Category: Blog

Small Businesses Are Still Struggling

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Small-business owners don’t take vacation not because they don’t want to travel or relax or explore new adventures, [but] because they are scared to death their business will fall apart. Fortune recently reported half of small-business owners will take no vacation this year. Of the half that do go on vacation, 61% […] go for only a week, […] half of what the average U.S. employee takes each year. Also, when a small-business owner actually takes a vacation, 67% […] check in with work at least once a day, and only 15% completely disconnect from their business.

Gallup reported earlier this year that the total number of new business startups and business closures per year […] just crossed to the bad for the first time since this measurement began. Annually, 400,000 new businesses are being born nationwide, while 470,000 are dying each year. [U]ntil the recession began, startups outpaced business failures by 100,000 per year. If small businesses continue to die at this pace, disastrous consequences for our economy and way of life are right around the corner. […]

So why are businesses failing at such a high rate?

According to MSN, the No. 1 reason is running out of money too quickly. When starting a business, you need to plan as if you had no sales for six months and have that money sitting in the bank to cover all the startup issues. [B]efore the recession, business owners could borrow against the equity in their homes. [W]e don’t have that same home equity today, [which means many] new business startups are rolling the dice and not having as much in the bank. […] Larger businesses also face cash-flow issues—they may be completing their projects, but their clients are paying slower, so payrolls get missed and lights go off. […]

The No. 2 reason why businesses fail is overconfidence in their product that may be ill-timed or is a dud of an idea. [I]f you don’t test [the] market first or [if] you are not keeping up with the trends, there is a good chance customers won’t purchase your goods.

[T]he third reason is a poor pricing strategy. [The] competition may have a cheaper solution, [but] if you […] lower your price, there still needs to be enough margins to pay the bills.

How can we reverse this trend of more businesses dying than being born? One way is through a new program, “Big Ideas for Small Business,” that was launched last year by The National League of Cities in partnership with the City of Chicago’s Innovation Delivery Team. They have produced a toolkit that helps local leaders create ecosystems that support small-business growth with city resources and provides business owners with access to new sources of capital. Another resource is SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives), […] whose mission is to foster small-business communities through mentoring and education. […] The NFIB (National Federation of Independent Businesses) […] is a great resource for information and interaction with other small businesses. […]

This lopsided failure rate of small businesses is a concern to every community. For our cities to [only recent;y] realize this is a local issue that must be solved with “boots on the ground” reinforces that these entrepreneurs are not in this battle alone, [that] they have their “village” looking out for them. This is a good start to reverse our small-business death trend, [b]ut it also takes individuals in our communities spending in small businesses. These “buy local” campaigns truly make a difference; [f]or each $100 spent at local businesses, $45 of secondary local spending is done, compared to $14 for big chains. This multiplier effect trickles down and has a dramatic influence in keeping our local businesses alive.

America has been great since our independence, because, on the backs of small businesses, we have built an exceptional agricultural, industrial and intellectual powerhouse economy. We can’t afford to let these small businesses die, because just about every great economic accomplishment in our country started in the mind of an entrepreneur.

Original article here: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/marc-joseph/small-businesses-are-stil_b_5870328.html

Is the Recession Really Over?

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[Recently], Gallup reported that the total number of new business startups and business closures per year, known as “the birth and death rates,” […] just crossed to the bad for the first time since [its] measurement began—[a]nnually, 400,000 new businesses are being born nationwide, while 470,000 are dying. […] [Until] the recession, startups outpaced business failures by 100,000 per year. If small businesses continue to die at this pace, disastrous consequences for our economy and way of life are right around the corner.

Our “Main Street” American businesses still find it difficult to borrow the funds they need to expand. […] If you read the news, it says bank loans are easier to come by, but I haven’t talked to even one of our customers who tells me banks are happy to help them.

Not only have small businesses not bounced back from the recession, but, as reported in USA Today, many households have not yet rebounded from the downturn. According to the federal government’s report on the economic well-being of U.S. households:

  • 34% of families are worse off or much more worse off financially than they [were] five years [ago].
  • Educational debt [is] held by 24% of the population, averaging $25,750 per person.
  • 43% of households [cannot] cover a major out-of-pocket cost for a medical expense.
  • 25% [of households have] not visited a dentist in the last 12 months because they [can’t] afford one.
  • 31% of Americans have no retirement savings.

