March 3, 2016: School Funding Cuts Are What You Wanted, Aren’t They?
1. “Full Text of SB2043.” Illinois General Assembly. February 19, 2016. http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09900SB2043gms&GA=99&SessionId=88&DocTypeId=SB&LegID=90587&DocNum=2043&GAID=13&Session=, retrieved March 2, 2016.
2. “Chicago State University Announces Potential Layoffs if State Fails to Fund Public Universities.” Chicago State University. http://www.csu.edu/news/layoffs.htm, retrieved February 28, 2016.
3. Eric Schultz. “Press Gaggle by Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz En Route Atlanta, Georgia.” The White House. Office of the Press Secretary. March 10, 2015. https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/03/10/press-gaggle-deputy-press-secretary-eric-schultz-en-route-atlanta-georgi, retrieved March 2, 2016.
4. “Civic Federation Proposes Comprehensive Plan to Stabilize Illinois Finances by End of FY2019.” Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability at the Civic Federation. February 11, 2015. https://www.civicfed.org/press-room/iifs/RoadmapFY2017RELEASE, retrieved March 3, 2016.
5. Dabrowski, Ted. “Government-Worker Pensions Take Away Funding Meant for Students.” Illinois Policy. February 27, 2016. https://www.illinoispolicy.org/government-worker-pensions-take-away-funding-meant-for-students/, retrieved February 28, 2016.
6. Dick Durbin. “As Rising Student Loan Debt Nears $1.2 trillion, Durbin Introduces Legislation To Address Crisis.” Dick Durbin. March 12, 2015. http://www.durbin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/as-rising-student-loan-debt-nears-12-trillion-durbin-introduces-legislation-to-address-crisis-, retrieved March 2, 2016.
7. “Bill Status of SB2043.” Illinois General Assembly. http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/billstatus.asp?DocNum=2043&GAID=13&GA=99&DocTypeID=SB&LegID=90587&SessionID=88, retrieved March 2, 2016.
8. “99th General Assembly. State of Illinois. 2015 and 2016. HB4268.” Illinois General Assembly. http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=&SessionId=88&GA= 99&DocTypeId=HB&DocNum=4268&GAID=13&LegID=92126&SpecSess=&Session=, retrieved March 2, 2016.
March 9, 2015: Black People Tricked by Party’s Immigration Plans
1. “Advancing Economic Opportunity and Mobility.” The White House. December 15, 2015. p. 22. https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2017/assets/fact_sheets/ Advancing%20Economic%20Opportunity%20and%20Mobility.pdf, pp. 22-23, retrieved March 6, 2016.
2. “Raise the Wage Act Fact Sheet.” U.S. House of Representatives. Committee on Education and Workforce Democrats. May 2015. p. 2. http://democrats.edworkforce.house.gov/sites/democrats.edworkforce.house.gov/files/Raise%20the%20Wage%20Act%20Fact%20Sheet%20-%20May%202015.pdf, retrieved March 8, 2016.
3. Yvette D. Clarke. “Congresswoman Clarke Commends New York City Laws to Prevent Deportations.” November 17, 2014. https://clarke.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congresswoman-clarke-commends-new-york-city-laws-to-prevent-deportations, retrieved March 6, 2016.
4. “Immigration Reform.” America’s Congressional Black Caucus. https://cbc-butterfield.house.gov/about/cbc-taskforces/immigration-reform, retrieved March 23, 2016.
5. “114th Congress First Session Year in Review.” Congressional Black Caucus. March 4, 2016. p. 9. https://cbc-butterfield.house.gov/sites/congressionalblackcaucus.house.gov/files/2015_CBC_Year_In_Review%28FINAL%29.pdf, retrieved March 5, 2016.
6. Kelly Ayotte. “Ayotte: Watchdog Report Finds Billions Wasted on Tax Refund Fraud.” Kelly Ayotte. December 10, 2014. http://www.ayotte.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=1677, retrieved March 9, 2016.
7. Sam Johnson. “Sam Johnson Scores Four Victories Against IRS Amnesty Tax “Refunds” and Wrongfully Imprisoned Individuals.” Sam Johnson. December 17, 2015. http://samjohnson.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=398063, retrieved March 9, 2016.
