Haiti - Our Hearts and Prayers are with You

Today America celebrates and commemorates Martin Luther King, Jr. By his example, leadership, and inspiration, blacks all over the world have made great advances in education, earning power, and self respect. The earthquake last Tuesday in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, is a natural disaster of epic proportions. The Haitians I know are hardworking and honest people. The world looks to the United States at times like this because we deliver. Americans have already promised $100 million dollars in aid and have been among the first to respond with massive food and disaster recovery efforts. There is so much to do and our hearts and prayers are with Haitians everywhere as they bury their dead and begin to repair their devastated country.

There are an estimated 963,000 mothers who are the sole breadwinners of their families. Many are single mothers who work very hard every day just to survive. Job losses have hit more men than women during this recession. Food banks and soup kitchens report they are swamped by people who need help today. According to a Federal Reserve report, industrial capacity to produce goods in the U.S. dropped 1% in 2009, the biggest loss since 1967. Obama’s foreclosure prevention program is bedeviled by paperwork problems. 900,000 families have applied for mortgage relief but only 7% have become permanent. Government inefficiency and inconsistencies are believed to be the biggest problems. A record 13% of borrowers were either delinquent or in foreclosure in November.

3 banks have failed and total bank failures this year are projected to be over 200 – versus “only” 140 failures in 2009. Both McKinsey Global Institute and World Bank President Robert Zoellick stated last week that deleveraging and the ripple effects from the financial crisis will slow economic growth for a minimum of 2 to 3 more years. The United States, the UK, and Spain are expected to be the hardest hit. China’s foreign exchange reserves are currently estimated at $2.4 trillion.