Community

OP-ED: We Must Build Pathways Out of Poverty

Published

10 years ago

June 24, 2015

By Congresswoman Barbara Lee

An article in the recent Post Newspaper, “Oakland is Losing Its Racial, Age and Economic Diversity,” highlights the growing crisis of income inequality in our communities and our country.

Communities of color have always been hard-hit by income inequality because of the systemic and institutional barriers to economic opportunity.

African American unemployment and poverty rates are twice the rate for white Americans. Likewise, the unemployment rate for Latinos is two points higher than the rate for white Americans and nearly two and half times the poverty rate for white Americans.

Furthermore, the Asian American and Pacific Islanders community have a poverty rate nearly a full point higher than their white counterparts.

These barriers to opportunity also exist for women and their families. Across the board, women still earn just 78 cents for every dollar paid to white men. For women of color, the situation is far worse.

African American women are paid just 64 cents for each dollar paid to a white man; for Latinas, its 56 cents to the dollar. Since women of color are more likely to be the sole breadwinner for their families, the wage gap is a massive driver of racial and gender economic inequality.

Stagnant wages, raising income inequality and a decreased supply of affordable housing is forcing longtime residents – many of whom are our neighbors and friends – out of the city they’ve called home for years.

Instead of working to address this injustice, Republicans in Congress have blocked wage increase legislation and have cut vital funding for workforce training and affordable housing.

Recently, I reintroduced the Pathways out of Poverty Act (H.R. 2721) to address these issues. This legislation will create more good-paying American jobs while strengthening proven and evidence-based anti-poverty programs.

By enacting this legislation, Congress would have the opportunity to finally address the root causes of income inequality and provide vital resources to help allow families to stay in the communities they love.

Congresswoman Barbara Lee

Congresswoman Barbara Lee represents California’s 13th Congressional district.

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Oakland Post: Week of July 2- 8, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of July 2 – 8, 2025

Published

6 days ago

July 7, 2025

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Trump Set to Sign Largest Cut to Medicaid After a Marathon Protest Speech by Leader Jeffries

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — The bill also represents the biggest cut in Medicare in history and is a threat to the health care coverage of over 15 million people. The spending in Trump’s signature legislation also opens the door to a second era of over-incarceration in the U.S.

Published

1 week ago

July 3, 2025

Oakland Post

By Lauren Burke

By a vote of 218 to 214, the GOP-controlled U.S. House passed President Trump’s massive budget and spending bill that will add $3.5 trillion to the national debt, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The bill also represents the biggest cut in Medicare in history and is a threat to the health care coverage of over 15 million people. The spending in Trump’s signature legislation also opens the door to a second era of over-incarceration in the U.S. With $175 billion allocated in spending for immigration enforcement, the money for more police officers eclipsed the 2026 budget for the U.S. Marines, which is $57 billion. Almost all of the policy focus from the Trump Administration has focused on deporting immigrants of color from Mexico and Haiti.

The vote occurred as members were pressed to complete their work before the arbitrary deadline of the July 4 holiday set by President Trump. It also occurred after Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries took the House floor for over 8 hours in protest. Leader Jeffries broke the record in the U.S. House for the longest floor speech in history on the House floor. The Senate passed the bill days before and was tied at 50-50, with Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski saying that, “my hope is that the House is gonna look at this and recognize that we’re not there yet.” There were no changes made to the Senate bill by the House. A series of overnight phone calls to Republicans voting against, not changes, was what won over enough Republicans to pass the legislation, even though it adds trillions to the debt. The Trump spending bill also cuts money to Pell grants.

“The Big Ugly Bill steals food out of the hands of starving children, steals medicine from the cabinets of cancer patients, and equips ICE with more funding and more weapons of war than the United States Marine Corps. Is there any question of who those agents will be going to war for, or who they will be going to war against? Beyond these sadistic provisions, Republicans just voted nearly unanimously to close urban and rural hospitals, cripple the child tax credit, and to top it all off, add $3.3 trillion to the ticking time bomb that is the federal deficit – all from a party that embarrassingly pretends to stand for fiscal responsibility and lowering costs,” wrote Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Yvette Clarke (D-NY) in a statement on July 3.

“The Congressional Budget Office predicts that 17 million people will lose their health insurance, including over 322,000 Virginians. It will make college less affordable. Three million people will lose access to food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). And up to 16 million students could lose access to free school meals. The Republican bill does all of this to fund tax breaks for millionaires, billionaires, and corporations,” wrote Education and Workforce Committee ranking member Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) in a statement. The bill’s passage has prompted Democrats to start thinking about 2026 and the next election cycle. With the margins of victory in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate being so narrow, many are convinced that the balance of power and the question of millions being able to enjoy health care come down to only several thousand votes in congressional elections. But currently, Republicans controlled by the MAGA movement control all three branches of government. That reality was never made more stark and more clear than the last seven days of activity in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate.