Obama has done ‘remarkable’ job
Now that the Republicans have a majority in both houses of Congress, it will be curious to see what happens to the progress the Obama administration has led in the last six years.
Remember when he came into office the country was facing: 1) the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, 2) an automobile industry on the verge of collapse, 3) a stock market whose value had fallen dramatically in the previous few years, 4) an unemployment rate that was up and going to continue to rise, 5) an annual deficit in excess of $1 trillion and guaranteed to stay that high for at least two more years, 6) two wars being fought off the budget, and 7) a Republican Party interested only in making sure he was a one-term president.
Despite the above, the country is currently in the best financial condition since the Clinton years, the automobile industry has rebounded, the stock market is at all-time highs, unemployment is at its lowest since 2008, the annual deficit has been cut by more than half, and the two wars have ended. Oh yes, gas prices are the lowest since 2009.
That looks like a remarkable accomplishment.
Sam Jones
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JFK Club endorses new family center
At its January meeting, the JFK Club passed a resolution in support of the city of Chattanooga’s Family Justice Center.
The resolution read: “The JFK Club wishes to express its support for and endorsement of Chattanooga, Tennessee’s Family Justice Center (FJC). The FJC confronts and provides support for coping with and eliminating family violence in its various forms (partner, spousal, elder, family/domestic abuse and violence as well as human trafficking and sexual assault) and its financial and human impact throughout our community.
“JFK Club members’ intent is to publicly demonstrate our belief that complex issues that are part of this spectrum of abuse and violence require active community support and involvement.
“The JFK Club urges, therefore, that Chattanooga individuals and groups work together to reduce instances of human violence and to promote access to appropriate and safe resources. Chattanooga’s Family Justice Center is a voice for coordinated advocacy and services that we are proud to endorse.”
Harvey Weiss, President, JFK Club
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Post-MLK racism thrives among us
“I wouldn’t be allowed at my school right now if Martin Luther King didn’t make the ‘I Have a Dream’ Speech’.”
As these words left my little brother’s third-grade mouth, I was moved. As a brown- skinned South Asian American, I realized that a few decades ago, my family and I would also be marginalized as “colored,” and that if it wasn’t for MLK Jr.’s sacrifice, we still would be.
However, American citizens today are far from being judged “by the content of their character” rather than “by the color of their skin.” African-Americans and Hispanics not only have the highest poverty rates in this nation, but they also make up the greatest percentage of the prison population, despite being small fractions of the overall population.
Not to mention the recent deaths at the hands of the police of innocent-until-proven-guilty, unarmed black males like Eric Garner and Michael Brown.
This is not a post-racial society. And if we do not recognize that racism in this nation not only haunts us but thrives among us, how will we ever be able to conquer it?
Najia Humayun, Tunnel Hill, Ga.