On top of this, The Washington Post just reported 77 million Americans have debt in collections. […] These […] debts are non-mortgage-related, like credit card bills, child-support payments and medical bills. […]

Ask your favorite charity if the recession is over for them. […] Last year, total giving to charity organizations […] was $335 billion, down from the pre-recession level of $350 billion. [I]n America, 610,042 people [were homeless nightly in 2013], [and] 20 states saw an increase in homelessness. According to Newsweek, 42.5 million American adults […] suffer from some mental illness, enduring conditions such as depression, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. That hit home for me when my favorite actor, Robin Williams, […] died. Close to one in five of us are feeling like Robin, and is America built to have the support system to help?

Feeding America reports that 15.9 million children under the age of 18 (one in five) live in a household without enough food to eat and are unable to consistently access nutritious and adequate amounts of food. […] We are struggling to help our homeless, to help those suffering from mental disorders, and to help our children. This recession is not over for them. […]

Where is the good news to get us out of this funk of no-growth and the pain of the recession still lingering for businesses and individuals? It is not coming from the Middle East or from Europe or from our own government, [which] has confused our economy with sequestration, shutting itself down, and continual battles over healthcare, [the] debt ceiling and budgets.

[A]ll of us [need] to buy local, help those in need and donate more than we normally would to support this economy. Our economy is the basis for our society. When our economy is stable, our society will take care of our businesses and the individuals in need. At that point is when we can declare that the recession is over.

Original article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marc-joseph/is-the-recession-really-o_b_5678614.html

Dropouts Are Putting a Major Strain on Our Economy

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Despite all the efforts of every president from Kennedy to Obama, [high-school dropouts] are a blight on our society. According to DoSomething.org, [more than] 1.2 million students drop out of high school in the United States every year, [or roughly] 7,000 kids a day. [In 1970], the United States […] had the world’s highest graduation rates of any developed country; [our nation] now ranks [at] No. 22 out of [the world’s] 27 [developed] countries.

[Statistically], high-school dropouts commit 75% of our [nation’s] crimes. The unemployment rate for [these former students] is 9.1%; for those with high-school diplomas, it’s 5.8%, and [for those] with college degrees, [it’s] 3.3%. The average high-school dropout earns $20,240 annually versus $30,600 for a high-school graduate.

According to The New York Times, if we could reduce the number of dropouts by a little over half, this would yield close to 700,000 […] graduates each year. These […] graduates […] would obtain a higher rate of employment and earnings, […] would be less likely to draw on public money for healthcare and welfare, and less likely to be involved in the criminal justice system—[a]nd, because of the increase in income, [they] would contribute more in tax revenues. Each of these graduates over their lifetime produces a net benefit to taxpayers of $127,000 in government savings, [which] would benefit the public close to $90 billion each year. […] That is serious money and an easy issue that both Democrats and Republicans can rally behind to reduce our deficit while supporting funding for education.

Throughout the years, […] our leaders have made attempts to reduce the dropout rate through improving our educational system. Kennedy […] [desegregated] public schools to give all kids the hope of a better education. Johnson established Head Start so all kids would have a chance to start on equal footing. Carter upgraded the Department of Education to cabinet-level status. Clinton passed the “Goals 2000 Educate America Act,” which gave resources to states and communities to enact outcomes-based education with the theory that students will reach higher levels of achievement when more is expected of them. George W. Bush passed the “No Child Left Behind Act,” which worked to close the gap between rich and poor students by targeting more federal funding to low-income schools. Obama passed the $4.35 billion “Race to the Top” legislation, which has competitive grants supporting education reform and innovations in classrooms. Yet, we still have 1.2 million students dropping out of high school each year.

[A]ccording to The Arizona Republic, the 18,000 high-school [students who dropped out] this year will cost Arizona $7.6 billion over their lifetime. Phoenix, the country’s sixth-largest city, had the highest rate of youth disconnection among the country’s 25 largest metropolitan areas [in 2012], with 24% of its students dropping out of high school. [T]his year’s dropouts will cost Arizona $4.9 billion in lost income, $869 million in health costs, $1.7 billion in crime-related expenses and $26 million in welfare over their lifetime. On top of all [of] this, statewide, 22% of [those ages] 16 [to] 24 […] are [neither] working [nor] in school, [totaling] 182,000 young people.

The societal impact of our kids dropping out of school is devastating. Our schools know early on when many of these kids are in trouble. Key indicators include poor grades in core subjects, low attendance rates, failure to be promoted to the next grade, and disengagement in the classrooms, which would also include behavioral problems. [T]o save these kids, [o]ur government needs to invest in early childhood education. When students enter school without the needed knowledge and skills, they begin behind and just never catch up. Early childhood programs need to support the emotional, cognitive and social development of kids.

