Chicago Crusader 06/06/09 E-Edition

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•C•P•V•S• AUDITED BY

To The Unconquerable Host of Africans Who Are Laying Their Sacrifices Upon The Editorial Altar For Their Race VOLUME LXVIV NUMBER 6 —SATURDAY, JUNE 6, 2009

PUBLISHED SINCE 1940

25 Cents and worth more

Performance radio tax pits urban radio stations against Black artists By J. Coyden Palmer Over the past few weeks there has been a quiet battle brewing between urban radio stations and African American musicians and artists. The battle could be coming to a head soon after United States Representative John Conyers of Michigan, who

United States Representative John Conyers

serves as chairman of the house judiciary committee, passed a bill that will require radio stations to pay a performance tax. Conyers and supporters of the legislation (H.R. 848) believe this is the only way for musical artists to get the financial compensation they deserve for their creativity. A town hall meeting was held on June 2 at Wayne State University in Detroit. Among those attending were radio executives from around the country and Black musical artist icons like Dionne Warwick, Mary Wilson, and the “Atomic Dog” man himself, George Clinton. Artists say for years they have been denied the compensation they deserve for their work and believe this tax would help them recoup some of their lost earnings. The Performance Rights Act sponsored by Conyers would amend U.S. copyright law and compel broadcast radio to pay performers. The measure has already been passed by the house judiciary committee and will now go to the full House. A similar bill is also pending in the Senate. Radio executives have come out strongly against the bill saying its passage would force radio stations to close.

Radio One owner Cathy Hughes said the tax could put nearly one-third of Black radio stations out of business. She said she is making big sacrifices now to try to keep her company afloat in the middle of the

economic recession. “We’ve all taken three, five, seven or 10 percent pay cuts depending on what category your annual compensation was,” (Continued on page 3)

Rush seeks inquiry into U of C alleged “patient dumping” May move to suspend the hospital’s federal funding if ‘despicable practice’ continues U.S. Representative Bobby L. Rush (IL01) recently asked the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to investigate whether the University of Chicago Medical Center engages in “patient-dumping” practices designed to steer primarily poor and uninsured people to other health care facilities, regardless of medical need. In a May 25 letter to committee chairman U.S. Rep. Edolphus Towns, the congressman decried patient dumping as a widespread, national problem and cited the pervasive impact of the practice when many Americans suffer economic hardship

and lack access to quality health care. The call for an investigation comes less than a week after the hospital moved to close a South Side women’s clinic at 47th Street and Woodlawn in Rush’s district that mostly provided care to thousands of women on public aid. “As an institution that receives federal funds, I am concerned about recent media reports that alleged the medical center is turning away and refusing treatment to low-income, uninsured patients,” Rush wrote. “…Congress has a duty to expend its power to mitigate and prevent this despicable practice from continuing in centers that receive federal funds.” He also said he may move to suspend the hospital’s federal funding if the patient(Continued on page 16)

PRESIDENT TODD H. STROGER Thursday held a press conference at 69 West Washington where he signed the Green Construction ordinance making Cook County the first Midwestern county to restrict diesel soot by requiring contractors working on County construction projects to use cleaner fuels and pollution controls on their diesel vehicles and equipment. This will cut pollution from diesel fuel by up to 90 percent while helping to improve air quality in the region. Joining Stroger were: Commissioner Roberto Maldonado, (left front) who last year proposed the ordinance; Emily Stuart, organizer, Citizen Action/Illinois (left rear); Commissioner Joan Murphy, who sponsored the bill and is chairman of the Construction Committee (rear center), and Joel J. Africk, president/CEO, Respiratory Health Association (rear right). (Photo by LeShawn James)


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Chicago Crusader 06/06/09 E-Edition by The Crusader Newspaper Group - Issuu