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Best Way to Use
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May 7, 2008
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ables you to make a major purchase
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if
going into debt. And it can soften
11______[he blow of economic downtimes
BY D e NKKN I).
like a layoff or medical
emergency.
S tewart
Why are so many of i
One hundred thirty
financially ill-prepared?
million Americans soon
In part, it's because ol
will begin receiving tax
our public education sys
rebates in the mail,
tern. In school, few chil
thanks to the economic
dren are taught the basic
stimulus package that
financial skills needed to
recently made it through
make long-term savings
Congress. Individuals
decisions.
making less than $75 .(XX)
But parents are also to blame
should expect $6<X). Families with
incomes under $150,000 will get lot of children do not develop sound
money management skills. In order
$ 1,200, plus $3(X) per chi Id.
What’s the best way to spend to prevent this from happening
that money? Don't spend it at all — parents should begin by teaching
their children the difference be
save it.
If you've already stored away tween "needs” and "wants." They
some cash, adding a few hundred should also encourage their chil­
more dollars means an even greater dren to save their money, rather
return on your interest rate. And if than spend it.
Try opening a high-yield sav
you don't yet have a financial safety
net, you'll have a quick-and-easy ings account for your children and
encourage them to deposit a por­
way to start one.
This tax rebate comes at a great tion of their allowance on a regular
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At the end o f the day, getting
Ballot Access Setback
ahead financially is quite
While we are
Erecting
simple — it means spending
d is a p p o in te d
w ith the S u ­
barriers simply
less and saving more.
preme Court’s 6-
■
3 decision to up­
undemocratic
hold Indiana’s
time forblack America. Despite tre­ basis. In doing so, your children
mendous gains in income and edu­
cation over the last few decades,
our community still isn't saving
nearly as much as it should.
Look at retirement.
Less than halfofall black work­
ers have saved for their golden
years, according to the U.S. Trea­
sury Department. Only about a
quarter of us have even tried to
figure out how much money we'll
need to retire.
Those numbers are all the more
depressing in light of the fact that
Americans are increasingly on their
own when it comes to saving for
retirement.
O f course, savings aren't just for
your golden years. A nest egg en-
w ill be able to see their money grow by J ohn P ayton
Without doubt, thousands of
which will enable them to develop
a "positive" savings attitude and otherw ise elig ib le A frican
will allow them to continue on the American and other minority
path to financial wealth for the rest voters who would have wanted
of their lives.
to participate in what is perhaps
Public officials and private citi the most historic election in our
zens alike need to ramp up theii
lifetime, will not be able to vote
efforts to teach kids the value of
under mandatory, voter ID re­
savings.
quirements.
At the end of the day, getting
ahead financially is quite simple -
it means spending less and saving
more. The upcoming tax rebate pro­
vides a perfect opportunity to get
started.
Voter ID law,
thisisnottheend
of the road in our fight to ensure
that the right to vote remains
open to all.
The right to vote is funda­
mental and erecting barriers to
the free exercise of that right is
simply undemocratic.
As importantly, too few have
focused on the impact that this
law has on eligible but unreg­
istered individuals, many of
whom exist on the margins of
our society without the kind of
identification required under
this law.
The court held that the chal­
lengers to Indiana’s law' had
not developed an adequate
record showing that the law
would burden Indiana voters.
To the extent that the court's
ruling turns on the inadequacy
of the record that was devel­
oped in this particular ease,
future challenges to manda­
tory voter ID laws will likely
focus on helping to put a face
fCf'NK'é’»
to those voters who are im­
pacted by these restrictive re­
quirements.
The NAACP Legal Defense
and Educational Fund will con­
tinue to carefully monitor the
ways in which voter identifica­
tion requirements and other re­
strictive barriers will both limit
access and have a chilling ef­
fect on those seeking to exer­
cise their right to vote during the
2008 election cycle.
John Payton is president
and director-counsel o f the
NAACP Legal Defense and
Educational Fund and one of
the nation's leading civil
rights attorneys.
