About The Recession Diaries

From finance to foreclosures, layoffs and lack of opportunity, a daily journal of the economic crisis and its effect on black professionals.

THE BLOG FAMILY

In-your-face observations of art, entertainment and the world at large from someone who cares. Can you handle the truth?

NOVEMBER 30 | NBC Heroes Employee Says There's Too Much Diversity in Hollywood

NOVEMBER 29 | Black Conservative Doesn't Want Oprah to Interview Obama on Christmas

NOVEMBER 28 | Peru Apologizes for Mistreatment of Afro-Peruvians

One man's opinion on very nearly everything. It's hard but it's fair.

DECEMBER 2 | Ten Things You Could Learn from Tiger Woods

DECEMBER 2 | Aunt Jemima and Politics in Darktown

NOVEMBER 24 | Meet The Parents

Manners and mores in modern life? It's about way more than where the fork goes.

DECEMBER 3 | Desiree Rogers' Teachable Moment

NOVEMBER 28 | The Tipping Factor

NOVEMBER 24 | The Turkey Is The Least of It

From finance to foreclosures, layoffs and lack of opportunity, a daily journal of the economic crisis and its effect on black professionals.

NOVEMBER 27 | Making The Most With Less This Christmas

NOVEMBER 25 | Young, Black, and Out of Work

NOVEMBER 24 | Have Blacks Been Shafted By The Stimulus?

Smart, up to the minute takes on politics--from the state house to the White House. Pull up a chair.

FEBRUARY 23 | Social Networks and Saddam Hussein: A Private Matter?

JANUARY 21 | Hillary Clinton Stands Up For Internet Diplomacy

JANUARY 20 | SATISFACTION, PRIDE OR DELIRIUM?

Engaging commentary, interviews, and reviews that delve into and beyond the world of books. Get read.

NOVEMBER 25 | Conversation for the Dinner Table

NOVEMBER 19 | Reading List: The Poetry Edition

NOVEMBER 12 | Publishing with the Stars

A daily conversation on hot topic culture items. From Zora to Zane, True Blood to Tiny & Toya, TEWW covers high art, low-brow culture and everything in between.

MARCH 2 | The Best Gabourey Sidibe Interview So Far

FEBRUARY 17 | Would You Let Serena Williams Do Your Nails?

FEBRUARY 12 | John Mayer's Stupid Mouth

MICHAEL'S BLOG ROLL

    Calls For Job Growth Grow Louder

    With unemployment among blacks topping 15 percent nationally and 20 percent in several states, the N.A.A.C.P. is reportedly ready to put pressure on President Obama to do more to create jobs.

    The N.A.A.C.P. plans to join the A.F.L.-C.I.O. along with the National Council of La Raza to make the case that the president’s $787 billion stimulus program has not been effective enough in dealing with unemployment.

    Just yesterday ABC News reported that the Obama administration slashed 60,000 jobs from its most recent report on the program because outlets submitted “unrealistic data.” Its effectiveness in creating private sector jobs overall has been questioned as well. There’s also debate over how many Americans may owe the IRS in their 2010 tax returns over a discrepancy in how many taxes were withheld from paychecks as a result of a credit imposed from stimulus legislation.

    All of this has spurred the aforementioned groups to call for an increase in spending on schools and roads, in addition to billions of dollars in fiscal relief to state and local governments to forestall more layoffs and a direct government jobs program, “especially in distressed communities facing severe unemployment.”

    Hilary O. Shelton, the N.A.A.C.P.’s senior vice president for advocacy and policy, told the New York Times:

    “It’s time for us to really stoke this issue up. We’re not so much trying to convince him to do something he doesn’t want to do, but urging him to move forward on an issue we have agreement on.”

    The groups also call for tax credits and loans to small and medium businesses to spur private-sector job growth.

    Federal Reserve Chairman and killjoy Ben Bernanke gave a speech yesterday warning of a weak recovery with high unemployment for the foreseeable future. Bernanke blamed banks for slowing the recovery and keeping unemployment high by not opening lines of credit despite receiving hundreds of billions in taxpayer bailouts to open lines of credit.

    How does corporate America respond? Executives at both GE and Bank of America Merrill Lynch both said yesterday that they expect Congress to approve a second economic-stimulus package to help what would otherwise be a slow economic recovery. So the answer to unemployment is déjà vu?

    Hopefully that phrase comes to mind for Nancy Pelosi, who is said to be switching her focus to job creation as we reach the end of the year.

    Whatever action she along with Congress and the administration take, hopefully it’s not simply throwing a bunch of money at large banks that need to be broken up anyway.

    Leave your feedback below and send your own recession stories to therecessiondiaries@gmail.com.

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