By Barrington M. Salmon
NNPA Newswire

In February last year, TEGNA – which owns 64 television stations in 51 US markets –agreed to be acquired by Standard General for $8.6 billion, including debt. The deal was expected to close in late 2022. But an unanticipated hurdle came in the form of Federal Communications Commission Chair Jessica Rosenworcel who instructed the FCC’s Media Bureau to designate the deal for a hearing in front of an administrative law judge. “As part of the FCC’s mission, we are responsible for determining whether the grant of the applications constituting this transaction serves the public interest,” said Rosenworcel. “That’s why we’re asking for closer review to ensure that this transaction does not anti-competitively raise prices or put local newsrooms at risk.”

She said the judge needed to weigh in on “material concerns in the record related to how the proposed transaction could artificially raise prices for consumers and result in job losses.” At the time, observers and experts said if Rosenworcel’s decision did not kill the deal –as it had in other instances – it would delay a decision for months. In the end, the FCC left Standard General hanging for more than 420 days, never offering any reasons for the delay, ultimately opting not to bring the deal up for a vote and allowing the May 22 deadline to pass without comment. In the weeks and months before the May 22 financial deadline, Standard General’s founding and management partner Soo Kim, said in an exclusive interview, that Standard General fully expected “the FCC to come back and give updates, status reports and answer its remaining questions.” Indeed, he explained, when the deal came before the FCC, the expectation was that commissioners would study the details of the deal and schedule a straight up-and-down vote.

Kim, who is also Standard General’s Chief Investment Officer, said he is at a loss as to why the process played out the way it did. “We are well over a year. There’s never been a ruling-conforming TV acquisition. It’s never taken 180 days, which is the guideline the FCC uses,” said Kim, who was born in Seoul, South Korea, and moved with his family to New York City when he was five. “The presumption is that if the government is taking a long time, it’s because of weighty issues but we don’t know.”

Kim – an independent director of Bally’s Corporation and the preceding entity Twin River Worldwide Holdings, Inc. since 2016 – said the FCC hadn’t reached out or spoken to Standard General for six months. “It feels like a delay tactic. It’s pretty nuts. The presumption is that dealing with the government means there should be some response. There’s no precedent for no response at all,” he said. “It’s one thing if they said the deal is faulty. There’s nowhere to go. No recourse. We’ve answered every question the FCC posed. We can’t go to court. It’s sort of an interesting situation. There’s no analogy to this happening.”

Supporters of the deal agreed with Kim, who in a statement said, “The FCC Media Bureau’s unprecedented move to scuttle the Standard General-TEGNA transaction jeopardized a historic strengthening of local news and expansion of diversity in the ownership of local broadcast television stations, despite the transaction having widespread support and being consistent with all FCC regulations and precedent.” Former FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn agreed, saying she was one of those supporters pushing the FCC to schedule and take a straight up-and-down vote before the expiration of the deadline.

“It’s not like this applicant is a stranger. We can look at what they’ve done to see what they do. Full consideration by this full administrative body to vote on this issue could be game-changing,” said Clyburn, who was the publisher and general manager of The Coastal Times, a Charleston-based family-founded newspaper for 14 years. “He is making unprecedented promises that we all say we want and need, such as freezing employee numbers for three years, and $5 million to train employees.” “Soo agreed to freeze layoffs and develop pathways for different opportunities for employees. He signed MOUs and agreements. Then to be stuck in limbo by regulatory procedures, not even having a path to consideration, is harmful to the applicants. We’re hoping for a pathway not an exercise in futility.”

Clyburn, who served her two terms on the FCC from August 3, 2009, to February 19, 2013, said despite the challenges, she was hopeful the issue could be resolved. Some who opposed the deal include media mogul Byron Allen who came in second bidding for TEGNA, some labor union reps, and Common Cause, which takes issue with a hedge fund controlling television stations and other media outlets. The deal also drew opposition from House Speaker Emeritus Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren who pressed Rosenworcel to very carefully vet certain aspects of the deal. Warren expressed concerns about the deal being an anti-competitive consolidation that might have led to increased retransmission-consent fees, layoffs, and reduced competition for ads.

