#2: If your money goes into personal account in places such as Fidelity and T. Rowe Price, just like an IRA, not to the Government, would that help? As it is now, the Social Security system IS stealing your money.

#3 I am sorry you believe that.

#4 The economists disagreee with you. Even Clinton’s lead economist disagrees. The money for the wage increases has to come from somewhere. Either the prices will go up, negating the raise, or those that cannot raise their prices will go out of business.

#5 You misunderstand me. Gun control INCREASES violent crime. Concealed Carry laws REDUCE crime. Republicans, in general, oppose gun control and support Concealed Carry.

So the answer is NOT put more money into them, nor is the answer re-direct that money to give Black kids a chance in private schools. PERHAPS the answer is to make public schools have the same/close to the same standards that exist in private schools. On the other hand, one poster above pointed out more Black children have greater access to higher education then ever before. One TV show said it best, “Public schools should be shrines of education! They should be bastions of pride that goes beyond sports and extra-cirricular activities!”

Jack, I’m sorry that while what you say makes sense (to me) it is not a realistic expectation #2: That may be true but it doesn’t matter. We poor Blacks do not trust the gov’t enough to believe they won’t take that money from us (by flat out stealing it, paying higher taxes on it, redirecting it based on governmental needs). They might not but we don’t trust them not to! #3: Standard Repub arguement that we don’t believe. Immigrants are not “taking” our jobs, white people don’t give us the opportunity to show we can excel. #4: Min. wage: Increasing it means I can feed my family. It does NOT mean immigrants will take my job. Increasing it means I can pay for meds, not have to pick & choose. Increasing it means I can take care of my immediate needs. Each time it was increased in the past did NOT cause the end of the world and in fact, the economy increased! #5: Gun control doesn’t mean anything to me. It is about white people who want to make ANOTHER law that will put me in jail for YEARS. It’s not about auto/semi-automatic weapons, it’s about the federal gov’t getting involved in my state/local gov’t area of responsibility. Whatever the cause of the increase in the murder rate among Blacks, gun control will NOT fix that!

Republicans support freeing black kids so that they have choice in schools. Democrats opposed ANY school choice and are happy to keep black kids trapped in failing schools. They are adamently opposed to giving those kids a chance at a real education, their only way out of poverty.

Perhaps you and Vivian could get together to point out the errors of my ways. I certainly did not mean for anything to be offensive. I am sorry that I offended you. If you can tell me what it was that offended you, and why it offended you, I’ll be better able to avoid giving offense in the future.

Thanks.

-Jack

You have struck a chord, sister. Many of us are sick of the Dems taking Black voters for granted, yet, we can’t bring ourselves to go over to the other side. American politics lacks choice. Let’s see if Mr. Dean is going to practice what he’s preached.

To those who think I overstate the case: Exhibit A

Allen is scheduled to return to Hampton Roads to day. He will appear at the Jeffry Wilson community center on Wilson Parkway in Portsmouth at 1 p.m.

He is expected to receive an endorsement from “prominent leaders in Hampton Roads,” a campaign spokesman said.

Hmm – Jeffrey Wilson is a low-income housing project that I last visited some 25 years ago accompanied by two armed guards.

Exhibit B

I believe that Allen has learned some things and that if the people of Virginia return him to the Senate, he will be a different George Allen than has been perceived by some.

1) Welfare Reform, which the Republicans pushed through after they took over in ’94, has gotten many out of the cycle of dependency that had held them down.

2) Social Security. Under the current system, Blacks receive less benefits per dollar taken from them in taxes than Whites do. Having personal accounts, into which one’s payroll deductions are deposited, would allow Blacks to recieve better returns on their money, and would allow them to pass the excess onto their heirs.

3) Immigration Reform. The majority of Republicans, execept those in the Senate and the White House, want the borders closed. The illegal immigrants are taking jobs from the unskilled Americans, many of whom are Black.

4) Minimum Wage. Increasing the minimum wage would lose even more jobs to illegals who do not have to be paid minimum wage. Other jobs would just go away, and small, inner-city businesses, often owned by Blacks, would have to close becuase they could not pay their workers the increased wages. Raising the minimum wage also increases prices, as businesses try to cover the additional expense.

5) Gun Control. The murder rate for Black victims is nine times the rate for White victims. Cun Control measures have been repeatedly shown to increase violent crime. Canada’s violent crime rate is twice as high as our. England, Scotland and Wales have the highest crime rates of any industrialized nations, not depsite their draconian gun controls, but because of them. Concealed Carry laws have caused crime rate to drop everywhere they have been passed. Allow the people to defend themselves against criminals, and the crime rates drop.

I’m sorry this was so long, but it needed saying.

This is getting too long but we are not a monolithic group & and MANY Black Republicans are NOT religious conservatives and we did not join the Party because of anti-abortion, anti-gay, pro-christianity, pro-military (Homeland Security) ideals. We joined because we want the Federal govt to be SMALL, because we local government to be STRONG, because we want accountability in how tax dollars are spent, we want the Judiciary to INTERPRET the Constitution, the Legislative Branch to LEGISLATE not line their own “pockets” & we want them put the brakes on an increasingly probable dictatorship in the Executive Branch & boy have we been SORELY disappointed.

