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Last Updated: Aug 29th, 2008 - 11:16:59 |
Report: Vast Majority of African American and Latino Middle-Class Families Are on Shaky Financial Ground
A landmark study developed by Demos and Brandeis University finds that three-out-of-four African American and four-out-of-five Latino middle-class families are on shaky financial ground. This marks the first comprehensive report to examine economic stability of households of color in this country
Jennifer Wheary, one of the co-authors of the report:
“We found that almost 90 percent of African American and Latino families don’t have enough assets to cover just—not even all, but just the majority of their essential expenses for even three months, you know, if they had to live on those assets alone, in case of a job loss or some other sort of unforeseen crisis. And for us, that’s an area of extreme, extreme vulnerability and extreme concern, because that’s really—the importance of assets is something that allows families to, again, weather current crises, but then also plan for the future and also give future generations a good start.”
Kai Wright, freelance journalist:
“One thing to note about subprimes is it didn’t matter what income you were. At low income, middle income and high income, African Americans and Latinos were two and three times more likely to get a subprime loan. And as we know from the Wall Street Journal’s reporting, many of them also would have qualified for prime loans but were steered into it.
And it is really quite depressing and concerning what is going to happen in the future because of how much of home equity is—how much wealth is dependent upon home equity. As our communities get hit with these foreclosures, it is not just a static moment. It is not just right now that that’s going to matter. This is going to echo for potentially generations of people.
And, you know, we had already sort of spent so much time clawing back through homes from the ways in which the racist—from our long and predatory history of racist lending. We’ve spent so much time clawing back from that. And now, in one fell swoop, we could very well be right back to where we were before we started, before the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977, before we started creating avenues for African Americans and Latinos and other people of color to try to get some capital. It’s really quite scary where we’re headed.”
McCain Campaign Accuses Obama of Playing “The Race Card”
Senator John McCain’s campaign has accused Senator Barack Obama of playing “the race card,” after comments Obama made at a campaign rally. McCain’s campaign manager Rick Davis said, “Barack Obama has played the race card, and he played it from the bottom of the deck. It’s divisive, negative, shameful and wrong.” Davis was referring to comments that Obama made on Wednesday when he suggested Republicans were trying to scare voters away from him with attack ads, especially those linking him with White female celebrities. Obama said, “So nobody really thinks that Bush or McCain have a real answer for the challenges we face, so what they’re going to try to do is make you scared of me. You know, he’s not patriotic enough. He’s got a funny name. You know, he doesn’t look like all those other presidents on those dollar bills, you know. He’s risky. That’s essentially the argument they’re making.”
Black America: A Neglected Priority in the Global AIDS Epidemic
According to a new report by the Black AIDS Institute, if blacks in the United States constituted their own country, that nation would rank sixteenth in the world in the number of people living with HIV. Two percent of adult black Americans are infected with the virus, and only four countries outside Africa have a higher HIV prevalence.
Colorado “Fusion Center” to Step Up Intelligence Gathering During DNC; US Northern Command to Play Role
Federal and state law enforcement officials in Colorado plan to increase intelligence operations during the Democratic National Convention in Denver and run a fusion center, where intelligence analysts will collect and analyze reports of suspicious activity. Civil rights advocates fear the fusion center could enable unwarranted spying on protesters exercising their First Amendment rights at the convention.
Federal and state law enforcement officials in Colorado plan to increase intelligence operations during the Democratic National Convention in Denver and run a fusion center where intelligence analysts will collect and analyze reports of suspicious activity.
The Colorado Independent reports the military will also be sharing intelligence information and providing support through US Northern Command, a unit created in 2002 for homeland defense. Civil rights advocates fear the fusion center could enable unwarranted spying on protesters exercising their First Amendment rights at the convention.
UN: Food Crisis Affecting Fight Against AIDS
Thousands of politicians, aid workers and activists are gathering in Mexico for an international conference on AIDS. The UN reported this week that the number of AIDS deaths fell for the second straight year. An estimated two million people succumbed to the disease in 2007. On Thursday, the executive director of UNAIDS, Dr. Peter Piot, said that the global food crisis was affecting the fight against AIDS.