But there were others, including Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Cathy MacMasters Rogers, who sided with Kim and Standard General and excoriated Rosenworcel in letters and hearings this summer. “Faced with a 2-2 Commission and a lawful transaction she wanted to kill, she skipped a Commission-level vote on the Standard General-TEGNA transaction and directed the FCC’s Media Bureau to do her bidding,” Cruz said. “And to top it off, there is widespread suspicion that the Chairwoman quashed the deal to benefit a longtime Democrat donor. (Her actions) “seriously damaged the FCC’s reputation and damaged broadcasters’ ability “to compete against big tech companies and provide local journalism.”

“The opposition has changed constantly,” said Kim. “They say that we’d raise rates for consumers and fire a lot of employees. They also told us they don’t like hedge funds or private equity in the media. It is another misconception – state pension funds, retirees, large institutional investors – that’s our base.” Kim said the FCC’s decision puts a chill on the prospect of future minority investment in broadcasting and sets the stage for unfair treatment from bureaucrats towards future parties with transactions before the commission. FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr told a reporter after an April FCC hearing he was deeply concerned about the delay because it went against the FCC’s publicly stated support for diversity.

“I believe the application deserves a straight up-and-down vote. Diversity is important. The FCC should remove any impediments,” said Carr, the senior Republican on the FCC who once served as the agency’s general counsel. “It’s been a year-long process. Local news is sputtering by the moment.” With that reality, Carr said, the FCC needs to create incentives adding that the deal – if approved – would represent “a really break-glass moment.”

“Hundreds of local newspapers have shut down over the last few years alone. This trend is part of a broader decline in the investments necessary to sustain the journalists and reporters that are vital to communities across the country,” Carr said in a Feb 24, 2023, joint statement with Commissioner Nathan Simington after the public review. “Many of the nation’s local TV stations are trying to step up and expand their newsgathering operations. At this moment, the FCC should be working to encourage more of the investment necessary for these local broadcasters to innovate and thrive. It does the opposite today. After a protracted, nearly yearlong review, the commission should be providing the parties with a decision on the merits – not an uncertain future.”

By Barrington M. Salmon, NNPA Newswire Contributor

Last week, a trio of federal judges chose a new congressional map for Alabama after almost two years of protracted skirmishes in state, federal and US Supreme courts.

Plaintiffs, including the NAACP, ACLU, Shalela Dowdy and Evan Milligan, had filed suit to challenge a new congressional district map drawn by Republicans in the Alabama Legislature which they said violated the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act. The Republican-dominated legislature ignored the US Supreme Court and a lower court, forcing a three-judge panel to appoint a special master to redraw the boundaries.

Milligan said in the days after the court victory he has purposely not taken too much time to celebrate.

“I think I expected (this outcome) only very recently in the last couple of weeks,” said Milligan, 42, executive director of Alabama Forward, which describes itself as ‘a statewide civic engagement network committed to bringing together nonpartisan organizations to (build) power around progressive civic issues and movement towards greater freedom.’ “I am rightfully overjoyed, happy and thankful but as I think about those closer cases, there is a lot in store for us to do.”

Fellow activist Cliff Albright said he was of the same mind.

“There’s not much time for celebration although celebration of the Supreme Court ruling is too strong a word,” said Albright, co-founder and executive director of Black Voters Matter and the Black Voters Matter Fund. “I mean we expected it when the census was done and with the numbers but I know there’s always. Celebration would have been picking the second map.”

“The map that was chosen is technically not a majority-Black district. It has 48 percent of the population and a 45 percent voting population. We have the opportunity because it may be the first time we have a district without being a majority-Black district. It sets a troubling benchmark. They’re opening up a slippery slope. They could start watering down a majority-minority district.”

Albright, a 2020 Soros Equality Fellow, said he’s aware of the games certain legislators and policymakers play, even as he, fellow activists and voting rights advocates work to bring parity and justice to the electoral process.

“They are not guided by commonsense, justice or rightness,” said Albright. “We see anti-Black white supremacy in the Alabama legislature. White supremacy never takes a day off. It’s always playing the long game. When you’re in power, you can play the long game.”

In the interim, Albright said, activists need to concentrate on voter education; discussing with the community what the voting and voting rights looks like; stepping up voter registration and turnout; fighting to establish early voting; instituting voter changes; and ensuring that polling stations stay open long enough of all those who want to vote to do so.

“That discussion needs to start today,” he said. “We still have battles over Section 2, racial gerrymandering and related issues.”

Alex Aronson said he was struck by the brazenness of the Alabama state legislature.

