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/.
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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