Young, Gifted and Nothing to Do
Deneen Stewart is an attorney
with ING Direct, the nation's larg­
est direct hank.
OREGON ASSOCIATION OF MINORITY
ENTREPRENEURS (OAME) CONFERENCE
& TRADE SHOW
May 8th, 2008
10:00am - 3:00pm
OR Convention Center
Register Early to Assure Your
Company Will Be Included!
Do not miss this fantastic opportunity to reserve exhibit spaces in
the 20TH Annual Conference and Luncheon and Trade Show at the
Oregon Convention Center.
The OAME Trade Show is designed for purchasers/buyers from
the Public and Private agencies to network with minority, women
and small businesses. It is also an opportunity for minority, women
and emerging small businesses to showcase their products and
services and to network.
Register now!!! Take advantage of this great opportunity to promote
your business and increase you're buying and selling options.
To reserve a booth or to purchase a luncheon ticket call the Oregon
Association of Minority Entrepreneurs, (503) 249- 7744 or visit our
website www. oame. org
ff,’f |jo r tla n b (O bscxM ivEstablished 1 9 7 0
USPS 959-680 ________________________________
4747 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97211
Bring back
summer jobs
by
M arc M o r ia i .
For more than 30
years, beginning in
the 1960s, the Fed­
eral Governm ent
saw the enormous
benefit of providing
summerjobs to mil­
lions of disadvantaged youth
across America. But since 2000,
the Summer Youth Employment
and Training Program has lost
its direct funding.
With the economy reeling, un­
employment soaring and the
summer heat approaching, there
is an urgent need to bring back
summer jobs for youth.
We know that a summer job
experience not only puts much-
needed money into the pockets
of poor kids and sometimes into
the budgets of their families, it
also provides opportunities to
gain valuable new skills, and
can he a pathway to higher edu­
cation and ultimately to tax pay-
ingeitizenship.
Investing in summerjobs for
our youth returns tremendous
dividends in reduced wel­
fare dependency, fewer
crimes, less incarceration
and greater workforce
productivity. For some
youth, it can be a life sav­
ing alternative to the world
of gangs and drugs.
lition of youth serving organiza­
tions, churches, city and county
political associations, the Na­
tional League of Cities and the
U.S. Conference of Mayors, all
calling for the Congress to pro­
vide emergency supplemental
appropriations for summerjobs.
And over the last two years,
we've called for restoring the
Summer Youth Jobs Program
as a separate program under
the Workforce Investment Act
to be funded with new monies.
For years "The Opportunity
to Earn" has been one of the
four components of the National
Urban League's Opportunity
Compact.
We believe that the federal
government should act now to
provide jobs to disadvantaged
youth who want to work, who
need to work and who are seek­
commitment to $2 billion.
The National Urban League ing alternatives to idleness and
has a historic commitment to the dangers of the summer
securing summer jobs for low- streets.
Marc Moriai is president
income youth and ensuring that
everyone has the opportunity to and chief executive officer of
earn. In 2000, we joined a coa­ the National Urban League
lus" as part of the bipartisan
economic stimulus package.
Currently, both the House and
the Senate have introduced bills
that call for an immediate $1
billion dollar commitment for
youth summer jobs this year.
While I support theirefforts, the
current state of our economy
makes it clear that $1 billion is
not enough. I implore them and
the Congress to increase that
Act now to provide jobs to
disadvantaged youth who want to
work, who need to work and who are
seeking alternatives to idleness and
the dangers o f the summer streets.
Earlier this year, in separate
letters to Senate M ajority
Leader Harry Reid, and House
Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, I made,
on behalf of the National Urban
League, a strong ease for in­
cluding a "summerjobs stimu-
Finrim-is-Cini c l’i hi isio ii: Charles H. Washington
Entroa:M ichael L e ighIon
Disown tion M i s m i : M ark W ashington
Cutsrivf. Dmi.otir: P aul N e u fe ld t
Ammrisisc: K athy l.in d ee
Or m i MsNM.m: Sharon Sperry
RrroKTfit: R aym ond R end lem án
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