House looks at cutting food stamp funding
WASHINGTON – The House is expected to consider a bill this week that would cut food stamps by an estimated $4 billion annually and allow states to put broad new work requirements in place for recipients.
The legislation also would end government waivers that have allowed able-bodied adults who don’t have dependents to receive food stamps indefinitely.
The vote comes after the House defeated a wide-ranging farm bill in June because many conservatives believed the cuts to the nearly $80 billion-a-year food stamp program weren’t high enough. That bill would have made around $2 billion a year in cuts.
One in seven Americans use food stamps, now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and the cost of the program has more than doubled in the last five years.
Obama warns GOP on economic recovery
WASHINGTON – In a blistering warning to congressional Republicans, President Barack Obama said Monday it would be the “height of irresponsibility” for lawmakers to cause a new economic crisis just five years after the near-collapse of the nation’s financial system.
“I cannot remember a time when one faction of one party promises economic chaos if it can’t get 100 percent of what it wants,” Obama said, contending that the stance of some conservative lawmakers amounts to just that.
Some of those Republicans say they will vote to extend current spending levels or to increase the nation’s debt ceiling only if Obama delays putting in place his health-care law, a condition Obama has rejected.
Slavery reparations sought from nations
KINGSTON, Jamaica – Politicians, lawyers and academics are gathering to advance a united effort by more than a dozen Caribbean nations to seek slavery reparations from three European nations.
The regional conference in St. Vincent is the first major step at advancing the reparations effort since the Caribbean Community organization announced it in July. Representatives from all the 15 member nations and territories are attending the gathering.
St. Vincent Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves told attendees Monday that the matter of reparations is a “fundamental, defining matter of our age.”
U.S., Cuba discussing new direct mail service
HAVANA – U.S. and Cuban representatives are discussing the possibility of re-establishing direct mail service during talks in Havana.
The American delegation is being led by Lea Emerson, executive director for international postal affairs at the U.S. Postal Service. The delegation also includes State Department officials.
They are meeting with counterparts from Cuba’s postal agency and Foreign Ministry.
The goal is to hammer out details of a pilot program to directly transport mail between the two countries after a five-decade hiatus.
Associated Press
