Food Stamp Cuts could Hurt South Fla. Families

South Florida Democrat Alcee Hastings and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus are decrying a massive cut to food stamps that takes place tonight. House Republicans want even deeper reductions.

According to politicians and nutritional experts, losing $10 a month per person in a low income household in south Florida could have catastrophic impacts. That $10 is being lopped off food assistance locally because Congress is allowing a $5 billion cut to the program nationally. 

Congressman Alcee Hastings says the repercussion's will be lasting.

“All of the evidence points to the health of children being connected with the food that they receive in the early stages of their life”, warned Hastings.

Hastings says the cuts don't make sense in an already wobbly recovery.

"It really pumps money back into the economy and I’ve never understood the resistance to it”, said Hastings.

Meanwhile House Republicans are pushing legislation to cut just under $40 billion from the program over a decade. They say too many people have become dependent on the program.

Via: WGCU

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Congressional Black Caucus chairwoman sees 'outstanding' opening on Syria

The chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus said the United States should move with “all due speed” to see if a Russian-led diplomatic solution to the standoff over Syria’s possession of chemical weapons is a credible offer.

“I think that it is outstanding,” Rep. Marcia Fudge, Ohio Democrat, said of the diplomatic opening in an interview with CNN.

While President Obama plans to push his case to the American public late Tuesday for a military strike to punish Syrian President Bashar Assad for an Aug. 21 chemical attack near Damascus, officials in Syria said Tuesday they will accept Russia’s plan and put their chemical stockpiles into international control.

The White House and members of the Senate have indicated they will explore the diplomatic option, yet with a heavy dose of skepticism about Syria’s motives.

“So I’m hopeful, certainly, that this is something that will move forward,” Ms. Fudge told CNN.

Ms. Fudge said she had advised members of the caucus to limit their comments on the Syrian conflict because they should have a full stock of information about the situation before they weigh in. She does not have a vote count of where caucus members stand on a possible strike.

“We have not taken any kind of poll, no whip,” she said.

Via: Washington Times

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CBC Chairman: ‘We Cannot Even Find an Instance of Voter Fraud’

(CNSNews.com) - Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Emmanuel Cleaver said Thursday “we cannot even find an instance of voter fraud,” but a Justice Department fact sheet tells a different story.

“We’ve had 176 restrictive bills regarding voting laws that have been proposed in 41 states. Now understand that we cannot even find an instance of voter fraud. In the last 20-something years, the Justice Department has investigated like two,” Cleaver said during a panel discussion on voter ID laws.

However, according to a Justice Department fact sheet dated July 2, 2008, over 140 individuals have been charged with election fraud offenses and over 100 people have been convicted of voter fraud since the Attorney General’s Ballot Access and Voting Integrity Initiative was launched in 2002.

Cleaver claimed that the voting public has been under attack since 2011.

“We never would have predicted in the 1970s or in the 1980s that in the year 2011 that we would be fighting an attempt to suppress or discourage minority voting power,” he said.

Via: CNS News

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