150 years ago last week, on March 3rd, 1873, the Comstock Laws on obscenity, including birth control and abortion supplies or information, became part of the US Criminal Code. (Bill and Rachel.)
Links and notes for ep. 462 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/AFD-Ep-462-Links-and-Notes-March-1873_-Comstock-Laws.pdf
Theme music by Stunt Bird.
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Topic: The Democratic Party and payday loans (and postal banking). Second segment is a repeat from 2014 on the same topic but with some other angles. People: Bill, Rachel, Jonathan, Nate. Produced: Nov 19th, 2017 (and August 29, 2014).
Episode 204 (58 min):
AFD 204
Reminder: We are on Stitcher finally.
– More info in Ep. 98
– 2015 article in The Atlantic on postal banking
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Music by friend of the show @StuntBirdArmy.
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Posted by Bill on behalf of the team.
Guest: Heather R. Andrews. Topics: RushCard malfunctions harm vulnerable, low-income consumers; why the post office should offer some banking services; what we can learn from a 1945 speech by President Truman. People: Bill, Kelley. Produced: October 25th, 2015.
Episode 148 (48 min):
AFD 148
– Broken promises as a prepaid debit card pitched, with hip-hop cred, to poor consumers breaks down.
– Should the post office offer limited banking services for low-income people in the U.S.?
– In a Sept 1945 address to Congress, Pres. Truman outlined what the country must do after the war. What can we learn from that today?
– Guest essay by Heather R. Andrews: “Russell Simmons’ RushCard leaves vulnerable flat broke”
– AFD: “Should USPS be empowered again to offer banking services?”
– AFD: “13 of Truman’s 21 policy points from 1945 are relevant today”
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And don’t forget to check out The Digitized Ramblings of an 8-Bit Animal, the video game blog of our announcer, Justin.
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Arsenal Bolt: Quick updates on the news stories we’re following.
Speaking of underbanked Americans without access to safe, low-cost services for cashing checks and saving money…
Don’t miss “Bernie Sanders’s Highly Sensible Plan to Turn Post Offices Into Banks” – The Atlantic:
…only about 7 percent of the world’s national postal systems don’t offer some bank-like services.
[…]
The reason why this would be so useful in the U.S. is that somewhere between 20 and 40 percent of the population has to rely on check-cashing or payday-lending services, which in some places charge usurious rates that send people into spirals of recurring debt.
[…]
…in 1910, William Howard Taft introduced a postal-savings system for new immigrants and the poor that lasted until 1967.
Low-grade localized socialism we can believe in! (And a new revenue stream for our constitutionally mandated postal service.)
Latest Episode:
“AFD Ep 46 – Invisible Harms”
Posted: Mon, 29 Apr 2013
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Guest commentator Sasha joins Bill to talk about less visible sequester harms and the Congressionally-imposed woes of the US Postal Service. Then Bill discusses chemical weapons in Syria, renewed turmoil in Iraq, and the CIA’s cash giveaways in Afghanistan.
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