Category: Poverty
Economics, Local concerns, Poverty
Don’t leave money on the table. Get an $800 TABOR refund, even if you don’t have enough taxable income to file a state tax return!
by 3 Comments
• •People who lack enough taxable income to file a state tax return may still be able to get an $800 TABOR refund this year, but if you want to get it, you have to tell the state Department of Revenue (DOR) where to find you. You do that by filing a state tax return.
Most poor or retired people don’t file tax returns because they don’t have enough taxable income (like wages or tips), but many people who could really use that $800 may not get it because they didn’t file.
Don’t leave money on the table!
Charter schools, Cody Davis, Democrats, Elections, Good things about Mesa County, Grassroots advocacy, Housing, Human rights, Immigration, Local concerns, politics, Poverty, Worker advocacy
Former CMU Professor Tom Acker to run against Cody Davis for County Commissioner
by 7 Comments
• •A Democrat has joined the race against Cody Davis for Mesa County Commissioner. Tom Acker is currently the only Democrat running for local office in Mesa County.
Acker was a professor of Spanish language at CMU for two decades. He is now a retired professor emeritus, an honorary title conferred upon him for his distinguished service to the academic community. He is a founding member of the award-winning Hispanic Affairs Project.
Originally from the east coast, in the 1980s Acker worked with refugees from the Mariel Boatlift, after over 125,000 Cubans piled into boats and headed for Florida after the Cuban government announced that anyone who wanted to leave the country was free to do so.
While he lived in Pennsylvania, Acker worked with a federally-funded agency to help farmers interact with agriculture workers.
Activism, Grassroots advocacy, Homelessness, Housing, Human rights, Local concerns, Poverty, Social Justice
United Way to host Poverty Immersion Experience to increase understanding of what life is like for people living in poverty in Mesa County
by 4 Comments
• •
The Poverty Immersion Experience allows participants to spend a simulated month in the life of an individual who is experiencing poverty in Mesa County. It is an interactive event that promotes awareness of poverty in Mesa County, increases understanding of people facing poverty situations and that will inspire local change. The intent is to shift the belief and paradigm about poverty from being seen as a personal failure or character flaw to the understanding that poverty is a systemic and societal issue.
The experience offers a unique opportunity to step into the shoes of a low-income family, navigating life with limited resources, while providing for their children and accessing essential community services.
Children, Consumer advocacy, Education, Ethics, Poverty
District-51 fails to opt in to new statewide program offering free meals to all students
by 18 Comments
• •On November 8, 2022, Colorado passed Proposition FF, a ballot measure to provide free meals to all public school students. The measure, called the Healthy School Meals for All Program, was referred to the ballot by the state Legislature and passed by a healthy margin of 57-43%. The measure generates funds by limiting state tax deductions for people earning over $300,000/year, and is set to raise more than $100 million/year. The program will reimburse participating school districts to provide free meals to all students and will provide grants for Districts to purchase local food. According to the Healthy School Meals for All FAQ guide, there is also an option for participating districts to provide wage increases or stipends to front-line staff who assist with the program.
Crazy Republicans, Democracy, Economics, Extremism, Fake patriotism, Health, Health care, Insurance, politics, Poverty, Public health, Trump Insanity
Rep. Tipton votes to cut Medicaid, CHIP
by 4 Comments
• •On February 6, 2020 House Rep. Scott Tipton voted in favor of cutting funding for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), federal programs that cover poor children, pregnant women, the elderly and disabled people with health insurance who could not otherwise afford it.
Tipton voted “no” on House Resolution 826 (HR-826), a measure brought by Democrats that condemned Trump’s cuts to the federal safety net programs that protect Americans who have fallen on hard times.
Taking away health insurance
More than one million children have lost Medicaid and CHIP health insurance coverage under President Trump, and over 750,000 adults have lost Medicaid coverage. Trump’s latest budget calls for even more cuts to Medicaid and the and Affordable Care Act, and it includes deep cuts to Social Security and Medicare, while extending tax cuts for wealthy people, despite his promise he would not touch Social Security or Medicare.
Democracy, Economics, Ethics, Human rights, politics, Poverty, Weird Grand Junction Stuff
City Council may be staring down the barrel of another ACLU lawsuit over criminalizing homelessness
by 2 Comments
• •On the same night that Grand Junction City Council will consider adopting an inclusiveness proclamation that says the City “desires to ensure that the human rights of all citizens are protected,” council will also vote on whether to amend city code to ban camping on public property, which will effectively criminalize a homeless population who has nowhere else to go.
