The Economy: What if Blacks, Latinos and Other Minority Democrats Switched to the Independent Party?

Continuously ignored by local and national elections alike, Blacks, Latinos and other inner city minorities may want to take a page out of Massachusetts and vote for the populist Independent leaning candidate.  After all, that was the same movement that got the hard left Democrat Barack Obama elected as President only a year ago. With an economy well over 10% nationally and currently 18% in New York City alone, Middle class families and minorities are feeling the pressure and finding it harder to make ends meet. In Middle America, the question become more "Do I have enough to feed my family and put gas in the tank to drive into the city to find work?". 
 
In African-American epicenters such as New York City, Chicago and DC, economic hardships are highly uncommon.  In NYC, Prior to the economic meltdown, Unemployment in the African American community was already at 10% and 8% in the Latino community.  In 2010 it stands at 18% unemployment citywide, 23% statewide and if you like numbers check this out; 64% of the African American community is unemployed as of 2008 with many of their jobs not looking to return to their communities and families.  Yet time and time again we hear of promises to bring jobs back, create green jobs, tax cuts for people making below a certain amount.  Lately, what we have seen are bonuses for people making those 100k jobs in the same industries that got us into this mess on the backs of people that didn't have to begin with.  The taxpayers are furious.  More is being taken from them and nothing is being given back. 
 
Regardless, if you're a Republican or Democrat. If you're a minority, regardless of money status, you are considered Americas bastard child.  If Blacks (that vote) whom makes up the US population switched to the Independence Party. You would see major changes in inner cities.  The power is not in how many Republicans show up to the polls, how many Democrats show up to the polls. It's about how many (IND) you can woo.  Independents in America make up 10% of the electorate and are the ones that decide elections. If you cant win Independents, you've lost the race.   Since the late 70s Blacks in inner cities have felt ignored by their political leaders on both aisles. Many blacks are registered Democrats.  So how does 2010 & 2012 look for the people you voted for in the 2008 & 09 elections? Have they been holding up to their half of the bargain?  The next question I pose is what if all minorities switched from being a Democrat and voted for a populist Independent? Independents (like Joe Liebermann of Connecticut and Bernie Sanders of Vermont) are great at holding up votes on bills if it does not satisfy the populist needs of their constituents.  We can expect a lot of this from Scott Brown of Massachusetts as well.  This is why I think it's time for Minorities of all backgrounds (gays, lesbians, blacks, latinos) to vote Independent, so that they finally get their voices heard and not shoved in the back of all the noise and clutter of issues that frankly doesn't matter to them. 
 
Barack Obama famously quoted as saying "I'd rather be a good 1 term president than a sub-par 2 term president".  Dear Mister President, what if your one term looks a lot like your first year and all of the sudden the same people that voted you into the white house decided to vote against both their democratic and republican congressmen and senators and ultimately voted you out of office for lets say, an Independent candidate that actually listens to the concerns of the people.  What would that concern be? Oh Yeah J.O.B.S!!!! Part of being a good leader is being a good listener and right now you are not being a good leader or a good listener.  Would you be a good listener if you too like many underpaid minorities were left without a job?  Would you be a good listener if you too like many Middle Class families were put out of their homes onto the streets? I hear it gets pretty cold in Chicago ya know.  The Economy is tired of being the side-ho to your Health Care agenda and so are Americans.

Some Unholy War.

Rachel Maddow was joined by The Huffington Post’s Frank Schaeffer Tuesday to assess the latest anti-Obama rhetoric from the right, including praying for his early death. Video courtesy of MSNBC "The Rachel Maddow Show"



My grandmother used to always say "Read you bible so that way no one can tell you what's in it" Unfortunately, what do you do when what's written in black and white is exactly what it says to do. Psalm 109 is a clear and present call Old Testament style to kill your leaders whether they be religious or political. I may not agree with all of President Obama's policies however, I don't agree with assassination either. I don't agree with this Third World coup d'etat mentality. Writing this right now gives me chills, I am cold and numb. Us as Democrats need to stop sniping our President for not moving fast enough and let him be a leader. President Bush did too much and meanwhile Republicans sat back and scratched their balls for 8 years. White Christian Evangelical Conservative Americans are rearing their ugly heads and hididng behind black bibles in the process. I ask that if you are a good person you pray for the safety and well being of this man. If anything happens to him, it'll be more or less a symbolism of not only hate for his presidency or him as a person but him as a dark faced being which will trickle down, mark my words. This isn't just about policy.

