Rep. Maxine Waters To Chris Matthews: CBC has a plan to put the American people back to work

   Image via Wikipedia

Rep. Maxine Waters came off a contentious public event with members of the Congressional Black Caucus to jump into a feud with Rep. Allen West, who responded to the caucus last night by comparing himself to Harriet Tubman and accusing Rep. Waters and others of running a “plantation.” On today’s Hardball, Rep. Waters begrudgingly responded, adding that the Congressman had sent his out-of-work brother to her town hall today to ask for help with jobs.  | Mediaite

Americans Facing More Inequality, More Debt & More Government Tyranny

Americans Facing More Inequality, More Debt & More Trouble?

Did America's record-high level of economic inequality in 2007 help cause the financial crisis of 2008? With Americans' borrowing back on the rise and signs that economic inequality is growing, could there be another financial crisis in the near future? Paul Solman continues his series of reports on U.S. economic inequality.

Also read:

• Meet the Global Financial Elites Controlling $46 Trillion In Wealth | | AlterNet

Americans Facing More Inequality, More Debt and Now More Trouble?

Also watch:

Chavez to nationalize Venezuelan gold industry

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Wednesday he will nationalize the gold industry, including extraction and processing, and use its output to boost the country's international reserves.

The move follows a dispute between his government and foreign miners who say the rules limiting the amount of gold that can be exported from the South American nation hurt their efforts to secure financing and create jobs.  | Reuters

Also read:

• Venezuelan golden retreat could lead to dire trouble

 

Did Wells Fargo prey on black borrowers?

Staggering findings have emerged about the vast extent to which minority households were worse hit by the housing market crash than white households, as we reported Tuesday. Now The Huffington Post is reporting that the Department of Justice is preparing a lawsuit against Wells Fargo, the nation's largest home mortgage lender, for "allegedly preying upon African American borrowers during the housing bubble and steering them into high-cost sub-prime loans."  - Salon.com

Also read:

• Department of Justice Targets Wells Fargo For Discriminatory Lending | Care2 Causes
• Report: Wells Fargo investigated over allegations of discriminatory lending

How The Income Gap Plays Out For Rich And Poor

The gap between rich and poor has widened. Wealth is more and more concentrated among a select few, and those few are mostly white. The median wealth of white households is now 20 times that of black households, and 18 times that of Hispanic households, according to the Pew Research Center.  : NPR

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Also watch:

• Recession shows disparity in US wealth

Recovering US job market is leaving black men behind

For them, the Great Recession not only led to the largest increase in unemployment for any category of American worker, but it also is pinching a lot longer. About 1 in 6 black men over age 20 in the labor force is jobless – and that number has barely improved since the economic recovery officially began two years ago.
In Detroit, Las Vegas, Milwaukee, Min­neap­olis-St. Paul, and several other US cities, Depression-era unemployment rates above 20 percent beset the black community, estimates one economic policy group, citing government data. Moreover, the problem may get worse because city governments, which traditionally employ many African-American men, are laying off workers to cope with budget shortfalls, say experts on black employment.   - CSMonitor.com

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Also watch:

• The Maddow Blog - You can't own property if you are property
• ‪Study: Housing Bust Hit U.S. Minority Households Especially Hard‬‏ 
  

Study Shows Racial Wealth Gap Grows Wider

There's long been a big gap between the wealth of white families and the wealth of African-Americans and Hispanics. But the Great Recession has made it much worse — the divide is almost twice what it used to be.
That's according to a new study by the Pew Research Center, which says that the decline in the housing market is the main cause.  : NPR

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Also watch:

• White wealth 20 times that of African-Americans, poll shows
• ‪Study: Housing Bust Hit U.S. Minority Households Especially Hard‬‏ 
  

Hard work or Hardly Working? How White People Got So Rich Part 3

There is nothing mystical or mysterious about how White people established their superior position in America and the world—and it had absolutely nothing to do with either merit or “hard work.” The list of benefits that Whites granted to themselves—mostly by gangster force and wily deception—is the untold reality behind the building of their vast portfolios of plunder. Within this four-part Final Call series, we see every sector of American society implementing profoundly racist policies and programs that are respected and enforced by every other sector. The executive, judicial, and legislative branches of government, private industry, the media, the labor movement, religious institutions, and the corporate world—ALL have agreed on one thing: White supremacy must prevail. 
Read more...

Also read:

* Hard Work or Hardly Working? How White People Got So Rich Part 1
* Hard Work or Hardly Working? How White People Got So Rich Part 2

Income Inequality Ignorance

Despite the gap between rich and poor in the United States growing steadily since the 1970's most Americans are not getting angry or protesting in the streets. This could be because most of them are unaware of it, with both lower and upper class people considering themselves to be middle class.