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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 9, 2015)
Page 6 December 9, 2015 New Prices Effective May 1, 2014 O PINION Martin Cleaning Service Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning Residential & Commercial Services Minimum Service CHG. $45.00 A small distance/travel charge may be applied CARPET CLEANING 2 Cleaning Areas or more $30.00 Each Area Pre-Spray Traffic Areas (Includes: 1 small Hallway) 1 Cleaning Area (only) $40.00 Includes Pre-Spray Traffic Area (Hallway Extra) Stairs (12-16 stairs - With Other Services) : $25.00 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) It’s Not Playing the Victim When You Are Attacked Hatred and division hurts America W illiam S PriggS The Republican Party has drifted too far into attack mode for the health of American Democra- cy and the pluralistic society we pride America to be. America prides itself as a nation that is not based on country of origin, race or religion; but a na- tion meant to stand for the prin- ciples of liberty and justice and for all. The unchecked rhetoric of the Republican-controlled House and the extremes of the Republi- can presidential candidates are a threat to that consensus; as they seek to redefine the nation in terms of religion, race and coun- try of origin. First, on the issue of immigra- tion and the acceptance of refu- gees, the language of the Repub- lican presidential candidates, which had been repugnant in the case of Donald Trump, crossed lines of decency. What happed to those wel- coming words to immigrants to America from poet Emma Lazarus engraved on the Statue by UPHOLSTERY CLEANING Sofa: $69.00 Loveseat: $49.00 Sectional: $109 - $139 Chair or Recliner: $25 - $49 Throw Pillows (With Other Services) : $5.00 ADDITIONAL SERVICES • Area & Oriental Rug Cleaning • Auto/Boat/RV Cleaning • Deodorizing & Pet Odor Treatment • Spot & Stain Removal Service • Scotchguard Protection • Minor Water Damage Services SEE CURRENT FLYER FOR ADDITIONAL PRICES & SERVICES Call for Appointment (503) 281-3949 of Liberty. Too many people recoil when reminded of America’s ambiva- lence to opposition to accepting Jewish refugees in 1938 and 1939 flee- ing Nazi Germany. They want to erase the language of the politicians of the day who fomented hatred by fearing that the acceptance of Jewish refugees would welcome Com- munists and anarchist extremist into America. So these people don’t like comparisons of Republican rhet- oric about Syrian refugees to the Statue of Liberty or 1939. And, too many balk at a com- parison of Donald Trump’s ap- palling call to force the registra- tion of Muslims as a comparison to a threat of additional steps reminiscent of America’s own sin of forcing Japanese Americans into camps during World War II. And, of course, those same peo- ple bristle at comparisons to Nazi Germany’s registration of Jews. In his letter from the Birming- ham jail, written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to the clergy of Birmingham, who objected to his tactics, Dr. King lamented that it is not the hatred of the bigots, but the silence of the supposed friends of liberty and justice that leads to evil winning. The apparent inability of the Republican Party to police itself and censor the fomenting of ha- tred and division will hurt Ameri- ca. And business interests that be- lieve they can contain and manage the irrational forces of hatred are greatly mistaken. People pushed to being irrational cannot be rea- soned back to sanity. Unfortunately, some Repub- licans only recognize Trump as a threat because they believe he can’t win a general election. They fail to see the deeper threat the whole party faces by pander- ing to hatred. That pandering to hatred re- cently took an ugly turn in leg- islation. The Republicans in the House voted unanimously to bar the Consumer Financial Protec- tion Board from doing its work to monitor discrimination in auto lending, which hits workers of color, particularly, hard. Un- fortunately they were joined by 88 Democrats. Sub-prime auto loans, those made to people with credit scores below 660, have jumped by $110 billion in the period of March to September of this year. Most of those loans have come from auto finance companies, outside the traditionally better regulated banking and credit union sector. Of course being able to buy a car is vital to workers trying to benefit from the record string of months of job growth America is experiencing. Hobbled by high unemployment and the dispro- portionate impact of the foreclo- sure crisis, African American and Latino workers also suffer from damaged credit scores as they look to buy cars and connect to jobs. This has made those com- munities vulnerable to predatory behaviors by auto finance compa- nies preying on them. The vote in Congress to strip the protection board of power to address this growing problem is an attack on the African Ameri- can and Latino community. It is not playing victim to be appalled by such actions. But just as hatred against ref- ugees and immigrants only hurts America; so, too, as we saw with predatory lending in housing, does discrimination in finance. Auto loans will not bring down the banking industry as happened in the housing market, but it will bring down the auto sector; one of the few bright spots in the re- covery for high wage jobs. The business community will not win, in the end, on this one. William Spriggs serves as chief economist to the AFL-CIO, and is a professor and former chair of the Department of Economics at Howard University.