“Alabama’s defiance is striking and nearly unprecedented in this country’s history. A recent report offers important color and context,” said Aronson, a judicial accountability advocate and former chief counsel to US Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse. “This is not an organic development. Legislators are not acting or making strategy independently. There is a billion-dollar force which has been entrenched in the judiciary. About $600 million has been spent to control the composition of the court.”

Aronson said that money comes from a network built by arch-conservative activist and rightwing power broker Leonard Leo and the Federalist Society, a dark money front group which was instrumental in selecting all six conservative justices on the US Supreme Court.

Aronson, managing director of the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown University, said the Alabama case goes to the heart of whether America remains a democracy or not.

“Something abnormal is happening here. A dark-money network is behind the attacks on Critical Race Theory, book banning and more. They have been hiding their tracks. They have serious and dangerous plans for America’s future,” he said.

On Twitter, Aronson offered yet another warning: “Elected Democrats either stand up to confront the Federalist Society’s authoritarian project, or we descend into authoritarianism. Those are the options.”

The Rev. Jim Wallis said Alabama represents the existential struggle between white Christian nationalists and other Americans who aren’t as ideological or who hold different positions.

“This is about race and power. This is a test of the court system, equality, and a test of faith,” said Wallace, a renowned social justice activist, theologian, author and teacher. “… It’s about 2024 and the election. History is coming to a crescendo. It’s a choice between a genuine multicultural democracy or a land ordained by God for white Europeans. A whole lot of white people support this … We’re facing, finally. A decision: ‘Is America possible?’”

Leaders Vow to Continue King’s Last Fight

By Barrington M. Salmon, NNPA Newswire Contributor

Before Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, TN, on April 4, 1968, he orchestrated a profound shift in the Civil Rights Movement. After achieving significant victories on the political front with the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, King and the Civil Rights Movement focused their attention on another insidious issue confronting the Black community – economic inequality.

In the 60^th year following the “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom,” speakers, cheered on by thousands, lined up during an anniversary commemoration on August 26, 2023, and called for a resurgence and continuation of King’s aborted call for economic justice. The striking commentary came from civil rights and economic justice advocates alike.

“Dr. King knew that economic rights were key to true equality,” said Robert F. Smith, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners, LLC and a highly successful investor with intimate knowledge of the economic and financial systems in the U.S.

Standing where King stood in front of the Lincoln Memorial 60 years ago, Smith said, “His moral calls for economic justice are what I want to talk to you about today. Because as we stand here, the war on diversity and inclusion threatens all of the progress made through the sacrifices of our ancestors.”

Well-known and applauded for his having paid the student loan balances of the 2019 graduating class of Morehouse College, Smith told the crowd that the war against economic injustice is not nearly over.

“Yes, there are Black millionaires and a few Black billionaires, but our economy is still structured to keep profits and power out of the hands of Black folks,” Smith said, pointing out that the average white family has wealth that is 12 times greater than the average Black family.”

According to data from Synchrony Bank, the medium net worth of a Black family is $24,100 verses $188,200 for a White family.

Smith concluded, “As we honor the legacy of Dr. King, we must expand our focus to include economic justice.” He called on Americans of all colors to invest in the Black community.

Smith’s speech preceded Martin Luther King III, who asked the thousands, “What are we going to do?” King concluded, “We need all of us to be engaged.”

Like Smith and King, the Rev. Al Sharpton concluded the rally portion of the day before the march by calling for racial unity behind the cause of economic justice. Reflecting on attacks on affirmative action and against businesses and corporations with racial diversity programs, Sharpton announced that he would lead “a fall of economic sanctions against those who bow to this.”

Sharpton concluded, “If you think you can take money out of our homes and communities, we are not going to allow that to happen.”

While the Great Migration saw approximately six million Black Americans move out of the South into the urban metropolises of the North, Midwest, and West in search of a better life, the economic opportunities many of them hoped for did not materialize.

King knew this all too well, using a 1966 essay for the Nation to paint a portrait of the sprawling urban slums from The Bronx, New York, NY, to the Watts in Los Angeles, CA, and argued that the attainment of political rights does not end the battle for civil rights.

“The future is more complex,” wrote King. “Slums with hundreds of thousands of living units are not eradicated as easily as lunch counters or buses are integrated. Jobs are harder to create than voting rolls.”

Dr. King’s call for economic justice on the eve of his assassination – when he too called for economic sanctions against opponents of equality – remains unfulfilled. But, decades later in sweltering heat on the National Mall, King’s last vision was echoed by a growing chorus of leaders.

