Ted Cruz: Facing The Bane and The Benefit of Obamacare

Posted on March 25, 2015 by alphaheel

It’s time to Break It Down!

Only in America, as Don King might say. On Monday, Senator Cruz announced his candidacy for President. However, a funny thing happened on the way to a Ted Cruz Presidency. Heidi Cruz, the Senator’s wife has taken unpaid sick leave for the duration of her husband’s Presidential campaign. As a result, she will not receive company benefits, including health insurance, during this period.

Cruz has previously said he gets his insurance coverage via Mrs. Cruz’s plan, boasting about not needing to receive government health care benefits. Oops!

I must pause for a moment to make a small but key observation. The attitude demonstrated by individuals whom, based upon their comments and actions, seem to harbor distaste for government and government services, yet spend anywhere from thousands to millions of dollars to get elected to government offices display a deep conflict at best, and possibly are afflicted with cognitive dissonance. The Senator’s comments reflect that type of disconnect.

Senator Cruz has made a fair amount of political hay opposing the Affordable Care Act (ACA), otherwise known as Obamacare. He indicated to Dana Bash of CNN yesterday that he will sign up for health care coverage through the ACA. Given his efforts to kill the program, which he says he’s still committed to do if he becomes President, there is an acute irony that he now finds himself about to acquire coverage under the program.

In his own words, he said, “We’ll be getting new health insurance and we’ll presumably do it through my job with the Senate, and so we’ll be on the federal exchange with millions of others on the federal exchange.” Somewhere in Washington, I can imagine President Obama flashing a Cheshire cat grin. Frankly, it’s hard to blame him.

Even as the Senator prepares to get Obamacare, he continues to rail that Obamacare has decimated the private health insurance market. As he put it, “What is problematic about Obamacare is that it is killing millions of jobs in this country and has killed millions of jobs, it has forced millions of people into part time work. It has caused millions of people to lose their insurance, to lose their doctors and to face skyrocketing insurance premiums. That is unacceptable.”

Of course, that’s the Senator’s story. We understand that over the course of the Obama Presidency, the economic and employment picture in this county has rebounded significantly in virtually every measurable metric. But what about health care, specifically?

Good question; I’m glad I asked it. The Congressional Budget Office has monitored the effects of the ACA, and finds that the program has lowered healthcare costs even more than initially projected, and that it has slowed the rate health care inflation rates. Whitehouse.gov released a report that shows:

Health care spending growth is the lowest on record
Health care price inflation is the lowest in 50 years
Recent slow growth in health care spending has substantially improved the long-term Federal budget outlook
The slowdown in health care costs is more than just an artifact of the 2007-2009 recession
- The slowdown appears to reflect “structural” changes in the United States health care system, a conclusion consistent with a substantial body of recent research.
- The ACA is contributing to the recent slow growth in health care prices and spending and is improving the quality of care.
- New economic research shows that the ACA’s Medicare reforms are likely to reduce health care spending and improve quality system-wide.
- Accounting for “spillovers” implies that the ACA’s effect on health care price inflation may be even larger than previously understood.
- In the short run, slower growth in health spending is a positive for employment.
- Over the long run, slower growth in health spending translates directly into higher wages and living standards.
- CBO estimates that the ACA will substantially reduce long-term deficits.

In the real world, there is a familiar idiomatic expression, “What goes around, comes around.” It’s fair to say, at least for the moment, we live in a world where we get to contemplate this reality…“Ted Cruz: Facing The Bane and The Benefit of Obamacare!” Who woulda thunk it?

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com or http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

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Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/24/politics/ted-cruz-obamacare/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/23/politics/ted-cruz-goldman-sachs-health-care/index.html

https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/healthcostreport_final_noembargo_v2.pdf

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/ted-cruz-sign-obamacare-law-hates/story?id=29878708

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ted-cruz-probably-signing-obamacare-201335300.html;_ylt=A0LEV7qdLBJVFmUAW5gPxQt.

http://www.centredaily.com/2015/03/24/4668845/cruz-big-obamacare-critic-to-sign.html

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2015/01/13/ted-cruz-says-gop-will-get-walloped-in-2016-if-it-doesnt-take-action-on/

http://www.politicususa.com/2013/08/25/ted-cruz-sabotages-republican-campaign-defund-stop-obamacare.html

http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2015/03/23/394732942/republican-thorn-ted-cruz-announces-run-for-president

https://www.youtube.com/embed/o2fXWHy43ZM

http://www.myfoxdc.com/story/28586338/ted-cruz-announces-run-for-president

http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/ranch/news/cruz-announces-run-for-president/article_2229ac1a-b5d6-5849-baf2-430602c273a8.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Cruz

https://lockerdome.com/rightwingnews/7528081271295508

http://www.nwahomepage.com/fulltextfox/d/story/top-trenders-cruz-announces-run-for-president/41218/pPmUSDl_PEynnMJ2-F1T1g

Eric Holder/Loretta Lynch: The Contrarians’ Confounding Conundrum

Posted on March 18, 2015 by alphaheel

It’s time to Break It Down!

Now that we are in the formative stages of the 2016 Presidential Election Season, it’s fair to say Hillary Clinton is without question the person Republicans want most to remand to ranks of permanently unemployed Democratic politicians. To be more specific, they want to make certain that she does not succeed in her still unannounced (wink-wink) quest to succeed President Obama as our nation’s Commander-in-Chief.

Interestingly, however, that is not the Party of the Elephant Symbol’s most puzzling paradox. Mrs. Clinton, while biding her time, and artfully evading, or strategically answering the faux indignation laced questions of Republicans and Fox News anchors, and analysts-in-training, is the odds-on favorite to capture the Democratic Party nomination. She will almost certainly reveal her intentions to pursue the nomination…eventually, in other words, in her own good time.

However, let’s be clear, Attorney General (AG) Eric Holder is the current administration staffer not named Barack Obama that the GOP most wants to assume the title, “former administration official.” One does not have to wonder hard or long to about why the GOP harbors so much enmity against Mr. Holder.

A quick look at his Ivy League pedigree, his resume, his distinguished accomplishments, including rising to the highest level of federal government administration, his bold policy initiatives, and his unflappably frank discourse on matters of race and diversity in America and its legal system, show him to be a man of character, courage, and conviction; very much like the man who nominated him, President Obama. That pretty much says it all. That they are close personal friends adds injury to insult to the Party that detests him.

Yes, he is the face of “Fast and Furious (F&F),” the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Agency gunwalking scandal, not the movie franchise. The initiative derived its name because ATF agents discovered the prime suspect, Jacob Chambers, belonged to a car club. Of course, like a lot of the Obama Administration’s trenchant problems, F&F dates back to the Bush Administration, launching in 2006. As much as anything else, AG Holder routinely serves as a lightning rod for all the things many Republicans hate about President Obama…and then some.

For all the pushback President Obama received as a result of his comments about Skip Gates, the Harvard Professor who was harassed by a Cambridge police officer while attempting to enter his own home, about Trayvon Martin, the Florida teen murdered by George Zimmerman, and anything else regarding race relations in America, he really has tread lightly when it comes to the subject. AG Holder, on the other hand, not fettered by the constraints of the Oval Office, has on occasion spoken bluntly and directly about the issue.

In a February 19, 2009 speech commemorating Black History Month, the first speech after his confirmation, he said to an overflow crowd at the Justice Department (DOJ):

“Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards.”

He added:

“On Saturdays and Sundays, America in the year 2009 does not, in some ways, differ significantly from the country that existed some 50 years ago. This is truly sad.”

Earlier this month, AG Holder’s DOJ released twin reports on the Ferguson Missouri Police Department. One found that Officer Darren Wilson did not violate Michael Brown’s civil rights when he shot him. The report effectively validated the findings of the Grand Jury, which opted not to indict Wilson. Conservatives far and wide hailed this report. They concluded, wrongly in my opinion that the officer acted properly in killing Wilson. I believe he profiled Wilson as policemen in Ferguson did to blacks for years, and had every opportunity to call for backup before confronting the suspects alone in that neighborhood. This however is a discussion for another time.

In the other report, of which conservatives tend to either overlook, or offer scathing reviews, the DOJ found the Ferguson Police Department had routinely and consistently violated the civil rights of African Americans for many years. I posted about the report on March 4^th (https://thesphinxofcharlotte.com/2015/03/04/ferguson-the-department-of-justice-speaks/), so I will not re-plow that field. You can check it out at you leisure, in the event you missed it.

Suffice it to say, opposition to Mr. Holder is and has been intense. The Republican led House of Representatives held him in criminal contempt of Congress in 2012. When he announced his resignation last September, House Judiciary Chair Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) said he “Welcome(d) the news.”

Here’s the rub. If there is one person the GOP disdains more than AG Holder, it is President Obama. Much of the Party’s Leadership coalesced to forge a pact aimed at denying President Obama any victories, and limiting to one term. Clearly, they failed in both endeavors, but apparently they believe in the axiom, “Nothing beats a failure, but a try.” Hence, they continue to persevere and try. As a result of this anti-Obama compulsion, they are delaying Ms. Lynch’s Confirmation Hearings.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch Connell (R-KY), told CNN’s Dana Bash, on this past Sunday’s “State of the Union” Show, he plans to hold up Ms. Lynch’s confirmation until the Senate passes a controversial human trafficking bill. In his words:

“This will have an impact on the timing of considering a new attorney general. I had hoped to turn to her next week, but if we can’t finish the trafficking bill, she will be put off again.”

It has already been 160 days since President Obama nominated Ms. Lynch. This is already the longest delay in confirming an AG since President Reagan nominated Edwin Meese in 1985, thirty years ago.

Undoubtedly, from a GOP standpoint, the best thing about Ms. Lynch is she is not AG Holder. It is generally anticipated that once the hearings convene, she will be confirmed. However, the irony is, the longer the GOP delays the probable, if not inevitable, the longer Eric Holder retains the title United States Attorney General. Works for me! In fact, I like to call this deluded detour from responsible governance and common sense, “Eric Holder/Loretta Lynch: The Contrarians’ Confounding Conundrum!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com or http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillary_Rodham_Clinton

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Holder

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loretta_Lynch

http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/16/politics/loretta-lynch-nomination-stall-unconscionable/index.html

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/loretta-lynch-fight-gets-heated-116124.html

http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/15/politics/mitch-mcconnell-loretta-lynch-confirmation/index.html

http://www.vox.com/2015/1/28/7927257/republicans-holder-lynch

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATF_gunwalking_scandal

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bureau_of_Alcohol,_Tobacco,_Firearms_and_Explosives

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Justice

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Louis_Gates,_Jr.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trayvon_Martin

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/18/holder.race.relations/

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/justice-department-releases-scathing-ferguson-report

https://thesphinxofcharlotte.com/2015/03/04/ferguson-the-department-of-justice-speaks/

From Selma to Norman: Right Now!

Posted on March 11, 2015 by alphaheel

It’s time to Break It Down!

Over the past weekend, our nation, at least some of us, observed an historical event, and the subsequent progress in race and matters of diversity over the past fifty years. The story of Bloody Sunday, which unfolded March 7, 1965 on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, has been memorialized in history books, and recently in the movie “Selma.”

On that fateful Sunday, approximately 600 marchers assembled in Selma, intending to march to Montgomery, Alabama’s Capital. John Lewis and a number of other leaders of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Coalition (SNCC) and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) led the March. As they crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge over the Alabama River, on their way out of town, Alabama State Troopers and other local law enforcement officers blocked their path.

The troopers ordered the marchers to turn around. When the marchers refused, the officers shot them with tear gas, and waded into the crowd beating the protesters with billy clubs, hospitalizing over fifty of them, and earning the events of the day the name “Bloody Sunday.” The actions of those overzealous troopers and policemen abusing peaceful protesters were televised around the world. Martin Luther King called for civil rights supporters to come to Selma for a second march. The marchers tried again on March 9, and ultimately a third time on March 21^st, when they completed the trek, with the aid of federal protection.

On August 6, 1965, Congress passed the federal Voting Rights Act. This was the desired outcome, which the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had envisioned. Still, “Bloody Sunday was about more than a piece of federal legislation. It highlighted the multiple competing tensions Dr. King had to circumnavigate, as he faced the pressure of a radical (for its time) social movement, federal calls for restraint, as well as the palpable dissonance between SNCC and the SCLC.

Over the weekend President Obama and at least one hundred members of Congress went to Selma to honor and observe the history made in Selma fifty years ago. A great deal was made of the disclosure earlier last week that the GOP Leadership planned to skip the weekend’s events in Selma, along with Republican Presidential hopefuls. After some significant peer pressure from Democratic Congressmen, the House Majority Leader, Kevin McCarthy decided at the last minute to change his plans and attend. South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, an African American also attended, though he is a rank and file member, not part of the GOP Leadership structure.

In all, reports are that twenty-three members of the GOP eventually “scheduled” attendance. That list did not include House Speaker John Boehner, Senate Majority Leader McConnell, or Rand Paul, Chris Christie, Jeb Bush, or any of the Party’s other projected Presidential candidates. Balanced reporting requires that I note Hillary Clinton skipped the event too. Perhaps she was busy working on a response to Email-gate. In any event, Democrats were solidly represented. I am not sure Rand Paul would have gained serious ground by attending. Obviously, we will not have to spend anytime pondering the question.

There was a point when I thought the GOP’s collective reluctance to be seen in “The Heart of Dixie” (one of Alabama’s unofficial nicknames) this past weekend would be the point of this post. Too bad the KKK was not as inclined to be scares of presence. Robert Jones, the Grand Dragon of the Loyal White Knights of the KKK said about 4,000 KKK fliers were distributed in Selma and Montgomery in the two weeks preceding the 50-year Observance last weekend. In his words, “We pretty much put out fliers, some against King and some against immigration. It’s time for the American people to wake up to these falsehoods that they preach about MLK.”

That inclination, however, was before several esteemed members of the University of Oklahoma Chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon (Also sometimes referred to as SAE) Fraternity were portrayed on a video singing a racist chant, including, among other things, the words approximating, “There will never be a nigger SAE/There will never be a nigger SAE/You can hang him from a tree/But he’ll never sign with me/There will never be a nigger SAE.”

The video, taped Saturday, was leaked Sunday. The SAE National Organization closed the University of Oklahoma Chapter of SAE. The University subsequently closed the House, and suspended at least two students, presumably those who could be identified singing the chant. One of the two students, Parker Rice, has since apologized. The Dallas Morning News has reported that Rice said, “I am deeply sorry for what I did Saturday night. It was wrong and reckless. I made a horrible mistake by joining into the singing and encouraging others to do the same.”

As if, the fratboy chant weren’t enough, the Oklahoma Daily, the student newspaper posted a 2013 Vine depicting the chapter’s House Mom, Beauton Gilbow, laughing and talking over a rap song, rapidly repeating the N-word seven times in rapid succession. The sound of “All Gold Everything,” by Trinidad James, a black Atlanta-based rapper, can be heard in the background.

Ms. Gilbow, known as Momma B by the Chapter’s fraternity family, said, “I have been made aware that a video of me that is circulating on social media and in the news. I am heartbroken by the portrayal that I am in some way racist. I have friends of all races and do not tolerate any form of discrimination in my life. I was singing along to a Trinidad song, but completely understand how the video must appear in the context of the events that occurred this week.”

This convoluted defense is made all the more, shall we say interesting, by an earlier statement from her after the Fraternity’s suspension, but before the release of the Vine. In her previous statement, she had contended, in a statement to CNN affiliate KOCO-TV that she was blindsided by the overall controversy. In that interview, she said, “I feel like the rug has been pulled out from under me. This has been my life for 15 years. And it’s tough.” Hmmm!

The Fraternity is no stranger to race-based controversy. The chapter at Washington University in St. Louis gained notoriety for a pledge being made to recite a rap song containing the N-word in front of a group of black students. In 2006, the Baylor Chapter was criticized for a party theme that reports say encouraged making stereotypes of blacks. Moreover, the fun and frivolity apparently does not stop at race-based shenanigans. A 2012 Rolling Stone article intimated that the Dartmouth College Chapter engaged in abusive hazing practices that included making pledges eat vomlets (eggs & vomit). In 2014, the National Organization eliminated pledging in an effort to discourage hazing.

But back to the racial animus; last week’s post touched upon the racial indignities foisted upon the black citizenry of Ferguson Missouri by a police department unfettered or constrained by anything approximating an impetus to rein in bigotry and racism. This new indictment of a college organization is simply yet another indication that ridiculously brazen racist behavioral practices are alive and well in America. And in this week, after the 50^th Anniversary of “Bloody Sunday,” we can say with certainty, it thrives…”From Selma to Norman: Right Now!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com or http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selma_to_Montgomery_marches

http://www.blackpast.org/aah/bloody-sunday-selma-alabama-march-7-1965

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVAZp1j0tKc

http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/10/us/selma-beyond-the-headlines/

http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2015/03/kkk_fliers_left_at_selma_homes.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/thousands-join-second-day-of-selma-remembrances/2015/03/08/60d6784c-c5da-11e4-a199-6cb5e63819d2_story.html

http://www.politicususa.com/2015/03/08/racist-republicans-absent-50th-anniversary-selma.html

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/gop-leaders-to-skip-selma-event-115801.html

http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/republican-congressional-leaders-skipping-selma-anniversary/

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/mar/8/republican-2016-hopefuls-skip-selma-bloody-sunday-/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Oklahoma

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/08/frat-racist-sae-oklahoma_n_6828212.html

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/03/10/fallout-oklahoma-racist-video/24691017/

http://dailycaller.com/2015/03/09/oklahoma-frat-shut-down-after-racist-video-leaks-video/

http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/10/us/oklahoma-fraternity-house-mom/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/10/us/oklahoma-racist-chant/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigma_Alpha_Epsilon

Ferguson: The Department of Justice Speaks

Posted on March 4, 2015 by alphaheel

It’s time to Break It Down!

Officer Darren Wilson shot and killed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, August 9, 2014. Wilson, 28 at the time, a white Ferguson police officer, shot Brown, an 18-year old black teen, after a struggle ensued following a disagreement about jaywalking. The specific circumstances of the encounter, which also involved Brown’s 22-year old friend, Dorian Johnson, were in dispute. Ultimately, after a several days of unrest, and months of tension within the Ferguson community, the Prosecuting Attorney for St. Louis County, Robert P. McCulloch, made a sobering, but not surprising announcement. On November 24^th, McCulloch revealed that the Grand Jury, empaneled to determine whether there was probable cause to charge Officer Wilson, found there was none.

There were a number of reasons why conventional wisdom held that the officer would not be charged. Among other things it had been argued that the prosecutor has inundated the Grand Jury with more information that was necessary, or than would normally be provided to such a panel. The Prosecuting Attorney has a history that many in the local community felt rendered him biased. A black perpetrator killed his father. Whether related or not, he has a history of negative findings against blacks involved with the St. Louis criminal justice system. In a community that is over 67% black, there were three black policemen on a force of over 50 officers. Moreover, the vast number of stops, use of force, arrests, fines, and citations were black. To be clear, the percentage in every case was much greater than that of blacks in the population, in some cases, 20 to 25% more.

In September, Eric Holder, the U.S. Attorney General, initiated a Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation of Ferguson’s police department to study whether its officers routinely profiled blacks, or showed a pattern of excessive force. That investigation is complete and will be released today. Yesterday some preliminary findings were released. We know the study will say among other things, officers in Ferguson routinely violated the constitutional rights of the city’s residents, discriminated against African Americans, and applied racial stereotypes.

