The DISH
Unbossed and
unbought news and information you can use
Vol. 12 Issue 50…Dedicated to the Dialogue on
Race…December 13, 2009
Intuit's Vibe
The Cold Within
By James Patrick
Kinney
Six humans trapped by happenstance in black and bitter cold
Each possessed a stick of wood,
Or so the story's told.
Their dying fire in need of logs, the first woman held hers back
For on the faces around the fire
She noticed one was black.
The next man looking 'cross the way
Saw one not of his church
And couldn't bring himself to give
The fire his stick of birch.
The third one sat in tattered clothes
He gave his coat a hitch,
Why should his log be put to use
To warm the idle rich?
The rich man just sat back and thought
Of the wealth he had in store,
And how to keep what he had earned
From the lazy, shiftless poor.
The black man's face bespoke revenge
As the fire passed from his sight,
For all he saw in his stick of wood
Was a chance to spite the white.
And the last man of this forlorn group
Did naught except for gain,
Giving only to those who gave
Was how he played the game.
The logs held tight in death's stilled hands
Was proof of human sin,
They didn't die from the cold without,
They died from the
cold within.
By John Burl Smith
Whether from down South or up
North,
The heart of the "Old
South," Georgia was the fifth state to secede from the
Following the Civil War,
Abolitionists inspired by black
leaders like Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass,
David Walker and Sojourner Truth had led the fight to end slavery. However, the
Freedmen's Bureau and church groups, such as The Sisters of the Blessed
Sacrament founded by St. Katherine Drexler, at war's
end began the formal task of preparing former slaves to move from dependency to
caring for themselves in a hostile environment. Government promises of land
evaporated for the vast majority of former slaves. Nevertheless, one harbinger
of opportunity did emerge and
Unable to stem the tide of civil
rights and demands for black power, white leaders in
Maynard Jackson was selected as
the first black mayor (1974). He was followed by Rev. Andrew Young in a kind of
musical chairs until 2002. The novelty generated real pride among most black Atlantans, but whites fled the city for the suburbs, like
rats leaving the Titanic.
Obviously today, it is clear the black community was deceived into believing it
had gained real power though the switcheroo with Maynard Jackson. This game
prevented the black community from developing its own leaders based on service
and community ties. Instead,
For nearly forty years
Under the last two administrations,
bringing back whites from the suburbs into midtown neighborhoods, while
removing black residents, has been a top priority. Destroying public housing to
clear the way for gentrification -- building condos and multi-use apartment
complexes -- is a backdoor strategy white leaders hoped would enable them to
take back the mayor's office. Relying on blacks' frustration over the lack of
change and progress in reducing poverty, they hoped a liberal white woman could
get black votes or reduce voter turnout.
Conversely, black voters remained
committed to the hope that a true black leader will emerge who will keep his
promises and work to create a better future. Consequently, last week (12-1-09) blacks
rallied behind a young black man, Kasim Reed, in the
mayoral runoff. His election more so than any since Maynard
Jobless Insurance Must Be Renewed
By James Parks
With 26 million people either unemployed or without full-time work, labor
commissioners and officials from eight states joined with workers and union and
civil rights leaders in calling for Congress to extend unemployment insurance
and health care assistance for jobless workers, benefits that will expire for
many in a few weeks.
A new study, "Keeping a
First Line of Defense for the Jobless," predicts that 1 million workers
will become ineligible for unemployment benefits in January 2010 unless
Congress re-authorizes key provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act (ARRA). The report also shows that by March that number will swell to more
than 3.2 million workers.
Speaking at a press conference,
AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker pointed out that jobless
workers very quickly spend their benefits and the money quickly flows into and
boosts the domestic economy. Every dollar the government provides for
unemployment benefits is estimated to increase economic output by $1.63 to
$2.15. Many economists agree, she said, that unemployment benefits provide one
of the biggest "bangs for the buck" in terms of recovery spending.
Unemployment insurance is
"the key safety net to help workers who have lost jobs through no fault of
their own," Holt Baker said, adding: If Congress fails to re-authorize
jobless benefits through 2010, foreclosures will happen at an accelerated pace,
more families will fall off the financial cliff and more local businesses will
lose revenues, leading to more job loss.
Workers of color are being
pummeled by the recession. Unemployment for African Americans is now 15.6
percent and 12.7 percent among Latinos. Some 40 percent of African American and
Latino workers will be unemployed or underemployed at some point in 2010.
