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December tO.-2003
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Senator Sets
Future Agenda
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Court Allows Parks Suit Over Song
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Sen. Avel Gordly discusses her plans for the future at
The Portland Observer Monday. The Democrat repre
senting northeast and southeast Portland is kicking off
her re-election campaign. Gordly said advocacy for
education, social services and mental health are her
priorities in the State Legislature and she encouraged
area residents to get involved in the issues. She said
vital programs such as the state's medically needy
program are in jeopardy of losing funding because of a
Feb. 3rd tax referral
(AP) — The Supreme Court re
fused Monday to intervene in a
lawsuit over the the song “Rosa
Parks" by the Grannny-winning rap
group OutKast.
The action, taken without com
ment front the justices, means the
9<)-year-old civil rights figure can
go ahead with her lawsuit against
the band.
Rosa
Parks
The chorus of the song goes,
“Ah-ha, hush that fuss. Everybody
move to the back o f the bus.”
Parks claimed that OutKast vio-
lated her publicity and trademark
rights and defamed her. She wants
all references to her removed from
future versions o f the record.
O utK ast has argued that the
song is protected by the First
a m m n m m i
New National Medicare Law Enacted
Elderly to
confront
difficult choices
(AP)— Elderly patients are about
to confront numerous and some
times difficult choices as a result of
the most far-reaching changes to
Medicare in four decades, includ
ing a new prescription drug benefit.
Beginning in 2006, seniors who
want the optional drug benefit will
have tochoose whether to enroll in
a stand-alone drug plan or move
from traditional Medicare to a man
aged care plan that offers drug and
other benefits not covered by tradi
tional Medicare.
They’ll be making comparisons
among plans that do not necessar
ily offer precisely the same cover
age and if they don't enroll in the
drug program right away, they’ll
pay a penalty to enroll later.
The government will spend nearly
$400billionoverthenext lOyearsto
subsidize prescription drug cover
age, which begins January 2006. At
the same time, the government will
encourage insurance companies to
offer private plans tomillionsof older
Americans who now receive health
care benefits under terms fixed by
the federal government.
Democrats pledged to fight for
changes in the law, principally for
measures to bring down the price of
prescription drugs. Republicans
wrote into the new law a provision
expressly prohibiting the govern
ment from using its vast purchas
ing power to control drug prices.
The first tangible result of the
Medicare law will be prescription
drug discount cards that will cost
no more than $30 a year. President
Bush said the discounts will range
from 10 percent to 25 percent off
retail prices. Critics say the promise
o f savings is wildly inflated.
The cards are likely to offer dif
ferent discounts for different drugs
made by different companies, so
seniors will have to choose the
drug card that meshes best with
their prescription medicines.
Some current Medicaid benefi
ciaries - among the poorest of se
niors - could see the number of
different drugs now available to
them restricted once they are shifted
to the Medicare plan, several health
analysts said.
The new Medicare plan will pay
all drug costs of seniors with in
comes below $12,123 and $ 16,363
for a couple - as long as their sav
ings do not exceed $6,(XX). There
are declining subsidies for people
with slightly higher incomes.
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New York Settles Sharpton Lawsuit
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Parks made history in December
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December 12-14
Friday & Saturday 8am to 8pm
Sunday 8am to 6pm
Democratic presidential candidate Al Sharpton performs
James Brown's 'I Feel Good' with Tracy Morgan during his
monologue as guest host of the Dec. 6 broadcast of NBC's
Saturday Night Live.
. . . th e s e a s o n .
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AP)— New York City hasagreed
to pay $2(X),(XX) in damages to Rev.
Al Sharpton after he was stabbed
nearly 13 years ago at a protest
where he said police failed to pro
tect him.
The settlement, which also cov
ers the Democratic presidential,
candidate’s $7.447 hospital bill,
came as jury selection was to begin
Monday in his decade-old ci vil c a se'
against the New York Police De
partment.
Sharpton claimed police were
“careless, negligent and reckless”
during the 1991 incident. Sharpton,
a civil rights activist, was protest
ing what he considered lenient sen
tencing of white defendants in the
1989 killing o f a black teenager.
The city’s law department de
fended the NYPD’s actions, but
said it agreed to the settlement be
cause the city could not predict
how a jury might rule.
Sharpton said he still fears large
crowds as a result of the stabbing,
and has a one-inch scar on his chest.
His attacker, Michael Riccardi,
was convicted of first-degree as
sault and sentenced to the maxi
mum o f five to 15 years in prison.
Job Losses Hurt
African Americans
African Americans have suffered
another month of double-digit un
employment. According to a gov
ernment report released by the
Bureau of Labor Statistics, 10.2
percent of African Americans were
unemployed in November com
pared with 11.5 percent the month
before. The national unemployment
rate in November was 5.9 percent.
“For those Americans without jobs,
the term “jobless recovery” is a
cruel joke. Congressional Black
Caucus Chair Elijah E. Cummings,
D-Md. said.
The new data also showed that
job loss continued during the
month of November in the manu
facturing sector. The economy lost
an additional 17,(XX) manufacturing
jobs. The country has lost manu
facturing jobs every month for the
last three years, for a total loss of 2.6
million manufacturing jobs since
President Bush took office.