8. “Portman Urges Administration to Prevent Voter Fraud Resulting from Executive Orders on Immigration.” Rob Portman February 11, 2015. http://www.portman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=B7D5D795-91D8-4DB5-8768-AB82EF69DDDE, retrieved March 5, 2016.
9. “NVRA Related Documents.” United States Election Assistance Commission http://www.eac.gov/national_voter_registration_act/related_documents.aspx, retrieved March 8, 2016.
10. “50 Years After the Voting Rights Act, We Still Have Work to Do.” The White House. August 6, 2015. https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2015/08/06/50-years-after-voting-rights-act-we-still-have-work-do, retrieved March 7, 2016.
11. Ibid.
Photo credit: “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 1963.” Photograph by Abbie Rowe. National Park Service Photograph. Retrieved from http://www.nps.gov/nr/feature/mlk/tribute.htm on March 7, 2016.
March 17, 2016: 15 People More Important Than the Next President We Elect
1. “FACT SHEET: Middle Class Economics Rewarding Hard Work by Restoring Overtime Pay.” The White House. June 30, 2015. https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/06/30/fact-sheet-middle-class-economics-rewarding-hard-work-restoring-overtime, retrieved March 16, 2016.
2. “McConnell On Supreme Court Nomination.” Mitch McConnell. March 16, 2016. http://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=50492600-6758-4FC2-928D-302FAB54BEA8&ContentType_id=C19BC7A5-2BB9-4A73-B2AB-3C1B5191A72B&Group_id=0fd6ddca-6a05-4b26-8710-a0b7b59a8f1f, retrieved March 16, 2016.
3. “If Paying to Work Doesn’t Sound Right, That’s Because It’s Not. U.S. Department of Labor Blog. Promotion & Protecting Opportunity. March 10, 2016. http://blog.dol.gov/2016/03/10/if-paying-to-work-doesnt-sound-right-thats-because-its-not/, retrieved March 15, 2016.
4. “Statement by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan On a Legislative Proposal in South Carolina to Block Implementation of the Common Core Academic Standards.” U.S. Department of Education. February 23, 2012. http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/statement-us-secretary-education-arne-duncan-4, retrieved March 15, 2015.
Photo credit: Souza, Pete. “The President Meets with his Cabinet.” The White House. retrieved March 17, 2016 from https://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/photos/president-meets-with-his-cabinet.
March 20, 2016: Republican Dishonesty, Wall Street Greed Are the Same
1. Souza, Pete. “HSS Ryan.” The White House. https://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/photos/hss-ryan, retrieved March 20, 2016.
2. “Watch Speaker Ryan’s Remarks on Terrorism & Freedom of Religion.” Paul Ryan. Speaker of the House. December 8, 2015. http://www.speaker.gov/video/watch-speaker-ryan-s-remarks-terrorism-freedom-religion, retrieved March 20, 2015.
3. Ibid.
4. “Senate Set to Continue Accomplishments Under the New Majority.” Mitch McConnell. March 10, 2016. http://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=1F2B2FBB-9CF0-4311-8967-475DE9126D0D&ContentType_id=C19BC7A5-2BB9-4A73-B2AB-3C1B5191A72B&Group_id=0fd6ddca-6a05-4b26-8710-a0b7b59a8f1f, retrieved March 20, 2016.
March 25, 2016: Majority of Muslims are Good People, Even Terrorists?
1. “FACT SHEET: Enhancing the Fairness and Effectiveness of the Criminal Justice System.” The White House. July 14, 2015. https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/07/14/fact-sheet-enhancing-fairness-and-effectiveness-criminal-justice-system, retrieved March 24, 2015.
2. Tanya Somanader. “Live Update: The Terrorist Attacks in Brussels.” The White House. March 23, 2016. https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2016/03/22/live-update-mornings-attacks-brussels, retrieved March 23, 2016.
3. Ibid.
4. “Backgrounder: The President’s Quotes on Islam.” Remarks by President George W. Bush in a statement to reporters during a meeting with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan. The Oval Office, Washington, DC. November 13, 2002. The White House. President George W. Bush. http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/infocus/ramadan/islam.html, retrieved March 23, 2016.