Holt Baker pointed out that extending the lifeline for families hard hit by the
recession is the first point of the AFL-CIO's five-part plan for immediate job
creation. The other four points are: (1) Investing now to rebuild America's
schools, roads, sewers, parks and energy infrastructure, accelerating the shift
to clean renewable energy; (2) Increasing aid to state and local governments to
maintain vital services and avoid unnecessary layoffs and tax increases; (3)
Putting people back to work in good jobs with good labor protections doing work
that needs to be done, while making sure not to replace existing jobs; and (3)
Easing the credit crunch by using TARP funds to lend directly to small and
medium-size businesses on Main Street.
The study was released by the National Employment Law Project (NELP), the
Center for American Progress Action Fund and The Half in Ten Campaign.
The benefits provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act include up
to 73 weeks of federal unemployment benefit extensions and a subsidy covering
65 percent of the cost of COBRA premiums for unemployed workers.
Holt Baker sums it up this way: The consequences of not acting are unthinkable.
We would see more lives put on hold, more homes lost and more communities
threatened. The cost of not doing anything is far greater than the cost of
continuing these essential benefits through the end of 2010. Extending
unemployment benefits and COBRA coverage is the right thing to do - for the
unemployed and for all of us.
To read the report, click on http://nelp.3cdn.net/83db1e0ad0574237c7_dzm6i6dl0.pdf.
Poor Thinking at the Top
By Dean Baker
The
The basic problem of unemployment
is in fact a very simple one; we don't have enough demand in the economy. The
collapse of bubbles in both residential and nonresidential construction led to
a falloff in annual construction of close to $700 billion. The disappearance of
more than $6 trillion in housing bubble wealth has forced consumers to pare
consumption by approximately $500 billion a year. This creates a total
shortfall in annual demand of $1.2 trillion.
In the face of inadequate demand,
people lose their jobs. There is not enough demand for houses, cars, restaurant
meals and thousands of other goods and services to keep everyone employed.
One way to fix the problem is to
create more demand. That was the point of the stimulus package passed last
February. This helped, but it was nowhere near big enough.
Subtracting out tax accounting
measures (the alternative minimum tax fix) and spending to come in 2011 and
later, the stimulus was about $300 billion for both 2009 and 2010. The federal
stimulus is also being offset by approximately $150 billion in annual budget
cuts at the state and local level. This leaves a net stimulus from the
government sector of around $150 billion a year. This will not offset a loss in
annual demand of $1.2 trillion; it's like trying to fill a swimming pool with
five buckets of water.
In principle, the federal
government could spend much money on stimulus until it has generated enough
demand to get the unemployed back to work. For political reasons, this doesn't
seem possible. The deficit fixation in
If politics makes it impossible to increase the demand for labor, an
alternative way to create jobs is through decreasing the supply of labor.
Specifically, employers can be given an incentive to cut the hours of their
current workforce, while keeping their pay constant. This should then cause
them to hire more workers. This is not an untested idea.
There are proposals for using
this sort of work sharing being considered in both houses of Congress at the
moment. Sen. Jack Reed (D-Rhode Island) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro have both
introduced bills that would build upon work-share programs that already exist
in 17 states. These programs allow employers to use unemployment insurance
funds to keep workers employed at shorter hours, rather than laying them off
and collecting unemployment benefits. These bills would provide additional
funding to the existing programs so that they would be more widely used and
help the other states establish work-share programs.
Rep. John Conyers has proposed a tax credit that would allow employers to
reduce work time, while still maintaining their pay, and thereby creating the
demand for more workers. This route has the benefit of allowing employers to
try to innovate at their workplace, even if they are not currently planning
layoffs, so it could have a much broader impact.
However, it is important to remember that nearly two million workers are still
losing their job each month. The jobs' figure that is reported each month is a
net figure. It shows how many jobs the economy has gained or loss after adding
up all the workers hired or fired. If we reduce the gross monthly job loss
figure by 10 percent, or 200,000 workers, it has the same impact on employment
as adding 2.4 million jobs. This means that even though the Conyers bill would
have a broader impact, even the Reed-DeLauro bills could lead to many more jobs
being created.
It is important to realize that work sharing can also have a lasting impact on
the structure of work. There have been major efforts by labor unions and
women's organizations to make the workplace more family friendly through paid
family leave, paid sick days and paid vacation. These work-share programs offer
an opportunity to both quickly reduce unemployment and lay a basis for lasting
change in this area. Companies can take advantage of these programs to
experiment with paid sick days or family leave. If they work, they are likely
to leave these policies in place even after the public funding is no longer
there.
