Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current, August 04, 2004, Page 4, Image 4

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    Page A4
^K^jortlanh (©bseruer
August 4. 2004
Opinion articles do not
necessarily reflect or represent the
views o f The Portland Observer
O pinion
H om eless S ligh ted by B oth P arties
J udge G reg M athis
D uring the nightly parade o f
cam era tim e at the national D em o­
cratic and R epublican conventions
this sum m er, there are many groups
w hose platform s will get national
exposure and party attention. There
is one group, how ever, that will not
be sharing the stage: the hom eless.
O ver the past year, the N ational
L aw C enter on H om elessness &
Poverty estim ates that o v er 3 m il­
lion m en, w om an and children were
hom eless and the dem and for care
at hom eless shelters increased by
13 percent. W ith the reality o f
hom elessness being only a m issed
paycheck, health crisis or unpaid
bill aw ay, this crisis is one that
dem ands national attention and a
national platform .
The pundits on both sides o f the
aisle should care about and ad­
dress the hom eless problem . C on­
trary to popular belief, hom eless
by
problem.
T h e c u rren t p ro p o sals
from both m ajor political
parties and their P residen­
tial candidates appear to fall
short o f m eeting the needs
o f h o m e le ss A m erican s.
P resident B ush has largely
ignored the hom eless prob­
lem , instead giving m ore
attention to the needs o f his
w ealthy, corporate patrons.
T h e B u sh e c o n o m y has
pushed people across sev­
eral d em ographic groups
into hom elessness in num ­
bers th at hav e n o t been
seen since the 1980s. D em o­
can. W hen 44 percent o f the h om e­ cratic candidate John K erry ’s plan
less population is m ade up o f w ork­ w ould address the m iddle class
ing people, the blam e lays in the squeeze by creating good-paying
lack o f a living wage, the increase in jo b s, cutting m iddle class taxes in
poverty, a lack o f affordable h o u s­ order to raise m iddle class incom es,
ing and the inattention o f the fed ­ cut the deficit and investigate jo b s
eral governm ent to this grow ing in the new -tech, hi-tech areas. The
When at least 39
percent o f homeless
population is made
up o f children, the
urgency o f the
homeless problem
cannot be ignored. x
people are not aim less, lazy people.
A ccording to a survey o f 27 m ajor
A m erican cities such as Los A nge­
les, C h icago and W ashington, D C ,
44 percent o f the hom eless w ork, 67
percent are single parent fam ilies
and 50 percent are A frican A m eri-
D em ocrats’ plan addresses som e
o f the factors o f hom elessness, but
still fails to directly address the
problem.
By and large, the hom eless lack
the presence o f other election year
catered-to groups. T he w ide spread
political b elief is that the hom eless
do not vote. W hen survival is a
daily concern, that m indset may
not be too far from the truth. Even
in non-election years, the centrist
view is that hom eless advocacy is
too liberal and, therefore, too risky
fo r re-election purposes. The point
is, how ever, that som eone needs to
speak for the hom eless. W hen at
least 39 percent o f hom eless p o p u ­
lation is m ade up o f children, the
urgency o f the hom eless problem
cannot be ignored.
A s o u r econom y struggles to
recover from nearly four years o f
business and jo b loss, national lead­
ers m ust take notice and address
the needs o f the hom eless A m eri­
c a n s a ff e c te d by th e w re c k e d
econom y. W ith hom elessness a f­
fecting m en and w om en; A frican
A m ericans and C aucasians; veter­
ans and non-veterans; urban and
rural, the problem isobviously m ore
serious than can be solved during
national party convention good tim ­
ing. The hom eless problem can
only be addressed by giving real
tim e, effort and resources to estab ­
lishing adequate incom e, afford­
able housing and viable social ser­
vices. U ntil such tim e as R epubli­
cans and D em ocrats alike give real
consideration to these econom ic,
em ploym ent and social concerns,
too m any A m ericans w ill live w ith
the w orry o f being hom eless.
Judge Greg M athis is Chair­
man o f the Rainbow PUSH-Excel
Board and a National Board M em ­
ber o f the Southern Christian Lead­
ership Conference.