So what should our schools do to curb this enormous economic problem? Because many dropouts feel alienated from others and disconnected from the school experience, schools must ensure that all students have meaningful relationships with adults while at school. This obviously includes teachers and administrators but should include counselors, volunteers, and more paid and unpaid mentors. Schools must have individualized learning sessions and nontraditional options, [which] may include online learning and intensive tutoring programs. Also, students with disabilities, who are twice as likely to drop out as students with[out] disabilities, must be offered [more personalized] programs from Kindergarten [through 12th grade].

This is truly a grassroots effort in each community to lower our dropout rates. There are national programs to help on the local level. Communities in Schools, an organization that has been around for 30 years, […] helps bring community resources inside public schools […] for at-risk kids to succeed in the classroom and in life. The Boys & Girls Clubs of America provide programs, services, and a safe place to learn and grow and connect with adults. […]

Dropouts cause our society emotional pain because we all feel sorry for those less fortunate and struggling to survive, [b]ut the cold, hard fact [is that dropouts also] cause us economic pain that could be avoided. […] We have to get our schools the resources to go at this problem head on. Maybe if we approach our current congressional leaders that this is an economics problem, not a school funding issue, we can finally get their attention.

Original article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marc-joseph/dropouts-are-putting-a-ma_b_5586176.html

Who Pays for Our Kids’ Education?

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CBS News reported there are 200 one-room public schools located in rural areas left in America. At one time, just about every child was taught in a one-room school. Our second president, John Adams, taught in a one-room school near Boston. Abraham Lincoln was educated at a one-room school. Henry Ford loved his one-room schoolhouse so much that he had it moved to a museum in Michigan. As late as 1913, half of the country’s schoolchildren were enrolled in the country’s 200,000 one-room schools, [b]ut after World War I, people moved into cities, and one-room schools began to disappear. […]

There are 54,876,000 kids enrolled in schools [today], of which 49,484,000 are in public schools, according to the Center for Education Reform. The student-to-teacher ratio is 16:1 in public schools and 11:1 in private schools. Total public school expenditures were $607 billion [last year], with 12.7% coming from the federal government, 43.5% from the state and 43.8% [from] local expenses. The average public school expenditure per pupil was $13,000, and the average teacher makes $49,630 a year.

If you step back and study all of these numbers, they are just so huge. The number of kids […] in our school systems, the billions of dollars we spend to keep up the learning, and the amount of buildings we construct—[it all] makes our educational system alone rank as the 21st largest economy in the world. […] [Nevertheless], New York City […] teachers […] spend $500 of their own [incomes each year] on pens, paper and other instructional materials [for their classrooms]. Taking the 3.3 million teachers nationwide spending [an average of] $500 [annually] to help their kids, and we have over $1.6 billion coming out of teachers’ pockets to keep our schools going. […]

[The] teachers I know tell me they want to do their part in changing the world one student at a time by working on their hearts and minds and guiding them to become literate, empowered, engaged and creative. These teachers are passionate about their jobs, which most feel is their calling in life, [s]o pulling $500 out of their own pocket to help others is just what they do in their selflessness to make a difference.

[A]sking our teachers to do this is not right, [though]. Whether we have kids in school or not, all of us must be concerned with the quality of education we are providing for the next generation, and, as concerned citizens, we must make a difference and help our teachers help our kids. The National Teachers Assistance Organization is taking donations to help teachers. Donors Choose, an online nonprofit charity group that matches donors and teachers for supplies and projects, reports […] a 30% increase in requests for help from teachers this year. [The] Start Donating [website] is [another] easy way to help teachers get what they need. […]

We are a well-educated society, so how did we get ourselves into this cycle of putting this financial burden and stress on the teachers who we entrust with our kids every day? Teachers’ classrooms should be a sanctuary of learning, maturing and growing our children into the next greatest generation. Instead, we have our teachers worrying about the funding for the basic functions needed to educate our leaders of tomorrow. From John Adams and his one-room schoolhouse to our modern-day consolidated schools, we are still making it difficult for these dedicated teachers to perform at their best. It is the teachers of today, like the teachers of our forefathers, with their dedication and determination, who set the example for their students by their actions of caring and giving. The rest of us need to support these public servants and ease their personal burden of doing the right thing for our kids.

