Page 18
'rin P ortland GDbseruer
A p ril 14. 2010
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2010 Census - It's In Our Hands
Accurate count is crucial
by
M arc H. M orial
11 wi 11 also determine how many seats your state
On April 1st, a critical
gets in the U.S. House of Representatives. And
tool o f empowerment was
as Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman,
put in the hands of our
Barbara Lee recently said, "In Congress we
communities -- the official
utilize Census data to identify those communi
2010 Census form. Along
ties disproportionately affected by issues such
with voting, fillingoutyour
as poverty, unemployment and health care
Census questionnaire may
disparities. The more complete the Census
be the most important act
count, the more accurate and targeted our
of empowerment any citi
policy solutions will be as we work to create
zen can do.
jobs.”
An accurate census count will determine
If you haven't done so already, I urge you to
how much federal money your community fill out and mail back your Census question
receives for schools, hospitals, senior centers naire today. It only takes a few minutes. And
and a host of other crucial community services. the confidentiality of your answers is protected
by federal law.
As chair o f the 2010 Advisory Committee, I
can tell you that an unprecedented effort has
been made to ensure that we don't have a repeat
o f the 2000 Census when more than 4 million
people, largely in minority, poor and immigrant
communities were missed.
In addition to a $133 million advertising
campaign, the National Urban League and
other civil rights and civic organizations have
led a coordinated outreach effort designed to
increase Census participation in communities
o f color.
Another benefit o f the Census is jobs. April
1, Census Day, also coincided with the release
o f the Labor Department's monthly employ
ment report. The report shows that o f the
162,000jobscreatedduring March, 48,000were
Census jobs.
While the overall unemployment rate has
leveled off at 9.7 percent, African American
unemployment remains much higher, at 16.5
percent and Hispanic joblessness also exceeds
the national average at 12.6 percent. That is
why it is so important that our communities get
to the front o f the recruitment line for the
hundreds o f thousands o f Census jobs that are
being created between now and July.
These jobs are primarily part-time, but the
pay is good and the work experience could lead
to something better down the road. Anyone
who is out o f work and interested, should
contact your local Census Bureau office today.
To learn more about Census jobs in your
area,- click on the Jobs@ Census link at
census.gov or call the 2010 Census Jobs Line
at 1-866-861-2010.
The National Urban League has designated
this our centennial year as a year o f empower
ment. Participation in the Census is critical tool
o f empowerment that will help ensure that
communities o f color are not left behind when
it comes to government resources.
But as the Census Bureau slogan says, "We
can't move forward until you mail it back." If
you haven't already done so, do it today.
Marc H. Morial is president and chief ex
ecutive officer o f the National Urban League.
S IM M
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Maybe tobacco execs should go to prison
by
W illiam A. C ollins
Did you ever notice how it works? Sell your
cousin a joint for some harmless fun and you
both end up in jail. But manufacture cigarettes
that kill tens of thousands o f people and not
only do you earn billions ofdollars - you avoid
all risk o f hard time. Lawsuits may cost you
something but your personal freedom is never
at stake.
Cigarette companies generously assist to-
bacco addicts by coming up with more new
products to circumvent laws designed to im-
pede self-destruction. And this is no paltry
market--there are still 46 million smokers, or 20
percent o f America's adult population.
Of course it doesn’t look as though that
many are puffing anymore because they’ve
been driven underground. Smoking is out o f
vogue just now and few addicts want to be
spotted doing it. That’s not only because
they're perceived to be stupidly ruining their
ownhealth, but also because they’re perceived
as stupidly wasting large amounts o f their own
money.
Addiction doesn’t respect social values,
and neither do tobacco companies. They’ll
cheerfully produce whatever the market will
accept. Just now that huckstering suicidal be-
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havior has turned to chewing and sucking
tobacco, yet another rather untidy habit aimed
at producing shorter lives and bigger profits,
The marketing is intense and the availability of
product is growing.
Another looming battlefield is cigars. While
they're not exactly a hot ticket at the moment,
they’re also not covered under many o f the
cigarette laws, especially tax rates. Just sup-
pose that all at once they were to begin looking
very much like cigarettes. Which laws would
apply? Well, you get the drift. It shapes up to
be another lawyer-deploying battle coming
along.
Not that the bar doesn't still have plenty to
do on existing cases. There remain lots o f state
governments that remain particularly conflicted
over smoking. They’re tom between wanting
to alleviate the social cost and simultaneously
protecting tax revenues. The bigger the tax, the
less people smoke. Thus even with a higher
rate, total re venue may go down. Whatachoice.
Still another unpleasantness is that many
states fudge on the percentage o f their juicy
tobacco class action awards that they invest
back into cessation programs. They cheat by
plowing almost all o f that money into the gen-
eral budget.
Massachusetts has come up with a startling
related discovery. By paying the costs o f ces
sation for poor people, they have dramatically
lowered the poverty smoking rate. That's sav
ing the state a bundle on Medicaid. This news
may be the next big smoking breakthrough, but
o f course senators from tobacco states hope to
keep such a program from ever going national.
The best system, though, would be a law to
put the tobacco-making ‘poisoners’ in jail, just
like drug pushers.
Minuteman Media columnist William A.
Collins is a form er state representative and
mayor from Norwalk. Conn.