February 6, 2008
Page A6
O pinion
Opinion articles do not necessarily reflect or represent the views o f The Portland Observer
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-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.
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