Good Morning Afghanistan. Wake Up America

I am not a part of the military, marines, navy or coast guard. I don't have relatives in the armed services either. I am however, a US citizen that though I didn't support the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan, I still wanted to believe in our President George W. Bush and his administration to in fact find Osama Bin Laden. 8 years later however, we are finding ourselves in a different position. We are fighting in a war where it seems that there is no good answer. There is no A, B, C, D or E All of the above. This has to be extremely thought out and all the while Americans are weary and losing support for being in war. While I'm no expert in war strategy and I sure wasn't in 2002 when the country entered Iraq and Afghanistan it sure did feel rushed. It felt like a knee jerk reaction to the events of September 11Th, 2001. Well we are in the war, at the time the country favoured going in with the goal of righting the wrongs of what happened that day, getting even and bringing terrorists to justice.

Today is Friday, October 30, 2009 and Bin-Laden has yet to be found. Our military have semi-occupied two Muslim nations with very little resolve in bringing down the Taliban or Al-Qaeda. Most Americans like me are saying "Show me the Bin-Laden". It is fair to point out that in Summer of 2008, roughly 43% of Americans couldn't identify Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan nor Pakistan on a world map and that's just the few that supported our twin wars.



The point I am making is this, The U.S. troops are in a corrupt country (Afghanistan), fighting against another corrupt government (Pakistan) where if the U.S. stay in Afghanistan they are seen as "occupying" and if the U.S. leave it is free lunch for all of Al-Qaeda to come back into Afghanistan and seek a reign of bloody terror onto any civilians that aligned themselves with Americans in exchange for aide. The U.S. has also tried to buy the support of the Afghan people by building schools particularly for the young women of Afghanistan. If the U.S. leave then all that needs to happen is for the schools to be blown up, with children inside to keep especially young women from receiving an education.

I find it deeply sickening that it appears we are the only ones willing to fight this war. We can not prop ourselves up as a nation of peace when we are in two wars with a developing host spot occurring between Israel and Iran, in which we better stay out of that one. We are losing so more money on this war daily while nations like China and Japan invest in their future and stability. This country can not continue on this road and expect to be the leader of the free world. I may be the only one thinking this but it makes plenty of sense. More jobs are leaving overseas than coming in, the economy is weakened followed by a choke hold of a Health Care system. The United States is no longer a productive nation. It doesn't seem right to go for broke on this bad gamble, let's gamble is our own future and prosperity for our children.

Our military troops, Men and Women, Mothers, Fathers, Sisters, Brothers, Nieces and Nephews have spent more years in Afghanistan than the Russians. We lose more and more of our troops daily and General Stanley A. McChrystal says we need more troops. The reason there was an outrage for the Vietnam War was not because our country was simply at war, it was because the American people were losing. The people as Sarah Palin likes to quote "that makes this nation so great...real America" were losing their husbands, sons, nephews and brothers. There was this idea that if you drove past a bus stop with a school of children waiting for the bus that some time in the future, our country would be sending them into the same war that our family members fought. We can't allow that. Our President can't be willing to support. Sadly, however it's not as simple as I am for it, I am against it. I was not for nor against the Iraq and Afghanistan wars but instead I was in support of finding the people responsible for killing over 3,000 people and taking down the two buildings that especially in this economy will never be rebuilt again. I am more in support of bringing our troops home and ending this war responsibly, that is the real and human way to win this war. For our people, for the American people.

BRING BACK THE CRACK, IN WITH THE HEROIN!

