Pensacola Voice |African-American community newspaper

The Grotto Hall was the “swinging place”, Friday night, as the Classes of the 1960’s celebrated
their annual reunion and ball. Pictured above: Ladies dance to “If you’re sexy and you
know it”

Black State Legislators Want Economic Bailout – 'In the Neighborhood'

by Hazel Trice Edney NNPA Editor-in-Chief WASHINGTON (NNPA) - They clearly won't have it by Christmas, but the nation's Black state legislators are now looking for what they perceive as their fair share of an economic bailout for 'the neighborhood' while Congress is doling them out to corporations. “While we support the bail out of Wall Street, the bailout of the financial institutions, and the automobile industry, we feel very strongly that Main Street and our streets need to be bailed out as well,” says Georgia State Rep. Calvin Smyre, president of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators. “So, with that in mind, we need to finish a package whereas a check can get into the hands of the consumer and
then therefore the consumer can go to the corner grocery store, the drug store, the supermarket, the various department stores and where the rubber meets the road is the consumer spending has to go up so therefore that stimulates the economy in the neighborhood sort of speak.” The U. S. Congress has approved a $700 billion bailout for the financial industry; and a $17.4 billion
loan for troubled U. S. automakers. But, how can the nation help the average citizen who is out of work or living from pay-check to pay-check, one missed rent from homelessness? Smyre and state legislators have a remedy. “The only way to do that is to create a stimulus program whereas the American consumer is involved. Those other bailouts are rightfully so. But, they don’t help create jobs. They help save jobs. So, unemployment is a key factor.” Facing a gamut of dire needs on the state level, Smyre and his 125 fellow representatives from 42 states met in Washington earlier this month for the Caucus’ 32nd Annual Legislative Conference. They met with members of the Obama transition team with hopes of bringing home federal dollars to offset serious shortages that are often used to deal with social programs and other crucial needs that are now exacerbated by the failing economy. Obama has set a goal to create at least three million jobs in the first two years of his administration, which starts Jan. 20. Meanwhile, states are
suffering, Smyre says. “There are 43 out of 50 states with some sort of budget shortfall. With Georgia alone, we’ve got a $2 billion shortfall. So, with that in mind, we just want to be partners
with our federal government to be able to assist us in the downturn in our economy,” Smyre says.
Smyre was on his way to a policy meeting dealing with the Second Chance Act to help lower the prison recidivism rate. There would also be discussions on the high school drop out rates. “In Georgia alone there were 60,000 drop outs in ’07,”

Consumer Confidence Rises Over Optimism About the Future

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Consumer confidence among Floridians rose five points to 67 in December, reflecting optimism about new presidential leadership in January despite unprecedented pessimism about personal finances, a new University of Florida study finds.
“Consumers are looking forward to a shift in the economy toward something better in 2009,” said
Chris McCarty, director of UF’s Survey Research Center at the Bureau of Economic and Business Research. “As with the past month, consumers are confident that the new administration
will resolve the economic crisis and that much of the intervention so far will work.”

Four of the five components that make up consumer confidence increased. Perceptions of whether this is a good time to buy big-ticket consumer items rose nine points to 71; perceptions of U.S. economic conditions over the next year rose seven points to 62; perceptions of personal finances a year from now rose six points to 87; and perceptions of U.S. economic conditions over the next five years rose five points to 78. However, the one component of the index to drop — perceptions of personal finance now compared with a year ago — dropped one point to a new record low of 39, McCarty said. “Floridians are reporting the worst financial situation for themselves since we started the index in the mid-1980s,” he said. The numbers were lower for senior citizens and low-income households, McCarty said. For survey respondents earning less than $30,000 a year, perceptions of personal finance now compared with a year ago tumbled from 37 to 24, he said. The results are disturbing, McCarty said, because that particular index component is most telling
when trying to predict consumer spending. In all likelihood, the recession will last well into 2009 and consumer confidence will decline in the
first quarter of 2009 with the lack of immediate relief, he said. “Job losses have been severe and are unlikely to have peaked,” he said. “Florida has been particularly hard hit compared to other states, shedding more than 200,000 jobs in the past year. With unemployment at 7.3 percent, it
will be at least six months before consumer confidence improves considerably.” About the only bright spot for Floridians is the lower overall cost of gasoline and energy prices, which have shown steep declines over the past several months and seem resistant so far to attempts by the oil-producing countries to prop them up, Mc- Carty said. While interest rates have come down, lines of credit are still out of reach for many consumers, he said. Housing prices continue