Anderson@Large

Trickle-Down Economics 2.0

The NAACP’s 100th convention is in full swing at the New York Hilton. The nation’s oldest civil rights organization has reason to celebrate. But the black unemployment figures are a sobering reminder that there’s still work to do.

A report by the New York City Comptroller found that the racial gap in employment is widening. The unemployment rate for blacks is 14.7 percent. By contrast, the unemployment rate for whites is 3.7 percent.

The New York Times reports:

Economists said they were not certain why so many more blacks were losing their jobs in New York, especially when a large share of the layoffs in the city have been in fields where they are not well represented, like finance and professional services. But in those sectors, the economists suggested that blacks may have had less seniority when layoffs occurred. And black workers hold an outsize share of the jobs in retailing and other service industries that have been shrinking as consumers curtail their spending.

The Times notes that President Barack Obama twice has been asked about the need for targeted policies to “stop the bloodletting in the black unemployment rate.” Each time Obama offered hope in the form of trickle-down economics:

And so, if the economy as a whole is doing poorly, then you know that the African American community is going to be doing poorly, and they’re going to be hit even harder. And the best thing that I can do for the African American community or the Latino community or the Asian community, whatever community, is to get the economy as a whole moving.

During yesterday’s panel discussion on “Advancing the Civil Rights Agenda,” Barbara Arnwine, executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, asked: Haven’t we heard that before?

Arnwine said the Obama administration should have “targeted, specific programs.” She called for the creation of an interagency task force to “focus on the peculiar problems of African Americans, Latinos and people with disabilities.”

Here’s a modest proposal: Adolfo Carrion, director of the White House Office of Urban Affairs and Domestic Policy Council, should forgo the dog-and-pony show “national conversation on urban and metropolitan policy” and take Amtrak to New York Penn Station.

The one-time Bronx Borough president could ask his former constituents for “fresh ideas and successful solutions” for a new urban agenda. Carrion should expect to hear a lot of four-letter words: jobs, jobs and jobs.

NAACP’s Centennial Convention

The NAACP is celebrating its centennial and mapping its future in New York City this week.

During Saturday’s opening press conference, NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Jealous called for a fair confirmation process for Judge Sonia Sotomayor.

Jealous had some choice words for Sen. Jeff Sessions, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee: Don’t even think about it.

Don’t even think about trying to score political points with Sotomayor whose confirmation hearings begin today.

A who’s who of elected officials, civil rights leaders and activists will address the convention, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Chuck Schumer, Rep. Charles Rangel, New York Gov. David Paterson, and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

President Barack Obama will deliver a keynote address on Thursday.

Roslyn Brock, Vice Chairman of the NAACP Board of Directors and Chairman of the 2009 Convention Planning Committee, said:

The NAACP was founded in New York and it is only fitting that we bring the nation’s first African American President to this city to celebrate our 100th year. We look forward to all residents of this city and state being able to share in this momentous occasion.

If you can’t join the thousands already camped out at the New York Hilton, you can watch a live webcast of the proceedings here.

You can also follow my updates on Twitter.

Stimulating Debate

With unemployment rising, a debate is underway about the effectiveness of President Barack Obama’s $787 billion stimulus package.

Republicans have seized on the jobless recovery to chip away at Obama’s job approval, particularly among independent voters.

To be sure, Republican criticism is the same old, same old.

Speaking before the Thinking Big, Thinking Forward conference in February, Pulitzer Prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman observed:

Republicans oppose government spending as a response to the crisis. They fear that people will start to think good things about government spending.

Still, the stimulus plan has raised voters’ concerns about government spending.

But Krugman says a second stimulus is needed:

And that’s what the Obama administration should be doing right now with its fiscal stimulus. (It’s important to remember that the stimulus was necessary because the Fed, having cut rates all the way to zero, has run out of ammunition to fight this slump.) That is, policy makers should stay calm in the face of disappointing early results, recognizing that the plan will take time to deliver its full benefit. But they should also be prepared to add to the stimulus now that it’s clear that the first round wasn’t big enough.

Krugman continued:

But there’s a difference between defending what you’ve done so far and being defensive. It was disturbing when President Obama walked back Mr. Biden’s admission that the administration “misread” the economy, declaring that “there’s nothing we would have done differently.” There was a whiff of the Bush infallibility complex in that remark, a hint that the current administration might share some of its predecessor’s inability to admit mistakes. And that’s an attitude neither Mr. Obama nor the country can afford.

