Missed Connections

There was quite a media stir yesterday about a report released by SAMHSA (the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, a federal agency) that found illegal drug use had increased by 60% in 2009.

About 21.8 million Americans, or 8.7 percent of the population age 12 and older, reported using illegal drugs in 2009. That's the highest level since the survey began in 2002. The previous high was just over 20 million in 2006. ... Marijuana use rose by 8 percent and remained the most commonly used drug. ... Other results show a 37 percent increase in ecstasy use and a 60 percent jump in the number of methamphetamine users.

The reports focused in on the marijuana numbers, and all the coverage I heard discussed only one reason for the increase:

"I think all of the attention and the focus of calling marijuana medicine has sent the absolute wrong message to our young people," Kerlikowske [director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy] said in an interview.

Today, another report is circulating the newsrooms. This one, from the Census Bureau reveals (duh) that poverty rose in 2009:

The poverty rate rose to 14.3 percent during 2009 from 13.2 percent the previous year as household income stayed flat and the number of people without health insurance reached its highest level since such data has been collected, the government announced Thursday.

For working age people between 18 and 64, 2009 saw the highest poverty rate -- 12.9 percent -- since 1965.

The overall rate is the highest since 1994. Some poverty watchers had expected the poverty rate to jump as high as 15 percent.

"Today's news is sobering, showing that 2009 was a year with increased poverty and rising numbers of uninsured Americans," said Rebecca Blank, the Commerce Department's undersecretary for economic affairs.

Now, neither of these reports is surprising to me. What IS surprising, or rather, disappointing, is that no one in the mainstream media seems to be drawing ANY connecting lines between these two dots. Does it not seem like maybe, just perhaps, an increased rate of poverty contributed to an increase in illegal drug use (I'm not even going to get into drug policy and the messed-up definitions of "illegal" vs. legal drugs)? Does a possible connection between poverty and despair and millions of uninsured folks and increased self-medication not seem worth investigating or at least pointing out?

It is deeply disappointing that an increase in marijuana use is blamed on the democratic process taking place in the form of discussions of legalization, rather than on the widespread unemployment, hopelessness, and despair of so many in this country.

There was particular concern about marijuana use by young people, and the only young person I heard interviewed was asked about whether he thought the drug is safe, not what leads him or his friends to use it.

This is a classic example of media shaping and spinning two very important issues as completely separate problems to be dealt with by their own agencies, rather than encouraging analysis and thoughtful reflection on society as a whole. At least Obama has approved Elizabeth Warren to play a role in setting up the new Consumer Protection Agency, so someone will be looking out for the poor and middle class!

News Roundup Thursday 7/22

Hello all, lately it just seems like there's TOO MUCH news to follow. Or maybe that's just me. Just in case you feel this way too, I'm going to try out a new format for some of my posting. Every day or two, look for a News Roundup (better name forthcoming) that will tell you the 3 or 4 things you should know from the daily news.

1. Shirley Sherrod and race today: Shirley Sherrod was fired from her Dept. of Agriculture job earlier this week after a video of her speaking at an NAACP conference was released. The segment that everyone initially focused on has Sherrod saying that many many years ago she helped a white farmer less than she could have because he was acting "superior" to her. She got fired, the NAACP and the White House, among others, condemned her actions, and then...OMG, someone watched the whole tape. Her speech goes on to say that she learned from her relationship with the white farmer. They apparently worked out their differences (he went on record yesterday vouching for Sherrod's excellent work to support his farm) and she wrapped her story by saying "That's when it was revealed to me that the job is about poor, versus those who have. And not so much about white -- it is about white and black, but it's not -- you know, it opened my eyes." The NAACP, the White House, and others then apologized/backpedaled, and as of today Sherrod has been offered a new Dept. of Ag. job but reportedly "is not sure" about taking it. In the meantime, the whole issue is spurring lots of talk about race and the issues around even mentioning race in the political arena.

2. Financial Reform = Law. Yesterday President Obama signed the Financial Reform bill into law. The bill, which of course is weaker than most Progressives would have liked, is still a huge and historic step toward re-regulating Wall Street. Among other things, it:

• established a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to get your back against abusive mortgage and credit card practices.
• created a new council of regulators that will require banks to prepare for and prevent financial crises better in the future.
• limits Wall Street "betting" on hedge funds.
• forces derivatives trading (one of the main factors in the 08-09 meltdown) to be more open and regulated.

3. AZ Anti-Immigrant Law Challenged. Today, an Arizona judge will hear two cases against SB 1070, the recently-passed law that requires the police to racially profile people in Arizona in an effort to catch "illegal" "immigrants." The big one being heard today is U.S. v. Arizona, being brought by the U.S. Justice Department, which calls the law unconstitutional on the grounds that only the Federal government has power over naturalization of citizens. This is going to be one to watch for sure.

The Big Everything

I predict that the central question of U.S. politics for the next few decades is going to be "how much control do private corporations have over our government?" Corporate interests have either publicly or covertly been at the heart of the most recent and ongoing debates our country faces: health care, climate change, financial regulation and reform, raising the cap on oil spill liabilities for companies like BP.

You've probably heard already (but no sweat if you haven't heard) about the JanuarySupreme Court decision that allows corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money in political elections. This so-called "corporate personhood" set back the movement toward people-centered, people-owned government. Point, corporations.

Counter-point, people. Recently, the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act out of committee and it's headed to the House and Senate floors soon for a vote.

