::THE SLICE REPORT WITH MONA AUSTIN

(The Slice): The United States of America owes the descendants of slaves back pay. That is the underlying claim at the heart of the "Contract with Black America"(CWBA) presented and proposed by Ice Cube (born O'Shea Jackson) back in July that is currently under scrutiny. Ice Cube caused a stir when he said if P res. Donald Trump was the one to agree to the plan he could vote for him. The plan lays out demands to politicians/the government designed to advance the social, economic and political interests of Blacks who he sees as powerful economic drivers in American society. The California rapper and businessman said he has worked with Democrats and Republicans in developing his reparation plans centered on racial ineqaulity and says he is open to working with others in an "all hands on deck" approach to push it forth. The Black Community began to question Jackson's allegiance when Trump Adviser Katrina Pierson tweeted at him on Oct. 13: "Sho...

(The Slice) - Washington, D.C.: On Tuesday at the White House Pres. Trump gave an Oval Office briefing on the Opioid Crisis, announcing $1.8 billion in grants for state and local governments. While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  (CDC)  is getting an additional $900 million (0ver 3 years)  to help states track overdose data, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration was awarded $932 million in grants to provide treatment, recovery and prevention. Some of the money  will help homeless drug addicts get off the streets and go toward mental health services. Trump said the grants will be  "used to increase access to medication and medication-assisted treatment and mental health resources, which are critical for ending homelessness and getting people the help they deserve.  So many problems are caused by this problem." Alex Azar, Sec. of Health and Human Services said the funding was secured from C...

BY JESSE JACKSON May 8, 2018 African-American unemployment has reached its lowest levels ever. President Donald Trump boasts about this on the stump, naturally claiming credit for a recovery that began after his predecessor, Barack Obama, saved an economy that was in free fall. Trump says he’s delivering on his promised “new deal for blacks.” Don’t fall for the hype. A low topline unemployment rate is a good thing. Tight labor markets force employers to compete for workers. More African Americans who are too often the last hired find jobs. Those who have lousy jobs are more confident about looking for better ones. Even harsh employers like Wal-Mart find it necessary to lift wages to attract and keep decent workers. Wages should start going up. But we haven’t seen much of that in this economy. That’s because while the topline rate is down, it doesn’t count millions who have given up looking for work and have dropped out of the work force. Only if the economy continu...

Wisconsin may be leading the nation on welfare reform. Gov. Scott Walker has been pushing to have able bodied welfare recipients maintain employment and lessen the number of people in his state depending on the government for food, housing and Medicaid. “Public assistance should be a trampoline not a hammock,” said Walker in The Hill article. Walker has been at the forefront of change on welfare legislation for many years and Washington is listening. Like Walker, many leaders view welfare as a temporary fix. Reagan's Welfare to Work program and Clinton's Personal responsibility Act attempted to reduce spending tax payer dollars on welfare. Obama cut food stamps by $8.7 billion in 2014 that would take effect over a 10 year period through the Department of Agriculture. The Trump Administration is expected to sign an executive order on welfare reform in January 2018. Trump has stated he wants to protect certain safety net programs to avoid crippling those with the grea...