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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 6, 2008)
February 6, 2008 Page A6 O pinion Opinion articles do not necessarily reflect or represent the views o f The Portland Observer o# Effort Not Enough tup MetDAeirr oh S tero ' d ^ : Moe 935 ItEM : BUSH To\<W >eIRASA- IA NS« '// -A r S s u ir l «íiu'oXS pie to give an unem ployed American the kind o f boost that an extra six months to find a new job is. Simi larly, anextra $300 per child is not likely to improve a household's bottom by M arc H. M orial line as much as a summ er job. In 2007, 1.3 m illion To effect long-term positive U.S. households faced change, our leaders need to som e stage o f foreclo invest in long-term strategies sure, up 79 percent from that teach its citizens how to the previous year. This fish - not to throw them a min s ta r tlin g s ta tis tic now, usually in anelection year. coupled with declines The Urban League movem ent, in housing starts and sales explains to som e extent w hy our nation's however, would prefer a more com leaders w ant to stem the tide of prehensive effort that incorporates an extension o f unem ployment ben econom ic decline. It should com e as no surprise that efits, increased food stamps and in light o f topsy-turvy markets and greater investm ent in sum m er jobs skittish investors that the powers for at-risk youth. With long-term unemployment up that be would spring to action in the by 20().(XX) in 2007, an extension of m idst o f a com petitive election year. unemployment insurance coupled R em em ber the 1992 presidential with increased fixxl stamps should election when econom ics em erged as a m ajor issue, thanks in part to be the first things put on the table. Independent candidate 11. Ross Even in prosperous times, blacks P erot’s crusade for a balanced fed experience twice the rate of unem eral budget? The billionaire’s cam ployment o f whites. Just imagine paign helped give Bill Clinton an how bad it is when the economy electoral edge over Bush's father, tanks. Increased food stamps not then-incum bent President G eorge only help the unemployed, they help Where are the jobs, solutions? ? It's wonderful that our nation's leaders want to show their love to their constituents in an election year. But will they still love us after Election Day? H erbert W alker Bush. Together, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with Bush and M inority Leader John Boehner arrived at a $ 150- billion com prom ise that pro vides tax rebates o f $300 and up to m oderate- and low -incom e house holds, am ong other things. M uch to the N ational Urban L eague’s approval, they also in cluded a provision raising limits on Federal H ousing A dm inistration- backed hom e loans designed to help ease the credit crunch and to give hom eow ners a greater oppor tunity to refinance debilitating ad justable-rate mortgages. T here ’ s no doubt that every 1 ittle bit helps, especially in lean times, w hen a few hundred dollars can ease the strain o f living paycheck to paycheck like so many African A m ericans do. But, in crafting their stimulus package, our nation’s lead ers ignored tried-and-true strate gies used in past recessions with much bigger bang for the buck than what the House passed in January. A few hundred dollars isn’t likely the underemployed as well as part- timers. For black teens, more than one third of them unemployed in Decem ber 2007, more than twice the rate of white teens, summ er jobs help con nect them to the working world, giv ing them desperately-needed skills and putting them on the road to economic self-sufficiency. It’s wonderful that our nation's leaders want to show their love to their constituents in an election year. But will they still love us after Election D ay? T hat is the real ques tion here. Is it w orth digging our nation further into debt for a short term feel-good gain? Is it worth putting our future in jeopardy by investing in initiatives that fail to achieve the best result? O ur leaders should also use their stim ulus package as a springboard for future efforts to level the eco nom ic playing field for all A m eri cans o f all tax brackets. MarcH. Morial is president and chief executive officer o f the Na tional Urban League Let’s Prevent the Spread of HIV We can’t count on the government J udge G reg M athis It's been two decades since the acronym s HIV and AIDS becam e part of the public consciousness. Since then, AIDS has swept the globe, killing m illions with no thought to sexual preference, race or age. The death and despair left in the disease’s wake has devas tated families, countries and en tire continents. Currently, there are 33 m illion people worldwide living with the HIV virus, and the AID S crisis is considered one of the biggest tragedies in modern history. Billions o f dollars have been raised at hom e and abroad to both treat the disease and prevent in fection. But not enough has been done in the United States to slow the spread o f the disease in the A frican-American com munity. A ccording to the C enters for D isease C ontrol, A frican A m eri by cans account for only 12 percent of the U.S. population, but make up 72 percent o f newly re ported HIV infections and over 50 percent of AIDS diagnoses. W hy is the infec tion rate so high among our people'.’ There are a several reasons. W hen AID S first hit, it was seen as a gay white man s disease; African A m ericans failed to m ake HIV aw areness and pre vention a priority in our com m uni ties. Secondly, few financial re sources are dedicated to specifi cally fighting H IV /A ID S in the A f rican-Am erican com munity. It is tim e for that to change. A w areness is the first step. T hursday. Feb. 7 is National Black H IV/AIDS A w areness Day. O rganizations across the country are taking part, encouraging test ing and educating blacks about prevention. T he L et’s Talk, L et’s Test Foun dation, a C hicago-based group, w ants 10,000 mi nisters from across the country to com m it todeli vering an HIV prevention and aw areness serm on on M arch 30. U nderstand ing the pow er o f the black church, the organization believes black p asto rs need to lead the fight against H IV /A ID S in the black com munity. T h ey are rig h t. W e c a n n o t co u n t on the g o v ern m en t to ad vocate for us. W hile som e funds have been d irected to w ard the co u n try 's black A ID S crisis, they are sm all in co m p ariso n to the b illio n s that have been spent in Africa. n atio n al secu rity . Until som e clever advisor can convince the pow ers that be that the A frican-A m erican AIDS crisis is a threat to the country's econom y and social stability, black A m eri cans are going to, as Bush once said, have to work harder to ad dress the issue ourselves. W e can start by honoring N a tional Black HI V/AIDS Awareness day. G et tested. Know ing your sta tus is a key step in stopping the Get tested. Knowing your status is a key step in stopping the spread o f the virus. 1 D espite his m any m isstep s as p resid en t, G eorge W. Bush will leave o ffice in 2009 w ith a legacy as being a p resid en t w ho put a sig n ifican t am ount o f A m erican m oney to w ard s fig h tin g A ID S in A frica. T he reality is that Bush th o u g h t A frica sh o u ld solve its ow n problem s. C olin Pow ell, w ho w as then the S ecretary o f S tate, had to ev o k e the im age o f te rro r ists, co n v in cin g Bush the A fri can A ID S crisis w as a th reat to spread o f the virus. M inisters,com m itto “I Need You toS urvive” S u n day.U seyourvoice to educate your church and the com m unity around you. F or m ore in fo rm atio n , v isit b la c k a id s d a y .o r g an d ltltfoundation.org. Judge Greg Mathis is national vice president o f Rainbow PUSH and a national board member o f the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. K M M M aM M M H i Moving in a New Direction President stands in our way SEASONS R ei >. C arolyn C. K ilpatrick The President’s seventh and fi nal a d d re s s to C o n g re s s an d America was laced with pessimistic optim ism . The President lauded an economic stimulus package that will n o t h e lp m illio n s o f A m ericans. None o f the proposed provisions in clude the extension o f un em ploym ent benefits or investing in a sum m er jo b s program ; both o f which would support the sustainability o f ourcom - prom ised econom y and relieve the aw esom e bur den being shouldered by Am erican families. Am ericans arc facing fiscal and social crises at hom e and military and moral casualties abroad. They are looking to our nation’s leaders for actual rem edies to rem ove them from financial ruin and chaos. The rebuilding o f Louisiana and M ississippi cannot occur without providing adequate housing, jobs, education and healthcare to the thousands o f residents that once called the region home. The deci sion to allow New O rleans to serve as the back d ro p for the N orth A m erican S u m m it o f C an ad a, M exico and the United States we hope will help rebuild New Orleans. Throughout this D em ocratic-led session o f Congress, M em bers of both Houses have sidelined their political affiliations tocrcatc bicam eral legislation aimed at moving by N O W D E L IV E R IN G Y o u r f a v o r it e n e i g h b o r h o o d g r o c e r y s t o r e n o w d e l iv e r s g r o c e r i e s r i g h t t o y o u r h o m e o r o f f ic e . w w w .n e w s e a s o n s m a r k e t.c o m you click, we deliver, (or pull up for pick up) I A m erica in a new direction only to have the President derail our ef forts. The President supported spend ing $ 10 bi 11 ion per month in Iraq and vetoed health insurance for lO m il- lion children w hich cost less than $3.50aday, crip- p lin g the m en tal and physical w ell-being of our m ost vulnerable citi zens. T h e P re s id e n t o p posed expanding federal funding for em bryonic stem cell research, d is abling our potential to e ra d ic a te life th re a te n in g and chronic diseases and to restore h e a lth an d h o p e to m an y o f A m erica's families. In the rem aining 337 days o f his presidency, we call on President Bush to help A m erican families by providing em ploym ent opportuni ties, quality education, and co m prehensive healthcare for all Am eri cans. The Congressional Black C au cus, 42 M em bers representing 40 million Americans from 2 0 states, is determ ined to build stronger fam i lies. healthier com m unities and a better America. We hope the Presi dent will work with us as we honor ourcom m itm ent to America’s fam i lies. Congresswoman Carolyn C. Kilpatrick. D-Mich., is chair woman o f the Congressional Black Caucus. r