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Bruce Mirken, Greenlining Institute Media Relations Coordinator, 415-846-7758
Today's weak jobs numbers -- 54,000 new jobs created, a sharp drop from recent months and below economists' projections -- underscore the need for much more aggressive foreclosure relief efforts centered around reducing the principal of underwater mortgages, policy experts at The Greenlining Institute said today.
Today's weak jobs numbers -- 54,000 new jobs created, a sharp drop from recent months and below economists' projections -- underscore the need for much more aggressive foreclosure relief efforts centered around reducing the principal of underwater mortgages, policy experts at The Greenlining Institute said today.
The new jobs data come on the heels of a succession of grim economic reports, including a sharp May decline in consumer confidence and a drop in the Case-Shiller 20-City Home Price Index to a new post-bubble low. Recent data indicate that 28 percent of home sales are now foreclosures, the highest level in a year, while one quarter of mortgages are "underwater," meaning borrowers owe more than the home is worth. In some areas, underwater rates of up to 80 percent have been reported.
"This is an emergency," said Greenlining Institute Community Reinvestment Director Preeti Vissa. "The ongoing foreclosure crisis is well on the way to dragging the whole economy into a double-dip recession if strong action isn't taken immediately."
The continuing flood of distress sales, Vissa noted, is depressing home values, making it difficult for workers to relocate in search of job opportunities and damaging vast sectors of the economy that depend on housing. "There is no economic stimulus more effective than a strong housing market, which ripples through almost every sector of the economy," Vissa said. "Effective foreclosure relief based on principal reduction isn't just help for people struggling to keep their homes, it's a vital lifeline for the whole economy. We can't wait any longer."
Today's weak jobs numbers -- 54,000 new jobs created, a sharp drop from recent months and below economists' projections -- underscore the need for much more aggressive foreclosure relief efforts centered around reducing the principal of underwater mortgages, policy experts at The Greenlining Institute said today.
The new jobs data come on the heels of a succession of grim economic reports, including a sharp May decline in consumer confidence and a drop in the Case-Shiller 20-City Home Price Index to a new post-bubble low. Recent data indicate that 28 percent of home sales are now foreclosures, the highest level in a year, while one quarter of mortgages are "underwater," meaning borrowers owe more than the home is worth. In some areas, underwater rates of up to 80 percent have been reported.
"This is an emergency," said Greenlining Institute Community Reinvestment Director Preeti Vissa. "The ongoing foreclosure crisis is well on the way to dragging the whole economy into a double-dip recession if strong action isn't taken immediately."
The continuing flood of distress sales, Vissa noted, is depressing home values, making it difficult for workers to relocate in search of job opportunities and damaging vast sectors of the economy that depend on housing. "There is no economic stimulus more effective than a strong housing market, which ripples through almost every sector of the economy," Vissa said. "Effective foreclosure relief based on principal reduction isn't just help for people struggling to keep their homes, it's a vital lifeline for the whole economy. We can't wait any longer."
'He hated Black people,' the sheriff said
A racist white man killed three black people in a racially motivated attack then killed himself in Jacksonville, Florida.
The man, identified by local media as 21-year-old Ryan Palmeter, entered a Dollar General store and opened fire with an AR-15 assault rifle.
Sheriff T K Waters said three blacks - two men and a woman - were killed by the gunman, who wore body armor and left manifestos of his “disgusting ideology of hate.” The gunman had swastikas drawn on his AR-15-style rifle
“This shooting was racially motivated, and he hated Black people,” Sheriff Waters said.
"He targeted a certain group of people and that's Black people. That's what he said he wanted to kill. And that's very clear," Sheriff Waters said. The manifestos made it clear: “He wanted to kill n******,” the sheriff said.
The attack happened less than a mile from the historically black Edwards Waters University.
The shooter first went to the university campus, where he was asked to identify himself by a security officer, the university said in a statement. When he refused, he was asked to leave.
"The individual returned to their car and left campus without incident," the statement added.
Ryan Palmeter lived with his parents in nearby Oakleaf and was a registered Republican, according to Florida voting records.
Mass shootings have become commonplace in the U.S., with more than 469 so far in 2023, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
'Our legacy of resistance & building never ends'
Tens of thousands of Americans converged on Washington Saturday to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, a turning point in the 1960s U.S. civil rights movement at which Martin Luther King Jr gave his galvanizing "I have a dream" speech.
Organizers say today's march was not a commemoration but a continuation of the demands made in 1963.
Martin Luther King Jr.'s only grandchild Yolanda Renee King, 15, told the gathering that if she could speak to her grandfather today, she would say, "I am sorry we still have to be here to rededicate ourselves to finishing your work."
"Sixty years ago, Dr. King urged us to struggle against the triple evils of racism, poverty, and bigotry," she said. "Today, racism is still with us. Poverty is still with us. And now gun violence has come for our places of worship, our schools, and our shopping centers."
"When people say my generation is cynical, we say cynicism is a luxury we cannot afford," she said. "I believe that my generation will be defined by action, not apathy."
“We have made progress, over the last 60 years, since Dr. King led the March on Washington,” said Alphonso David, president and CEO of the Global Black Economic Forum. “Have we reached the mountaintop? Not by a longshot.”
'Why Democrats must ignore the corporate wing of the party and instead put forward a bold agenda'
US Sen. Bernie Sanders returned to New Hampshire Saturday to deliver a speech entitled “The Agenda America Needs” at Saint Anselm College’s New Hampshire Institute of Politics.
“I have always believed that good public policy is good politics,” Sanders said in a statement before the speech. “The American people are increasingly disgusted at the growing levels of income and wealth inequality in our country and the rampant corporate greed we are seeing.”
“We invited him, but he’s coming here for a reason,” New Hampshire Institute of Politics executive director Neil Levesque told the Concord Monitor. “I think it opens the door for a lot of other sorts of thoughts about whether or not Biden’s going to be the nominee, whether or not Biden is going to be running in next year’s presidential election.”
I’m LIVE in N.H. to give a major address on why Democrats must ignore the corporate wing of the party and instead put forward a bold agenda.
(The audio improves after the first few minutes}