I grew up in 1980's East New York in Brooklyn by Broadway Junction, which for many Brooklyn residents is like a major landmark because of the structure of its train station that connects the A,C,J,L,Z lines and buses that take you deeper into Brooklyn and out into the Borough of Queens. Living in that area was not easy especially as an awkward kid that grew into an awkward teenager that was just trying to stay out of trouble. Everyone at the time was either on welfare, on drugs, or dying of AIDS from either unsafe sex with prostitutes or needle use. How do I know this well I may have small ears but I have supersonic hearing. Thinking back, probablyt he adults I grew to love are either in jail or dead. There was so much character in seeing the prostitutes on Fulton Street and Rockaway Avenue get out their "Johns" cars and slip the money into their shoes and walk back over to Eastern Parkway and Fulton Street to pick up their next John.

Other fond memories of living in Brooklyn was that I lived with my grandmother and my uncle in a five bedroom apartment on messy Fulton Street and she paid no more than $500, huge spacious, plenty of room especially for a family of people that is used to weighing more than 200lbs. In this living situation space is key.

The dynamics of the city was different then, I was born in 1982 and I have memories as far back as when I was very young. The blackout and riots of 1977 was still fresh in New Yorkers memories. It was the time when fear and poverty, pain and suffering saw no color. People were desperate, it was in the middle of a heatwave during a hotly contested mayoral race that launched Mayor Ed Koch to national stardom and won his first of 3 terms as New Yorks mayor. Anyone old enough to remember the campaigns against Ed Kock "Don't for the HOMO, vote for Cuomo" [referring to then incumbent Mario Cuomo who was seeking re-election] well Mayor Cuomo was an absent mayor during the blackout of 1977 which resulted into a citywide mass riot and arson of many buildings with the Bronx and many parts of Harlem being the worst affected.

After the Blackouts and Riots of 1977 many of the affluent whites deemed it "unsafe" to live in New York City Metropolitan Area. They moved to Connecticut, Upstate NY, New Jersey and many of them moved to Nassau and Suffolk Counties in Long Island never to return again until the real estate boom of the late 90s and new millenium. Well, Another thing to point out growing up in New York City was like living in an episode of HBO "The Wire" or HBO "OZ" but instead of being in prison you were living it in general public. You couldn't avoid not knowing people who were either alcoholic dependents or strung out on crack, cocaine, weed, heroine or dust. It wasn't right but it was something that I learned to accept was around me. Shoot outs were common and you just knew not to hang out in front of the bodega.

During those times rent was controlled everywhere. Now you have to scour for a rent stabilized apartment. Today a one bedroom apartment will start you at $1400 and up. a studio $1200. A two bedroom $1800 and up. To ride the trains and buses today is $89for a monthly pass, I remember when it cost $1.25 to get on the train and we still used tokens not Metrocards. When we did start to get "technological" and use Metrocards, it cost $63 a month to get around New York City and $17 for a weekly pass which was absolutely affordable since at that time, wages were able to support rent, food, utilities and transportation. As we are in a hotly contested health care debate one of the main arguments is that wages have either remained steady or fallen while the price of health insurance has gone up. Well as a resident in NYC that's not the only thing that went up. Food, utilities, rent and even transportation has all gone up which is what has been exposed as nationwide corruption in all jurisdictions. Who suffers? The middle class. Who else suffers? New York City minorities. Everyone is suffering right now regardless or race and status and that is what's so disturbing about the economic climate because I feel like we may be approaching another 1977!

I say bring on the 1977. Though I like Mayor Mike Bloomberg, I think this city can afford another round of burned down real estate and a citywide reintroduction of crack, heroin, cocaine and dust. It's just not enough to have weed and Ecstasy pills, bring on all the hardcore stuff and make it super cheap and affect all areas around the city and let them run a damn fool! It's the only remedy I see to where New York City will become affordable again. We can't really trust the housing market to fail. Despite a 14% unemployment rate which means that 14% of the population is currently out of work which is well above the national average of 9.7%, the housing market is still incredibly strong. Well, if the city becomes to unsafe to live then nobody will want to move here and if particularly affluent whites find it unsafe to live here and decide to move away and the city can't get new tenants to pay this unprecedented rent then what's next but a Housing Market crash!