In a nutshell, this bill could be the big everything of financial reform for the Obama presidency. Here are the highlights:

Consumer Protections with Authority and Independence: Creates a new independent watchdog, housed at the Federal Reserve, with the authority to ensure American consumers get the clear, accurate information they need to shop for mortgages, credit cards, and other financial products, and protect them from hidden fees, abusive terms, and deceptive practices.

Ends Too Big to Fail Bailouts: Ends the possibility that taxpayers will be asked to write a check to bail out financial firms that threaten the economy by: creating a safe way to liquidate failed financial firms; imposing tough new capital and leverage requirements that make it undesirable to get too big; updating the Fed’s authority to allow system-wide support but no longer prop up individual firms; and establishing rigorous standards and supervision to protect the economy and American consumers, investors and businesses.

Advance Warning System: Creates a council to identify and address systemic risks posed by large, complex companies, products, and activities before they threaten the stability of the economy.

Transparency & Accountability for Exotic Instruments: Eliminates loopholes that allow risky and abusive practices to go on unnoticed and unregulated -- including loopholes for over-the- counter derivatives, asset-backed securities, hedge funds, mortgage brokers and payday lenders.

Executive Compensation and Corporate Governance: Provides shareholders with a say on pay and corporate affairs with a non-binding vote on executive compensation and golden parachutes.

Protects Investors:Provides tough new rules for transparency and accountability for credit rating agencies to protect investors and businesses.

Enforces Regulations on the Books: Strengthens oversight and empowers regulators to aggressively pursue financial fraud, conflicts of interest and manipulation of the system that benefits special interests at the expense of American families and businesses.

California also scored points for the people with the recently defeated Propositions 16 and 17. 16, sponsored by Pacific Gas & Electric, was an effort to make it very difficult for local governments to create municipal utilities, or community wide clean electricity districts called Community Choice Aggregators (CCAs). Prop 17 would have allowed insurance companies to offer a discount to new customers who have been covered continuously for long time. Opponents argued that what it would really do would be allow insurance companies to hike up rates for new customers who hadn't been insured continuously, i.e. a lot of working poor people. Voters rejected both.

As for me, I'm on the side of the people, and I'll fight for legislation and politicians that are, too. The Dodd-Frank bill has the potential to protect American freedom and democracy in a huge way if it's successful in reining in the power of financial corporations. Stay tuned here for updates!

Misery & Co.

Apparently we live in a world in which the Huffington Post has its very own Real Misery Index. It measures Americans' relative economic woe at any given point in time using unemployment numbers, housing prices, inflation rates for essentials, credit card lateness stats, and some other stuff.

The latest from the Index shows that economic misery is still increasing, mostly due to unemployment and UNDERemployment (people being forced by job scarcity to work fewer hours than they need to or at a lower salary level than they are qualified for). However, the stock market is steadily climbing its way up, leading most media sources to report a slow-but-sure end to the recession. What these numbers suggest, however, is the end of the recession for some in certain sectors while others stay miserable, poor, and jobless. HuffPo calls this effect a "two-tier economy" which is decidedly NOT a good thing.

This handy graphic illustrates the situation. The red line is the Dow Jones Industrial Average, climbing, climbing up. A good thing, if you're an investor or a CEO. The blue line is the Real Misery Index, also climbing, climbing (except last December, when we got a bit of a break). A bad thing, if you're most of America. (The Real Misery Index is better, ie less miserable, when lower.)



As the NC legislature comes back into session, I can only hope that they (and lawmakers around the country) do not abandon job-creation and stabilization efforts just because some measures of economic well-being are up. A job seeker myself, I can speak to the lack of well-paying jobs in the metro area of the Triangle. I can only imagine what rural NC is like for un- and underemployed folks right now. We've got to keep the pressure on for reform and support for everyone, not just the top tier.

Miscellany

I haven't been able to put my thoughts on any one subject into readable form for almost a week, so I thought I would give a quick list of topics that have been on my mind and radar screen this week. What's been on yours?

• Boycotting Arizona. I like the overwhelming nationwide response to the AZ immigration law. Apparently hotels and other tourist industries are worried, and several major US cities are calling on their citizens to collectively join the boycott. Forthcoming: a list of AZ-based businesses for those of us who don't have any fancy Grand Canyon vacations to cancel.

• Drugs in pop music. The newest Ke$ha song/headache "Your Love is My Drug" is filled with not-original substance abuse references as analogies for an obsessive relationship. Again, this is not new, but this song catches my ear every time I hear it, and every time I get a little bit upset. I've always struggled with how and where to draw the line between free speech and destructive culture. I'm upset by this song in particular because I work at a rehab community of recovering substance abusers, and I think what it must be like when they inevitably hear the line "keep it up like a lovesick crackhead."
  

• NC Primaries. Turnout was terrible as usual, but Elaine Marshall was the front runner, if not the official "winner" of the Senate race. She will now face off against Cal Cunningham in a runoff in June. In not-so-great news, progressive, young judge Leto Copely was soundly defeated by not one, but two uber-Conservative judges.
  

• Job searching in a down economy. As you probably know, I am currently completing a fellowship-type position that ends June 30. Thus, I have started my job search with the goal of being unemployed for as little time as possible. What a great way to really feel the recession. There are some jobs out there, if you're a certified child care worker or a certified nurse assistant. I'm not a certified anything, but I do have a bachelor's in public policy. Also, most waitstaff/kitchen/driver/general labor positions ask for at least two years experience! This is going to be a tough one. Stay tuned for updates and insights into the world of jobseeking 2010, and if you have any leads for me, let me know.