As noted, Ferguson is one-third white, or more directly stated above, 67% black. The Justice Department found that crime statistics over the past couple of years paint a compelling story. Parts of that message includes:

Blacks account for 85% of traffic stops
Blacks account for 90% of tickets issued
Blacks account for 93% of arrests
Blacks account for 95% of jaywalking arrests (which often hinge on police discretion)
Black driver were twice as likely as white drivers to be searched during vehicle stops, but 26% less likely to have contraband
Blacks account for 88% of persons against whom force was used

The picture the report paints is difficult to debate rationally. However, some officials, including a former Mayor, currently a candidate for a Council seat are doing just that. Brian Fletcher, the City’s Mayor from 2005 to 2011 complained that the DOJ appeared to be searching for “a scapegoat.” He argued further:

“The city population might be 67 percent black, but that is not necessarily a fair comparison for enforcement statistics. Many of the surrounding communities have African-American populations of more than 80 percent, and many of those people are drawn to greater shopping opportunities in Ferguson. As a result, Ferguson’s daily black population would be higher than the census reflects. “I don’t know that the DOJ took that into consideration, I don’t know how that proves bias.”

I am not sure how he uses this particular rationale to defend the statistic that finds black drivers twice as likely to be searched, but 26% less likely to be carrying contraband. Of course, I am confident he will give it the old college try.

It is important to note not everyone is so impervious to the data picture. Current Mayor, James Knowles III, who was among the officials briefed yesterday, said, “It was encouraging to me that there were discussions about how we might move forward together and amicably address these issues.” Let’s hear it for Mayor Knowles…Mr. Fletcher, not so much.

The racial disparity found in Ferguson policing was so stark that the DOJ concluded there was only one explanation:

The Ferguson Police Department was routinely violating the constitutional rights of its black residents.

Tomorrow’s report will cite violations of the First, Fourth, and Fourteenth Amendments, according to officials. Racial bias is so ingrained, the report said, that Ferguson officials circulated racist jokes on their government email accounts.

The report is based on six months of investigation, and provides a glimpse into the roots of the tensions that boiled over after Michael Brown was killed in August. The report describes a city in which police used force almost exclusively on blacks, and a place where blacks were regularly stopped without probable cause.

Moreover, despite former Mayor Fletcher’s push back on the data findings, racial bias was so thoroughly ingrained that Ferguson officials circulated racist jokes on their government email accounts. Two in particular, apparently written by Ferguson police and municipal court officials appear below:

One, from November 2008, said that Barack Obama could not be president for four years because “what black man holds a steady job for four years.”

Another, from May 2011, read: “An African-American woman in New Orleans was admitted into the hospital for a pregnancy termination. Two weeks later she received a check for $5,000. She phoned the hospital to ask who it was from. The hospital said, ‘Crimestoppers.’”

The report will say that in Ferguson’s municipal court, blacks were less likely than others to have their cases dismissed by a judge, far more likely to have a warrant issued in their cases and more likely to be arrested during traffic stops because of outstanding warrants.

The report will also say that Ferguson has a pattern of putting revenue over public safety, in violation of the 14th Amendment’s due process and equal process protections, by collecting thousands of dollars in fines on those living below or near poverty. It notes further that since 2010, Ferguson courts have collected more than $442,000 for failure-to-appear fines, and that use of that charge was discontinued last year.

Federal investigators spent about 100 person days investigating the department, perused 35,000 pages of records, and interviewed city leaders as well as conducted hundreds of in-person or phone interviews with residents.

On December 1, U.S. President Barack Obama announced that the federal government would spend $75 million on body cameras for law enforcement officers, as one of the measures taken in response to the shooting. Without question, the DOJ investigation and subsequent findings is about much more than the killing of Michael Brown. Yet, it is equally clear, the young man is a martyr for justice. Without his untimely demise, is unclear how much longer the majority of the Ferguson community would have suffered the indignities and injustices of a freewheeling police department that consistently treated blacks shabbily…at best. So, on this day, “Ferguson: The Department of Justice Speaks!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com or http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/04/us/justice-department-finds-pattern-of-police-bias-and-excessive-force-in-ferguson.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Michael_Brown

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/michael-brown-and-dorian-johnson-the-friend-who-witnessed-his-shooting/2014/08/31/bb9b47ba-2ee2-11e4-9b98-848790384093_story.html

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/ferguson-police-court-showed-pattern-of-racial-bias-department-of/article_de3bf2a4-816d-5a55-af63-b6db8e997eb5.html

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/03/03/ferguson-justice-report/24320987/

http://fox2now.com/2015/03/03/ferguson-to-comment-on-doj-report-wednesday/

http://ktla.com/2015/03/03/doj-investigation-finds-systematic-discrimination-against-blacks-by-ferguson-police-courts/

http://www.npr.org/2015/03/03/390484874/ferguson-political-leader-doj-report-validates-protesters

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/03/doj-release-ferguson-pd-report

http://guardianlv.com/2015/03/ferguson-police-department-found-to-have-racial-bias/

He Said He Would…And He Did!

Posted on February 25, 2015 by alphaheel

It’s time to Break It Down!

Ever since the GOP secured a majority in the U.S. Senate in the November 4, 2014 General Election, to match the advantage they already enjoyed in the U.S. House of Representatives, Republicans have made it clear they would pass a bill approving construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline. Yesterday, they made the promise a fait accompli. With a resolve to match the GOP’s relentless push, President Obama made it equally clear he would veto such a bill. To that end, he kept his end of the bargain yesterday.

The Houses of Congress spent a significant portion of the first two months of the year prepping for was a near certain outcome yesterday. The Senate, by a roll call vote of 62-36, moved to approve its bill Thursday, January 29, 2015. In summary, 53 Republicans and 9 Democrats voted for the bill. Voting in opposition were 34 Democrats and 2 Independents. No Republicans voted against the measure.

On Wednesday, February 11, 2015, the House took up the Senate bill and approved the measure by a vote of 270 to 152. The bill garnered the support of 29 Democrats. One GOP Representative, Justin Amash, of Michigan, voted against the bill. That action of the House completed the preliminary steps of preparing the bill for the President’s review.

The process came full circle, apparently quickly. Congress sent the measure to President Obama yesterday. He returned to sender, using his Veto authority for the first time in five years, and only the third time during his Presidency.

Counting yesterday’s veto, you have to go back 134 years, to James A. Garfield, the 20^th President, to find a President with fewer vetoes than President Obama. He had no vetoes, but served just over six months in office, as his Presidency lasted only 199 days, from March 4, 1881 to September 19, 1881. Charles J. Guiteau shot him July 2, 1881. Garfield died two and a half months later. Only William Henry Harrison served less time as an American President. Harrison, who died of pneumonia, served only 32 days. Not surprisingly, he was also among the seven Presidents who never used the veto. Zachary Taylor, the twelfth President also died prematurely, after only a year and a half in office, without ever using the veto. Millard Fillmore, the thirteenth President, served Zachary Taylor’s unexpired term, and never used the veto.

