State of the Economy: Where's the Wealth?

When commenting on the state of the economy, someone close to me had this to say: People stay poor because they don't save their money or use it wisely. And penalizing the people who are responsible for their money, making them carry the burden [for the poor] is classism, bordering on socialism.

I was stunned. It was the second time in recent weeks I became painfully aware of the importance of history. Specifically this nugget of truth: when African Americans don't know their history, they leave themselves open to repeat it. That means their foundation in the present is shaky at best.

Most European Americans know a thing or two about English history. Before the film's opening credits they probably knew the Other Boylen Girl by name or could tell you that, while Elizabeth would soon be Queen, her beloved Dudley would never be King of England. After school many Jewish American children attend cultural studies to learn about their rich history.

But outside of Black History Month, Harriett Tubman and WEB Dubois, how many African Americans know the history behind why a disproportionate percentage of people of color remain in poverty?

For me, that statement about the poor may as well have indicted my father and his legacy. It was a slap in the face to everything he worked for all his life.

My dad was one of the wisest people I know. He was a military veteran, serving in World War II and the Korean war. He worked hard and saved virtually every nickel and dime he earned. He took pride in his home he invested in it for his family. He saved all his life and when I was old enough, he walked me and my piggy bank filled with weekly allowance straight to the nearest bank to open up a savings account.

But he couldn't save his way out of poverty. And no matter how comfortable our lives were, and how middle class we strived to be, the fact is that house he worked hard to make a home is smack in the middle of what is now a crime infested ghetto. The wealth he saved for all of his life barely makes a decent down payment in today's economy.

Poverty has little to do with who saves what. It has everything to do with who is denied opportunity and who isn't.

My dad didn't deserve to be refused housing in certain neighborhoods or to have the value of his home artificially kept low. He didn't deserve to be redlined out of his wealth.

But how to you explain this to someone who hasn't lived it firsthand? I was grateful to stumble across Tuesday's segment of the Rachel Maddow show, hosted by Melisssa Harris-Perry, which outlines why the new conservative talking point, that people are poor because they are careless with their money is not only not true, but also ignores the underlying issue of racism that is at the core of economic disparity in this country.

Use the link below if the video box doesn't appear.

The Rachel Maddow Show: US wealth gap reflects racism's legacy

Dr. Thomas Shapiro, the Pokross Professor of Law and Social Policy at Brandeis University, talks with TRMS guest host Melissa Harris-Perry about a new report showing a wider than ever wealth gap between whites and people of color.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/43904424#43904424

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

President-elect Obama addresses U.S. economic crisis.

I found this latest announcement very encouraging:

Delmarva Power: To regulate, or not to regulate. That is the question

Not to long ago I was traveling through India, torn emotionally by the realization of what life in a third world country was really like. I returned to find a $1,417 gas and electric bill in my mailbox. How could that be?

I’ve been asking myself that question for quite sometime. Long concerned about my utility bill I turned my thermostat completely off from March until October, when fear of frozen pipes and other ailments forced me to turn it on again – cranking it down to the lowest it could possibly go…a brisk 40 degrees.

Because I leave for work at 7 a.m. and seldom come home until way past 9 p.m., I rarely cook. Instead when at home I bundle up, put extra blankets on my bed and spend most of the time huddled in my room watching television. I thought I had the utility bill problem licked. I was wrong.

Meanwhile I read articles that promise a 59 percent increase in DP&L rates and wonder how anyone who actually spends time in their home – someone who actually comes out of their bedroom now and then; who cooks, takes long hot showers and turns on the lights more two or three hours a day – can possibly afford it.

A closer look at my astronomical bill explained that my utility costs more than doubled during the month of December, even though my usage habits hadn’t changed from my perspective. No Christmas lights on the house and no tree for the first time in more than a decade. I even covered drafty windows in plastic, thinking I’d cut the bill even more. I switched to energy efficient light bulbs. I do admit however, that a couple of days during the month I was truly brazen -- turning the heat up to 60 degrees for a hour so I could quickly shower and dress without fear of pneumonia. Guess I shouldn’t have. I’ve now learned my lesson.

Which brings me back to India. I was struck by so many people living in poverty, with no more means of shelter than a concrete hut or a worn tent pitched on city streets. At night, to keep warm, I’d see groups of people huddled in front of an open fire on the open street.