Original article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marc-joseph/who-pays-for-our-kids-edu_b_5512072.html

Kids Lose Their Future to Poverty

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Now that one school year is over and we are preparing for the next, June is a month of reflection for educators and parents on how to do better [for the] next school year. It is hard enough for students to learn at school in today’s world. You throw in overcrowding, teacher-to-student ratios, poverty affecting too many students, and lack of funding for supplies, and it becomes almost impossible for the average student to get ahead.

The New York Daily News reported that in New York City, 6,313 classes were [considered] overcrowded based on the teacher’s union contract, which sets 34 kids [per classroom] as the limit in high schools and 25 [kids per classroom] in Kindergarten. In these classrooms, kids were sitting on the floors or standing the whole period. It is tough to imagine how children can function in these overcrowded situations, let alone how can teachers concentrate and keep the kids interested. How can these kids learn when they are sitting on top of each other?

[Adding to this], 16 million children in the United States, [or] 22% of all [U.S.] children, live in families with incomes below the federal poverty level of $23,550 a year […] for a family of four, according to the National Center of Children in Poverty. These children are far more likely to have limited access to sufficient food, [a]nd with Congress cutting […] $8.6 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program […] earlier this year, these kids just got a little bit hungrier. The states where the most kids go hungry include New Mexico at 29.2%, Mississippi at 28.7%, Arizona at 28.2%, and Georgia and Nevada, both at 28.1%. How can these kids learn when they go to school hungry?

Now look at the 1.2 million children in the United States who are homeless. […] According to the American Institutes for Research, homeless children have four times as many respiratory infections, twice as many ear infections, five times more gastrointestinal problems, and [are] four times more likely to have asthma. [W]hen at school, they have three times the rate of emotional and behavioral problems compared to non-homeless children. How can these kids learn when they have so many personal problems?

Poverty and poor performance go hand in hand in school. DoSomething.org reports that children living in poverty have a higher [rate] of absenteeism, or [they] leave school altogether because they are more likely to have to work or care for family members. Dropout [rates among] 16- [to] 24-year-old students from low-income families are seven times [higher] than those from families with higher income[s]. By the end of the fourth grade, low-income students are already two years behind, and, by the 12th grade, they are four years behind. How can these kids perform [well as] adults when they fall so far behind in school?

The U.S. educational system is ranked as the 14th best in the world. South Korea is No. 1, followed by Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Finland, [the] United Kingdom, Canada, [t]he Netherlands, Ireland, Poland, Denmark, Germany and Russia. Why is the most powerful nation in the world ranked in the middle of the pack in educating its children? Last year, $1.15 trillion was spent on education in the United States, of which 10.8% came from federal funds and the rest from state and local contributions. You would think that is enough to educate every student, rich or poor, but, obviously, it [is not].

The United States sure has a lot of things to fix to break into the top 10. […] Since the vast majority of funding for education falls back to the states and […] communities, local help is where it has got to begin. It has to fix the children who go hungry and the children of the poor. There are great organizations to contribute to for this, like Save the Children and the Children’s Defense League. […] We have to fix the homeless children situation, [a]nd, somehow, we have to get the right equipment into the hands of these poor kids—the right books, pencils, paper and calculators—so they can keep up with everyone else in their classrooms. […]

I wish we could just flip a switch and poverty and hunger and homelessness would disappear for our kids, but we all know that won’t happen. Who chooses [which] kids are born into wealth and those who are born to live on the streets? Who chooses the kids who suffer in overcrowded schools or those who go to schools with sophisticated arts, music and computer programs? Back in 1918, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the American Creed, which states, “The United States of America is a government of the people, by the people and for the people, established on the principles of freedom, equality, justice and humanity for all.” It is up to all of us to bring these poor, hungry and homeless children up to the standards our forefathers envisioned for all of us, and we need to start today.

Original article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marc-joseph/kids-lose-their-future-to_b_5337752.html

Why Fight for Our Country?