That’s the view of the ALCU of Colorado, which has taken a great interest in the proposed change to city code, and considers it another attempt by Grand Junction to target homeless people and criminalize them.
Crazy Republicans, Democracy, Economics, Embarrassing Republicans, Ethics, Fake patriotism, Intolerance, politics, Poverty, Stupid Republicans, Trump Insanity
Lessons from the Shutdown
by 7 Comments
• •Donald Trump just put America through the longest federal government shutdown in history, single-handedly keeping over 800,000 federal workers from being paid for over a month, hobbling law enforcement agencies and airport security, blocking immigration proceedings, causing delays in airline flights across the country, forcing hundreds of thousands of people into having to make hard decisions between paying their mortgages, buying their medicine or feeding their kids.
In the end, neither Mr. Trump nor the country gained anything at all from this exercise, but we did learn some important lessons from it.
Activism, Consumer advocacy, Democracy, Diversity, Elections, Energy, Environment, Equal rights, Grassroots advocacy, Health care, Human rights, politics, Poverty, Separation of Church and State
FREE Progressive Family Picnic Sept. 1 features gubernatorial candidate Jared Polis
by 4 Comments
• •Attend a FREE political event to celebrate the increasing power of liberals and progressives on the western slope! Come to the Progressive Family Picnic on Saturday, September 1 at the Watson Island Amphitheater from 1:00 – 5:00 p.m. The event is 100% free, no admission, open to all. It celebrates workers and families, so pack a picnic, and bring your family! Come enjoy the grassy amphitheater behind the Botanical Gardens beside the Colorado River at the end of 7th Street in downtown Grand Junction. There will be free live music and even parking is free. The event is sponsored by Claudette Konola and Kennedy for Colorado. Chris Kennedy, who is running for State Senate District 7 against Ray Scott, will be there and Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Jared Polis will be there to share his bold ideas for the future and meet western slopers in person.
Tell your friends you’ll meet them there! There’s room for 1,000 people!
Activism, Consumer advocacy, Economics, Ethics, Grand Junction Chamber, New marijuana economy, Poverty, Weird Grand Junction Stuff
Local business owners want “a Chamber for the rest of us”
by 1 Comment
• •Two small business owners in Grand Junction are fed up and ready to start a new organization that will do what they thought the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce was supposed to do: boost small local businesses and improve life in town for those struggling at the lower end of the income scale.
Shawn Carr, a technology specialist who owns GJ Computer Center, and Billy Jacobs, owner of XZRT Gaming on Orchard Mesa, say the Grand Junction Area Chamber falls far short of providing local small businesses what they really need.
To illustrate this, Shawn tells how he recently attended a Chamber event billed as a way for businesses to promote themselves to other businesses. He brought a pocket full of business cards to the event, but when he got there found every booth but one represented a national or international conglomerate based outside of town. He ended up handing out only one business card, and walked away thinking it’s time someone did better than this.
Children, Economics, Elections, Hunger, Poverty
Number of Mesa County Children in Extreme Poverty has Skyrocketed under Republican County Commissioners
by 15 Comments
• •When was the last time a Mesa County Commissioner or a state-level elected official from Mesa County gave a public statement about the skyrocketing number of families and children suffering from extreme poverty in our county, or proposed possible solutions to the problem?
That’s right. Never.
Consumer advocacy, Economics, Equal rights, Ethics, Extremism, Health care, Human rights, politics, Poverty, Women, Worker advocacy
Reality Check: Does Your Political Affiliation Match Your Best Interests?
by 4 Comments
• •Here’s a question for Mesa County workers:
When was the last time your political party helped make your life better?
If you can’t think of anything, there’s a reason.
The dominant political party in our area has long been the Republican Party, but if you work for a salary or hourly wage, or have a small business, are registered as a Republican and think the Republican party has your best interests at heart, think again.
Consumer advocacy, Diane Schwenke, Economics, Grand Junction Chamber, Lies, Lobbying, politics, Poverty, Propaganda, Stupid Republicans, Worker advocacy
Why We Need to Question the Chamber’s “Experts”
by 9 Comments
• •The Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce is working hard to defeat Amendment 70, which would raise Colorado’s minimum wage to $12 and hour by 2020. Part of its opposition involves chamber president Diane Schwenke running TV ads against the measure in which the chamber claims “90,000 Colorado jobs” would be lost if the measure passes.
Who is “Dr. Fruits”?
