This week the Pew Research Center came out with its study showing, not surprisingly, that the wealth gap of minorities is growing at an alarming pace. According to the study, the median wealth of white households in 2009 was $113,149, compared with $6,325 for Hispanics and $5,677 for African-Americans. You don't see any reference to people with disabilities, but through some comparisons you see an awfully bleak picture.
According to the Department of Labor the unemployment rate in 2010 for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars hit 21.1 percent. According to 2008 American Community Survey in 2008, 5.5 million veterans in the US have a disability. There were 23 million veterans in the US in 2008, which equates to 23.9% veterans with a disability. In 2008, the annual median income of veterans was $36,779 (adjusted for inflation).
In April, the unemployment rate for people with disabilities was over 20%-comparable with military veterans.
You have the greatest country in the world, with a growing wealth gap and minorities, veterans and people with disabilities are losing ground. We cannot afford to lose ground.
This week there's a lot of blustering from Washington about the debt ceiling, but it shouldn't be about the debt ceiling. It should be about jobs. We need to create more jobs for minorities, veterans and people with disabilities to be able to close that wealth gap. Over the past 10 years, jobs have been lost to foreign countries while the wealth of the few increases. It is stated by many pundits that the taxes on large corporations and the wealthy should remain low to create jobs, but if that's the case where the jobs been for the past 10 years?
It is time to look at raising taxes on the highest income levels to be able not only to raise revenue and fix this debt problem, but to create jobs in the United States.
If you choose not to look at this about jobs that can be created by raising taxes and fixing the debt ceiling now, think about what will happen if the United States does not fix this problem. What if our credit rating is downgraded? Who will lose?
Jobs will be cut and interest rates will rise. It will not hurt the wealthy or the major corporations. They will just continue to move their funds, businesses, manufacturing and income offshore. It will hurt those that need help the most, those that were studied or should have been studied by Pew; minorities, military veterans and people with disabilities. We will lose jobs and income. It hurts us the most.
It's time to fix this.