luly 14. 2010 îl!‘‘|Jortlattô (Obstrue tr Page 7 O pinion American Senate Careless and Unconcerned Unemployment doesn't take a holiday lions o f dollars to states to pre vent layoffs o f state and local workers, extended M edicaid re im bursem ents for states and made available $1 billion for a youth sum m er jobs initiative. by M arc H. M orial The filibuster by a coalition o f It is unconscionable the heartless, the careless and the that the Senate took a unconcerned, meant that on July 10-day July 4th recess 1, u n e m p lo y m e n t c h e c k s after failing to pass a m uch-needed stopped for 1.2 million Americans. jo b s bill. That num ber could reach 2 million As a result, unem ploym ent ben by the time the Senators return efits for m ore than one m illion out from their vacation. This will have o f w ork A m ericans have now a devastating impact on the mil been term inated. The bill w ould lions o f Americans who have been have also extended tax cuts for out o f work for at least six months. sm all businesses, provided bil Without the extension o f unem ployment benefits, many may lose their homes, their life savings and the ability to provide for their fami lies. W ith 15 million Am ericans cur rently out o f w ork and 45.5 per cent o f them falling into the cat egory o f the long-term unem ployed, there is an urgent need for legislation now that funds direct jo b cre atio n , train in g for the chronically unem ployed and ex tension o f m uch needed unem ploym ent benefits. The crisis in urban A m erica is even m ore se vere. The Labor Departm ent's latest em ploym ent report show s that the econom y lost 125,000 jo b s in June, resulting in an overall un em ploym ent rate o f 9.5 percent. The unem ploym ent rate for A fri can A m ericans rem ains in double digits at 15.4 percent and for black m en it has soared to 17.4 percent. The unem ploym ent rate for Latinos also rem ains dispro portionately high at 12.4 percent. Clearly, instead o f taking a vaca tion, the Senate should be w ork ing overtim e to create jo b s and put Am ericans back to work. The Senate's failure to pass a jo b s bill before taking a recess m ay represent an all-tim e low in Congressional ineptitude and in- difference. And to those who place deficit reduction ahead o f critical investm ents in jo b creation I say, the m iddle o f the great recession is no tim e to hold the welfare o f the A m erican people hostage to ideological debate. Millions o f citi zens are suffering and urgent ac tion is needed now. I urge the Congress, the Presi dent and all Am ericans do de m and the Senate get back to work im m ediately to pass a jo b s bill that will save jo b s and provide needed relief for Am erican families. Marc H. Morial is president and chief executive officer o f the National Urban League. SÄ®®“ The Million-Dollar Penny, a scorecard on Global Wealth by S am P izzigati Every summer, several financial firms competing to get the banking business o f the world's m ega m il lionaires release what amounts to scorecards on global wealth. These data-packed reports tally the cur rent num ber o f our international rich and super-rich, by nation and region. World Wealth Report 2010 is the most comprehensive o f these scorecards. It's got some fascinat ing details about the planet's wealthi est o f the wealthy, those house holds worth at least $30 m illion- that's not counting their primary residence and "collectibles." These "ultra-high-net worth" households m ake up less than 1 percent o f the global m illionaire total, yet in 2009 and 2008 they held m ore than a third o f com bined global millionaire wealth. In other words, the global financial crash that mega-millionaire specu lation triggered has ended up con centrating even m ore w ealth in m ega m illionaire pockets. T h e M e rrill L y n c h and Capgem ini researchers who pre pared this report also offer som e lusciously revealing inform ation about what they call "passion in vesting," the vast sum s the rich plow into everything from coun try club m em berships and yachts to jew elry and fine art. Global m illionaires, they say, "returned to passion investm ents in 2009," but the overall volum e o f these passion investm ents still hasn't rebounded all the way back to pre-financial crash levels. T hat com plete rebound, the report adds, m ay com e shortly, since "au ctio n houses, luxury goods makers, and high-end ser vice providers all reported signs o f renewed dem and tow ard the end o f 2009." One sign o f that increased de mand: Late last year, an antique penny—a 1795 one-cent piece— w ent at auction for $1.3 million. That m arked the first tim e a penny had ever gone for over $ 1 million. This resurgence in "passion investm ent" illustrates the latest W orld W ealth Report's overall theme: The global millionaire "seg m ent reg ain ed ground despite w eakness in the world econom y." W e have that w eakness be cause average consum ers still don't have the buying capacity to get n atio n al eco n o m ies g oing again. And those average con sum ers don't have that buying c ap a city b ecau se incom e and wealth are getting even m ore con centrated at the top. An antique penny, thanks to that concentra tion, can now fetch more than a million dollars. But imagine if our wealth were m ore equally shared. Imagine that the $1.3 m illion that went for a 1795 penny had been sitting in stead in the pockets o f average consum ers. O ver 1,500 o f those co n su m ers could have bought brand-new en ergy-efficient re frigerators with that $ 1.3 m illion. And what do you suppose would do our e c o n o m y -a n d our world- -m ore good, one deep pocket spending $ 1.3 m illion on a penny or 1,500 households buying new energy-efficient refrigerators? The good folks at Merrill Lynch and Capgem ini will m ost likely n e v e r ask th at q u e stio n . W e should. Sam Pizzigati writes a newslet ter on excess and inequality fo r the Institute fo r Policy Studies. Arizona Lawsuit F itting by J ose I barra The Oregon Commission on His panic Affairs commends the U.S. Department o f Justice for having taken legal action against Arizona's new immigration law. It is fitting that the suit was filed the day after Inde pendence Day, a time when Ameri cans reflect on the nation’s unity and values. The Commission has taken pub lic positions against the law since the legislation first started to sur face and has challenged the false assumptions on which it was pro moted. For example, there is no "Arizona crime wave" that led to this law. The bill's c h ief propo nent, Arizona Sen. Russell Pearce, intentionally conflated the seri ous and real violence on the M exi can side o f the border with the uniform ly non-violent undocu m ented im m igrants. M ore evi dence o f that is the fact that the U.S. side o f the border has the safest com m unities in the U.S. Also, the claim that the federal government is not serious about undocumented immigrants cross ing our borders is patently false. Although more work is being done, the size o f the border patrol has been quintupled in recent times, and u n a u th o riz e d c ro ssin g have dropped sharply. Finally, the issue o f immigration is governed by fed eral not state law. We are proud o f Oregon cities that have joined in condemning the law, including Portland, sister city ofTucson, Ariz. Even Arizona’s law enforcement community says the bill damages law enforcement and invites racial profiling o f its resi dents. It is an ill-conceived and poorly drafted law that hurts a lot more than it helps. Jose Ibarra is chair o f the Oregon Commission on Hispanics Affairs. Multnomah County Health Department's j HIV C o m m u n ity Test Site offers | c o n fid e n tia l HIV testing | with or w ithout your nam e | at these locations: I Downtown Community Test Site Call 503.988.3775 for an appt. Mon I Thurs | Fri 426 SW Stark St., 6th Floor, Portland, 97204 “ Free with this coupon” I Public Health | | | | Northeast Health Center Just walk in I Tuesdays | 5:30 - 7:15 pm j 5329 NE MLK Jr. Blvd, 2nd Floor, | Portland, 97211 | Se habla español: other interpretation by appointment.