President Obama at One Year
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Our yes vote says that Orego-
mans will stand up and protect the
jtiindations (doureommunity - our
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together and protect the most vulner-
ableamongus. Oregon votersshowed
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sound fiscal path to recovery.
Oregoniansnghtlyrejectedawell-
heeled corporate campaign o f fear
and deception. While many Oregon
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tainable health care system
and job losses that were
being measured in the hun
dreds o f thousands each
month.
Clearly, our ship o f state
was spinning dangerously
out o f control. And clearly,
President Obama has kept it
from sinking.
Our financial system is on the
rebound. The auto industry was
saved. The Justice Department,
under Attorney General Eric Holder,
is now focused more on protecting
citizen rights than political privi
lege.
And while solutions to rising
unemployment continue to elude
us, according to the Bureau o f La
bor Statistics, during 2009, monthly
job losses moderated substantially.
They shrank from an -average o f
Vote protects the must vulnerable
b y C iiir i
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at 10 percent overall and 16.2 per
cent for African Americans.
We won't be better off unless we
heed the words o f New York Times
columnist Bob Herbert who recently
wrote, "Without a dramatic new in
tervention by the federal govern
ment the poverty rate for African
American children could eventu
ally approach a heart-stopping 50
percent...already a third o f black
children are living in poverty."
One year ago, the election o f
America's first black president was
a symbol o f this country's evolving
racial maturity. But symbolism is
not substance. While we applaud
the President for moving the coun
try from the brink o f disaster, we
have a lot more work to do before he
and all o f us can claim that we are
better o ff than the day he took of
fice.
Marc H. Morial is president and
chief executive officer o f the Na
tional Urban League.
A Stronger Community Foundation
Services)
Heavily Soiled Area:
arc
After one year in
office, America's first
Blackberry President
has found that in the
age o f tw e etin g ,
texting and daily poll
ing, there is no short
age o f those eager to
ju d g e his p e rfo r
mance based on frag
ments o f information that may not
always be accurate. We will resist
the urge to join the fray. No grades
from me for Mr. Obama. But that
does not mean we have no opinion
on his first year as President.
Any assessment o f President
Obama's first year must take into
account the big mess he inherited
on day one - two wars, a great and
growing recession, the imminent
collapse ofour financial system and
auto industry, a dysfunctional Jus
691,000 a month in the first quarter
to an average loss o f69,000 a month
in the fourth quarter.
So, I suggest we slow down and
not judge the President based on
one year o f emergency course cor
rections. In my view, he should be
judged at the end o f his first term by
the famous question Ronald Reagan
posed during his 1980 campaign:
"Are you better o ff today than you
were four years ago?" One thing is
clear: We won't be better off if we
don't all roll up our sleeves and
remember that "government o f the
people," means we all have work to
do.
We won't be better off if the mi
nority party in Congress continues
to vote strictly down party lines in
opposition to everything the Presi
dent wants to do - from passing a
stimulus plan to health care reform.
We won't be better off if we don't
take decisive steps to reduce rising
unemployment which now stands
I
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,
.
.,
I
JJortlanb (Observer I
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businesses are good community citi-
zens’ others apparently wanted to
Sh,rk ,helr responsibility to pay their
fair share for the vital public services
UP° " Wh'Ch
SUCCeSS depends'
Hopefully corporate Oregon learned
important lessons: Don't lie to voters.
Don't be greedy. Support the com-
m° n g° ° d -
As important as Measures 66 and
67 are for the well-being ofour state,
they are only one o f several reforms
necessary forcreatinga fiscallysound
tax system based on ability to * pay.
*
The Legislature should take the
"yes" vote as permission to curb the
fiscally irresponsible kicker that pri-
marily benefits the most well-to-do,
so that Oregon can better save for
rainy days.
Let s hope corporate Oregon was
sincere when it said it supports kicker
reform and building up the Oregon
Rainy Day Fund. If corporate Oregon
wants to restore its credibility, now it
must back up its campaign rhetoric
with money and use its lobbying
muscle in support o f kicker reform.
reform the corporate tax system. We
need to celebrate those corporations
that responsibly pay taxes and we
need to shed light on the loophole
lobby and cor!’o™lt; freeloaders who
shift the tax burden onto households
Corporate tax disclosure will create
the climate change Oregon needs to
aCCOmP,ish long-overdue, long-las,-
ingreform
Oregon still needs to address the
problem that low-income Orego-
nians are asked to contribute more
to state and ----------
local taxes,
—
—
7 as a share o 1 f
their income, than any other income
group. The problem will worsen
when the new gas tax kicks in, so the
legislature needs to act to expand
the Earned Income Tax Credit to
help working families with children
make ends meet,
And Oregon still needs to close tax
loopholes and put an end to unnec-
essary tax subsidies that rob Orego-
nians o f funding for the public struc-
tures that benefit al, Oregonians, not
just the privileged few.
Charles Sheketoff is executive
. ° regon stiH needs corporate tax director o f the Oregon Center for
■ disclosure to figure out how to best
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