To provide a little veto context, seven Presidents, the second, John Adams, third Thomas Jefferson, fifth James Monroe, ninth William Henry Harrison, twelfth Zachary Taylor, thirteenth Millard Fillmore, and the twentieth James Garfield never used the veto. Of those, Harrison, Taylor, and Garfield died after short terms in office, and Fillmore completed Taylor’s term. Of the remaining thirty-six Presidents other than Mr. Obama, only George Washington, the first President (2), James Monroe, the fifth President (1), and Martin Van Buren, the eighth President (1), used the veto less than President Obama has to date. The eleventh President, James K. Polk also used his veto pen three times.

This however, may be just the beginning of President Obama’s veto use. He has already signaled his unwillingness to simply accept proposed GOP legislation to roll back the Affordable Care Act, as well as bills reversing the executive action he has taken on immigration.

Early indications are GOP legislators will be unable to reverse the President’s veto. The threshold for overriding a President’s veto is a two-thirds vote in each chamber of Congress. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has already announced the veto override vote occur no later than next Tuesday.

Pipeline advocates, including Republican leadership in Congress argue the Keystone would create jobs; opponents meanwhile contend the potential environmental risks are not worth it. For its part, the Whitehouse says they oppose the measure because it usurps the President’s authority to approve or deny the pipeline. The project has been under administrative review for a number of years.

Josh Earnest, White House Press Secretary notes that it is still conceivable President Obama may approve the pipeline at the completion of State Department review. In the interim, the President has downplayed the economic benefits of the pipeline. He underscored that point in the State of the Union Address, when he said: “Let’s set our sights higher than a single oil pipeline,”

For their part, Republican Legislators said yesterday the expected veto sets a sour tone for further cooperation. House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wrote in a USA Today op-ed, “This White House refuses to listen and look for common ground. It’s the same kind of top-down, tone deaf leadership we’ve come to expect and we were elected to stop.”

In other words, it appears, the long winter of our political discontent continues. What we know for sure is, when it comes to the Keystone XL Pipeline, “He Said He Would…And He Did!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com or http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/24/politics/obama-keystone-veto/index.html

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/congress-sends-obama-bill-approve-keystone-pipeline-n304676

http://rare.us/story/president-obama-sends-republicans-keystone-xl-pipeline-bill-back-to-congress/

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/congress-sends-obama-bill-approve-keystone-pipeline-n304676

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=114&session=1&vote=00049

http://www.politicususa.com/2015/01/29/senator-voted-keystone-xl-pipeline-bill.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_presidential_vetoes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_A._Garfield

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_J._Guiteau

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Henry_Harrison

Someone You Should Know: Thomas Hagan; AKA Talmadge X Hayer

Posted on February 18, 2015 by alphaheel

It’s time to Break It Down!

This post was originally published April 28, 2010. I am re-posting and amending it today, in honor of the 50^th Anniversary of Malcolm X’s assassination, later this week, Saturday, February 21^st, 2015.

Many of us are aware of the lore of Malcolm X. We know he was for a time a street hustler from Omaha Nebraska. Born Malcolm Little, he refined his hustle on the mean streets of New York and Boston. By age 13, his father had died; his mother institutionalized. He subsequently spent time in several foster homes while growing up.

Malcolm, who would become one of America’s “No last name required” legends, evolved from practitioner of petty street crimes to a member, and ultimately the foremost advocate, of the Nation of Islam (NOI). After more than a decade as the firebrand public face of the NOI, Malcolm broke ranks with the Honorable Elijah Muhammad (Elijah Poole), the leader of the NOI. The ensuing rift between these two men resulted in Malcolm leaving the NOI and affiliating with the orthodox Sunni Muslims.

After this split, there emerged a part of the lore that many people missed. Malcolm, in short order, made a Hajj (Pilgrimage to Mecca), changed his name again, this time to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, and perhaps most important, renounced racism. On February 21, 1965, 11 months after leaving the NOI, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz was assassinated while giving a speech in the Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan.

Enter Thomas Hagan!

Yesterday, the New York State Department of Correctional Services paroled Thomas Hagan. He left the Lincoln Correctional Facility at 11:00 a.m. Ironically, the facility is located at the corner of West 110th Street and Malcolm X Boulevard. Why is this ironic, you may ask? The biting irony lies in the coincidence that Mr. Hagan, known in 1965 as Talmadge X Hayer, is the lone “admitted” gunman involved in the slaying of Malcolm X. That Hagan should spend his final days of confinement in a facility on the corner of a street named for his victim is cruelly coincidental. To put the matter into even sharper focus, the nexus ties his freedom portal directly back to the man he murdered, and whose death resulted in his 44-year incarceration.

In many ways, Hagan being released yesterday was simply the culmination of events long underway. In fact, Mr. Hagan had been in a Work Release program since 1992 (18 years) that allowed him to spend five days a week at home in Brooklyn with his family, and required that he spend two days a week only at the minimum-security Lincoln Correctional Facility.

Thomas Hagan became eligible for parole in 1984. Last month he went before the parole board for the 15th time. After 14 rejections, the now 69 year-old Hagan finally gained approval for his release. He is still on parole, but will return to his family, and continue his efforts to become a substance abuse counselor.

Hagan’s journey has been well chronicled, and more than a little interesting. He was part of a group of three NOI members who shot and killed Malcolm. He was, however, the only one of the three apprehended on the spot. He was also the only person who ever confessed and pled guilty for his role in the assassination. According to transcripts from his March 3, 2010 hearing before the parole board, he said, “I have deep regrets about my participation in that. I don’t think it should ever have happened.”

In one of the more interesting developments of the case, two other suspects were also convicted in the killing. Both of them, Muhammad Abdul Aziz and Kahlil Islam, denied involvement. Of course, that is not the interesting part. For a suspect to declaring his innocence is an every day occurrence. Being convicted, in spite of their declarations is common as well. This scenario departed from the beaten path when Hagan, while admitting his own guilt, testified that Aziz and Islam were not with him, were not a part of the plan, and in fact were innocent.

All three were convicted and sentenced to 20 years to life in prison. Aziz was paroled in 1985; Islam was freed in 1987. Both maintained they were innocent from the start. At every step in the process, from the trial throughout his 15 appearances for hearings before the parole board, Hagan admitted his personal guilt, and consistently maintained the other two men were innocent. The catch, if there was one, is that three men were involved in killing Malcolm. Hagan admitted his own involvement, and even conceded there were two other men involved, just not Aziz and Islam. I am left to infer that either the parole board did not believe him, or they elected to continue punishing him for refusing to roll over on his real co-conspirators.

