HRI Canvassing Briefs

Women’s Health: Abortion

The least you need to know.

Short blurb. If you want to half the number of abortions in this country, then double the funding for Planned Parenthood.

Immigration: DACA

Some background. Here are some facts about the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and the so-called “Dreamers.”

The least you need to know.

• Children, under the age of 18, who came into the U.S. without proper documentation, are still considered illegal aliens.
• However, most have no connection to the country of their birth and consider the U.S. their home.
• President Obama instituted the DACA program, which lets them live “legally” in this country and get an education so they can segue into a job.
• President Trump has vowed to end the DACA program and send them back to the country of their birth.

Short blurb.

Voting rights

Economy

The least you need to know.

• The national economy is relatively healthy and continues to improve, as measured by GDP and other national measures.
• This is due to healthy economic practices installed by the Obama Administration after two disastrous Republican Bush terms.
• But, while the stock market soars, the growth has not been felt on Main Street, so citizens are unhappy. This disparity accounts for much of the dissatisfaction that voters felt as they rejected the steady Clinton in favor of the over-promising, “take no prisoners” Trump.

Short blurb. The national economy is enjoying the longest economic surge in history. It began the year President Barack Obama took office (2009) and has continued steadily through Trump’s first year. Here are some statistics.

The United States is the world’s largest national economy in nominal terms and second largest according to purchasing power parity (PPP), representing 22% of nominal global GDP and 17% of gross world product (GWP). The United States’ GDP was estimated to be $18.56 trillion in 2016.

This growth has not been felt by many consumers, who experience wage stagnation and aren’t seeing a corresponding job creation, especially in certain parts of the nation.

Gun Violence Prevention

Cheat Sheet. This PDF has good information on the state of guns in America.

The least you should know. In 2010, there were roughly 31,670 gun-related deaths in the U.S. Close to 11,100 were homicides (35%) and about 19,400 (61%) were suicides. In 2012, the U.S. suffered a total of 8,813 murders involving firearms, while Canada recorded 172 firearms-related homicides. In the last 30 years, there have been at least 62 mass shootings in 30 states. The U.S. is the most heavily armed civilian population in the history of the world. The National Rifle Association, whose members number about 4 million, routinely lobby Congress to block sensible gun laws.