“We must defeat poverty,” said National Urban League President Marc Morial before Sharpton led thousands in a march to the King Memorial. “We call for a national living wage, for the passage of the child tax credit, for an end to gentrification, to redlining, and we will continue to work and fight until hell freezes over. Then we will fight on the ice!”

By Barrington M. Salmon | NNPA Newswire

The National Center for Health Statistics released data several months ago showing that maternal deaths in the United States spiraled to the highest rate in almost nearly 60 years, data showed, worsening a health trend that has cemented America as one of the most dangerous industrialized countries for a woman to give birth.

“The United States bears the worrying distinction as “deadliest nation” in the industrialized or “developed world” to be pregnant,” said Dr. Michele Bratcher Goodwin in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee in June 2023. “Nationwide, as noted by Justice Breyer, “childbirth is 14 times more likely than abortion to result in death.” As reported by Nina Martin and Renee Montagne, “[m]ore American women are dying of pregnancy-related complications than any other developed country.” In fact, “[o]nly in the U.S. has the rate of women who die been rising.”

In fact, said Bratcher, an author, advocate and Abraham Pinanski, Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, “a review of data collected by the United States Central Intelligence Agency provides evidence that it is safer to be pregnant and give birth in Iran, Tajikistan, and Bahrain than in the United States … In Mississippi, a woman is 118 times more likely to die by carrying a pregnancy to term than by having an abortion. According to the Mississippi Maternal Mortality Report, Black women accounted for “nearly 80% of pregnancy-related cardiac deaths” in that state.”

For Black women, the dangers they face while pregnant are dire. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2021, the maternal mortality rates for Black women were significantly higher than the rates for White and Hispanic women. Stats show that Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women in America.

Suzanne Wertman, state government affairs consultant with the American College of Nurse Midwives, said she’s not at all surprised at the troubling increase in the rate and numbers but said there’s one aspect that really leaves her aghast.

“What surprises me is that there’s not enough political will and that this is not at a tipping point,” said Wertman, a vocal advocate for midwifery, reproductive health and a woman’s right to control her bodily autonomy. “The conversation still centers around older mothers and obesity. They always focus on the woman and not the system. What’s interesting to me as a midwife is that the mainstream media talks to physicians, not midwives.”

Any attempt to substantially reduce maternal mortality generally, and Black maternal mortality in particular, has to confront and shatter the scourges of structural and institutional racism and sexism, Wertman said.

“We need to have universal pregnancy care,” said Wertman. “We need serious investment in maternal health, universal care and more midwives. What we have is ‘too little too late’ and ‘two much too soon.’”

Wertman – who has more than 20 years’ experience providing midwifery care to a range of people in public, private and non-profit spaces – said COVID-19 hurdled everyone into crisis mode and added another layer of stress on an already stressful situation for organized medicine and organizations, hospitals and health groups. Other experts and observers note that COVID-19 exposed the structural inequities in the healthcare industry and other segments of the American economy.

Dr. Kevin Scott Smith, Department Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Alameda Health System, is engaged in the same battle Wertzman is from a different angle and place. He, like Wertzman, sees racism and race-based health disparities as key factors driving the Black maternal mortality crisis in the United States.

“It’s a bigger challenge than just COVID. COVID is a variable, and racism is a variable to COVID. There are some interrelated links between both,” said Smith. “What I will tell you is I am spending most of my time fighting obstetric racism. I am hopeful that these efforts will have some impacts. Rather than expecting outcomes, I am concerned about data.”

“Obstetric racism represents the cause for the racial disparities in Black maternal health. It has been declared by most medical bodies. It’s not one race driving these racial disparities. It’s more systemic for sure.”

Smith said he believes that if you remove all of the previously attributable causes for Black maternal mortality such as access to care, lack of education and poverty … you’re left with one root cause and that’s racism.

It’s tragic, it’s tragic,” said Smith, sighing deeply.

Often, when people look at numbers, it’s easy to forget that each data point represents a woman, flesh and blood, a human being. Kendra Davenport Cotton is the face behind those numbers, a woman and mother who but for the grace of God would have become a statistic.

“I’m talking as a person who has had scares,” said Cotton, chief executive officer for the New Georgia Project and New Georgia Project Action Fund. “I have children who are 21, 18 and 15. When they were younger, I had a pregnancy that was not viable. I went to my OB-GYN’s office and literally almost hemorrhaged to death. I started bleeding. It looked like a murder occurred.

