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PI Original
by Aricka Flowers
4:43pm
Fri Jun 7

The PI Week In Review

Week In Review

The week that was in Illinois and national news and politics (June 3, 2013 - June 7, 2013).

Quick Hit
by Ellyn Fortino
4:38pm
Fri Jun 7

Half Of America’s Seniors Have Dangerously Low Incomes, New Report Shows

Nearly half of the country’s senior citizens are economically vulnerable, a new report from the Economic Policy Institute finds.

About 19.9 million, or 48 percent, of America’s seniors have incomes that are less than two times the supplemental poverty line, according to the report.

Jo Reed, director of the Elder Economic Security Initiative at Wider Opportunities for Women, said it is often poorly understood just how economically vulnerable older adults are, particularly women and people of color. Senior debt levels are also reaching record levels, she explained.

“We want to call attention to this reality, and based on this do everything we can to ensure that there are programs and policies in place that bolster the economic security for our elderly,” Reed said.

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PI Original
by Ashlee Rezin
3:59pm
Fri Jun 7

Walmart Workers Call For A Living Wage, Better Work Conditions (VIDEO)

Labor

When Larry Born’s privately-owned retail business closed its doors during the recession in 2009, he sought employment at Walmart. He said he didn’t know it at the time, but he walked into a “predatory employer” that pays “slave wages.” Born was one of nearly 100 people who protested outside Chicago’s Walmart Express store, at 570 West Monroe St., to demand better wages and improved working conditions for the employees of the world’s largest retailer.

Quick Hit
by Ellyn Fortino
12:45pm
Fri Jun 7

House Amendment Could Lead To Deportation of DREAMers, Immigrant Advocates Say

The U.S. House passed an amendment Thursday that looks to cut off funding necessary for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to process Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) applications.

U.S. Rep. Steve King (R-IA) is the main sponsor of the amendment, which would be attached to the larger 2014 Department of Homeland Security spending bill. 

The amendment passed the full House by a 224-201 vote. No Illinois House Republicans voted against the measure.

Lawrence Benito, CEO of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR), said King "is probably the most anti-immigrant congressman in the country."

"For people to align themselves with him and his drastic view on immigration, particularly in a time when Republicans simply just need to remember what happened last November, they are going to be an extinct party if they continue with this level of anti-immigrant behavior," he stressed.

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Quick Hit
by Ashlee Rezin
10:11am
Fri Jun 7
1 comment

Consumer Advocates Say Payday Lending Worsens Debt, Call For Federal Ban

Consumer advocates are calling for a ban on all types of payday lending, saying that without regulatory federal laws, millions of borrowers charged triple-digit annual percentage rates (APR) will continue to be trapped in never-ending cycles of debt.

“Payday lenders destroy wealth in the middle class,” said Robert Lawless, co-director of the University of Illinois Program on Law, Behavior and Social Science.

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