The chamber’s “90,000-jobs-lost” figure comes from “Eric Fruits,” of “Economics International Corps.” Fruits is a part time economic consultant who works out of his home and also works part time as an adjunct professor at Portland State University (PSU).
Adjunct professors, also called “contingent professors,” are not tenured. They are typically low-paid, part-time contract workers who rank below “assistant” and “associate” professors. Adjuncts typically don’t receive any health insurance or other benefits through their workplace and are often paid less than pet sitters.
Consumer advocacy, Diane Schwenke, Economics, Elections, Ethics, Grand Junction Chamber, Hunger, politics, Poverty, Propaganda, Stupid Republicans, Worker advocacy
Costco vs. Sam’s Club: Busting the G.J. Chamber’s Minimum Wage Myths
by 11 Comments
• •Colorado’s Amendment 70, if it passes this November, will gradually raise the state’s minimum wage to $12.00 an hour by 2020. Some people wonder, if we pay people a higher minimum wage, where will the money come from?
The money comes from either a businesses’ profits, or its debts. But raising the minimum wage doesn’t necessarily mean customers will pay higher prices for goods and services. To the contrary, a number of real-life examples show that rock-bottom pay and benefits don’t necessarily translate into lower prices. In fact, stingy wages often prove even more costly.
Advertising, Corporations, Diane Schwenke, Economics, Elections, Grand Junction Chamber, Poverty
G.J. Chamber Runs TV Ads Opposing Increase in Colorado’s Minimum Wage
by 4 Comments
• •Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce President Diane Schwenke has been appearing on TV in ads opposing Amendment 70, which would increase in Colorado’s minimum wage to $12 and hour by 2020. The western slope has among the lowest per capita income in the state (pdf), and among the highest rates of homelessness, poverty, suicide and hunger. The ads reinforce the chamber’s longstanding reputation of opposing the best interests of area workers and their families, and continues its long-standing record of lobbying to keep area wages extraordinarily low compared to the rest of the state. The ads also reinforce the chamber’s image as an elite club that lobbies for wealthy business owners and out-of-state member corporations, while neglecting the needs of the rest of the community.
Fruits?
Ethics, Food, Grassroots advocacy, Health, Human rights, Hunger, Poverty
An Answer to City Market’s Huge Amount of Food Waste
by 1 Comment
• •
San Francisco has successfully addressed the problem of excessive food waste from restaurants and grocery stores — of the same type that we are still seeing here in Grand Junction, specifically with City Market’s tremendous waste of food daily from its hot delis.
A nonprofit organization called Food Runners collects extra hot food from markets and restaurants left over at closing time, and brings it to local foster homes, food pantries and homeless shelters where it feeds hungry people and is greatly appreciated. It’s simple, and there is no liability for the providers of the food.
Why can’t this happen here?
Diane Schwenke, Economics, Ethics, Grand Junction Chamber, politics, Poverty, Propaganda, Stupid Republicans, Worker advocacy
Western Slope Workers’ Public Enemy #1: The Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce
by 8 Comments
• •On August 1, 2016 the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce announced its opposition to a ballot initiative to raise Colorado’s minimum wage to $12/hour. The main reason the chamber gives for opposing the higher wage is a claim by Economics International Corporation — a company located in Portland, Oregon — that raising the minimum wage in Colorado will put 90,000 Coloradans out of work, mostly younger people.
Consider the Source
So who is “Economics International Corporation”?
It is a one-person consultancy run by a man named Eric Fruits, who hires himself out as an expert witness in economics and statistics. The official registered business location of Economics International Corporation is “4318 NE Royal Court, Portland, Oregon 97213,” a four bedroom, three bathroom home. Fruits is the sole registered officer, agent, president and secretary of the corporation.
Fruits specializes in “litigation support” for businesses, meaning he hires himself out to say whatever his paymasters need him to say, much like independent scientists did for the tobacco industry in the 1970s-1990s.
Consumer advocacy, Democracy, Ethics, Fake patriotism, Hunger, politics, Poverty, Public health, Stupid Republicans
Mesa County Blocks Access to Food Assistance Program, Loses Out on Critical Economic Benefits
by 11 Comments
• •Half of Mesa County residents who are eligible for food stamps get them, while the other half who apply are routinely turned away.
Rose Pugliese, the Mesa County Commissioner who leads the Department of Human Services (DHS) commission in charge of managing food stamp programs in Mesa County, has picked nasty public fights with county DHS management (video) and follows her predecessor, Janet Rowland, in trying to restrict Mesa County residents from participating in federal food assistance programs.