Cotton said her doctor told her he couldn’t do a D&C.

“I was in Durham, North Carolina. I’m educated with an advanced degree. I had a blighted ovum. I was at eight weeks when I found out,” said Cotton, who said her children were 7, 4 and a year old when she experienced this health crisis. “I ended up having a medical abortion and a D&C. I wouldn’t have been able to do that under current circumstances. If I was in rural area, I’d be dead.”

Cotton said when the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last June, Georgia’s Republican lawmakers quickly reinstated the Peach State’s six-week abortion ban.

“Most women don’t even know they’re pregnant at six weeks. The 6-week ban has calcified things and is causing all types of health problems,” she said. “Women in similar circumstances now would have to go before a board which would convene to ensure appropriate safeguards for hospitals and doctors.”

“Women would be sent home with non-viable pregnancies.”

Cotton said priority choices, underfunding and disinvestment by Georgia’s elected officials are crippling women’s effort to have access to reproductive care.

“There’s underfunding here in Georgia. There are lots of rural hospital closures which are negatively affecting Black maternity health,” said Cotton, who served as the campaign manager for Teresa Tomlinson in her US Senate race and was founding executive director of Rep GA Institute, Inc. “It’s happening in places where schisms of haves and have-nots is particularly acute.”

Cotton said some people have to drive 70 to 100 miles to get to an OB-GYN. She said Georgia has been hit hard, citing the fact that Georgia government officials implemented Medicare after decade.

“This is top neglect of the governor and the legislature. Show me your budget, I’ll show you priorities,” she said. “Black women are underpaid and they’re living in areas under-represented and the government underfunds the basis infrastructure.”

These actions have been deeply challenging and perplexing for those people public officials purport to represent.

“We’re in a conundrum right now because public policy in Southern states is hard. There are systemic forces in place designed to oppress people in the margins,” said Cotton.

She said less than half of Georgia’s 159 counties has an OB-GYN, one of Atlanta’s two trauma hospitals have closed and grassroots organizations were not notified. She said residents and activists have been fighting back by taking to the streets but acknowledged that it’s been an uphill battle.

“You can treat healthcare like we treat retail. Throwing up urgent care will not do much. You’re playing with people’s lives,” Cotton said. “(What they’re doing) may be deliberate but regular folks and poor folks will and are suffering.”

Smith, who stood up a care modeling program called Beloved Births Black Centering, said in his role as chairman of midwifery, he doesn’t rely on magic.

“Actual measurements are moved to that end,” he said. “This particular model capitalizes on the centering of the prenatal care model, pre-birth weight, group prenatal care for and by Black people. We have Black midwives, doulas, caseworkers and Black physical fitness trainers. We provide wraparound care – a gold package of Black love.”

Smith serves on the advisory board of the African American Well Project, an organization led by Dr. Mike LeNoir whose goal is to create health equity in America’s healthcare ecosystem. He said he and his team were able to kick off Beloved Blacks Birthing Center during the COVID-19 global pandemic. He describes the program as a safety net providing care to Black, brown and other women.

“We’re seeing evidence of the program’s success. It is evidence-based care. It potentially could be the opt-out model while we address obstetric racism,” he said.

Wertzman said there are several solutions to this crisis.

“Policymakers understand that so many issues we face could be solved by investing in reproductive justice,” she said. “Women should be allowed to have babies if they want to.”

She said government officials, policymakers and others should also invest in midwifery by removing regulatory restrictions and other disincentives such as midwives being paid less for the same services.

“They need to reimburse equity – equal pay for equal work. It’s crazy how little is spent on births. Preventative consequences could be changed ensuring that people get care when and how they need it,” she said.

Wertzman said some other solutions are creating free-standing birth centers that offer pre-natal and natal care; integrating midwives more fully into the healthcare system to ensure a higher level of care; redistributing funds; and spending more money on those on the frontlines.”

By Barrington M. Salmon, NNPA Newswire Contributor

Everywhere ordinary Americans turn, it seems, the spectre of inflation haunts their everyday lives. Everything costs more: Food. Shelter. Gasoline. Eating out. Clothes. Vehicles. And a most goods and services.

Illustrating the pervasive nature of inflation, is that rents, the cost of new and used cars and even something seemingly unconnected like dental services have seen increases. Meanwhile wages and salaries have scarcely kept up with red hot inflation. American families are paying what the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and Moody’s Analytics estimates to be an addition $493 a month for food and other goods in June because of inflation which jumped to 9.1 percent compared to 2021. It’s the biggest 12-month hike in prices in 40 years.