It is absolutely unacceptable to have 15 million people unemployed just because
the people who call the shots are too dumb to figure out how to get them back
to work. We got into this mess because the people on top didn't know what they
were doing. We shouldn't have to stay here because they still can't figure
things out.
In
About Me: Baker is the Co-director of the
Center for Economic and Policy Research. CEPR's Jobs
Byte is published each month upon release of the Bureau of Labor Statistics'
employment report. This article appeared in www.truthout.org.
On Rising Tide
By Dot
In 1992, after twelve (12) long
years of Republican leadership, the country was ready for change. With the
inauguration of a new administration, there was hope for better days ahead,
especially among black Americans, who were "sick and tired" of
Reagan-Bush "trickle down" economic policies. Indeed, there was a
sense that Bill Clinton was the "first black" president. Former
President Clinton openly spoke about conditions in the black community, even
recalling for public consumption his experiences with racism while growing up
in
Under
Indeed, rather than providing the change we desperately needed, Clinton moved
to the right of center following the 1996 national elections and embraced the
Republicans' "Contract with America," which changed, among other
things, "welfare" as we knew it. That change has proven to be an
unmitigated disaster, according to a new study, "Battered by the
Storm," to be released on Monday by the
To pursue the policy suggestions
contained in "Battered by the Storm" will require leadership that is
not forthcoming from either the White House or Congress. Both executive and
legislative branches of government seem more committed to warfare and the
welfare of the financial sector than ensuring average Americans are fed,
clothed and sheltered from the ravages of the current economic storm. Hence,
there is rising disappointment with our current Democratic leadership.
Granted, none expected change to occur in an instant, following the swearing-in
ceremony or even after a year or two in office. Yet, to keep hope alive, the
leader must speak of change; jawboning is a very important tool that can lead
to concrete changes.
No group of Americans is more supportive of President Barack Obama than the
black community, which has been severely battered by this recession. The
official black unemployment rate for November stood at 15.6%, down marginally
.1% from October. The white unemployment rate was 9.3% down .2% from the
previous month's 9.5%. We know the official unemployment rate bears little
resemblance to reality. In some urban areas, the black unemployment rate
exceeds twenty percent. The black community is in the throes of a "Great
Depression."
In response to these difficult economic times, President Obama recently said,
"The most important thing I can do for the African-American community is
the same thing I can do for the American community, period, and that is get the
economy going again and get people hiring again." (Source: President Obama
says he won't put focus on "Blacks Troubles, USA Today, 12/3/09)
Evidently, like Clinton, who seemed to genuinely want to help black Americans,
Obama, who seems to only want black votes, has bought into the flawed notion of
a rising tide. The flaw is the assumption that all are able to take advantage
of a rising tide. That is, everyone has a boat with oars and strong arms with
which to row. Furthermore, no one's boat sits in an area where water no longer
flows because of a manmade dam, also known as institutionalized racism.
We know from historic economic data that no such level economic playing field
exists in
If our current president does not
understand black history and lead the way to dismantling the manmade dam of
institutionalized racism that prevents water from flowing into black
communities, the rising tide that lifts all boats will leave in its wake blacks
mired in the economically disadvantaged state, relative to whites, in which
they have existed since the founding fathers codified slavery. That is not the
kind of change blacks who braved freezing temperatures to witness the
inauguration of Barack Obama expected.
Disgruntled feels:
Failure! A November 26, 2009 posting on AlterNet.com entitled "Bailed-Out
AIG Forcing Poor to Choose Between Running Water and
Food" by Yasha Levine chronicles the saga of
poor folks in two impoverished southern
Disgruntled
says: On Wednesday, a group of Democrats with close ties to Wall Street
forced a delay in consideration of the financial regulatory reform. Apparently,
Wall Street's big banks do not like the idea of the Consumer Financial
Protection Agency and want the provision removed from the regulatory reform
measure. Naturally, Wall Street does not want a watchdog guarding the interests
of American consumers; it just might prevent the wholesale fleecing that has
gone on heretofore. Since Republicans are unlikely to vote for any banking
reform legislation, without the full support of a significant majority of
Democrats, financial regulatory reform is a non-starter. The financial sector,
which has poured millions into Democratic and Republican campaign coffers,
knows it can pull enough strings to shape any legislation that comes to the
floor for a vote. When Congress fails to produce a Consumer Financial Protection
Agency, if any financial regulatory measure comes up for a vote and/or passes,
we will witness leadership for the banking and financial services industry in
action. It is the kind of leadership one should expect from the best Congress
money can buy.
Disgruntled
wants to know: There is plenty of talk about an improving