Ending Hunger and Poverty

  By Craig Gilbert  Washington — While citing some areas of common ground, Democrats reacted with general skepticism to the anti-poverty agenda unveiled by House budget chairman Paul Ryan of Janesville on Thursday. One big reason: their deep disdain for the House budgets Ryan has crafted in recent years, which they view as punitive toward the… Read more »

I urge my Wisconsin colleague to continue the dialogue on the most effective ways to eradicate poverty. However, if we are going to have a real impact in the lives of our constituents, we need to change the conversation. Our poverty programs are not broken. They should be strengthened, not diminished. Read more »

Gun violence is a plague that steals the lives of far too many in our community. Each time we lose a life, our hearts break and the violence continues. We must all work together, on the local, state and federal levels, to thwart these crimes. Read more »

We cannot allow the Supreme Court of the United States, congressional gridlock or state legislatures to undo what our civil rights leaders have built. Congress must come together and pass a strengthened Voting Rights Act. Read more »

  By Reilly Dowd   It is the unemployment version of the national debt clock. On this “Witness Wednesday,” the number ticked up to 3,095,023 long-term unemployed Americans during an event Republicans consider a publicity stunt but Democrats see as central to their midterm message. The rising tally is of the number of those cut off from emergency… Read more »

  WASHINGTON, June 11 -- The Center for Effective Government (formerly OMB Watch) issued the following news release: Starting today and running until July 30, leaders and advocates from a wide range of backgrounds will gather weekly on the House Triangle in Washington, DC at 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time for "Witness Wednesdays." There, they will read the stories of… Read more »

   Much like the early 1990s, when Minnesota took a leadership role in efforts to pass the Violence Against Women Act, the state’s work to combat sex trafficking is serving as a national model. Thanks to the bipartisan work of Democrat Amy Klobuchar in the U.S. Senate and Republican Erik Paulsen in the U.S. House, there may soon be federal legislation in place to… Read more »

 By Congresswoman Gwen Moore   As the school year winds down, millions of children across our nation are thinking about their summers and eagerly anticipating the last bell. Yet, for many low-income families, the end of the school year also means the end of access to school lunch and breakfast programs. In a nation where almost 16 million children live in households… Read more »

  By Jack Craver After sparking a flurry of controversy in March with remarks that suggested that poverty in America’s inner-cities was due in part to people who lacked an appreciation for work, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Janesville, has made a point of conveying interest and compassion for the country’s poor, particularly in minority communities. As part of… Read more »

  By Pema Levy  Should we keep anti-poverty programs? Or should we cut them? That was the underlying question at a contentious event Wednesday that pitted Republicans’ belief that the government’s effort to help the poor are hurting them against Democrats defending the worth of federal anti-poverty programs. Representative Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin,… Read more »