PRICES GOING UP, UP, UP …

Greer Marshall and Montina Vital told the NNPA they feel the effects of this crushing inflation every time they make a purchase, go to a restaurant, the corner store, supermarket or gas station.

“I am cutting back on some of my expenses and telling my children to find a job. Young people are used to buying sushi up the street. That’s $20 per person per trip,” said Marshall, a documentary filmmaker and video journalist. “Grocery shopping is not looking the same as it used to be. When I go to the supermarket or grocery store, I can only afford to get the items I eat that day or the day after because I cannot fathom the price of some things. The price of grapes is ridiculous. It’s like $3 a pound!”

Marshall, mother of two, said she has become creative in finding ways to cope.

“I’m not going out to do entertainment things and I’m learning to live with less. I am more focused on what I absolutely need,” she said. “When I’m home, I turn off the heat. I got me a little heater that I plug in. I’m not driving the car as much because gasoline costs $5 a gallon. If I don’t have to travel, I don’t. And I am charging for everything, even if it’s $20 because everything adds up.”

Market veteran and financial journalist Dylan Ratigan said in a recent interview that Americans are being buffeted by rising prices and extremely volatile markets.

“Inflation is at its highest level since the 1970s. Higher interest rates are affecting mortgages, credit cards and double costs, especially in housing,” said Ratigan, co-host of ‘Truth and Skepticism.’ “Oil and energy costs for transportation and manufacturing has doubled. Large institutions, trucking companies and airlines had budgets of fuel costs to fly, drive and run factories. Those numbers are wrong – a lot has happened fast.”

The Consumer Price Index’s standing at 9.1 percent in June was proof that inflation was burning hot and still spiraling. The prior month, the CPI stood at 8.6 percent, then the highest rate in 40 years. But in recent days, there are signs that inflation is cooling with gas prices falling lower every day for the past two months, the Federal Reserve raising interest rates twice in the last two months and fears about a recession tempered by strong jobs numbers, the gradual lowering of prices and skyrocketing prices on the housing market also going lower.

According to the BLS, all items except the food and energy rose 6 percent over the past year.  Energy increased 34.6 percent over the last 12 months, the largest 12-month increase since September 2005. And the food index jumped 10.1 percent for the 12-month ending in May, the first increase of 10.0 percent or more since March 1981. Food prices rose 11.9 percent over the past year, and prices in sit-in restaurants and take-out increased 7.4 percent over last year which is also the largest 12-month change since the period ending November 1981. Gasoline prices increased 48.7 percent, electricity rose 12 percent, and natural gas increased 30.2 percent over the last 12 months, the largest such increase since the period ending July 2008.

Inflation touched just about every aspect of America driving up rent, household furnishings, airfares, mortgages, housing prices

According to a recent Gallup poll, about one in five Americans regard the high cost of living/inflation or fuel prices as the most important problem facing America today. Together, these two challenges account for more than 50 of the economic issues 35 percent of Americans point to as the nation’s top problem. The unyielding price pressures have forced people like Anderson and Marshall to significantly change their spending habits and has increased fears from members of the public, some politicians and economists that America is looking at either an outright recession or a notable slowdown of economic growth.

HIGHER PRICES, SHORTAGES, INFLATION = A TIGHT SQUEEZE

Dr. Linwood Tauheed said the United States could end up with “the worse possible of all worlds” as the US economy struggles to recover from a devastating global pandemic, supply chain problems, absorbing the effects of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the widespread sanctions imposed against Russia for invading Ukraine.

“With the war in Ukraine and sanctions, stocks of gas, oil, fertilizer and other goods are decreasing. I don’t think inflation has happened yet,” said Tauheed, associate professor of Economics at the University of Missouri – Kansas City, and a member of the graduate faculty at the University of Missouri – Columbia. “We’re going to see increases. The impact from sanctions hasn’t really hit us yet. Prices of products are going up.”

Tauheed, said the United States has been on an economic roller-coaster during and since the emergence of COVID-19, buffeted by the economic disruption and downturn that caused and the ripple effects that the country is still experiencing.

“We are in a period where we’re seeing inflation from an initial cause: recovery. The crisis (the pandemic) came on quickly and money was put into the economy. Supplies didn’t keep up,” Tauheed said. “People who were home because of COVID-19 saved money (because they took no vacation or and spent little in 2020). People had money. There was a decrease in supplies while people had money to spent. That caused inflation to increase.”

