(NNPA)—“When you look at this final agreement that we came to with the White House, I got 98 percent of what I wanted. I’m pretty happy.”—John Boehner, Speaker of the House
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If Boehner got 98 percent of what he wanted from the debt ceiling deal, what did the other side get? I haven’t heard the opposing side give its percentage yet. Of course, there was Representative Emmanuel Cleaver, who said the deal was a “Satan Sandwich.” The quandary here is that if 98 percent of the deal was pleasing to the Repubs, does that leave two percent for the Dems? And if that’s not true, and the Dems say they got 98 percent of what they wanted, or even 50 percent, it means that both parties wanted pretty much the same thing. You can’t have more than 100 percent of anything.
I wonder how this debt ceiling deal makes most Black people feel. Are you fired-up mad about it or do you think it was pretty good? Considering the latest statistics on the net worth gap between Blacks and Whites, overall, we should understand that we are in deeper trouble than we were before the deal. But, many of us were asleep about 10 years ago when the net worth gap was reported to be about 10 to 1 in favor of White households. Now that it’s 20 to 1, with Black households having a median net worth of $5,766, and 35 percent of our families having a zero or negative net worth, we are all riled up.
Top off that news with the latest debt ceiling deal and the highest unemployment rate in the nation and what we have is a real serious problem folks. But you already knew that I’m sure. We will now see cuts in federally subsidized student loans, Head Start, and food stamps, in addition to the loss of more than 300,000 jobs. Black folks won’t be left out of that equation.
The Brookings Institute issued a report written by William G. Gale, Senior Fellow, Economic Studies, pointing out: “It does not seem fair or reasonable to impose virtually the entire cost of this part of the fiscal burden on poor and middle-class households, but that is exactly what this bipartisan act of Congress and the White House does. Without tax increases in either part of the current deal or in the foreseeable future, there is no way to get the well-off to pay anything close to their fair share of the fiscal burden. The top one percent own 33 percent of the wealth and receive about 15 percent of the income in the country. These shares have risen over the past 30 years. They are being asked to bear none of the burden of closing the fiscal gap.”
The report goes on to say, “…the plan imposes the full cost of deficit reduction on low- and middle-income households, gives the wealthy a free pass, and bodes poorly for future negotiations, which, like it or not, will require tax increases or draconian cuts in entitlements.”
All right, Black folks, you got stroked again. The deal went down and you didn’t get jack from it. In fact, you will have to bear much of the financial burden for the deal. So now, what’s it gonna be? Will you continue to buy into the symbolism of politics and its effect on your emotions? Or will you finally take appropriate action to empower yourselves economically and free yourselves from the yoke of economic oppression and exploitation?
Will you continue to be more concerned with catching the latest episode of the Basketball Wives, as they call one another the b-word over and over, or will you at least make an attempt to be informed on economic solutions to our problems?
Will you rest in the refuge of now being able to see a Black man in the 6 o’clock slot on television, making butt prints in your easy chair, or will you get busy making footprints on the path that leads to economic freedom?
Will you continue to subscribe to mantra, “Jobs! Jobs! Jobs!” (Why must it be said three times?), asking the guv-ment to create them, you know, the same way it created jobs with the stimulus package, or will you start making your own jobs by growing Black businesses?
The folks in Washington are hardly concerned about our moanin’ and groanin’, our whinin’ and cryin’, and our yellin’ and screamin’. They couldn’t care less, and they have shown us time and time again. Why do we keep asking them to do what we know they won’t or can’t do? Why can’t we see we’ve been played again? Are we really that stupid? Do we need to be hit upside the head with a sledgehammer in order to take care of business for ourselves?
On Aug. 27 there will yet another march in Washington, and on the 28th they will dedicate the made-in-China Martin Luther King monument (Another example of our dysfunction when it comes to economic empowerment; can’t with that Chinese granite and a Chinese sculptor; wow! what a find!). The songs will be sung again, the speeches will be given again, the tears will flow again, the chants will be yelled again, and the prayers will be prayed again. A few Black folks will be exalted, and the peons will look on from a roped-off distance “feeling good” once again. And after it’s all over, Black folks will lose—again. That is, if we fail to stop all the rhetoric and emotionalism, and take appropriate action to end our losing streak in the economic empowerment game.
(James E. Clingman, an adjunct professor at the University of Cincinnati’s African American Studies department, is former editor of the Cincinnati Herald newspaper and founder of the Greater Cincinnati African American Chamber of Commerce. He hosts the cable television program, “Blackonomics,’’ and has written several books, including his latest, Black Empowerment with an Attitude—You got a problem with that? To book Clingman for a speaking engagement or purchase his books, call 513-489-4132 or go to his Website, www.blackonomics.com.)
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