Summary: <h3 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(46,46,46); background-color: rgb(255,255,255);">20<sup>th</sup> Anniversary of Clinton’s War Against the Poor</h3><br> <p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px; color: rgb(46,46,46); font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; background-color: rgb(255,255,255);">It’s been 20 years since President Bill Clinton and the U.S. Congress destroyed “welfare as we knew it” by replacing Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) with the “workfare” regime called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). The result, said<span style="font-weight: 700;">Maureen Taylor</span>, chairperson of the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization, is growing poverty in the United States. Taylor says TANF should be changed to DANF, standing for “<em>Disappearing</em> Aid for Needy Families.” Residents of Michigan are only eligible for cash assistance for five years in their lifetimes. It’s a shame, said Taylor, how the political class is “turning, not against poverty, but trying to turn the nation against poor folks.”</p><h3 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(46,46,46); background-color: rgb(255,255,255);">Judge Finds Way to Avoid Ordering Hep C Cure for Mumia</h3><br> <p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px; color: rgb(46,46,46); font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; background-color: rgb(255,255,255);">A federal judge agreed that it is unconstitutional for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections to deny curative medical treatment to <span style="font-weight: 700;">Mumia Abu Jamal</span> and thousands of other prisoners suffering from Hepatitis C. However, the court then ruled that Abu Jamal’s suit was technically flawed. <span style="font-weight: 700;">Noelle Hanrahan</span>, a director of Prison Radio who works closely with Mumia, was outraged that the state has condemned thousands of prisoners to early and unnecessary deaths. “You can’t construct a situation that is more grossly inhumane,” she said.</p><br> <p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px; color: rgb(46,46,46); font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; background-color: rgb(255,255,255);">Abu Jamal, the nation’s best known political prisoner, was more upbeat about the ruling. “It’s a good beginning that a federal judge recognizes that what the Commonwealth is doing, and has been doing for years, is not only unjust but unconstitutional, a violation of fundamental fairness and the human right to life,” he said.</p><h3 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(46,46,46); background-color: rgb(255,255,255);">Clinton and Trump Fear TV Debate with Stein and Johnson</h3><br> <p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px; color: rgb(46,46,46); font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; background-color: rgb(255,255,255);">“Our view is that if you have the potential for 270 Electoral College votes -- if you are on enough ballots to achieve that -- then you should be in the debate,” said <span style="font-weight: 700;">Kevin Zeese</span>, the veteran activist recently named as senior advisor to the Green Party’s Jill Stein-Ajamu Baraka presidential ticket. Zeese notes that polls show half the American public wants the televised debates open to Stein and Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party candidate. However, the debates are a joint venture of the Democratic and Republican parties, who call the shots. “It’s a disgrace to democracy,” said Zeese, “that they can choose who they will debate.”</p><h3 style=""></h3>