Having lived through many economic highs and lows whether felt personally or global, it's the only solution I can come up with. Call me an absolutely cynic but you know what I absolutely miss living in a 5 bedroom apartment for no more than $500/month and you know what so does my grandmother who is now living in a Brownsville project complex off of the 3 train by Junius Street train station.

Drink of choice: a "40"

The Reaction To Action

Wednesday, September 9, 2009 President Barack Obama, The First African American President of The United States of America addressed members of Congress, Senate and the nation in what will have been the most important speech of his first few months in office. The address concerned the debate on Health Care Reform for the 40 million Americans that are uninsured by the government. Reaction been mixed to positive fom people inside and outside of the health care industry moments after the speech.

My family of mainly registered Southern Republicans (Virgina, South Carolina, Louisiana, Florida and Tennessee) and the occassional (Pennsylvania) it was interesting to see everyone including my mom for the first time full engaged in his speech tonight. He laid out the specifics, he laid out exactly what he wants and I think this was a better description of what he wants to see in a Health Care bill that we've heard since his campaign. He also credited Senator John McCain in portions of provisions he wanted to see in the bill affecting the uninsured.

The main reason, not just part but the main reason they voted for him as well as 58% of America did was in favour of what he would do with health care if elected in office. He won the vote and it's time for him to act on it. The question now is with 2010 looking to be a bloodbath for Senate and Congressional races across the country what will happen to health care if we do not get it right this time around? As Obama said in this speech "We can not wait until the next cycle or the next election or 4 or 8 years, we must act now, Now is the time"

A small tid bit, during the speech it was comfirmed that Repesentative Wilson of South Carolina was the one who created that embarrassing outburst in the chamber while President Obama was speaking. Senator John McCain of Arizona was highly upset and asked for him to apologize immediately. This show of disrespect angered many in the chamber including many Democrats who returned with boos and cat calls.

The president laid out that he will call out anyone who decides to spread lies about whats in the bill and the what the bill is supposed to do and that he would not tolerate anything short of a reform. The status quo is unacceptable. Being a part of the 40 million people that don't have insurance, I am appauled that Conservative-Democrats and Republicans are willing to fight against a lower middle class person such as myself.

The reaction among young people need to be to go out in the same numbers that they did in 2008 and if they are pleased with the job that their Senators and Congressmen(women) are doing, keep them in office, if they are not vote them out. I would prefer as a Gay Liberal to keep the 60 Democratic seat in the Senate and the 218 seats in the Congress however, it may appear that with a few of the seats may be up for grabs. Get up and vote. Gays and Lesbians, get up and vote this concerns you, it concerns me, it concerns your lovers, your jumpoffs and your future partners as well as your parents and loved ones. Health care must change for the American people and we must do it now!

The Reaction to the Lack of Reaction

Let me start by saying that I will not support any LGBT bloggers until further notice, I understand that they are about a gay agenda and I applaud that because we do have a seperate agenda and must not be ignored. With HIV/AIDS cases rising in the black gay and lesbian community, health insurance should be a part of that agenda and shockingly it is not even given a second look. We just accept that many of our gay, lesbian, transgendered brothers and sisters are expected to die and that is fine with us apparently.

I applaud every gay and lesbians sheer drive and determination to make a name for themselves in the gay and lesbian community but understand this also, you were an American first before you even knew anything about taking or putting dick in anyones ass (gentleman) and rubbing and licking on clits (ladies). There is no reason why when it comes to issues of politics, any of us should be ill prepared and underperformed however, you know all the dates to every gay pride, you what your favouirte singer (mainly Beyonce) is wearing and doing down to the very minute and you know who is doing what with whos man. Now is the time to get your head out of each others asses and really pay attention to the specifics of President Obamas health care reform.

With that being said, I hope you are successful in whatever you do but keep in mind you are not going to be mainsteam being just exceptional. But if exceptional is what you are aiming for all the best.

Ranity.