At the same time, Tauheed added, the economy recovered to some degree “but supplies were not where they needed to be.”

“There’s inflation that you would expect from a quick recovery, but then you had the supply chain crisis,” he explained. “Countries, particularly China, were affected. Facilities were shut down. It doesn’t necessarily explain cargo ships at the docks, though. Independent truckers weren’t able to get business. Many went out of business, others retired. So there were not enough trucks. The problem at the docks will be with us for a while.”

The issues of cargo ships piled up at some of America’s major ports has eased because of a series of actions taken by the Biden administration and similar moves by the trucking industry and port authorities. There are hints that inflation may cool off in the coming months. As commodity prices fall, supply chain troubles exacerbated by COVID-19 are waning and swollen inventories hoarded by retailers have turned out to be an unexpected bargain for shoppers.

Vital, a certified financial education instructor, financial strategist, mother, wife, said the crazy rate of inflation caught her off-guard.

“Damn inflation. I don’t see that changing. It makes you rearrange your household,” she said. “I have always made things from scratch, and I find myself altering our diet even more. When I buy lunch items for my kids, I’m watching the cost. I have changed and adapted. When I need to go out, I plan where I need to go.”

Vital said when she filled up her gas tank when gasoline stood at $5.00, it cost $55. Before, she said, filling the tank cost $12 less.

“Hell no, I ain going nowhere if I don’t need to. We’re on minimal movement,” she said with a wry chuckle. “My husband has to go to work every day. We don’t know how much the prices of food and gas are changing but we have to have money for both of these. I put all my bills on a payment plan – put water, light and gas on a budget. That gives me more available money. That’s what I’ve had to do. You really have to know how much you have after bills.”

Vital said she also cut off automatic bill payments “because we have to have gas.”

“My husband travels 45 mins one-way to work from the house. He has to have a car, he has to get to work. Develop consistency with the known to keep a tab on the unknown. I do more shopping at Goodwill. I have a growing son who is growing out of his clothes. I look for clearances too. I have a strategy, a plan between gas and food.”

Vital and a number of other interviewees said they believe that they are being kicked around by inflation because of factors other than market forces.

“I really believe that corporations are gouging consumers. Businesses are getting on the bandwagon to make up for COVID,” Vital said. “Reports are that a lot of people will be pushed into poverty and I absolutely believe it.

Economists note that both cost of gas and spiraling food costs have been affected primarily because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine earlier this year which has upended global supplies of wheat corn, oil, wheat, corn and a number of other commodities.

WAR, INFLATION AND COVID-19 HANGOVER

JPMorgan Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon said in a recent letter to stockholders that he is deeply concerned about the formidable tremors triggered by the twin challenges of spiraling inflation and Russia-Ukraine conflict because they pose a significant threat to this country and the world’s economic recovery.

“The war in Ukraine and the sanctions on Russia, at a minimum, will slow the global economy — and it could easily get worse,” Dimon said.

Dimon also explained that said Covid-19 – with stimulus money from the federal government, the necessity of rapidly raising interest rates to combat inflation and the war in Ukraine present an unenviable collection of challenges.

“We are facing challenges at every turn: a pandemic, unprecedented government actions, a strong recovery after a sharp and deep global recession, a highly polarized U.S. election, mounting inflation, a war in Ukraine and dramatic economic sanctions against Russia,” he said. “While all this turmoil has serious ramifications on our company, its effect on the world – with the extreme suffering of the Ukrainian people and the potential restructuring of the global order – is far more important.”

And with the war in Europe upending, agricultural, energy and an assortment of commodity markets, it’s very likely that additional sanctions could deepen the widening instability, he added.

Dimon said Americans should brace themselves for “potential negative outcomes.”

“Many more sanctions could be added – which could dramatically, and unpredictably, increase their effect,” said Dimon. “Along with the unpredictability of war itself and the uncertainty surrounding global commodity supply chains, this makes for a potentially explosive situation.”

“The confluence of these factors may be unprecedented,” he concluded.

By Barrington M. Salmon, NNPA Newswire Contributor

Under the leadership of Jack Brown, the non-profit CORE Services Group, Inc. has provided services to thousands of homeless residents in New York City for nearly 20 years and made a name for itself as the social-service agency that the city turned to in times of crisis, including the pandemic.