5. “Reid Remarks On The GOP, Donald Trump And The Future of American Politics.” Harry Reid. March 17, 2016. http://www.reid.senate.gov/press_releases/2016-03-17-reid-remarks-on-the-gop-donald-trump-and-the-future-of-american-politics#.VvNPIkcvYSk, retrieved March 23, 2016.
March 29, 2016: When is Stealing From the Government a Crime? It Depends.
1. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. “Existing Compliance Processes Will Not Reduce the Billions of Dollars in Improper Earned Income Tax Credit and Additional Child Tax Credit Payments.” September 29, 2014. Highlights. Treasury.gov https://www.treasury.gov/tigta/auditreports/2014reports/201440093fr.pdf, retrieved March 22, 2016.
2. “Chairman Becerra: HR 4722 Changes the Rules for the Child Tax Credit and Unfairly Punishes Tax-Filing Immigrant Families.” The House Democrats. March 16, 2016. http://www.dems.gov/chairman-becerra-hr-4722-changes-rules-child-tax-credit-unfairly-punishes-tax-filing-immigrant-families/, retrieved March 22, 2016.
3. “Ten Facts about the Child Tax Credit.” IRS February 10, 2011. https://www.irs.gov/uac/Ten-Facts-about-the-Child-Tax-Credit, retrieved March 27, 2016.
4. “Lofgren statement on Republican hearing on ending birthright citizenship.” Zoe Lofgren. April 29, 2015. https://lofgren.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397917, retrieved March 27, 2016.
5. “Preventing Potentially Billions of Dollars in ID Theft Tax Refund Fraud.” WATCHBLOG. U.S. Government Accountability Office. January 26, 2016. http://blog.gao.gov/2016/01/26/preventing-potentially-billions-of-dollars-in-id-theft-tax-refund-fraud/, retrieved March 28, 2016.
6. “Vitter Introduces Legislation to Stop Illegal Immigrants from Receiving Obamacare, Tuition Tax Credits.” David Vitter. July 30, 2014. http://www.vitter.senate.gov/newsroom/press/vitter-introduces-legislation-to-stop-illegal-immigrants-from-receiving-obamacare-tuition-tax-credits, retrieved March 27, 2016.
7. “PATIENT PROTECTION AND AFFORDABLE CARE ACT. CMS Should Act to Strengthen Enrollment Controls and Manage Fraud Risk.” March 17, 2015. p. 8.
8. “PATIENT PROTECTION AND AFFORDABLE CARE ACT: CMS Should Act to Strengthen Enrollment Controls and Manage Fraud Risk.” February 23, 2016. Highlights: What GAO Found.
9. “Federal Welfare Fraud Conviction Results in Prison Sentence and Deportation of Muhammad Dalalli.” The FBI. Federal Bureau of Investigation. July 14, 2015. https://www.fbi.gov/detroit/press-releases/2015/federal-welfare-fraud-conviction-results-in-prison-sentence-and-deportation-of-muhammad-dalalli, retrieved March 27, 2016.
10. “Ocean City Man Sentenced For Immigration Fraud.” The United States Attorney’s Office. District of Maryland. February 26, 2014. https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/pr/ocean-city-man-sentenced-immigration-fraud, retrieved March 27, 2016.
11. “Remarks by the President in Address to the Nation on Immigration.” The White House. November 20, 2014. https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/11/20/remarks-president-address-nation-immigration, retrieved March 27, 2016.
Photo: “Operation Bullfighter nets 19 arrests for drug trafficking and money laundering.” “ICE dismantles major transnational drug trafficking, money laundering organization.” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. February 1, 2015. https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-dismantles-major-transnational-drug-trafficking-money-laundering-organization, retrieved March 27, 2016.
March 31, 2016: Vote for These 8 Things to Prove You are a Fool
Aerial photo of Capitol Building by Amy Davis. “George Washington Memorial Parkway.” U.S. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved from http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/byways/Uploads/asset_files/000/004/584/Picture_114.jpg, retrieved March 31, 2016.