A p ril 28. 2010
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Page 15
THE LAW OFFICES OF
P a tric k J o h n S w e e n e y , P C
Obama’s American Agenda
Benefits black
America, too
C ynthia T ucker
P re s id e n t O b a m a ’s
h is to ric sta tu s as th e
nation ’ s first black presi
dent h a sn ’t spared him
criticism from som e black
com m entators and m em
bers o f C ongress, w ho
claim that the president
ought to have a bona fide “ black
a g e n d a .’’
Several m em bers o f the C ongres
sional B lack C aucus have chastised
O bam a for, they claim , doing little to
a d d re ss the u n e m p lo y m e n t rate
am ong black w orkers, som e six to
seven points higher than the overall
rate o f ju s t under ten percent, ac
cording to the B ureau o f Labor Sta
tistics.
by
Last m onth, talk show host Tavis
S m iley ’s annual “ B lack A genda”
conference included a panel w hich
heavily criticized O bam a for failing
to directly address a range o f d iffi
cult so cial p ro b le m s w hich still
p la g u e b la c k A m e ric a . In d e e d ,
Smiley has becom e a consistent critic.
S m iley has every right to score
the p re sid e n t’s acco m p lish m en ts
and failures as he sees fit. B ut it is
naive for him to expect that the
n a tio n ’s first black president w ill
c h a m p io n an e x c lu s iv e ly b la ck
“ agenda,” any m ore than John F.
K ennedy, the n a tio n ’s first C atholic
p r e s id e n t, is s u e d a “ C a th o lic
agenda.” O bam a w as not elected
the president ofb lack A m erica. H e ’s
the p resident o f the entire country.
Still, O bam a h a sn ’t ignored those
detractors. P erhaps th a t’s w hy he
m et A pril 6 w ith a gro u p o f black
preachers, including A tla n ta ’s T.
De W itt Sm ith, head o f the
P r o g r e s s iv e N a tio n a l
j| B a p tis t C o n v e n tio n .
H e re ’s hoping he took the
o p p o rtu n ity to point out
that his policies benefit
black A m ericans, too.
A cco rd in g to Fam ilies
U SA , a health care a d v o
cacy group, 4 0 p ercent o f blacks
rep o rted bein g u n in su red during
som e portion o f 2007-2008, co m
pared to about 26 percent o f w hites.
B lack o r w hite, they w ill be able to
afford health insurance as a result o f
the new law, w hich O b am a m ade a
priority.
The president also battled en
tren ch ed interests to c h an g e , the
student-loan program , w hich freed
up m oney to give a slight funding
increase to Pell grants. M any black
students w ill b en efit from the boost
in tuition assistan ce, ju s t as m any
w hite and bro w n students w ill.
B ut the m ost sig n ifican t assis
tance that O b am a is p ro v id in g to
black students — to all students,
actu ally — lies in his p ro m isin g re
form plan for elem en tary and sec
o ndary education. T he new em p h a
sis on ch arter schools and m erit pay
has the potential for b rin g in g the
b est an d b rig h te st te ac h e rs into
pu b lic school c lassro o m s, w hile
w eeding out the incom petent and
uninspired.
T here are few things that the
federal governm ent can do that have
a m ore significant effect on children
than helping them to get a good
education. For black kids, th a t’s
cru cial. T h e d ifferen c e b etw een
those b lack A m ericans w ho have
ach iev ed m ainstream success and
those m ired in po v erty lies, for the
m ost part, in the difference in aca
d em ic achievem ent.
It’s true that co lleg e-ed u cated
black w orkers have a higher u n em
p lo y m e n t rate th an c o lle g e -e d u
cated w hite w orkers — a co m m en
tary on a “p o st-racial” A m erica. But
it’s also true that co llege-educated
black m en and w om en will fare much
b etter than their less-educated co u n
terp arts.
So far, few black opinion-m akers
have zeroed in on O b a m a ’s ed u ca
tion reform plans. T hat reticence
m ay stem from an am bivalence— or
h o stility — tow ard the reform s from
a m ainstay o f the black m iddle-class:
teach ers. T e a c h e rs ’ g roups have
no t exactly rallied in support o f
O b a m a ’s plans. Som e teachers re
m ain especially critical o f m erit pay.
Still, his em p h asis on teach er
acco u n tab ility has the potential for
d o in g m ore to shake up public ed u
cation than any reform s o f the last
tw o decades. O b am a m ay not have
a plan fo r red u cin g the black-on-
b lack hom icide rate (w ho does?) or
sh o rin g up black m arriage (o th er
than serving as a good role m odel),
but, if he can b o o st educational
ach iev em en t for all children — in
clu d in g those w ho are p o o r and
b la c k — that w ould certainly qualify
as progress. L e t’s call that an A m eri
can agenda.
Cynthia Tucker is columnist fo r
the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
Regulate Health Premiums
Oversight will make
health bill stronger
w ithout p rio r approval from a regulatory body.
S om e states already have this step in place,
m ost do not.
O f course, leaders in the insurance industry
say that m ore regulation is not the answ er. T hey
w an t federal o fficials to instead w ork to reduce
rising m edical costs, w hich play a part in driving
up prem ium s. Indeed, skyrocketing m edical
costs is som ething the country needs to w ork on but the
insurance industry prem ium increases do require o v er
sight, plain and sim ple.
Policym akers attem p ted to include such legislation
in the h ealthcare bill but that provision w as ultim ately
cut. Ironically, it w as the th reat o f the rate hike from
A nthem that resurrected the h ealthcare bill. U n fo rtu
nately, law m akers m ak e a grave m istake w hen they let
the bill pass w ithout this m andate.
I f they m ove quick ly , they have a chance to get it
right. R equiring insurance co m p an ies to get p rio r a p
proval b efo re sig n ifican tly raising their rates is the best
ap p ro ach to m aking sure all that health care reform
prom ises d o es no t u ltim ately fall flat.
J udge G reg M athis
The P resident and C ongress su ccess
fully o verhauled the healthcare system in a
m ajor w ay, m aking itpossible for nearly four
m illion A m ericans to get needed healthcare insurance.
D espite this great - and historical - new s, m ore
w ork rem ains. O ne o f the rem aining ob stacles w e have
to overcom e is m aking sure health insurers c a n ’t raise
their prem ium s by an exorbitant am ount. W ithout
oversight on this front, the benefits o f the healthcare
bill w ill be lost to m any.
Insurer A nthem B lue C ross in C alifornia plans to
raise its insurance prem ium s by 39-percent, a m ove that
has m any custom ers on edge. T he co m p an y has put
the rate hike on hold for now , but the very thought o f
such an increase from any insurer has legislators
m oving quickly to act.
U .S.S en. Diane Feinstein,D -C alif., an d U .S Rep. Jan
S ch ak o w sk y , D -Ill., are pushing legislation that w ould
Greg Mathis is a retired Michigan District Court
prevent insurance com panies from raising prem ium s Judge and syndicated television judge.
by
Patrick John Sweeney
Attorney at Law
1549 SE Ladd
Portland, Oregon
Portland:
Hillsoboro:
Facsimile:
Email:
(503) 491-5156
(503) 615-0425
(503) 244-2084
Sweeney@PDXLawyer.com
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