February IO, 2010
^'Portland Observer Black History Month
NION
Obama
Jobs first;
deficit second
by
E dith R asell
Obama gets it. His State o f the
Union message showed he under
stands the problems faced by mil
lions o f Americans.
He knows that nearly one in five
people who want to work can’t find
a job or can only find part-time work.
He knows that one in nine families
cannot make the minimum payment
on their credit cards, that one in
seven mortgages is either in default
or foreclosure, and that one in eight
Americans is on food stamps.
The speech also showed that
President Obama is continuing to
mobilize his administration to tackle
the nation’s severe problems. He
proposed a number o f measures to
create jobs. He also proposed a new
Page 17
Needs
tee on big banks, a revised program
to prevent foreclosures, and other
measures that will speed the end of
the economic crisis and make life
easier for many who are suffering.
But the speech also showed that
Obama is still too influenced by
advisors who promote the failed
policies o f the past. Currently the
a large deficit is the only tool that but it pays for many things people
can repair the economy. Once things care about deeply, from education
are somewhat back to normal, which and the environment to air traffic
probably w on’t be for two to three control, nutrition, and the national
years, then we can worry about re parks. Entirely excluded from the
ducing the deficit.
proposed cuts are the military and
But Obama is already proposing homeland security.
budget cuts starting in the fall o f
Over the next 11 years (2009-
this year. Not only are the cuts 2019), the federal government defi
■ ~~~ '
-------------------- ----- — -----------------------------
cit will total an estim ated $11.8
trillion. The Stim ulus Bill and
costs o f the bailout are ju st 14
percent o f this, while 26 percent is
due to the higher costs and lost
revenue associated with the eco
nomic downturn. But fully 45
percent o f the total is due to the
Bush tax cuts o f 2001 and 2003,
and 15 percent is the cost o f the
most heated debate in Washington premature but what he proposes to Iraq and A fghanistan wars.
is over the size o f the federal budget cut - non-security discretionary
Money to reduce the deficit
deficit.
spending - is also wrong-headed. should come from ending the tax
With sky-high unemployment This category o f spending com cuts and bringing the wars in the
and interest rates essentially at zero, prises only 14 percent o f the budget Middle East to an end, not from
The nation and especially the
unemployed need a large
budget deficit and the jobs it
will create.
ih
programs that cost relatively little
and serve so many.
For the next few years, the nation
and especially the unem ployed
need a large budget deficit and the
jobs it will create. In later years, the
burden o f reducing the budget defi
cit should fall on those who ben
efited from the excesses o f recent
years.
Obama gets it. But that’s not
enough. As he said in his speech,
democracy can be noisy, messy,
and complicated. Well, it’s time for
caring people to get very noisy,
jum p into the mess, and make life in
Washington very complicated. The
health o f our nation is at stake, as
well as the well-being o f millions o f
our friends and neighbors around
the country.
Edith Rasell is the Minister for
Workplace Justice fo r the United
Church o f Christ.
Why We Need
Heading off tragic consequences
by
S hirley S agawa
W hile high u n e m p lo y m en t
plagues comm unities across the
country, a large and growing popu
lation o f young people has so little
hope o f finding a job.
The employment o f teens is at a
historic low. And the hardest hit are
minority male and low-income teens.
Following a long decline over the
last decade, the employment rate o f
black teens is less than 14 percent
and for low-income Latino teens
just 23 percent. Young adults, aged
20 to 24, fare slightly better, but both
groups are far more likely to be un
employed.
The consequences o f teen un
employment may seem less impor
tant than for unemployed adults,
but the long-term impact may be
dire. Even part-time work is often a
stepping stone to future employ
ment. Without dramatic steps, low-
income minority teens w on’t be
helped by any future recovery. They
could end up permanently economi
cally marginalized.
According to a study by North
eastern University’s Center for La
bor Market Studies, these young
Even more important was that
these young men developed the
work and civic skills that made them
the heroic soldiers who fought
World War II.
Like the G reat D epression’s
young men, today’s disconnected
youth number in the millions and
the number is growing. The per
centage o f Americans age 20 to 24
people are likely to face deep long
term declines in their employability,
earnings, family issues, and mar
riage rates. As a result, they are
likely to impose serious fiscal bur
dens on the rest o f society associ
ated with low lifetime earnings, less
ened tax contributions and higher
correctional costs.
H istory points to a strategy to
head o f f th ese tra g ic c o n s e
quences. At the height o f the Great
D epression, two m illion young
men roam ed the country in a futile
search for work to help support
their fam ilies. President Franklin
Roosevelt recognized this human
disaster in the m aking and created
the C ivilian Conservation Corps who are neither in school nor work
or CCC, which took advantage o f ing jum ped over 10 percentage
this itinerant labor pool to build points in just two years, reaching 28
lasting m onum ents, parks, and percent in 2009.
trails, and undertake large-scale
D isconnected teens and young
conservation efforts that Am erica adults are the prim e targets o f the
benefits from to this day.
CCC-style program s that exist to
But the larger legacy o f this pro day in the form o f YouthBuild and
gram was in human terms. Millions service and conservation corps,
o f families lived o ff the small sti which offer education toward a
pends paid to CCC corps members, GED or diplom a and the chance to
who received $30 a month but typi develop job skills while serving
cally sent $25 o f it home
the com m unity, along with a rich
array o f supports that help dis
connected youth move away from
crim e, drugs, and other risks to
become productive citizens. Many
p ro g ra m s
a ls o
p ro v id e
A m eriCorps education aw ards to
set young people on a path to
postsecondary education.
These programs work. A study
by Abt Associates and Brandeis
The jobs bill passed by the
House providing funding for
additional AmeriCorps
positions is a good first step.
■
positions in just four months. With
adequate public resources and
building on the base o f high-quality
programs already operating across
the country we could, at a minimum,
double the capacity o f the current
youth corps, Y outhB uild, and
AmeriCorps field and train youth
for a wide range o f high-need fields,
from green construction jobs to
health care.
The jobs bill passed by the House
providing funding for additional
AmeriCorps positions is a good first
step. The president’s budget also
offers a substantial increase in
AmeriCorps, to add 20,000 new po-
sitio n s , and an in cre ase in
YouthBuild funding to engage sev
eral hundred additional corps mem
bers.
In the face o f frozen domestic
discretionary spending, these in
creases are welcome. But in the face
■of the need, Congress should do
more by scaling up both these pro
grams more dramatically and creat
ing a new dedicated funding stream
for youth service and conservation
corps.
University confirmed the value o f
youth service and conservation
corps for young people, especially
for African-American men. The pro
grams increased their employment
and earnings, educational aspira
tions, associate’s degree attainment,
and community involvement.
But while the Depression-era
CCC engaged three million young
men, today fewer than 30,000 similar
Shirley Sagawa is a Visiting
youth corps positions exist.
Fellow at the Center fo r American
The CCC scaled up to 250,000 Progress.
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