Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 26, 2012)
Opinion Racial Wealth Gap is Largest on Record “Challenging People to Shape a Better Future Now” B ERNIE F OSTER Founder/Publisher B OBBIE D ORE F OSTER Executive Editor T ED B ANKS Advertising Manager J ERRY F OSTER Account Executive L ISA L OVING News Editor H ELEN S ILVIS Multimedia Editor B RUCE P OINSETTE Reporter D AVID K IDD Graphic Designer M ONICA J. F OSTER Seattle Office Coordinator J ULIE K EEFE S USAN F RIED Photographers A ccording to findings from the Center for Responsible Lending’s newest report, The State of Lending in America and Its Impact on US Households (State of Lending), the typical household has just $100 left each month after paying for basic expenses and debt payments. After controlling for inflation, the typical household had less annual income at the end of 2010 than it did at the beginning of the decade, 2000. Moreover, as worker pro- ductivity increased, the workplace has seldom rewarded them with higher pay. Even in house- holds with two wage-earners, the amount of dispos- able or discretionary income after paying monthly expenses was less in 2010 than it was in 2000. The combined effect of stagnant wages along with unemployment and under-employ- ment is forcing families to curb spending and use any available assets to keep financial pace. For families with no savings or assets, new debt was incurred. “The recession and slow recov- ery have led to declining net worth for the average U.S. household and a disproportionate decline for African-American and Hispanic households”, states the report. R ESPONSIBLE L ENDING Charlene Crowell In communities of color, income declines are higher in part due to declines in over-representation in two types of employment that his- torically provided stable and secure jobs: manufacturing and between communities of color and white households is the largest documented wealth gaps since the Census Bureau began publishing wealth estimates in 1984. The net worth for African-Americans dropped 53 percent and among Latino families, 66 percent. By comparison, white household wealth declined only 16 percent in the same years. Households headed by persons aged 55-65 saw the largest losses in wealth. People at or nearing retirement lost an average of $90,000 from 2007-2010. As wealth and retirement resources declined, many older workers remained in the labor force longer than retirees in previous decades. As an increasing number of older workers delay retirements, some younger workers experience higher unemployment and declin- ing labor participation. A conse- quence of their delayed entry in the workplace increases the num- ber of households doubling-up, living with friends or non-family members due to economic hard- ship. From, 2005-2010, the num- ber of these households grew 50 CRL: Typical American Household has only $100 after monthly expenses construction. These two industries respectively suffered job losses of 10 and 20 percent. African-Ameri- cans who formerly worked manu- facturing and construction jobs lost more than twice the number of jobs between 2007 and 2011 than they previously gained in the pre- recession decade. These losses in income also caused losses of wealth that are even more severe. In fact, the decline in wealth from 2005-2009 percent. CRL further notes that consumer spending accounts for approxi- mately 70 percent of total U.S. economic activity. As large num- bers of consumers continue to tighten their fiscal belts, sustain- able economic recovery will likely be delayed. “In order for the U.S. economy to grow again”, states the report, “individual households must find themselves in a position to increase their spending. This will be difficult as long as households continue to face stagnant incomes, increasing expenses, increasing levels of debt, and declining net worth.” To read more about CRL’s Household Balance Sheet, visit: http://www.responsiblelending.or g/state-of-lending/. Please send your news tips to info@theskanner.com The Skanner Newspaper, established in October 1975, is a weekly publica- tion, published each Wednesday by IMM Publications Inc., 415 N. Killingsworth St., P.O. Box 5455, Portland, OR 97228. Telephone (503) 285-5555. E-mail: info@theskanner.com World Wide Web site: http://www.theskanner.com Fax: (503) 285-2900 The Skanner is a member of the National Newspaper Pub lishers Associ- ation and West Coast Black Pub lishers Association. All photos submitted become the property of The Skanner. We are not re - spon sible for lost or damaged photos either solicited or unsolicited. © 2011 The Skanner. ALL RIGHTS RE SERVED. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT PERMISSION PROHIBITED. To see The Skanner News on your smart phone go to theskannermobile.com or scan this QR code with your app. • • • • • • • • Local news Opinions Jobs, Bids Sports Entertainment Music reviews Bulletin board RSS feeds The Moral Case for the Safety Net By Rev. Jennifer Butler and Gordon Whitman A s cracks form among CEOs and Republican Mem- bers of Congress over their hardline anti-tax position in the fiscal showdown, religious leaders from across the ideological spectrum have been united in supporting new revenue over additional spending cuts. And they’re speaking for their people. A strong majority of religious Americans favor letting the Bush tax cuts for the rich- est two percent of Ameri- cans expire. Even reliably conservative groups, such as white evan- gelical Protestants, are evenly divided on the issue. The outcome of this debate has pro- found moral conse- quences. The government’s capaci- ty to invest in the common good and responsibly reduce the debt depends on raising more revenue. Let- ting tax cuts that only ben- efit the richest two percent expire isn’t a magic bullet, but it’s a necessary compo- nent of a balanced solution that doesn’t harm poor families or slash Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits for cur- rent or future beneficiaries. Clergy have spoken Page 4 The Seattle Skanner December 26, 2012 clearly about our duty to protect low-income fami- lies in the fiscal show- down negotiations. Inspired by the clear mandates of Scripture, many of our nation’s most prominent faith leaders have drawn a cir- cle of protection around programs such as educa- tion funding, food stamps, and the Earned Income Tax Credit. This stance reflects not only religious teachings about justice and compassion, but also popular opinion among people of faith. A post-election poll by Pub- lic Religion Research Insti- tute showed that majorities cans out of poverty every year. Medicaid protects not avoid destroying them later is a failure of leadership. The fiscal showdown is a day of reckoning for the conservative movement’s long-term “starve the beast” political strategy only low-income children and families, but also pro- vides long-term care to millions of older and dis- abled Americans. And Medicare is the corner- stone of our national com- mitment that American Faith leaders of the PICO National Network are telling our elected officials in no uncertain terms that protecting the poor, pre- serving the social contract and making the richest Americans pay their fair share are nonnego- tiable priorities. This message is par- ticularly important as corporate CEOs intensely lobby both parties to enact an agenda that cuts taxes for rich people and powerful corpo- rations while undermining needed benefits for seniors and working families. Trickle-down economics and austerity benefit only the wealthy and powerful, and the rest of us pay the price. Some conservative lead- ers argue that the religious obligation to care for the vulnerable – which is com- mon to all faiths — applies to individuals but not gov- ernment. But Scripture is Private religious groups alone cannot meet the needs of struggling families of all major religious demographics (with the lone exception of white evangelical Protestants) oppose cutting protections for the poor in order to reduce the deficit. In addition to programs aimed expressly at low- income Americans, we also have a responsibility to defend Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security. Social Security keeps 21 million Ameri- clear that nations, not just individuals, will be judged by how we treat the least among us. Further- more, private religious groups alone cannot meet the needs of struggling families. Just four percent of food aid to hun- gry Americans comes from private sources. Government has to play a strong role. Those who would let people suf- fer rather than have gov- ernment provide assistance put political ideology before the commandment to love our neighbors. The fiscal showdown is a day of reckoning for the conservative movement’s long-term “starve the beast” political strategy. For decades, they have cut taxes at every opportunity in order to run up deficits that would force the gov- ernment to dramatically scale back the safety net. As right-wing lobbyist Grover Norquist put it, the objective is to shrink gov- ernment to the size where he can “drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.” The moral imperative to ensure that this plan fails is clear, and the well-being of millions of Americans who are pre- cious in the eyes of God depends on it. seniors receive the health- care they need regardless of economic status. Using deficits caused by irre- sponsible tax cuts, unfund- ed wars, the financial crisis and an inefficient health- care system as an auspice to weaken programs that ensure basic economic security and access to health care for millions of Americans is wrong. Argu- ing that we must slash these programs now to