Defense of Marriage not Constitutional
Act is bad even for
opponents o f same-
sex marriage
N ancy P elosi
H ouse D emocratic L eader
E ditor’s note: Pelosi m ade the
follow ing statem ents on the House
floor in opposition o f the M arriage
Protection A ct o f 2004, w hich she
said w ould strip ju risd ictio n from
federal courts, including the U.S.
S uprem e C ourt, preventing them
from ruling on challenges to the
federal D efense o f M arriage Act.
T he bill w as later approved by a
vote o f 233 to 194.
by
This bill will im pact the very foun­
dation o f o u r g o vernm ent — it im ­
pedes the uniform ity o f federal law,
it sets a d angerous precedent, and
it does grave d am ag e to the separa­
tion o f pow ers.
I have been m arried for o v er 40
years. A nd I cannot, for the life o f
me, think how this legislation that is
on the flo o r today, the so-called
M arriage P rotection A ct, is any
protection for my m arriage. In fact,
I think it is not a protection o f the
rights o f A m ericans.
E very m em b er o f this body has
taken a solem n oath to p rotect and
d efen d th e C o n stitu tio n o f the
U nited States. T h at is o u r o ath o f
office.
All m em bers should consider pedes the uniform ity o f federal law,
that this bill has far-reaching co n ­ it sets a dangerous precedent, and
seq u en ces for the separation o f it does grave dam age to the separa­
pow ers that has been the hallm ark tion o f pow ers.
o f o ur C onstitution, o u r g overn­
W h en fo rm e r S e n a to r B arry
m ent, and o u r rights as A m erican G old w ater spoke against a court
citizens. W e m ust honor o u r oath stripping bill in 1982, he w arned his
o f office and oppose this leg isla­ colleagues in the other body that it
tion.
w as a “frontal assault on the inde­
T his court stripping bill is not pendence o f the federal courts, and
about reaffirm ing the D efense o f it is a d angerous blow to the foun­
M arriage A ct, o r even about gay dations o f a free society.” W e m ust
m arriage. The fundam ental issue in heed that w arning today.
this bill is w hether we w ant to u n ­
T his bill w ould prohibit federal
derm ine the Suprem e C ourt, the courts, including the Suprem e Court
federal jud iciary and o ur system o f o f the U nited States, from hearing
checks and balances.
cases related to the interpretation
Thisbill will impact the very foun­ and the validity under the C o n sti­
dation o f o u r governm ent — it im- tution o f the full faith and credit
provision o f the D efense o f M ar­
riage A ct, as w ell as this court strip­
ping bill.
If passed, it w ould constitute the
first tim e in the over 2 0 0 years o f our
c o u n try ’s history that C o n g ress
has enacted legislation totally elim i­
nating any federal court from co n ­
sid erin g the co n stitu tio n ality o f
fe d e ra l le g is la tio n . O n ly sta te
courts w ould be able to decide
questions related to this provision
o f a federal statute.
T h e iro n y o f th at is, if y o u r
state p a sse d a law th a t allo w ed
gay m a rria g e s, a n d y o u w an ted
to c h a lle n g e it in fe d e ra l c o u rt,
you w o u ld o n ly b e c o n fin e d to
c h a lle n g in g it in a state co u rt in
y o u r state. S o e v e n th o se w ho
w o u ld o p p o s e g a y m a r r ia g e
w o u ld not h av e re c o u rse to th e
fe d e ra l co u rts.
T o d a y , m illio n s o f A m e ric a n s
are looking for w ork, m illions m ore
d o not hav e a c c e ss to q u a lity
h e a lth c are sin ce P re s id e n t B ush
and w o m en in u n ifo rm in h a rm ’s
w ay w ith o u t the p ro p e r e q u ip ­
m en t, tra in in g , an d in te llig e n c e
to get the jo b d o n e. W e w an t
th em to b e seco n d to n o n e, an d
w e w ill m ak e sure th ey h av e w hat
th ey need. B ut w e m u st tak e the
tim e to d o that. B ut in s te a d , w h at
are w e d o in g ?
