Welcome to my Substack newsletter. You will get this free newsletter during the week showing you some of the stories the media ignores.
What’s the real poverty line? Don’t put your money on recent viral claims
A recent viral essay claims that a typical household needs $140,000 per year to live. The current official poverty line of $32,000 for a family of four, writes Wall Street portfolio manager Michael W. Green, amounts to “measuring starvation.”
The claim is startling, but economists say it doesn’t add up.
Dr. Jeremy Horpedahl says Green is wrong for three main reasons: He ignores changes and improvements in how poverty is calculated, drastically underestimates how much income Americans have, and dramatically overestimates how much people need to spend on basic items.
Scott Winship with the American Enterprise Institute notes that there are multiple measures of “poverty” done by the federal government. And no matter which one you pick, “far fewer Americans are poor today than in the past.” Click here to read more.
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No Marriage. No Babies. No Future. Will America Reverse Its Downward Trend?
A new report by the Congressional Budget Office shows that, absent immigration, America’s population will begin to shrink by 2030. As we approach the 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding, this projection underscores a hard truth: the collapse of marriage and family life represents the gravest threat to our great nation’s future.
That is why The Heritage Foundation has released the first in a series of special reports on “Saving America by Saving the Family.” The central argument is straightforward. Our country cannot afford to continue ignoring our declining marriage and birth rates, as lawmakers on both the left and the right have done for decades.
The discussion ranges from eliminating all marriage penalties embedded in welfare programs to new tax credits for married families, to offering public honors to couples for every decade they remain married. Click here to read more.
‘Melania’ Director Brett Ratner Gives First Lady ‘All the Credit’ for Documentary’s Opening Weekend Success
Melania documentary director Brett Ratner told Breitbart News in an exclusive interview – hours after the film hit theaters worldwide – that First Lady Melania Trump deserves “all the credit” for the picture’s historic opening weekend success.
Melania is set to haul in more than $8 million in its opening weekend, which would be the best at the box office for a documentary in the last decade. A humble Ratner told Breitbart News via a phone interview Saturday that he gives “all the credit” to the first lady, the film’s subject, for its extremely successful box office performance.
“I have to give all the credit to Melania because this was something that she came up with, even, obviously, before she met me. The fact that she had hired a feature director like myself to do a documentary was very surprising, and for me as well. But she said to me from day one, I want this to be very cinematic. Click here to read more.
Biggest revelations from final Epstein documents include lavish gifts to top Obama lawyer
Never-before-seen emails were included in the newly-released Jeffrey Epstein case files on Friday.
The emails from the U.S. Justice Department files show the convicted sex criminal gave former Obama White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler luxury gifts, including a Hermes-branded Apple Watch, a $9,400 Hermes handbag, and a spa treatment package at the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington, D.C.
Correspondence between Washington Commanders and Philadelphia 76ers owner Josh Harris and Epstein were included in the latest files released.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Harris had correspondence with Epstein after his guilty plea in 2008 for solicitation of prostitution with a minor, but prior to his arrest on child sex trafficking charges in 2019. Click here to read more.
New SNAP work requirements kick in for more states Feb. 1: What to know
New work requirements are expanding across more states Sunday for SNAP, the nation’s largest federal assistance program.
Starting today, adults between the ages of 18 and 64 without dependent children must work, participate in employment and training programs, or volunteer at least 80 hours per month to be eligible to receive SNAP benefits. Those who do not meet the requirement can receive benefits for only three months within a three-year period.
The new requirements expand work rules to additional groups that were previously exempt, including adults ages 55 to 64 and parents with children ages 14 or older. The law also eliminates prior exemptions for veterans, homeless people and individuals ages 18 to 24 who were in foster care when they turned 18, according to federal guidance. Click here to read more.
