WADE RATHKE is the founder of ACORN, Chief Organizer at ACORN International, and Author of "Nuts & Bolts", "Citizen Wealth", "Global Grassroots", and "The Battle for the 9th Ward".
San Juan There was something to celebrate on the first day of a new decade. President Trump for only the second time in his term of office did NOT tweet. What a relief! The other time was the day after the Mueller investigation report was made public. This time, who knows? He may have been …
New Orleans An internet application that would allow food stamp recipients participating in SNAP, or Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program as the government calls it now, seems like a great idea. A Brooklyn-based startup called Propel created an app that allows recipients to check on their smartphones and see how much of their benefits they have …
New Orleans Talking to Steve Early, labor journalist and activist, recently on Wade’s World about the debate over the value of global leverage in organizing drives by the UAW at Volkswagen and CWA at T-Mobile, got me looking around for other examples of organizations grabbing global handles to increase the pressure in their campaigns. One …
New Orleans We’re way across the line now. The place where we could have just shrugged and said it’s all just politics was many miles ago. I’m not sure what it is but the Republicans have plain and simply declared war on the poor. It’s not just that they can’t stand them. It’s gone …
Dallas There was some good news for citizen wealth during the recession and it can be found in the increased utilization of the food stamp program, which is now called SNAP standing for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The raw numbers tell the story. On the eve of the recession in 2007, the government was spending …