The reality is that African American values are both diverging and coming out of alignment with any simple Democratic platform or the easy identification as Republicans being the enemy of miniorities, which if you want to make the case that it still is, you at least have to admit that it is far more indirectly so than ever before. You have a base in a party when there are a bunch of solid issues that makes things very easy for you as a party: you push those things, and that’s that. The Republican party has always had it far far easier than the Democrats: you find out what your average white male wants, and you stick pretty close to that.

The Democrats, on the other hand, have never had a simple target voter. They have to please the desires of all sorts of different groups all at once. This isn’t a problem someone can realize and poof, the solution is easy. EVERYONE knows that this is the problem, and there really ISN’T a great solution.

The reality is simply that the African American “base” will continue to diversify and split, and there isn’t a lot the Democrats can do about it. I’m not sure it even makes sense to lambaste the Democrats for it. It’s the average African American voter who is changing, and the Democrats will simply not be able to have a platform that will please everybody. As the issues that matter most change, many religiously conservative African Americans are going to find pro-life and anti-homosexual ideas more important. As the African American middle class continues to grow, economic concerns will take precedence for some. We’re not talking oceanic change anytime soon, but even small changes in enthusiasm and party allegiance are enough to tip elections.

Perhaps, in your less than 30 minutes of visiting my blog, you were unaware that I ran as a Democratic candidate last year. I can tell you – perspective is totally different on the inside than it is looking at it from the outside.

The Southern Strategy is still alive and well, don’t kid yourself. You’re talking about a party that called voters in the 2000 SC primary and asked “Are you aware that John McCain has a non-white child born out of wedlock?” What does that say?

Talk about the Devil you know…

I think the 50 state project that Gov. Dean put in place made the Webb candidacy, despite its manifold flaws, viable. I believe that Gov. Dean gets it. The question is, has the Webb campaign finally gotten it? From the look of their ad campign, it looks like they have an inkling? What do y’all see on the ground?

There are 40+ black members of congress, slightly less than 10% of the overall membership. Every single one is a Democrat. Maybe you think you could do better, but please don’t pretend that the Democratic party hasn’t made the effort to find candidates.

Sanford Bishop of Georgia
Corrine Brown of Florida
G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina
Julia Carson of Indiana
Donna Christian-Christensen of the U.S. Virgin Islands
William Lacy Clay, Jr. of Missouri
Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri
Jim Clyburn of South Carolina
John Conyers, Jr. of Michigan
Elijah Cummings of Maryland
Artur Davis of Alabama
Danny K. Davis of Illinois
Chaka Fattah of Pennsylvania
Harold Ford, Jr. of Tennessee
Al Green of Texas
Alcee Hastings of Florida
Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. of Illinois
William J. Jefferson of Louisiana
Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas
Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio
Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick of Michigan
Barbara Lee of California
Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas
John Lewis of Georgia
Kendrick Meek of Florida
Gregory Meeks of New York
Juanita Millender-McDonald of California
Gwen Moore of Wisconsin
Eleanor Holmes Norton of the District of Columbia
Senator Barack Obama of Illinois
Major Owens of New York
Donald Payne of New Jersey
Charles B. Rangel of New York
Bobby Rush of Illinois
Bobby Scott of Virginia
David Scott of Georgia
Bennie Thompson of Mississippi
Edolphus Towns of New York
Maxine Waters of California
Diane Watson of California
Mel Watt of North Carolina
Albert Wynn of Maryland

The fact is exactly as you put it… Repub Party has been co-opted by the RELIGOUS conservatives. It makes it hard to want to remain one. If the Party get’s its act together I will vote Republican more often… in the meantime and because I believe in checks/balances in the government I’m more likely to vote for Dem for Senate/House ONLY because the Republican leadership seem to give the Executive Branch carte blanche with whatever they want to do. None of the candidates stand out enough for me to care what they do when elected, just as long as they put the brakes on our out of control President.

Hell of a reason to vote ain’t it. I have to admit… I’m ashamed of my reasoning but there you have it! Oh… I know of at least 15 other locals who are doing the same thing… there’s GOT to be a msg in that somewhere!

BTW- 4THGipper, I cannot tell you how often I get the exact same response from DEM volunteers!

Vivian, we’d love to have you come over and help true conservatives take control of the party. As I’ve previously said, any party should feel blessed to have you and I’d prefer to have you on the same side. Barring that, you are an honor to have as the loyal opposition.

I believe you have hit the nail on the head!

The Republicans are not representing Black Americans (or other Americans either…unless they are connected with a corporation).

Hopefully, the Democratic party will wake up and not take anyone for granted.

It has been refreshing lately to see that the Republicans are also able to shoot themselves in the “feet” with pressure like the Foley scandal.

Buzz…Buzz…

I like it!

In addition to ideological issues, the Democrats obvious neglect of Black issues explains why I am now supporting Allen and Davis. Depsite what the media says and the mudslinging, Allen has brought millions to HBUCs and Davis is fighting for D.C. to have statehood.

Lesson: Don’t vote party lines. Vote for the candidates who actually champion your issues.