This week, in the latest of our series on the affordability crisis, Farrah Hassen looks at the rising cost of housing. More Americans were reported homeless last year than any other, Farrah reports, and new research ties rising homelessness to the rising cost of putting a roof over your head.
What can be done? For starters, Farrah says, bring back the pandemic safety net and eviction moratorium. But don’t stop there, she warns — treat housing like a human right with common sense steps like rent control, housing assistance policies, community land trusts, and protections against evictions and discrimination.
Another significant annual expense for many families comes up this time of year: taxes. Not just paying your taxes, but filing your return. Should it really cost hundreds of dollars just to do your civic duty?
This tax season, residents of 12 states will get another option: a free, “TurboTax”-style question-and-answer online filing system launched this year by the IRS. Read Susan Harley’s piece this week to learn if your state is one of them — and see how the experiment could grow if it succeeds this year.
Also this week, Jim Hightower reports on the horrifying historical echoes of Texas’s war on women seeking abortion.
New This Week…
The Rent Is Still Too High | Farrah Hassen
Housing prices are spiraling alongside homelessness. To solve this crisis, we need to recognize housing as a human right.
Free Tax Filing: A Crucial Step Toward Unrigging Our Economy | Susan Harley
This spring, filers in 12 states will get to use a question and answer-based software to file their taxes online, at no cost, through the IRS’s new Direct File tool.
Abortion Ban Extremists Are Using a Slave Law to Repress Women | Jim Hightower
Texas is trying to ban the use of its roads by people seeking care outside the state — and even dispatching right-wing vigilante groups to chase them.
Cartoon: The Most Moral Army | Khalil Bendib
The war in Gaza has set flame to decades of Israeli government PR.
In Case You Missed It…
Poor and Low-Income Voters Are a Sleeping Giant | Sarah Anderson
Politicians pay next to no attention to the concerns of low-income Americans. Advocates want to change that — and maybe the next election, too.
Love the Music, Taylor Swift. But Please Park That Private Jet. | Chuck Collins
The young Swifties I used to shuttle around are now climate advocates. And when it comes to carbon pollution, they need you to sing a new song.
Having a Child Shouldn’t Cause Financial Catastrophe | Lindsay K. Saunders
In the wealthiest country on earth, welcoming a child should be a joy for families — not a financial trauma.
Drug Prices Should Be Controlled | Sonali Kolhatkar
Pharmaceutical companies shouldn’t get to gouge American taxpayers for drugs we paid to develop.