No matter how you look at it, there is a lot about this part of the case that begs numerous questions. For example, what are the odds that if Hagan had two co-conspirators, witnesses at the Audubon Ballroom mistakenly identified, Aziz and Islam, who apparently were there, and they could not have extricated themselves by identifying the other parties? Why would Hagan take the fall for Aziz and Islam? If Aziz and Islam were in fact innocent, why would Hagan not identify the actual culprits?

Of course, there are other equally compelling queries, but that will do for our purposes. There has long been an undercurrent of rumor and innuendo implicating NOI, in general, and the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, in particular, in Malcolm’s murder. Malcolm had deeply revered Elijah Muhammad, due to the role of his teachings in motivating Malcolm to turn his life around. Yet, when Malcolm learned that the Prophet, as Muhammad was known, had father 8 children by six different teenage girls, he began to distance himself from the NOI’s leader. There are those who also theorize a step further that the current NOI Leader, the Honorable Louis Farrakhan, may have been involved directly or indirectly,

I am not a detective; nor am I writing this post to solve a cold case. In taking just a cursory look at the matter, however, one could certainly see how individuals close to the situation might have been encouraged, incentivized, induced, threatened, or otherwise persuaded to recall specific details differently, or not at all. This matter has garnered some of the same kind of mystique as that of President John F. Kennedy and Dealey Plaza (the grassy knoll legend), and as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Lorraine Motel. One marked distinction in those two cases is that conspiracy theorists have been trying to establish for over 40 years that Lee Harvey Oswald and James Earl Ray did not act alone; while we know Talmadge X Hayer (Thomas Hagan) did not. We are just uncertain who acted as his accomplices.

As with Kennedy and King, other theories emerged. To be considered an icon, one must certainly be the source of more than one legend. Obviously Malcolm emerged as a change agent at a time of great social travail, and national strife. As a black leader, he was alleged to have been constantly under the watchful eye of the enigmatic J. Edgar Hoover and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Back in the day, the agency was widely believed to have infiltrated all major black organizations, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the Black Panther Party for Self Defense (BPPSD), and even the NOI, as well as numerous others. The alleged purposes for these infiltrations were basic, to keep tabs on the plans and activities of the groups and their leaders, but also to sow seeds of confusion, clamor, and chaos. If in the process of so doing, one or more of the leaders happened to get taken out, even better, or so the theory goes.

After Malcolm left the Nation of Islam in March 1964, agents pondered the prospect of a depoliticized more religious Malcolm, but they still perceived him as a threat. On June 5, 1964, J. Edgar Hoover sent a telegram to the FBI’s New York office that simply and plainly instructed, “Do something about Malcolm X enough of this black violence in NY.”

During Malcolm’s era, in New York, the strategic operations of the FBI were frequently complemented by, if not coordinated with the New York City Police. As a result, the actions of the police on the day of Malcolm’s assassination were pointedly unusual. Normally, up to two-dozen police officers were assigned to his rallies. On February 21, 1965, just one week after his home had been fire bombed, none were assigned at the entrance of the Audubon Theater.

In retrospect, we may wonder what that something was, ultimately. We do not know, with certainty. However, what we do know is what subsequently happened to him. Perhaps…the Honorable Elijah Muhammad was simply a foil.

So, on April 27, 2010, Thomas Hagan gained a measure of freedom. By stepping out of prison, and into his future, he begins to reconstruct what is left of his life. He has been out of the game, at least in some part, more than four decades. It is difficult, at least for me, to avoid wondering what might be different had Malcolm been here to spend those decades, working in his own way, to retool America, and to reshape “We the People,” who live here. Because of his central role in Malcolm’s absence, “Thomas Hagan, AKA Talmadge X Hayer, is Someone You Should Know!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com / http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com. A new post is published each Wednesday. For more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post, consult the links below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_X

http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/17/opinion/ali-malcolm-x-assassination-anniversary/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/04/26/malcolmx.killer/index.html?hpt=Sbin

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-us-malcolm-x-killer,0,117782.story

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2010/04/27/2010-04-27_malcolm_x_assassin_thomas_hagan_is_freed_on_parole_in_new_york_city.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/20/nyregion/20parole.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_X

http://www.africawithin.com/malcolmx/malcolm.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elijah_Muhammad

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nation_of_Islam

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Shabazz

http://crdl.usg.edu/people/a/aziz_muhammad_abdul_1939/?Welcome

http://www.experiencefestival.com/norman_3x_butler

http://nymag.com/news/features/38358/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hajj

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Harvey_Oswald

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Earl_Ray

Ode to the Dean of Carolina Hoops

Posted on February 11, 2015 by alphaheel

It’s time to Break It Down!

In the world of college hoops, a hand full of names, by their mere mention hearkens a groundswell of mental pictures and vivid recollections for the casual fan and the game’s connoisseur alike. Dean Edward Smith is one among that small elite cohort. There are others to be sure. Coach Wooden, Coach Rupp, Coach Krzyzewski, and increasingly, Coach Calipari are on a short list. But this post is about Coach Smith, the man who conceived and executed what came to be known as The Carolina Way.

This past Saturday night, former University of North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith died after a lengthy illness. He was 83 years old. Coach Smith had been beset by neurological complications resulting from knee replacement surgery in 2007. As a result, eventually Coach Smith, who always preferred to maintain a low profile, became increasingly unavailable to media, and nearly invisible to the public. He did not travel to the 2009 Final Four in Detroit, where the Tar Heels won their 5^th National Title in basketball.

In the summer of 2010 Smith’s family released a statement that described their patriarch as having a progressive memory disorder. Earlier in the same year, during a February observance of the 100^th-anniversary season of Tar Heel Basketball, more than 70 of Coach Smith’s former players gathered at the basketball arena that bears his name. They came to pay tribute, to say thanks, and on some level to say good-bye. They assembled to honor the man who coached them through their college careers, and who followed their growth and development thereafter, whether it be as an NBA player, or as a physician, or as a school teacher, or in whatever capacity in which they may have landed in their post collegiate careers.

In the game of basketball, Dean Smith was a savant. In the game of life, he was a life coach and mentor that many of his players consulted in making decisions big and small. It was a role he relished. He understood that the acclaim that came his way accrued as a result of the success of his hoops pupils on the court and in the classroom, as well as in the lives they lived once they left Chapel Hill. It is especially important to include the classroom accomplishments as an integral part of Coach Smith’s tutelage.

