Monthly Archives: November 2017

November 28, 2017. According to this article, the Congressional Budget Office report, released Sunday, finds that the Senate tax overhaul bill harms the poorest Americans even more than originally thought. That’s partly because of the provision to eliminate the federal insurance mandate, which the CBO said would lead to as many as 13 million Americans becoming uninsured and losing federal subsidies to help them buy insurance. Ron Deutsch, with the liberal leaning think tank Fiscal Policy Institute, also believes that the poor won’t fare well [...]

November 2, 2017. On Election Day, New York’s voters will have their first opportunity in 20 years to call for a state constitutional convention via ballot proposition. Nearly 100 Capital District voters packed the auditorium at the Guilderland Public Library last Tuesday night for a panel discussion titled “Would New York State Benefit from a Constitutional Convention?” The event, co-presented by the League of Women Voters of Albany County and the Women’s Press Club of New York State, was moderated by Susan Arbetter, host of [...]

November 16, 2017. This article discusses the termination of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) by the Trump administration, which effects over 40,000 young individuals. The administration announced that October 5, 2017 would be the cutoff deadline for renewal applications and that new applications would no longer be accepted. Under DACA, young individuals had work authorization and protection from deportation. On November 1, there was a forum discussion hosted by City & State New York at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, that FPI's director of immigration [...]

November 16, 2017. Progressive advocates and lawmakers are ramping up efforts to block a Republican tax bill that would end SALT deductions and give cuts to wealthy Americans. A new ad released this week by the group Not One Penny is putting the pressure on GOP members of Congress who have yet to take a firm stand on the bill. The state teacher's union has signed on to this campaign and with us in studio to talk more about this is NYSUT Political Action Coordinator [...]

November 14, 2017. On November 6, 2017, the Trump Administration announced that they were not extending the Temporary Protective Status of individuals from Nicaragua, and that the status for Honduras is currently under consideration. Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a status given to individuals from countries experiencing armed conflict, natural disasters, epidemics and other temporary conditions that prevents the safe return of their citizens. This status provides work authorization and protection from deportation to individuals. Rep Joaquin Castro claimed in a tweet that the United States [...]

November 13, 2017. In this op-ed by Karthick Ramakrishnan, he argues that New York is behind California, Connecticut, Illinois, and Washington, in regards to immigration policies that protect immigrants and help economic growth. He goes on to argue that Governor Cuomo, who is seeking his third term, has a weak immigration record and if he plans to run in the 2020 presidential election, he needs to change that in order to win votes. Ramakrishnan argues that Governor Cuomo could enact many of the proposed policies [...]

November 1, 2017. This article, which was also featured on the front page of The New York Times, tells the story of Gam Aung, a refugee from Burma that started his own sushi counters. Although he has not finished high school and not yet mastered the English language, he lives what he calls the “American Dream.” Many may not know that their sushi is in fact made by people from Burma, and assume the makers are Japanese. This article also highlights the success story of [...]