humanity
Humanity topics include pieces on the real lives of politicians, legislators, activists, women in politics and the everyday voter.
The Buyout Trap. AI-Generated.
Why Cashing Out a Family's Safety Net Solves the Wrong Problem — and What to Do Instead The Family Support Buyout is seductive precisely because it's built on a true observation: government spends enormous, fragmented sums on poor families while those families remain cash-poor and administratively exhausted. That diagnosis is correct. The prescribed cure — discount the package, hand the family cash, and let them walk away from the underlying programs — is where the argument quietly stops being about efficiency and starts creating a new set of problems, several of which are worse than the ones it claims to solve. A reform can be right about the disease and wrong about the treatment. This is that case.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast2 months ago in The Swamp
The Case Against Converting Support Into Unconditional Cash. AI-Generated.
The strongest case for reforming the current system begins with an accurate diagnosis of its failures and ends with a refusal to replace those failures with a more durable form of dependence. The present architecture spends large sums around low-income families while leaving many of those families cash-poor, time-constrained, and trapped by benefit cliffs. That diagnosis is correct. The proposed remedy—converting a discounted share of existing ordinary non-medical expenditures into direct, largely unconditional family payments—solves the immediate administrative and cash-margin problems while creating stronger long-term incentives against work, production, and eventual exit from public support. A system that already struggles to maintain a sufficient productive base cannot afford a reform whose primary effect is to make non-work more stable and more attractive for the households that already generate the highest public costs.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast2 months ago in The Swamp
The Case For Direct Family Payments. AI-Generated.
The strongest fiscal and family policy available to governments that already spend large sums supporting households with children is to convert a discounted share of that spending into direct, controllable cash. When the state is already prepared to expend tens of thousands of dollars per year on a given family through child-care subsidies, nutrition programs, housing assistance, refundable credits, disability-related caregiving authorizations, and the administrative machinery that operates them, offering the family sixty to seventy-five percent of that total as unrestricted income while retaining the remainder as taxpayer savings produces three simultaneous results: lower overall public expenditure, greater household autonomy, and a reduction in the bureaucratic overhead required to police multiple restricted channels. The arrangement is especially coherent for households that have already demonstrated limited earning capacity and high need—families with young children, multiple children, or children whose care demands exceed ordinary parental obligations.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast2 months ago in The Swamp
Stop Spending More to Keep Families Poor. AI-Generated.
American social policy contains a contradiction that becomes hard to defend once the full ledger is placed on the table. Government can spend tens of thousands of dollars a year supporting a low-income family through child-care subsidies, food programs, housing assistance, cash aid, refundable tax credits, disability-related caregiving authorizations, and the case-management systems that administer all of it — while the family itself continues living with almost no financial margin. The household is officially poor, dependent on half a dozen agencies, unable to save, and one unexpected bill away from crisis. Meanwhile taxpayers may already be spending enough on that family's behalf to give it a substantially higher standard of living, if even a discounted share of that spending were handed to the family directly.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast2 months ago in The Swamp
Stop Spending More to Keep Families Poor. AI-Generated.
American social policy contains a contradiction that becomes difficult to defend once the full ledger is placed on the table. Government can spend tens of thousands of dollars each year supporting a low-income family through child-care subsidies, food programs, housing subsidies, cash assistance, refundable tax credits, case-management systems, and payments to outside caregivers, while the family itself continues living with almost no financial margin. The family is officially poor, frequently stressed, dependent upon multiple agencies, unable to accumulate meaningful savings, and vulnerable to every unexpected bill. Meanwhile, taxpayers may already be spending enough on that family's behalf to provide the household with a substantially higher standard of living if even a discounted portion of those expenditures were paid directly to the family. The problem is therefore larger than inadequate assistance. It is an expensive system that can spend enormous sums around a family while leaving the family itself poor .
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast2 months ago in The Swamp
The GOP’s Next Fight: Florida, California, Wyoming and Alaska Head to the Polls
It’s August 2026, and while Washington is stuck on the Iran war and inflation, the real political heat is happening in four states. Florida, California, Wyoming and Alaska are all voting this month. And at the center of it is one big question: who gets to replace Ron DeSantis in Florida?
By Zohan Khan2 months ago in The Swamp
Masochistic Merit
In 2020, in the midst of the early days of the Pandemic, I had heard of a prestigious essay competition, with the theme “Who Benefited from Covid?” I decided to enter, choosing to write about my history of suicidal ideation, depression, and how, ironically, lockdown had helped alleviate some of the burden. To my surprise, on my first try, I placed as a joint runner-up. I was invited to attend the award ceremony, and had many of the judges compliment me on my essay. I politely ignored the strange tone of their compliments; sounding, unintentionally, I convinced myself, as though they were impressed more by my unabashed honesty in my mental and emotional struggle than in my conveyance and skill as a writer. Encouraged by this small victory, I have since entered the competition year on year, producing, in my opinion better quality work. Yet, strangely, I have not been able to reach that height since, despite producing better pieces. The themed topic changes year on year, so it’s not entirely unfair for me to assume that it was the topic I wrote about (mental distress and suicidal thoughts) that won me my place and not my merit. Perhaps I’m being a little tough on myself, but consider the news most recently.
By Conor Matthews2 months ago in The Swamp
Voting Day- My Experience
Eight people formed a team yesterday, eight people with varying backgrounds and experience. I was one of the eight, an Election Official, sworn in at 6AM, to uphold the US and State Constitution for a 15 hour day. Fueled on warm cups of coffee and packed snacks we assembled, inspected, locked, ran zero reports, booted up, sanitized, ensured clear access to voting stations.
By Judey Kalchik 3 months ago in The Swamp
Kyiv hit with missiles; Russia and Ukraine both report civilians killed in strikes
Deadly attacks intensify fears as the Russia-Ukraine war continues to threaten civilian lives Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, came under a new wave of missile attacks as the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine continued to escalate. The strikes caused damage in parts of the city, triggered fires, and resulted in civilian casualties. At the same time, Russian and Ukrainian authorities reported civilian deaths from separate attacks, highlighting the continuing danger faced by ordinary people on both sides of the conflict.
By Sagheen Khan3 months ago in The Swamp
