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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 30, 2016)
Page 2 The Skanner November 30, 2016 Challenging People to Shape a Better Future Now Bernie Foster Founder/Publisher Bobbie Dore Foster Executive Editor Jerry Foster Advertising Manager Christen McCurdy News Editor Patricia Irvin Graphic Designer Arashi Young Reporter Monica J. Foster Seattle Office Coordinator Susan Fried Photographer 2016 MERIT AWARD WINNER The Skanner Newspaper, es- tablished in October 1975, is a weekly publication, published every Wednesday by IMM Publi- cations Inc. 415 N. Killingsworth St. P.O. Box 5455 Portland, OR 97228 Telephone (503) 285-5555 Fax: (503) 285-2900 info@theskanner.com www.TheSkanner.com The Skanner is a member of the National Newspaper Pub lishers Association and West Coast Black Pub lishers Association. All photos submitted become the property of The Skanner. We are not re spon sible for lost or damaged photos either solicited or unsolicited. ©2016 The Skanner. All rights re served. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission prohibited. Local News Pacific NW News World News Opinions Jobs, Bids Entertainment Community Calendar RSS feeds Save the date The Skanner Foundation 31st Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. BREAKFAST Jan. 16, 2017 #SkBreakfast Opinion We Must Be At Our Best When Things Get Bad I desperately called on my dear mother. Across the chasm of her death nearly 20 years ago, she reminded me of what she said to me and to her many children nearly sixty years ago. I felt her spir- it moving within me. I was strengthened. Now, I can go on. I will share with you why I called upon my mother on this occasion. However, be- fore I share the why, I want to share with you what she said so many years ago. At the time, we were nine children, a mother and a father living in a three-room house. Mind you, not a three-bedroom house, but a three-room house – a kitchen, a middle room and a front room. When things got real bad, our mother would call us to- gether in the front room. We had only one chair in the whole house. She would sit in the chair and make us children sit on the floor in front of her. She would go quiet until she had our full attention. Then she would say: “Children, things are always kind of bad with this big po’ family and all. But they are real bad now.” She would go quiet for a long mo- ment, causing us to focus even more intently. Then she would continue: “But don’t y’all wor- ry. I am at my best when things get bad.” It was powerful. It Hank Sanders Alabama State Senator forged our strength. It pre- pared us to engage struggle. It lifted our spirits. It gave us hope. Even today, this memory brings tears to my eyes, trem- bling to my being, and hope to my heart. I called upon my mother “ millions of actions and/or reactions. His every refusal or failure to act stimulates numerous actions and/or reactions. And every action or failure to act is viewed through the prism of every- thing that was said by the candidate during the elec- tion. Businessman Trump said and did many disturbing things as a presidential can- didate. That’s why I see hard times coming. We must be at our best when things get bad. The negative germinates, takes root, grows and pro- duces bad fruit without cul- Businessman Trump said and did many disturbing things as a presi- dential candidate. That’s why I see hard times coming on the Wednesday morning when I heard that business- man Donald Trump was now President-Elect Trump. I went really deep inside my- self. I could sense the hard times coming. I had to call on my dear deceased mother to help me through the moment. I hope and pray that I am wrong, but I feel hard times coming. Let me tell you why. The most critical thing a pres- ident does is to set the tone for the entire country. His or her every action stimulates tivation. It is like weeds. The positive requires continuous cultivation to produce good fruit. It is like the crop we plant. Because Businessman Trump planted such negative seeds as a candidate, a Presi- dent Trump’s mere presence in the most powerful posi- tion in the world causes those seeds to germinate, grow and bear bad fruit. We must be at our best when things get bad. I fear that the seeds planted during the campaign will tell us how women and girls can be mistreated. We already have too much mistreatment of women and girls. Too many are abused verbally, physically and psychological- ly. To be fair, these seeds of abuse were planted eons ago. But Businessman Trump has cultivated these seeds with the fertilizer of example, the waters of acceptance, and the warmth of election success. These seeds will grow and bear many and varied poi- sonous fruit. The challenges will be even greater and more widespread. We must be at our best when things get bad. I am afraid that the seeds planted in the immigration fields will bear poisonous fruits for millions of immi- grants, and not just undoc- umented immigrants. Sus- tained fear does terrible things to us, especially to our children. When we blame complex economic and socie- tal woes on those who appear different and are less pow- erful, it becomes extremely destructive. Already we see more children bullying other children of foreign descent. Some children passed out “deportation notices” to oth- er children just days after the election. We must be at our best when things get bad. Read the rest of this commentary at TheSkanner.com What Will You Lose If Consumer Financial Protection Goes Away? A s Americans adjust to the realities wrought by the recent elections, one of the most import- ant consequences has yet to be fully explored: the future of consumer financial protec- tion. Many successful candidates in the recent election repeat- edly claimed that over-regu- lation, too much bureaucra- cy or both were harming the economy. In their view, the na- tion needed to let businesses operate unhindered and free from regulatory constraints. Additionally, many of the same forces that years ago op- posed Wall Street regulation and the creation of a consum- er watchdog never gave up their quest to weaken or dis- mantle the only governmen- tal agency whose sole purpose was to protect consumers. The problem with both of these views is that as Wall Street made billions, Ameri- ca’s people suffered and lost: jobs, homes, credit standing and financial assets. The only thing that seemed to grow during the Great Recession was the amount of debt con- sumers faced and reckoned with at kitchen tables across the country. This column has previously shared how millions of Amer- icans suffered their worst Charlene Crowell NNPA Columnist losses from 2004 through 2015. Others who may have held on to their homes, lost so much value that they con- tinue to owe more than their homes are now worth. “ the past five years. Case in point: CFPB’s Di- rector Richard Cordray has a term of service set to con- clude in July of 2018. Howev- er, an October 2016 ruling by a panel of three judges with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said the Pres- ident could remove CFPB’s di- rector for cause. The nation’s President-elect might want his own director — particularly if the court decision is upheld on appeal. ation process, the Bureau could be denied the necessary funding to do its legally man- dated work. More important- ly, special interest lobbyists could exert their influence on lawmakers to attach lim- itations on the Bureau’s work, blocking CFPB from its ability to rein in abusive practices. These kinds of DC insider maneuvers have repeatedly and unfortunately affect- ed other federal agencies. Consumer financial justice In the coming months, we must remain watchful for legislation and executive actions that would reverse the financial justice accomplished over the past five years There are also still others who thought they were en- rolling in higher education to better their lives and earn- ings sadly discovered that heavy student loan debt was the only thing they incurred at for-profit colleges — many whose doors are now closed. For all of these reasons and more, our nation still needs the Consumer Financial Pro- tection Bureau (CFPB), its consumer cop on the block. In the coming months we must remain watchful for legisla- tion and executive actions that would reverse the finan- cial justice accomplished over Similarly, legislation that sought to end both CFPB’s governance by a single direc- tor and funding independent of Congress may be revived as an early priority for the next Congress. It was legislative wisdom that avoided both approaches in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act. Commission forms of governance work by majority and can lead to gridlock instead of timely actions. Secondly, as commis- sion members are nominated, lawmakers may refuse to act. If CFPB were to become a part of the annual appropri- should never be subject to the rise and fall of deep-pocket lobbyists motivated by profits instead of fairness. Then there are CFPB’s pend- ing regulations like debt col- lection, overdraft, payday lending and other small dol- lar loans. An unprecedented number of consumer and civ- il rights advocates have clear- ly and consistently weighed in on these issues. Although public comment may have concluded, final regulations have yet to be announced. Read the rest of this commentary at TheSkanner.com