The "progress" that the Obama administration points to for big cities makes you wonder how out of touch the economic team really is. Solar panels and fiber optic networks are great, but it's not doing much to address the deepening problem of unemployment in these groups. It's no wonder Obama is ignoring liberal economists at the upcoming jobs summit. Sometimes the truth from those who have been right about this economy and who have fought against the center-right Summers and Geithner policies.
I wonder what it's like to have someone from the left or even center-left in the White House. For starters, it would nice to even be heard or simply not be attacked as the "left of the left" by the White House. How many times do we have to watch the same old failed reactionary policies fail and drag people down? It's no wonder Congress has had enough with the wobbly approach from the Obama team.
The Congressional Black Caucus and civil rights organizations are calling for a targeted aid package to put minorities back to work and stepping up pressuring on the White House ahead of its jobs summit next month where corporate CEOs, academics, labor leaders, community activists, and others have been invited to suggest any and all ideas to spur hiring.
The US unemployment rate among black workers soared last month to a 28-year high of 15.7 percent and the rate has risen to 13.2 percent for Latino workers - both well above the overall 10.2 percent national average. Despite early signs of economic recovery, many economists predict the jobless rate will continue to climb toward 20 percent in minority communities, which historically have higher unemployment than the general population.
