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
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