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Earlier this year, Stars and Stripes, the independent newspaper to the military community, reported [that among] male veterans under [the age of] 30, [the suicide rate has increased by] 44%—[in other words, an average of] 22 veterans […] take [his or her] own lives [every day]. Reasons for the increase could be the pressures of leaving military careers, readjusting to civilian life while trying to find a job, lack of civilian work experience, and combat injuries like post-traumatic stress. In addition, the unemployment rate of veterans is 2% higher than the national average, [a]nd […] 90% of military spouses are underemployed and earn 38% less than their civilian counterparts. […]

On top of all of this, 57,849 veterans are homeless on any given night, according to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans. Breaking that down further, 12% of the adult homeless population are veterans, [and] 40% of [those] are African-American or Hispanic, despite only accounting for 10.4% and 3.4%, respectively, of the U.S. veteran population. Our homeless veterans have served in World War ll, the Korean War, [the] Cold War, [the] Vietnam War, Grenada, Panama, Lebanon, [the] Persian Gulf Wars, Afghanistan and Iraq. Another 1.4 million veterans are considered at risk of homelessness due to poverty, lack of support networks, and dismal living conditions in overcrowded or substandard housing.

How did we let all this happen to the heroes who keep us the freest country on Earth? Most of our citizens join the military because of their pride for this country, and they want to give back while doing an honorable job. No matter the generation or the war, from Concord to Kabul, America’s military has always been determined, tough and proud to do their duty. These fighters are sustained by not only the bonds shared within their units, but [by] the love and strength they draw from those at home—their families, their spouses, their children, their parents and their community. It is time for their community to embrace them.

The month of May is full of celebrations honoring our military. May 1st is “Loyalty Day,” which started in the 1920s [to counter a rise in the fear of] Communism. […] May 8th is V-E Day (Victory in Europe Day), which commemorates the end of fighting in Europe during World War II. Military Spouses Day […] is always held on the Friday before Mother’s Day. Armed Forces Day, which was created to honor all branches of the service, […] is celebrated the third Saturday in May (the 17th this year). [T]he month ends with Memorial Day, […] which is dedicated to servicemen and servicewomen who gave their lives for freedom and for our country. The roots of Memorial Day go back to 1865 and the end of the Civil War.

So how can we as communities do more than just celebrate and really help and embrace our veterans so the transition from military life to civilian life is not as painful? Obviously, if you own a business, you can make a real effort to hire veterans, [o]r, if you are not an employer, you can still help by donating to the nonprofit organization Hire Heroes, who are military veterans dedicated to “creating job opportunities for U.S. military veterans and their spouses.” Another great organization to donate to is Welcome Back Veterans, which was created to help returning veterans and their families. One of my favorites is Soldier’s Angels, and you can donate directly on their site or through their DollarDays wish list.

These veterans are our friends, our family and the bravest in our communities. These are men and women who sacrificed everything for us. Shouldn’t we do the same for them?

Original article here: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/marc-joseph/why-fight-for-our-country_b_5155398.html

Helping Small Businesses—Lots of Talk, No Action

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The Small Business Act of 1953 established the Small Business Administration (SBA), which came into existence on the grounds that small businesses are essential to a free enterprise system. It was the intent of establishing the SBA to “deter the formation of monopolies and the market failures monopolies cause by eliminating competition in the marketplace,” according to the Congressional Research Service. Today, there are over 5.6 million employer firms who employ 113 million people with a total payroll of $5.16 trillion. Sixty-two percent of these employers have four or fewer employees, 89.8% have fewer than 20, and 98.3% have fewer than 100.

The SBA has 1,047 different classifications of businesses. The current definition of [a] “small business” is [a company] with not more than $15 million in tangible net worth and not more than $5 million in average net income after federal taxes. Overall, the SBA classifies 97% of all employers as “small business.” These same small firms represent 30% of our receipts in our economy, which means “big business” is still 70% of our economy. Back in 1953, when the SBA was established, the split was 34% […] “small business” and 66% […] “big business.” Not much has really changed over the last 60 years, despite all the rules, regulations and the formation of the SBA.

Our country has always been a country of small businesses. In colonial America, 20% of the crops raised and handicraft products made were exported by these small businesses. At the time of our revolution, because of domestic economic growth and exports, Americans had a standard of living higher than most Europeans. Increasing an individual’s standard of living has been the driving factor to open a small business throughout American history, [b]ut Gallup just reported that the total number of new business startups and business closures per year, known as “the birth and death rates of American companies,” just crossed for the first time since this measurement began. Annually, 400,000 new businesses are now being born nationwide, while 470,000 are dying each year across the country.

