HUD Secretary Ben Carson proposes tripling the rent for the poorest Americans.

Courtesy of WaPo: 

U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson on Wednesday will propose tripling the amount the poorest households are expected to pay for rent as well as encourage those receiving housing subsidies to work, according to the administration’s legislative proposal obtained by The Washington Post. 

The move to overhaul how low-income rental subsidies are calculated would affect more than 4.5 million families relying on federal housing assistance. The proposal legislation would require congressional approval. 

Currently, tenants generally pay 30 percent of their adjusted income toward rent or a public housing agency minimum rent -- which is capped at $50 a month for the poorest families. The administration’s legislative proposal sets the family monthly rent contribution at 35 percent of gross income or 35 percent of their earnings working 15 hours a week at the federal minimum wage. Under the proposal, the cap for the poorest families would rise to approximately $150 a month, three times higher than the current minimum. 

The Trump administration has long signaled through its budget proposals and leaked draft legislation that it seeks to increase the rents low-income tenants pay to live in federally subsidized housing.

Okay well I would essentially expect this kind of thing from Donald Trump, after all he made his bones by evicting poor black folk from their homes.

But Ben Carson is a self described Christian who also happens to be black.

Carson's mother also took a job as a domestic worker for a time and he was forced to share a home with his extended family when things got tough.

It boggles my mind that people like this do not seem to have the capacity to empathize with others once they become Republicans.

It is as if the price for joining the GOP is to surrender your compassion.

Bernie Sanders is talking that sexy talk again.

I swear this is like political porn for liberals.

The guy should start a 1-800 number where for the low, low cost of five dollars a minute you can hear Bernie Sanders whispering progressive policy ideas into your ear.

He could probably finance his entire campaign this way.

I am sure it is just a coincidence.

If image does not enlarge, click here.

Rachel Maddow expands on Paul Ryan's very awkward interview.

Yesterday I posted about an interview conducted with Republican VP candidate Paul Ryan that became so tense that Ryan's handlers cut it off and Ryan actually pulled his microphone off while the cameras were still filming.

I knew that the interview was very telling about Ryan's character, and about the plans that he and Romney have for dealing with this country's problems. However last night Rachel Maddow delved even further and dug up some rather interesting facts while also providing a little more perspective.

Here see for yourself.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Group plans to purchase satellite to provide free internet to developing countries around the world.

From Raw Story:

A Human Right plans to finance their satellite by allowing telecommunication companies to purchase bandwidth, while providing basic service for free to everyone. "Our goal is to not only get everyone online, but also facilitate the growth of an industry," their website said.

The group has already managed to raise $44,781.

"The idea for global connectivity was born in Berlin, Germany in an innovation 'Do-Tank' called Palomar 5," according to the group. "Thirty people under the age of thirty came together to innovate on what the future might look like, and how to address some of the worlds problems."

I have said it before, but it bears repeating, this new Generation We is going to absolutely rock this planet.

And I for one am going to do everything I can to help them achieve that goal.

It looks like somebody is doing damage control for Sarah Palin's Haiti fiasco.

Well as all of you know the video I put up yesterday from Greta van Sucks-to-be-Palin's-pal did not exactly show the compassionate side of the Grizzled Mama.  In fact it showed her to be a stand-offish, freaked out by Haitian people, phony.  So anyhow somebody sent me this link today, which ATTEMPTS to show Palin as much more nurturing by showing her clutching one carefully scrubbed, and disinfected baby.



Do you think they mentioned Samaritan's purse enough?

Okay well obviously this was supposed to shut all of us "haters" up about Snowdrift Snookie's lack of compassion by showing that if you will clean up one of the little buggers she will hold it as long as the camera is on her. 

Here is a picture from Greta's blog showing the Ex-Gov demonstrating her comfort level.

Oh yeah, she looks TOTALLY at ease.

However I also noticed that the "See? Sister Sarah LOVES the little brown people!" video accidentally captured something else that I don't think it was supposed to show.

Go to the 2:40 mark and look in the background.

Did you see it?

All through most of the video they carefully show Bristol only from the chest up, right up until that long shot toward the end.  So for the handful of people who came over here the other day claiming that at least one of the photographs of Bristol in Haiti show her to be skinny, what do you say now?

By the way, apparently the Haitians themselves were not at all fooled by Palin's blatant attempt to use their country to package herself as some kind of humanitarian either.



They may be poor but they are substantially smarter than the Palin-bots.  But then again, who isn't?

My friend Dennis Zaki has a message, and a request, for the readers of The Immoral Minority.

Here is the text that Dennis sent along with the video to explain his plan to help our first people.

Hello Immoral Minority readers!

Gryphen has been kind enough to give me some space here to announce my latest film project in Western Alaska.

I'm trying to raise $21,400 for a documentary about the corporate takeover of Alaska's fisheries that affect the daily lives of the people that live along the 1,984 mile long Yukon River.

Large factory ships trawl Alaska's oceans in search of pollock and catch large numbers (more than half) of the Chinook salmon destined for the Yukon River in their nets.

The Native Alaskans living along the river, are no longer able to support their families with salmon for food or sale, after doing so for thousands of years.

I want to tell their stories to the world via a documentary film.

Politicians in Alaska have been passing the buck on this issue for years.

Gryphen and most of Alaska progressive bloggers raised money to get me to Emmonak to show the world what was going on in January of 2009.

I have been involved behind the scenes ever since to try to get some action out there. Failed half-term former governor Sarah Palin made promises to Alaska's Natives that she did not keep. Present governor Sean Parnell has ignored the situation entirely.

For the film I plan to speak to Alaskan politicians, Yukon residents, village leaders, factory trawler operators (if they'll speak to me), and McDonalds, the primary recipient of Alaska's pollock.

I'll also interview former fisheries observers and hear how factory ships fish "off the clock" in the middle of the night and catch thousands of salmon that go unreported as bycatch and are discarded like garbage.

There are some cool awards given to those who donate including DVD's of the film as soon as it is released.

Help me get this story to the world. You can even donate as little as $1 if that is all you can manage, but of course the more you can help the better.

Thank You,
Dennis Zaki.

If you want to help Dennis with this amazing project just click here to offer your support.

And if you are interested in learning more about the project then please visit the website and read all about the struggles of these amazing people and how Dennis hopes to bring their story to light.