Despite its years of service to New York City, the de Blasio administration in its final days in office decided to cut ties with CORE on what a number of critics say are trumped-up claims — and then ordered the non-profit to repay $2.3 million for “excessive executive salaries.”  In recently filed court documents and interviews, however, CORE officials slammed the administration as disingenuous and duplicitous – and pointedly noted that the de Blasio administration merely wanted a way to get out of paying CORE more than $30 million for work the organization has done on the city’s behalf.

“While the lawsuit attacks CORE, the real story here is about how the de Blasio Administration knowingly used the services of CORE, a minority-founded not-for-profit, to provide tens of millions of dollars in services to homeless New Yorkers and then failed to pay CORE for the contracted services,” the documents said.

Among the claims made by the de Blasio administration — and, in particular, the New York Department of Homeless Services — is that CORE hid from DHS officials its organizational structure and its use of several subsidiaries to provide food, security and other services at shelters. But CORE has countered that it has “overwhelming documentary evidence – including documents referenced in the Complaint” – that show company officials routinely made detailed disclosures to the city.

“[The] DHS was well aware that CORE was obtaining essential services and supplies from CORE’s wholly owned subsidiaries within budget, and that rather than complaining about CORE’s use of subsidiaries, DHS approved them, relied on CORE and its subsidiaries for emergency interventions and rated CORE as one of its best service providers,” CORE said in recently filed court papers in which CORE seeks dismissal of all claims with prejudice.

CORE has also garnered a number of prominent supporters, including civil rights and human rights attorney Benjamin L. Crump.

“CORE appeared to be well on the way to fulfilling Jack Brown’s vision of a better way,” Crump said. “For more than a decade under his leadership, CORE has provided innovative, high-quality residential and supportive services that have enabled homeless individuals to feel safe, find shelter and be empowered to contribute to their community.”

In addition to the litigation, both Brown and CORE have been the recent targets of a series of attacks and leaks to the media from the Department of Homeless Services and former officials from the now departed de Blasio administration, according to sources. The press, for instance, seized on the city’s charge that Brown has not been fully transparent on CORE’s corporate structure, the relationship between CORE and its for-profit subsidiaries, and that members of Brown’s family also worked for the company.

One New York Times story also claimed CORE channeled contracts worth about $32 million into for-profit companies affiliated with Brown, which put him in the position to earn more than $1 million annually. According to ’CORE’s recently filed court papers, CORE provided evidence of its full transparency: a 2017 letter to the New York City Department of Homeless Services explaining its “newly formed corporate structure,” including wholly owned subsidiaries of CORE Services Group, Inc. — a structure “used by peers in the both the nonprofit and for-profit sectors”

“Notwithstanding these undocumented and conclusory claims, the truth is that in all relevant respects, CORE’s house is in order, but the de Blasio Administration’s house was not,” CORE said in court documents. “CORE was transparent with DHS regarding CORE’s structure, leadership and operations, and DHS understood and accepted the salient facts of how CORE was operating.”

Regarding the New York Times story, the paper’s main criticism focuses on Brown’s salary and compensation.

“The article’s main criticism appears to be that Mr. Brown, a talented African American businessman, is compensated too generously – about $1 million on what CORE says is an annual revenue of $132 million in 2019,” said Dr. Wilmer Leon, III in a column titled, “An Unfair Attack on an Organization Making a Difference.”

Leon added: “What the article was not interested in exploring, however, is how Mr. Brown built an organization that has sought to routinely innovate and create new models for delivering its services in a challenging environment – so much so that New York City’s DHS has clearly come to depend on CORE through the years.”

As President Joe Biden goes through the process of choosing the first Black woman nominee for the US Supreme Court, it is also hard not to view CORE’s battle with New York City Department of Homeless Services without taking race into account as the competence and abilities of Black professionals almost always come under attack from certain critics seeking to undermine them and their abilities regardless of the experience and expertise they bring.

Ike Brannon, a senior fellow at the Jack Kemp Foundation and a former senior economist at the U.S. Treasury Department, said he hopes New York City’s new mayor, Eric Adams, will revisit the issue and correct what he considers to be unnecessary and unjust attacks on CORE and Brown.

In the meantime, the city owes CORE more than $30 million for services rendered and is moving to terminate ’CORE’s contracts with the Department of Homeless Services.

“With luck,” Brannon wrote, Mayor Eric Adams “will focus on solving problems first and not worry about the ideological motivations of those helping to do so.”