This is a trend we must reverse, and we need our government’s help to do this. Sure, we can blame it on the recession we have been battling for the last several years, but it is much deeper than that. In addition to new regulations for small businesses in healthcare reform, an increase in regulatory activity in several industries, and the uncertainty about taxes, several other causes come into play, making it hard to open a business today:

  • One reason is [because] there continues to be a shortage of financing alternatives to open a new business. Before the recession, entrepreneurs could use the equity in their homes, but in today’s world, how many of us have significant equity in our homes?
  • Another reason is technology, which we think is helping to streamline work and create Internet-related businesses but is also responsible for displacing independent businesses across several verticals. Look at the travel agents who have lost their businesses or the video store, the record store and the bookstore.
  • A third reason is the well-financed big businesses are killing the little guy. [The] Home Depot is pounding the hardware stores, [which is] the same thing Best Buy is doing to the electronic stores. Walmart controls close to 50% of some lines of the grocery and general merchandise business, where a generation ago, thousands of families made their living selling these goods.

On April 5, 2012, President Obama signed into law the JOBS (Jumpstart Our Business Startups) Act. He said, “[F]or startups and small businesses, this is a potential game changer. For the first time, ordinary Americans can invest in entrepreneurs they believe in.” This law relaxed regulation[s] for businesses that are emerging growth companies, created a “crowdfunding” exemption to allow private companies to raise up to $1 million and [increased] the limit of small offerings from $5 million to $50 million.

It is two years later, and nothing in this law is implemented. [Those] close to this new law—legislators, practitioners and potential small-business owners—have voiced their frustrations with continuing delays in adopting final rules, but to no avail. [W]e ask ourselves how our government has led us to the tipping point where more businesses close than open.

If the U.S. government, who has good intentions but poor follow-through, cannot help small businesses, then who can? […]

Every big company started small. Look at Walmart, where, even today, over 50% of the company is still owned by the Walton family, [o]r Bill Gates, who is still the largest shareholder in Microsoft. We as a country can’t afford more businesses dying than are being born. The government has let us down with sequestration, shutting itself down when we need it the most, battles over healthcare, and battles over the debt ceiling and budgets. When they finally pass a law that makes sense like the JOBS Act, they still can’t implement it after two years. All of us need to reach out to our representatives and tell them to get their “act” together, [a]nd if they do not react, we need to vote them all out and start again.

Original article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marc-joseph/helping-small-businesses-_b_5045268.html

The War on Poverty is Back; This Time, It’s the People’s Burden

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Feeding America reports that 15.9 million kids [in the United States] under the age of 18, [or one in five], are unable to consistently access nutritious and adequate amounts of food necessary for a healthy life. Last month, Congress passed a sweeping “Farm Bill” that cut an additional $8.6 billion from SNAP, [or the] Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, over the next 10 years. This is on top of the $5 billion the program lost last November because the 2009 Recovery Act stimulus bill expired. Forty-seven million Americans currently participate in SNAP, up 47% since the [r]ecession started in 2008, [which] means that 15% of us rely on this program to eat. […]

We don’t have to be math whizzes to know that a 47% increase in participation, coupled with a reduction in the funding of $13.6 billion, spells misery for millions of Americans. This program has been the federal social safety net for low-income Americans, and now this safety net is beginning to tear.

The New York Times reports that more and more people are beginning to show up at soup kitchens and food pantries. The first reduction in November cut out 23 meals per month for a family of four. In New York City, the number of people seeking food aid grew by 85% after the November cuts, while 23% of the city’s food pantries and soup kitchens reduced the number of meals they provided. Food stamps were the signature program of President Johnson’s “War on Poverty” during the 1960s, which led to fewer poor children going hungry or having nutrition-related developmental delays. Birth weights also grew for children of poor mothers on food stamps.

As a nation, we can’t afford to go back to the nutritional standards before the “War on Poverty.” Luckily for us, our nonprofit organizations are stepping in and have created food banks to help fill the void continually shaped by Congress. The world’s first food bank started in 1967, right after the “War on Poverty” began. St. Mary’s Food Bank was started by John Van Hengel, who was volunteering at St. Vincent de Paul in Phoenix, serving dinners to those in need. A mother told him the soup kitchens and grocery store Dumpsters were the only way she could feed her children. John went to the local parish, St. Mary’s Basilica, and shared his vision of collecting food and money for food and depositing it where those in need could withdraw it. They gave John $3,000 and an abandoned building to get the food bank up and running. Today, food banks touch just about every corner of the United States.

Ozarks Food Harvest, one of the Feeding America food banks in Springfield, Mo., distributes food to 320 hunger-relief organizations across 29 Missouri counties, reaching 41,000 people a month. To help hungry children, they have a weekend backpack program, where they fill 1,500 backpacks with food so these underprivileged kids can have something to eat when they can’t eat at school. How can you not love an organization that takes care of others every day of the week?