Dr. Peter Piot: “The current food crisis, which is true in many, many countries—and the poorer you are, the more affected you are by that—is affecting also the fight against AIDS. And we have the paradoxical situation that some people have access to pretty expensive and sophisticated drugs but have no food to eat, nothing to eat, or don’t have the money to take the bus to go to the [medical] center and have no job.”
Exxon Mobil Earns Record $11.7B in 2nd Quarter
In business news, Exxon Mobil has broken its own profit record by making $11.7 billion during the second quarter—the most profitable quarter for any business in history. This means Exxon Mobil made about $90,000 per minute. Despite the record, Exxon Mobil’s profit fell short of Wall Street estimates, and the company’s stock fell about two percent. Meanwhile, analysts say Exxon Mobil spent just one percent of its $41 billion in profits last year on alternative energy sources.
Border Agents OK’d to Search Laptops & Cellphones
The Washington Post reports federal border agents are now allowed to take and search a traveler’s laptop computer, cellphone or other electronic device without any suspicion of wrongdoing. Under the Department of Homeland Security, policy officials may also share copies of the device’s contents with other agencies. The policy applies to anyone entering the country, including US citizens. Senator Russ Feingold described the border policy as truly alarming. The policy covers any device capable of storing information in digital or analog form, as well as all papers and other written documentation.
Anthrax Suspect Dies in Apparent Suicide
The Los Angeles Times reports a top government scientist has died in Maryland from an apparent suicide, just as the Justice Department was about to file criminal charges against him for the 2001 anthrax attacks. The attacks killed five people and crippled the national mail service. According to the report, the scientist Bruce Ivins had recently been informed of his prosecution in the anthrax case. Ivins had worked for the past eighteen years at the government’s elite biodefense research labs at Fort Detrick, Maryland. Ivins had never been previously identified as a suspect. He was actually part of a team that helped the government investigate the anthrax attacks after Sept. 11.
NASA Probe Confirms Water on Mars
And finally, NASA scientists have announced they have definitive proof that water exists on Mars, after further tests on ice found on the planet in June by the Phoenix Mars Lander. The Phoenix Lander touched down in May on an ice sheet, and samples of the ice were seen melting away in photographs taken by the Lander’s instruments in June. Peter Smith is the principal scientist on the Phoenix Mars Lander project.
Peter Smith: “Through this analysis, we also hope to be able to answer a question that goes beyond just finding water ice, but is this a habitable zone on Mars? ‘Habitable zone’ meaning that we have periodic liquid water, not today
but over time, and we have the materials that are the basic ingredients for lifeforms. It will be for a future mission to find if anybody’s home in this environment.”
Ecuador Refused to Renew Lease on US Air Force Base
Ecuador has formally told the Bush administration the US military must vacate its base in the Ecuadorian city of Manta once its lease expires next year. The US has used the Manta base for the past decade to lead anti-drug flights throughout Latin America. Ecuador’s ambassador to the United States, Luis Gallegos, said, “The Ecuadorian people do not want foreign troops on our soil, and the government has to follow the mandate of its people.”
Chevron Lobbies to Fight Amazon Pollution Lawsuit
Meanwhile, Newsweek reports Chevron is urging the Bush administration to yank special trade preferences for Ecuador if the country’s government doesn’t quash a lawsuit against the oil company. Chevron has been sued for dumping billions of gallons of toxic oil waste into Ecuador’s rain forest. Activists have described the disaster as an Amazon Chernobyl. Earlier this year, a court-appointed expert recommended Chevron be required to pay up to $16 billion to clean up the rain forest. Now, Chevron is lobbying the Bush administration to pressure Ecuador to quash the case. Chevron’s lobbying team includes former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, former Democratic Senator John Breaux and Wayne Berman, a top fundraiser for John McCain. One lobbyist told Newsweek, “We can’t let little countries screw around with big companies like this—companies that have made big investments around the world.”
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