His legacy, of course, covers an array of athletic superlatives, including having coached All-Americans such as Phil Ford, James Worthy, and Michael Jordan, having won 879 games (the most in college basketball history at the time of his retirement at age 66, after 36 years), having won two National Titles, having never finished lower than 3^rd in the ACC, the sport’s benchmark conference during his last 33 years, having coached in 23 consecutive NCAA Tournaments (1975–97), and having his teams advance to 13 straight Regional Semifinals, otherwise known as the Sweet 16 (1981-93). More important, he did this without a hint of NCAA impropriety, and with a sterling academic record by his teams.

In fact, while he won 77% of the games he coached, 96% of his lettermen earned their degree. Those closest to him insist he was far more upset about the 4% of student athletes who didn’t graduate, than the 23% of games he lost. As a basketball guru, he introduced a number of coaching innovations, including player huddles at the free-throw line, scorers pointing to the passer to acknowledge the assist, and the vaunted Four Corners, which was a key factor leading to the introduction of the shot clock and 3-point shot in the college game.

But Coach Smith understood that life was about more than basketball. He was instrumental in integrating the town of Chapel Hill, and recruited the first African American scholarship athlete, Charles Scott, to play basketball at the University of North Carolina. Scott’s arrival at North Carolina changed the calculus of ACC Basketball. It would never again be the same, and that was a good thing. Charles became the first of an influx of talented African Americans to play ACC Basketball. He was not the first black player in the conference; he was however, the first black star.

Coach Smith was known to be not only a Democrat, but as a staunch Liberal. More notably, he distinguished himself as a man committed to doing the right thing for the right reason.

A lot of basketball greats lauded Coach Smith this week. Mike Krzyzewski, John Calipari, Rick Pitino, Michael Jordan, Vince Carter, Kobe Bryant, and a host of others have weighed in. Each of them spoke about Coach Smith’s many attributes. Volumes have been written about the man, his talents and his accomplishments. Let’s be clear, Coach Smith was a man, not an angel, and certainly not the second coming. But let’s be equally clear, he was a great coach…and a better man. ESPN Classic will air more than 24 hours of programming to honor the legendary North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith starting on this evening at 7 p.m. ET. I urge you to find some time today or tomorrow to check it out. You are almost certain to learn something you did not know about Coach Smith.

Thus, I conclude my “Ode to the Dean of Carolina Hoops!” I’m done; holla back!

PS. GO HEELS!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Carolina-Way-Leadership-Coaching/dp/0143034642

http://www.dailypress.com/sports/uva/dp-spt-teel-column-dean-smith-20150210-column.html#page=1

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/02/president-obama-dean-smith

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/dean-smith-barack-obama-114997.html

http://www.si.com/college-basketball/2015/02/10/dean-smith-death-north-carolina-espn-marathon

http://www.newsobserver.com/2015/02/08/4540569_tributes-to-dean-smith-from-beyond.html?rh=1

http://www.newsobserver.com/2015/02/08/4540475/mike-krzyzewski-on-dean-smith.html

http://kentuckysportsradio.com/main/coach-cal-remembers-dean-smith/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/wp/2015/02/08/michael-jordan-on-dean-smith-my-mentor-my-teacher-my-second-father/

http://www.foxsports.com/college-basketball/story/north-carolina-tar-heels-coach-dean-smith-dies-social-media-reaction-020815

http://www.si.com/college-basketball/2015/02/09/dean-smith-north-carolina-death-tribute

http://thebiglead.com/2015/02/09/dean-smith-a-roundup-of-some-of-the-great-tributes-stories-and-perspectives/

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/michael-jordan-leads-tributes-dean-smith-article-1.2107289

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zhqjp0MFkNc

http://www.si.com/college-basketball/2015/02/08/dean-smith-north-carolina-coach-tribute

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/102975/paying-tribute-to-the-legendary-dean-smith

http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/10545949/precious-memories-dean-smith-story

House Republicans Vote to Repeal the Affordable Care Act: A Prime Example of Public Officials Taking Action Not in the Best Interest of the Citizenry

Posted on February 4, 2015 by alphaheel

It’s time to Break It Down!

The United States House of Representatives has voted dozens of times (at least 54) to overturn some or all of the health care initiative known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or more familiarly, Obamacare. In past instances, the action was moot, virtually from the start, since Democrats controlled the Senate, and the measure stood absolutely no chance of passing in that Chamber. In fact, it would likely never even be put to a vote while the Senate was under the leadership of Nevada Senator Harry Reid.

However, those dynamics changed, effective last November when Republicans gained control of the Senate due to the outcome of the 2014 General Election. Now, there is every reason to believe the Senate will not only entertain the bill, but will probably attempt to join the House in passing it.

To be sure wherever politics are involved, there will be parsing. Technically, it is true, the GOP has voted to repeal Obamacare…in its entirety, only six times. One could argue that the first five were enough, but oh well, nothing beats a failure but a try, or six tries, or in the case of elements of Obamacare 56 tries. I guess the 56th time is the charm.

Yes, depending upon your perspective, perhaps you prefer to ignore the assaults on the program that were intended only to undo portions of the program, or forget about those efforts that would have delayed portions of the healthcare law. Of course if you did that, you would be choosing to ignore the point that each and every measure, whether proportional or nuclear, was intended, in the end, to erase eradicate, and destroy the President’s health care law. In that spirit, 56 times sounds about right.

So yesterday, by a vote of 239-186, the House voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, in its entirety. Thus, the GOP fired the first salvo at Obamacare, under the aegis of the newly constructed 114^th Congress. Some suggest yesterday’s vote was a mere meaningless gesture, an act to welcome the newbies to the party.

One writer, the Atlantic’s Russell Berman framed it thusly:

They’re doing it for the freshmen — that is, the 47 House Republicans who just took office a month ago and have never had the high honor and privilege of voting to repeal Obamacare. By holding the vote, these lawmakers can head back to their districts and tell their constituents that yes; they did everything they could to get rid of the reviled law.

Added one GOP aide: “We’re just getting it out of the way.”

The larger reality is it is clear this is just the beginning of a new series of assaults on the program, launched by the Republican-controlled Congress. While the Senate is likely to consider the bill soon, in all probability, it will be filibustered there. However, in the unlikely event that lawmakers in the Senate broker a bill to totally repeal Obamacare that clears the Senate, an all but certain veto waits when it reaches the President’s desk.

And then, there is the Supreme Court, which will in the next six months consider elements of the law when it weighs in on the King v. Burwell case, in which some subsidies offered by the ACA are being challenged. If the High Court upholds the verdict reached in a lower court, it would severely undermine Obamacare, and strengthen the GOP’s efforts to squash the law. To that end, there is increasing pressure on the GOP to move into a proactive phase, and actually devise a substitute for the current law. In fact, yesterday’s measure directed a House Committee to begin work on an alternative to the ACA.

