By Thomas Sheffield This September marks the 10 year mark (I refuse to call it anniversary), of our last great economic meltdown. The economy has been growing consistently for the past 10 years since the end of the “Great Recession”. The country has added jobs and home prices continue to rise. The unemployment rate is below 4 percent. The GDP has grown consistently in the past 10 years. However, a large part of America’s citizens are being left behind by our booming economy. Studies show economic prosperity is concentrated in certain communities while economic stability in other communities is rapidly…
Author: Thomas Sheffield
By Thomas Sheffield People have the propensity to resist change. We resist change out of fear and laziness. It takes work to change and we must be willing to do the work to change the way we think. Let’s be mindful of the actions we take in order to make this world, our world, and our community a better place. Malcom X said: “Change is only a good thing if you change in a good way.” We must change the way we think and start to make positive effective change by supporting local minority businesses. Small businesses are the way…
By Thomas Sheffield We are living in a time, where we are being told by the leadership of this country, the truth we know is now a lie. What was said was not heard, and what we saw was not seen. We are told our enemies are not our allies and our allies are now our enemies. We were told a tax cut will spur growth and all is well with the economy in spite of stagnant wages an a growing U.S. debt. We have also been told our top scientist are wrong and humans are not contributing the…
By Thomas Sheffield I just love this time of year. After a long hot spring and summer, we now enter the home stretch of the year. The days are getting shorter and the temperatures start to get just a bit cooler. What a great time to be alive!!! Perhaps the best part of the season is we get to welcome our students back to school. The new school year is full of great promise, as hopefully our kids learn something new each day and each week. After all, Malcom X said: “Education is the passport to the future”. Even if…
By Thomas Sheffield Climate change deniers will say that the rising temperatures have little or nothing to do with human activity. Meanwhile, the floods, fires and droughts continue to cause property damage and health issues to people all over the world. To make matters even worse, a study from a team of researchers from the Stockholm Resilience Center have warned a rise in temperature of just two degrees Celsius due to human activity could send us toward a hothouse Earth. What would this mean to you? This will cause rising costs for healthcare, food, fuel and water. This is not…
By Thomas Sheffield The president has so many things going on to wear us out. It is so hard for us to keep up and I am willing to wager many things he is doing is nothing more than a distraction. There are many things we take for granted. So many things are engrained in our way of life, we do not consider them as rights but as standards of our way of life. We take for granted the right of free speech, religion, the right to own a gun, the right to have any seat we want on a…
By Thomas Sheffield Winter is coming and so is a recession. I am not trying to alarm you but trying to warn you, another recession is coming. We got some positive news that the GDP for the quarter grew by over 4%. The President is sure to use this news to try to further his agenda. Unemployment is down, gas prices are low, the stock market is up, and housing prices are going up. All great signs for the country! However, wages are low, tariffs are higher, health care prices continue to rise, and less and less people are prepared…
By Thomas Sheffield Because it is a power move! Much like the “Tea Party” took over the GOP, I am going to do what I can to take it back. No one in the Republican primary is talking to me. It is time for the Republican party, the party of Lincoln, to consider our issues. Minorities and the poor have been alienated by the party and it is blatant. Their top issues are: abortion, protecting the 2nd Amendment, and illegal immigration. These are nothing but talking points for the party as they fail to address the issues like underemployment, education…
By Thomas Sheffield Last week, we discussed an option for a proposed job guarantee for Americans living in certain impoverished areas. With the unemployment rate hovering around 4 percent, you would think everyone would be doing well in their careers. However, many are still struggling to find a single job that will allow them to support their families. The real unemployment rate is the rate that includes the underemployed and discouraged workers. Underemployed people are those who are part time workers and those who would prefer full time jobs. Then we have discouraged workers. These are the workers that have…
By Thomas Sheffield What if I told you that you were guaranteed a job making $15 an hour, paid sick leave and health benefits? Some think this is a bad idea and promotes a purely socialist society. After all, we need poor people to stay poor in order for advantaged people to stay “advantaged” right? Senator Cory Booker has proposed a bill that ensures all adults who want employment to get it. The Federal Jobs Guarantee Development Act would establish a three-year pilot program whereby the Department of Labor would select 15 local areas and offer that area funding so…