By the Center for American Progress’ Alexandra Cawthorne

Aging Americans, like other age groups, are feeling the effects of the declining real estate and stock markets, as well as soaring fuel and food prices. Seniors’ economic security will only increase in importance as the U.S. population ages. The nation’s health and social services resources will face unprecedented demand as 75 million people in the baby boomer generation reach retirement age—some with eroded savings and retirement accounts.
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From the Center for American Progress:

The Senate is currently considering legislation (S. 3355/H.R. 6049) that would expand the Child Tax Credit to provide assistance to a greater number of low-income families, helping them to cope with the growing financial challenges associated with the current economy.
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From the Center for American Progress

How Does the Child Tax Credit Work?

The Child Tax Credit provides tax-based assistance to families with children. Families can claim up to $1,000 for each child, reducing the amount they owe in taxes, and under certain circumstances, increasing the amount of their yearly tax refund. The CTC provides families with additional funds that can help them cope with the rising costs of maintaining a household and raising children. Yet due to the way the credit is structured, low-income families are more likely than middle-income families to be denied the full benefits of the credit.
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By the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights’ Jon Jackson

The federal minimum wage rose to $6.55 on July 24, giving more than 2 million workers a few more dollars in their paychecks.

The wage increase is the second part of the three-phase Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007. The final increase will be next year, when the minimum wage goes up again to $7.25 an hour.
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On July 23 in Houston, over a hundred people joined former Senator John Edwards and local elected officials for an ACORN-sponsored round-table discussion and press conference focusing on the mortgage and foreclosure crisis and what can be done to help Texas families. Texas has been plagued by extremely high foreclosure rates – with over 50,000 new foreclosure filings this year. ACORN has offered a number of proposals to help staunch the mortgage crisis, including better regulation of mortgage brokers, slowing down the foreclosure process, and increased mediation and counseling prior to the purchase of a home. The event combined policy ideas such as these with personal testimonials, emphasizing the broad impact of foreclosures and the need to take action now.

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Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa , joined by former Senator John Edwards, and ACORN members ( check whether there are other specific allies who need to be mentioned here ) announced a new $100 million revolving loan fund for affordable housing construction. The announcement followed a roundtable discussion on the affordable housing crunch in Los Angeles –a problem that touches both renters and homeowners. Mayor Villaraigosa, Senator Edwards, and other elected officials heard testimony from ACORN members including Alvin Clavon, a South L.A. resident at risk of foreclosure; Donna Rodriguez, a middle income renter whose housing costs amount to half her income; and Sonya Renee, a Section 8 tenant who was evicted when her landlord stopped accepting housing vouchers.

Over 1,100 faith groups, labor groups, service providers, and advocacy groups are urging Congress to take needed action and expand the Child Tax Credit. Currently, the Child Tax Credit is denied to millions of American children because they are too poor. Reducing the minimum earnings requirement from $12,050 per year to $8,500 per year will make almost 3 million more children eligible for the credit, and increase the amount of the credit for over 10 million more.
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Dozens of grassroots community organizations gathered at the Hartford Boys and Girls Club, along with Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez, Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz, and a number of state legislators. Over 120 people attended a roundtable discussion and press conference in support of an increase in the Connecticut minimum wage – recently raised by the state legislature, which overrode Governor Jodi Rell’s veto. Later in the day in Bridgeport, over 250 residents and local elected officials took part in an event at the site of a new residential development, highlighting the need for more affordable housing in the area. Speaking to reporters, Marilyn Ondrasik, the executive director of the Bridgeport Child Advocacy Coalition, said that, “Addressing poverty needs to start right here, right now.”

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Minimum wage activists joined together on July 11 in Newark to help launch New Jersey’s Raise the Wage campaign. The state’s Minimum Wage Advisory Commission led by Governor Jon Corzine’s labor commissioner has called for substantially increasing New Jersey’s minimum wage and adjusting each year based on the cost of living so that it does not fall in value again. The Raise the Wage coalition, led by the National Employment Law Project and New Jersey Policy Perspective and made up of over 20 advocacy groups, community organizations, and workers groups, echoed the Advisory Commission’s recommendations. It is calling for increasing New Jersey’s minimum wage to at least $8.50 per hour and adjusting it each year so that it keeps up with the rapidly rising cost of food, gas and necessities.

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By the Center for American Progress’ Joy Moses

Yesterday, President Bush signed a war spending bill that includes a much-needed extension of unemployment benefits for millions of long-term unemployed Americans. This is welcome news for the 3.2 million jobless workers that the Congressional Budget Office had previously estimated would exhaust their regular unemployment benefits in 2008-09. The news is particularly welcome since the Department of Labor reported that May saw the largest increase in unemployment in over 20 years, from 5.0 percent in April to 5.5 percent in May.
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