4, 2013

On the Edge of Poverty, at the Center of a Debate on Food Stamps
New York Times
September 4, 2013

U.S. households still going hungry
Politico
September 4, 2013

Food Stamp Cuts Could Bite Food Makers
Wall Street Journal
August 30, 2013