Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

A ProPublica/USA Today story published earlier this week singles out Louisiana as one of 23 states not utilizing tens of millions of dollars that is available through the stimulus plan for helping the poor, even though Louisiana has the second highest poverty rate in the nation with one out of every five residents living in poverty. According to the story by Mike Hasten in today's Shreveport Times, the Department of Social Services says that the state can't afford to put up the matching funds required and are concentrating on cutting existing programs, not starting new ones. More here.

Photo by: Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum: photo by Lewis W. Hine.