The African American community is dealing with two crises: the disproportionate impact of the coronavirus pandemic, and systemic racism that has been, once again, laid bare in the aftermath of the George Floyd killing.
But exacerbating both of those crises is a third, more insidious problem, according to Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League: persistent income inequality that means "when people even get back to work, that paycheck doesn't go far enough to help them make ends meet."
Morial spoke to Cheddar on Monday and called for the Senate to immediately take up the HEROES Act, the stimulus bill passed by the House last month that would extend enhanced unemployment benefits for those who lost their jobs amid the pandemic. Those enhanced benefits are currently scheduled to lapse on July 1.
"It's a fantasy to believe that without continued fiscal intervention by the Congress, and continued monetary intervention by the Fed, that we can get back on our feet economically," he said.
Even if the Senate were to move on the HEROES Act (and it's a big if — the GOP-controlled upper chamber has not been in a rush to take up the bill, with some members calling it "dead on arrival"), lawmakers still need to take action to address the underlying issues that made income inequality a problem long before the coronavirus reached our shores, Morial said.
He called on Congress to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to a "living wage" of $15, and expand the child tax credit. Those two actions would go a long way toward helping to get us out of the "40-year ditch" we've dug ourselves, he said.
"It's going to take a commitment by the public and private sectors to move us beyond it."
Peacock shared the trailer for the second season of the celebrity competition show, 'The Traitors.'
Darden, the parent company of chain restaurants like Olive Garden and Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, beat Wall Street estimates in its latest earnings report.
A former Facebook executive pled guilty to stealing more than $4 million from the company while she was employed there.
Rising safety concerns over water bead products marketed to kids have prompted major retailers like Amazon, Target and Walmart to pull some toys off their shelves.
The Congressional Budget Office said Friday it expects inflation to nearly hit the Federal Reserve's 2% target rate in 2024, as overall growth is expected to slow and unemployment is expected to rise into 2025, according to updated economic projections for the next two years.
Intel is out with a new product to challenge other big players in the space like Nvidia and AMD.
Stocks fell after the opening bell Friday but will end on another positive week.
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Americans picked up their spending from October to November as the unofficial holiday season kicked off, underscoring that shoppers still have power to keep buying.
The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate dropped below 7% to its lowest level since early August, another boost for prospective homebuyers who have largely been held back by sharply higher borrowing costs and heightened competition for relatively few homes for sale.