Kentucky is setting an example for the rest of government in how to encourage its citizens to help others. Its legislature has made it easier for Kentuckians to donate to the Farms to Food Banks Program by just checking a box on their state tax returns to have part of their tax refunds […] automatically go to this program. This is how the government should behave in inspiring [its citizens] to help each other. […]

[Just last month], General Motors Foundation […] donated $500,000 to the Capuchin Soup Kitchen, [which serves] the people of metro[politan] Detroit. Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Florida recently donated $250,000 to the Florida Association of Food Banks. The Alaska Federal Credit Union donated money to 17 food banks. Businesses with a conscience are beginning to step up to fill this massive void, but, so far, there is too big a gap to fill. We have got to make up the billions of dollars lost to support those in the most need in this new order of priorities created by Congress. We, as citizens of this fine country, need to create a new grassroots effort for this latest “War on Poverty.” Having 47 million Americans in need of food is not the country our forefathers envisioned. It is also not the country we want to leave to our children.

Original article here: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/marc-joseph/the-war-on-poverty-is-back_b_4866216.html

Congress Could Use a Lesson from America’s Innovators

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The compromise spending bill for $1.1 trillion keeps the government open through September, according to CNN. It increases funding to Head Start by $1 billion for early childhood education, which makes sense after its recent low point with the forced budget cuts last year. It increases the paychecks of federal workers and military personnel by 1%. It reduces funding to the IRS and the Environmental Protection Agency. It launches policies aimed at getting more low-risk passengers through security quicker at airports. [I]t has a little bit in it for just about everyone, [b]ut, once again, Congress is kicking the can down the road, because we are going to have this same contentious conversation next fall when this extension expires.

The New York Times broke down the cost of this new budget per each U.S. resident: $259 goes to [the SNAP program], $61 goes to the […] school lunch program, $30 goes for crop insurance, $40 goes to loans and direct payments to farmers, $2,672 covers Social Security, $1,591 covers Medicare, $26 goes to the FBI, and $22 goes to the federal prison system.

These budget impasses remind me of the movie Groundhog Day, where we wake up and repeat the same mistake month after month, year after year. There have got to be some innovative thinkers outside and inside government who can get us out of this rut of repeating the same mistakes over and over again.

One big idea is coming from Ron Unz, according to USA Today. Mr. Unz is a Silicon Valley multimillionaire and registered Republican who is pushing a California proposal to boost the minimum pay rate to $12 an hour. Unz believes that taxpayers, for too long, have been subsidizing low wages, since the government pays for food stamps and other programs these workers utilize. He feels raising the minimum wage to $12 would lift millions of people out of poverty, driving up income and sales tax revenue and, at the same time, saving taxpayers billions of dollars since these workers would no longer qualify for many of the welfare benefits.

Another big idea came out of Chicago under the leadership of Mayor Rahm Emanuel. He created the small business center in City Hall last spring to streamline small-business services. The city has reduced the number of business licenses from 117 to 49, which has saved small businesses $700,000 in just the last six months. Chicago is phasing out the Head Tax, a decision that saved small businesses $4.8 million in 2013. This is just an example of how cities can cut through the red tape to not only make its citizens’ lives easier but actually save money.

TOMS is a for-profit company that gives away a pair of shoes to an impoverished child for every pair it sells. Additionally, when TOMS sells a pair of eye wear, part of the profit goes toward helping restore sight to those who need help, and, according to their [web]site, “[H]elping to restore sight restores independence, economic potential and educational opportunity.” They have taken the “giving back” [mission] a step further and, last fall, launched TOMS Marketplace, which gives socially conscious suppliers a platform to sell products that help support causes ranging from education and health to nutrition and clean water.

Most organizations don’t have the resources like the city of Chicago or TOMS to help make a major impact in changing our country or […] federal budget. […] The largest charity in the United States is the United Way, which is a network of 1,800 United Way communities and manages $4.26 billion. […] The second largest is The Salvation Army, which manages $4.08 billion to carry out their mission “to feed, to clothe, to comfort and to care.” These budgets seem small compared to the $1.1 trillion federal budget, yet they do [relieve] some [of the] pressure [from] the government in taking care of everything the underprivileged need. […]

Sometimes, I think we put too much faith in our government that they will take care of pushing our economy forward, as well as taking care of those most in need. A Gallup poll just reported that just 13% of Americans approve of the job that Congress is doing. If that was the approval rating in any other part of our society, they would all be gone. This is the group we must rely on next fall to permanently fix the day-to-day operations of our government. Based on their recent history, I am skeptical that this will happen. That is why the rest of us have to step up with the “big ideas” to make our civilization work with or without our government’s support.

Original article here: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/marc-joseph/congress-could-use-a-less_b_4639725.html

Did Not Make It Home for the Holidays

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The weather [this month] not only played havoc on retail sales but ruined many holiday celebrations by causing electrical outages, undelivered packages and [poor travel conditions]. December brought the coldest weather some areas have seen in decades, [including] a reading of 135.8 degrees below zero […] in Antarctica, […] the lowest temperature ever recorded on earth. […]

With this extreme weather, […] I just can’t imagine what it would be like to be homeless during this time. [Recently], USA Today reported on [Isaac Simon], a financial adviser who, [once a week] for the last six years, […] packs his white van [in Manhattan] with soup, bagels, milk and oranges and drives into areas where the homeless gather. He also has clothes to help those less fortunate. When you think that New York City, one of the wealthiest cities in the world, has [51,000 people] in their homeless shelters, […] you know America has a problem that we can’t just sweep under the rug. With that many people in need, we need hundreds of Isaac Simons to help just in Manhattan alone.

The Los Angeles Times reports that the U.S. Conference of Mayors survey of 25 large and midsize cities indicates that homelessness and hunger have increased and are expected to continue to rise in 2014. [At 15.1%], [t]he [current] poverty rate […] is still near the Great Recession high of 15.1%. In Los Angeles, 20,000 people sleep on the streets every night, and 2,000 of them are families or children living on their own. Homelessness has increased by 26% in L.A. since last year, [and] Chicago [has] reported an 11.4% increase in the number of homeless families, [as well]. […]

In my city of Phoenix, nonprofit [and government] organizations [alike] are acutely aware of the issues facing the poor. We have St. Vincent de Paul serving over 3,600 meals a day to the homeless and families in need. We have the city helping homeless vets to find places to live off the streets. Two years ago, the city identified 222 chronically homeless veterans, of which more than half served in Vietnam. Our mayor, Greg Stanton, announced right before Christmas that the final 56 veterans were placed in housing. This happened because the city council allocated an additional $100,000 in November to accelerate the efforts to help homeless vets.

President Obama’s administration has pledged to eliminate homelessness among veterans by the end of 2015, but it looks like time is running short unless cities and states get involved like Phoenix has. The Washington Post [reports] the state of Massachusetts and the Department of Veteran Affairs have put aside dollars to hire veterans, some formerly homeless, […] to help get veterans off the streets in Boston. They spend one day a week roaming the city’s storefronts, alleys and shelters seeking out these homeless veterans. The rest of the week is spent making sure those put into housing stay the course.

Now that the holidays are over, we as a society begin to focus [more] on our own needs. […] Whether it is finding a gym to get back in shape or a diet to lose the holiday pounds, our attention naturally shifts away from those who need our help 365 days a year. Homelessness is not just the responsibility of our government; it is all of our communal responsibility, whether it is in the dead of winter or the heat of summer. Obviously, volunteering is the best way to get involved, but if you don’t have the gumption of Isaac Simon or the political prowess of Mayor Stanton, then helping out with donated money is a high priority. […] The National Homeless Coalition, The Salvation Army and [CityGate Network] [editor’s note: formerly The Association of Gospel Rescue Missions] all make homelessness their priorities. […]

Maybe what we should all do is what the Lakewood Congregational Church Youth Foundation in northern Ohio does and has been doing for years. On a night in January, they sleep in cardboard boxes outside in the bitter cold and spend the evening seeking donations from community member passing by to help less fortunate families. If that does not wake up the younger generation to the needs of the homeless, then nothing will. Can you imagine if in every city in every state, we all give up the comforts of our homes for one night to experience the immorality of homelessness, what that would do for the psyche of America? I am sure that if we addressed this issue on a grassroots level and all woke up the next morning freezing cold and hungry, […] Congress would hear our collective voices saying enough is enough, and [they] would reverse the recent cuts in food stamps, show compassion with the new congressional budget deal, and help those who need unemployment benefits.

Wouldn’t that be a way to start off 2014?

Original article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marc-joseph/did-not-make-it-home-for-_b_4524051.html