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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 1, 2015)
Page 6 New Prices Effective May 1, 2014 Martin Cleaning Service April 1, 2015 O PINION Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning Residential & Commercial Services Minimum Service CHG. $45.00 $VPDOOGLVWDQFHWUDYHO charge may be applied CARPET CLEANING 2 Cleaning Areas or more $30.00 Each Area 3UH6SUD\7UDI¿F$UHDV (Includes: 1 small Hallway) 1 Cleaning Area (only) $40.00 ,QFOXGHV3UH6SUD\7UDI¿F$UHD (Hallway Extra) Stairs (12-16 stairs - With Other Services) Area/Oriental Rugs $25.00 Minimum Area/Oriental Rugs (Wool) $40.00 Minimum Heavily Soiled Area Additional $10.00 each area (Requiring Extensive Pre-Spraying) UPHOLSTERY CLEANING 6RID /RYHVHDW 6HFWLRQDO &KDLURU5HFOLQHU $25 - $49 7KURZ3LOORZV (With Other Services) ADDITIONAL SERVICES • Area & Oriental Rug Cleaning $XWR%RDW59&OHDQLQJ • Deodorizing & Pet 2GRU7UHDWPHQW • Spot & Stain Removal Service • Scotchguard Protection • Minor Water Damage Services SEE CURRENT FLYER FOR ADDITIONAL PRICES & SERVICES Call for Appointment (503) 281-3949 A National Crisis of Household Debt Demanding solutions to help families L EE A NN H ALL <HDUVDIWHU7RQL Potter’s husband passed away from pancreatic can- cer, debt collec- tors in her state of Washington were still relentless- ly hounding her about his hospital bills. Andrea Anderson, a young student in Oregon, has been sad- dled with $150,000 in college loans as she pursues her dream of becoming a social worker. She knows she’ll be paying the loans back for decades, threaten- ing her other dreams of buying a home or starting a family. Linda Mock of Idaho was trapped by a payday loan that quickly grew from the original $300 to more than $900 in inter- HVWDORQH7U\LQJWREUHDNIUHHRI the debt, she took out a title loan on her car and ended up losing her only transportation. Family debt is no personal failing — it’s a national crisis. Even as unemployment de- BY clines, the debt crisis is holding back a full economic recovery and pushing more people into poverty. 7KDW¶V ZK\ 3UHVLGHQW %DUDFN Obama announced recently that he’s instructed the De- h partment of Education p and a other federal agen- cies c to do more to help borrowers afford their b monthly loan payments. m It’s a step in the right direction. d %XW ,¶G XUJH KLP WR go g further and rein in the lenders, banks, and collec- WLRQ DJHQFLHV WKDW DUH SUR¿WLQJ from Americans’ debt. It’s time to stop blaming borrowers and LQVWHDG KROG WKH ¿QDQFLDO LQWHU- ests that created the crisis ac- countable. When hospitals give big price breaks to insurance companies but refuse to work with a widow struggling to make ends meet, something’s not right. When a federal student loan provider charges young stu- dents nearly twice the interest it charges homeowners, some- thing’s not right. When payday lenders can get away with charging 300 percent interest on a short-term loan to D SRRU IDPLO\ MXVW WU\LQJ WR ¿[ their car so they can get to work, something’s not right. 7KH H[SORVLRQ RI SUHGDWRU\ lenders hurts families and si- phons money out of local econ- RPLHV7KHUHDUHPRUHWKDQWZR payday-lending storefronts for every Starbucks coffee shop in the United States. Meanwhile, more than 70 per- cent of students who graduate with a bachelor’s degree leave VFKRROGHHSLQGHEW7KHDYHUDJH student loan debt totals almost $30,000 today, up from $19,000 a decade ago. For many Americans, there’s no way out. Student loans can’t be dis- charged in bankruptcy. Some states will take your driver’s licenses and professional cer- WL¿FDWLRQV LI \RX IDOO EHKLQG LQ your student loan repayment. And if you can’t afford your legal fees, you could go to jail — just for being poor. It’s time to break the shame around debt and start putting the responsibility for solutions ZKHUHLWEHORQJVRQWKRVHSURI- iting off struggling families. 7KDWPHDQVSODFLQJIDLUFDSV on interest rates, ending preda- tory practices that push people further into debt, and creating a path out of debt for people who are struggling. Recently, folks from different communities across the country came together for a national RQOLQH FRQIHUHQFH ³8S IURP Debt,” hosted by my organi- zation, the Alliance for a Just Society. People from Seattle to 1HZ<RUNVKDUHGSRZHUIXODQG moving stories — not to gain sympathy, but to erase the stig- ma that further burdens families trapped in debt. 7KH 2EDPD DGPLQLVWUDWLRQ should investigate all forms of predatory lending, including student loans, payday loans, medical loans, mortgages, and credit cards. On the White House website, you can sign a petition asking the president to create a pathway out of debt so families can reclaim their fu- tures. Our children, our neighbors, our parents, the sick, and the struggling aren’t cash cows for bankers and lenders to milk. It’s time to demand solutions that help families move up from debt. LeeAnn Hall is the executive director of the Alliance for a Just Society, a national policy and organizing network that works on racial, health and economic justice issues.