In stead , w e are g a th e rin g h ere
to talk a b o u t d is c rim in a tio n , to
talk ab o u t u n d e rm in in g th e C o n -
Marriage Protection Act
undermines Supreme Court
and our system of checks
and balances.
v
to o k o ffic e . O u r c h ild re n are not
re c e iv in g th e q u a lity o f e d u c a ­
tio n th at they d e se rv e , to have
th e o p p o rtu n ity th a t is the p ro m ­
ise o f o u r co u n try . W e are d riv ­
ing o u rs e lv e s d e e p ly into d eb t
w ith the irre sp o n s ib le and re c k ­
le ss e c o n o m ic p o lic ie s o f the
R ep u b lican s here, giv in g o u rc h il-
d re n o b lig a tio n s in s te a d o f
o p p o rtu n ity . W e h av e o u r m en
stitu tio n o f th e U n ite d S ta te s, to
talk a b o u t d ish o n o rin g th e o ath
o f o ffic e th a t w e tak e to p ro te c t
and d efen d the C o n stitu tio n . I
ag ree w ith th o se w h o say th is bill
is ‘as w ro n g as w ro n g c an b e .’ In
sh o rt, th is bill is b ad law an d b ad
p o lic y . T h a t’s w hy it w ill n o t
hav e m y su p p o rt.
Nancy Pelosi is the House Dem o­
cratic Leader.
A Family-Based Plan For Voting
Register everyone eligible to change the presidency
by
B en J ohnson D eputy C hairman
of the D emocratic N ational C ommittee
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It is said that our fam ilies m ean every­
thing to us.
T h e re 's an added dim ension for this elec­
tion year. In the 2004 election, fam ilies could
be the key to preventing A m erica from w ak­
ing up to the beginning o f G eorge W. B u sh 's
second term .
O ur fam ilies are featured as the focal
point o f the D em ocratic N ational C o m m ittee’s new
Fam ily V oting Plan - a step-by-step process that
encourages fam ilies to w ork together to ensure that
every fam ily m em ber votes on E lection D ay.
W e are all too fam iliar w ith the E lection D ay fiasco
of2000.
T he stories are legendary.
T ens o f thousands o f people tried to
vote in 2000, but those votes w ere never
counted. T he election rife had problem s
that rem arkably seem ed to be draw n like
m agnets to com m unities o f color. Just
537 votes decided the last election.
If all the votes in those sam e co m m u ­
nities had been counted, th ere’s little
doubt A1 G ore w ould be in the m iddle o f
his re-election cam paign.
T h a t's now behind us, but there w ere valuable
lessons learned that we can carry into the next elec­
tion.
W hile there are still three m onths to go until E lec­
tion D ay, it is already clea r that the 2004 election
stands to be ju s t as close as 2000, w hich m eans that
each vote carries unprecedented w eight. It also m eans
o u r responsibility cannot end w ith the casting o f
individual votes.
W ith ju s t six steps, the F am ily V o tin g Plan
(w w w .dem ocrats.org/fvp ) provides a sim ple check
listfo rfam ilies.
It starts w ith registering all v o t­
ers. V erify polling places. A ssist
elderly fam ily m em bers w ith a b ­
sentee ballots o r early voting. P ro­
vide transportation for every fam ­
ily m em ber w ho needs a ride.M ake
certain family m em bers are fam iliar
w ith any new voting m achines.
C reate an aggressive E lection D ay
effort to get your fam ily to the
polls.
T aken as a w hole, the plan helps us take care o f our
fam ilies. A nd it helps fam ilies take care o f each other.
T he stakes are too high this election y ear to do
anything less. N early three m illion jo b s have been lost
and m ore than 43 m illion A m ericans are w ithout health
\ I f all the votes in those same
communities had been counted,
there's little doubt Al Gore would
be in the middle o f his re-election
campaign.
insurance.
If A m erica is going to m ove forw ard, it’s clea r we
w ill need a new direction and that new direction
begins w ith y o u r fam ily.
Ben Johnson is Deputy Secretary o f the D em o­
cratic National Committee. He served in the Carter
White House as D irector o f Consumer Programs and
served the fu ll eight years o f the Clinton Adm inistra­
tion. Johnson is one o f the highest-ranking African
Am ericans in White House history, last serving as
A ssistant to the President and D irector o f the
P resident’s Initiative fo r One America.