What do people in this country do when they can’t afford to pay their utility bill? When it’s a choice between heat or food, how can they make the choice? Wilmington, as has most residential communities, long since outlawed building bonfires on your front lawn. Even if it were legal, I can’t imagine that doing such a thing would endear me to my suburban neighbors.

When it comes to food, it’s not like you could invest in a roster and a couple of hens for eggs and food when times get tough. Fruit and vegetables can be grown in a garden, but how many of us could find alternate sources for meat if our lives depended on it?

In modern day civilization, the self-sufficiency of farming, raising or catching your own food, like generating your own heat, aren’t really options. You can’t chose to pay the heating bill, use candles and let the electric go and until you can raise the extra money. With combined gas and electric, you lose one, you lose both.

Interestingly enough, years ago when I hosted a public affairs program on local cable, Delmarva Power was one of the sponsors. Then I thought they were the good guys. How funny. What a difference deregulation, coupled with a decade or so makes.

Four days after my return from India, while I was stewing over what to do next about my bill, a nice yellow envelope came in the mail informing me I was in line for service disconnection. The moral? Never go out of the country and miss paying your bill by a few days when already on a payment plan. I wondered if I should even bother to call. More importantly I wondered how much more I could possibly cut back in order to avoid a future case of utility bill sticker-shock .

Making matters worse, I stumbled across an old electric bill from a time way back when I was a young mom with a busy toddler, a heated fish tank, an Atari game consol hooked to the TV, an electric blanket, two freezers and a electric lawn mower. My monthly utility bill grand total? $55 dollars.

Sigh. Oh, for the good old days.

Fuzzy Math = Beware False Advertising at the Kirkwood Highway Richardsons

Here’s the moral: A penny saved is a penny not overcharged you by the “nice guys” at Richardsons’ on Kirkwood Highway.

I learned the hard way. After a solid weekend of rain, the Monday afternoon sun found me ready to roll up my sleeves for some fall planting. So I jumped in my car headed to my favorite place to buy plants, Richardsons’ on Kirkwood Highway.
There I found perennials on sale at 50% off. So I happily embarked on a mission to introduce a few new plant friends to my waterside rock garden, escaping the final vestiges of our torrential downpour.

I found two nice sized perennial sedum originally priced at $5.99 a piece. I also spotted ornamental reed grasses for about the same price. I headed to the register. At 50% off, I expected the two sedum to cost $5.99, or the price of one plant had it not been half off. Instead, the Hispanic woman at the register who didn’t speak English, charged me $6.00. I asked why. After all 100% of $5.99 is $5.99. She couldn’t answer.

She summoned a nice Hispanic man who didn’t speak much English either to explain.

“$3.00 a piece,” he explained.

“But, I have two,” I responded. “You owe me a penny.” He insisted I pay $6.00 and I balked. Not that I needed the penny. But if a store advertises a $50 percent off sale, it should honor its posted sale and not charge more than the face value of the item. $6.00 for plants originally sold for $5.99 is false advertising.

The nice Hispanic man with little English skills bounced me up the food chain to Dave who was the manager, I was told.

Dave explained it like this: “If you can figure out how to split a penny, let me know.”

Say what?? That may make sense when purchasing one. But I had four – no penny-splitting necessary.

Dave wouldn’t budge either. He felt overcharging me a penny was more important than repeat business. I immediately reflected on the $200 I recently spent at that very same Richardsons -- on various plants and pottery and assorted bird feeder thingies.

I left without the sedum. I did wind up at another Richardsons, however -- the one in Glasgow. There a very nice man with a pleasant smile and a true appreciation of happy customers with money to spend restored my faith in Richardsons, charging me $5.99 for my two sedum plants and the identical price for two heuchera.

I, like many Delawareans, have been shopping at Richardsons for decades. I shopped there when they opened in front of the New Castle Farmer’s market complete with a hand painted sign and a few plants sprawled out on the grassy median. I watched the Kirkwood highway location grow from just a small wooden stand with a few plants -- to the massive site it has now become, complete with pottery, lawn ornaments, wild bird food and feeders and a virtual cornucopia of outdoor goodies.

There is something to be said for honesty, getting what you pay for, and keeping paying customers happy. I doubt I’ll ever shop at the Kirkwood Highway outlet again. I’d rather spend my hard-earned penny shopping where my money and my time is appreciated, not pilfered away one penny at a time through a fake 50% off sale.