What Mr. Obama needs to do is level with the American people. He needs to admit that he may not have done enough on the first try. He needs to remind the country that he’s trying to steer the country through a severe economic storm, and that some course adjustments — including, quite possibly, another round of stimulus — may be necessary.

With African Americans bearing the brunt of the recession, it may be necessary for black leaders to weigh in on the debate.

The Business of Music

The House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing today on “trends affecting minority broadcast ownership.”

Minority-owned broadcasters allege paying artists performance royalties will put them out of business. Indeed, Radio One Founder and Chairperson Cathy Hughes issued an urgent call to action to “save BLACK RADIO!!”:

And in the midst of this economic depression, black radio stations simply do not have that financial ability.

The musicFIRST Coalition has compiled a list of questions (and answers) for Committee members to ask Radio One CEO Alfred Liggins III, including:

1. How can you accept a $10 million bonus and continue to shortchange artists and musicians? (Answer: Beats us!)
2. How can you accept a 70 percent pay raise and continue to stiff arm the artists and musicians who make your paycheck possible? (Answer: We are still at a loss for words.)
3. How many radio stations does Radio One own? (Answer: A lot.)
4. Isn’t Radio One the 8th largest radio ownership groups in the country? (Answer: YES, they are big.)
5. Is Radio One operating in the RED? (Answer: NO, Radio One had operating income of at least $130 million and operating margins of more than 40 percent over the last three years.)

Update: Hughes and Liggins refused to appear before the Committee.

In a statement, Thomas F. Lee, president of the American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada, said:

Ms. Hughes and Radio One have been vocal critics of the H.R. 848, running negative ads on many of her 51 radio stations that criticize both the measure and its sponsor, Congressman John Conyers. Radio One has repeatedly asked for an opportunity to raise their concerns, and today Chairman Conyers gave them the opportunity – which they declined.

Radio One and Cathy Hughes can’t have it both ways. They can’t stand outside the tent and criticize the Performance Rights Act, and when invited inside the tent to share their views, refuse to participate.

In an entirely unrelated drama, sometimes a song is about more than the business of music. Sometimes it’s eerily prophetic.

Stimulus Do-Over?

With the nation in the grip of a jobless recovery, a second stimulus package may be on the way. In an interview with Fox News, President Barack Obama said:

I don’t take anything off the table when unemployment is close to 10% and a lot of Americans are hurting out there.

It drives me nuts when Obama talks about the specter of double-digit unemployment. An awful lot of African Americans are hurting right now. Ten percent unemployment would be a welcome change.

While a second stimulus package would give Obama an opportunity to get it right, it would be a tough road to hoe. A Rasmussen poll found that 60 percent of Americans oppose a second stimulus.

Still, Obama is beginning to own the recession. A new Quinnipiac poll of Ohio voters shows that 48 percent disapprove of the way he is handling the economy.

Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said:

The economy in Ohio is as bad as anywhere in America. These numbers indicate that for the first time voters have decided that President Barack Obama bears some responsibility for their problems.

Until now voters have given President Obama high ratings on the economy, blaming former President George W. Bush for their problems. They might be taking out their frustration on President Obama, possibly deciding that the change he promised has not come as quickly as they expected.

The poll numbers got the White House’s attention. So on Thursday, Vice President Joe Biden will be in Ohio, where he “will discuss how the Recovery Act is building a 21st-century economy in Cincinnati and across the nation.”

Hmm. What would it take for Biden to go to, say, Detroit, where the black middle class is in freefall?

Biden is in charge of the White House Middle Class Task Force. So, he can discuss what the Obama administration is doing to help the black middle class avoid “downward mobility.”

King of Pop Finally Laid to Rest

Michael Jackson will be buried today in Forest Lawn Cemetery.

Michael’s public memorial service will be televised, live-streamed and shown in some movie theaters beginning at 1:00pm ET, 9:00am PT. Tens of millions of people worldwide are expected to watch the King of Pop’s final act .

In a fitting irony, the real circus will follow the media circus into the Staples Center. But the clowns are already here.

Michael Jackson, R.I.P.