For their part, Democrats are skeptical the GOP can or will actually be able to craft compromise legislation that surgically excises the parts of the legislation they don’t like, while in effect holding harmless the elements they find acceptable.

Representative Jim Himes (Democrat – Connecticut) put it this way:

“Make no mistake, the replacement plan is a total red herring. They would have you believe that you can get rid of all the stuff that makes you uncomfortable — the mandate, the subsidies — but keep all the good stuff. And that’s just fairytale. … It’s just dishonesty. They’ve had years and years and years to come up with a replacement plan and haven’t done so, so this is a little too cute for school.”

Yesterday’s vote was significant in that three Republicans resisted the powerful allure of Party Leadership and voted against the effort to fully repeal Obamacare. This is the first time any Republican in Congress ever voted against total repeal.

John Katko, New York, Bruce Poliquin, Maine, and Robert Dold, Illinois, all who hold seats held in the previous term by Democrats, and likely to be contested in 2016, voted against the measure. Democrats cited votes by Dold, who served in the House in the 2011-2013 term, to repeal the law, as well as statements by freshman Poliquin, vowing to do the same.

According to Josh Schwerin, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee:

“Congressmen Dold and Poliquin appear to be hoping voters will forget their original pandering on health care. As we get closer to Election Day, we will see more and more of these chameleon votes.”

No Democrat crossed party lines to support yesterday’s bill.

If you are a student of history, or politics, or perhaps a movie buff, it’s time to stock up on popcorn and your beverage of choice. The action is just getting started, and it looks as though it may come fast and furious.

The hyperbole associated with the ACA has been pervasive. Despite it, there is clear evidence that tens of millions more people are insured, children get to spend more time on their parents policies, pre-existing conditions do not result in disqualifying individuals for coverage, and the rate/pace at which the cost of health insurance premiums increase has slowed. When these pints are taken into consideration, we are left with…”House Republicans Vote to Repeal the Affordable Care Act: A Prime Example of Public Officials Taking Action Not in the Best Interests of the Citizenry!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/02/03/gop-house-votes-to-repeal-obamacare/

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/3-republicans-say-no-as-house-again-votes-obamacare-repeal-114882.html

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/feb/3/house-votes-repeal-replace-obamacare/

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/02/why-republicans-are-voting-to-repeal-obamacare-again/385105/

http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-new-productive-congress-takes-a-voteto-repeal-obamacare-20150203-column.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2015/02/03/morning-plum-todays-gop-vote-to-repeal-obamacare-is-a-very-big-deal-heres-why/

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/house-gop-approves-full-repeal-obamacare-again-n299616

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/no-house-republicans-havent-voted-50-times-to-repeal-obamacare/article/2545733

http://twitchy.com/2015/02/03/house-votes-239-186-to-repeal-obamacare-all-democrats-vote-no/

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2015/02/rep_john_katko_splits_with_republicans_on_vote_to_repeal_obamacare.html

http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2015/02/03/383353930/milestone-house-vote-would-take-health-care-away-from-millions

http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2015/02/03/382557922/life-in-the-new-washington-in-your-face-no-in-your-face

http://www.politicususa.com/2014/12/29/president-obama-named-admired-man-world-7th-straight-year.html

http://www.gallup.com/poll/180365/barack-obama-hillary-clinton-extend-run-admired.aspx

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/03/21/the-house-has-voted-54-times-in-four-years-on-obamacare-heres-the-full-list/

Sarah Says: POTUS is Like “An Overgrown Little Boy”

Posted on January 28, 2015 by alphaheel

It’s time to Break It Down!

To be more precise, this is the direct quote the former (underscore unsuccessful) Vice Presidential candidate used recently to describe the President:

“An impatient president doesn’t just get to trample our Constitution and ignore Congress just because he doesn’t get exactly what he wants every time he wants it,” Palin said. “It’s like an overgrown little boy who’s just acting kind of spoiled. And moms, we don’t put up with that, do we?”

I’ve grown accustomed, over the years, to taking most comments made by the partial-term Alaska Governor with a grain or two, or twenty, of salt. She has a knack for creatively influencing media coverage with the best of them. Of course, she is most effective when operating in the friendly (to her) confines of the Fox News studio.

Alas, I confess, when she chimes in, or rather endorses the oft-repeated GOP meme of Obama as infant, I am more than a little troubled. This past Saturday at U.S. Representative Steve King’s (Republican – Iowa) Iowa Freedom Summit, Mrs. Palin joined a number of other Republican voices in promulgating the next new attempt to minimize the stature and significance of the Leader of the Free World.

Infantilizing rhetoric such as the quote above is becoming a GOP norm with this President. A few examples include:

A few years ago, U.S. Representative Joe Walsh, Republican – Illinois, characterized President Obama as being “like a teenage boy.” Representative Walsh went on to add, “House Republicans effectively played the role of Obama’s parents.”

Rush Limbaugh has referred to President Obama as “the little black man-child,” and further compared him to “a little boy” that women voters “want to protect.”

The Wall Street Journal ran a piece last year in which a former Bush/Cheney administration official accused President Obama and his team of being “self-obsessed teenagers.” All total, the piece referred to President Obama and his team as “teenagers” six times in nine paragraphs.

Republicans have systematically skewered Democratic Presidents going at least as far back as Presidents Carter and Clinton. In those cases, however, the pattern did not include the insinuation that the President was less than adult. Frankly, all the certain to be deniers notwithstanding, it strikes me as just a sneakily backhanded way to malign and otherwise disparage a black man, who just happens to be Commander-in-Chief, by calling him “boy.” It is a slur. Not so vile and repugnant as the infamous N-word, but a racial slur, nonetheless.

All this reviewing of the GOP mind set regarding the President leads me to an interesting idea. Mrs. Palin has exuberantly told us what she thinks of our President. In turn, I wonder, what do you, gentle readers, think of the imperious Sarah Palin? Let’s transform this post into our very own plebiscite. That’s right; I am inviting you the readers of this post to weigh in and share your thoughts on Mrs. Palin. Feel free to make your opinion known, be it brief or exhaustive.

In my own view, if one were comparing and/or contrasting President Obama to any of the characters referenced above who assessed, shall we say, his “level of maturity,” versus theirs, objective observers would almost certainly find unanimously, that President Obama is the “adult in the room.”

“Sarah Says: POTUS is Like “An Overgrown Little Boy!”” What do you say? Comments are welcome; let me know by responding in the Blog Comment Section.

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/palin-sees-obama-overgrown-little-boy?cid=eml_mra

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin

http://www.iafreedomsummit.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_King

https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2015/01/24/palin-criticizes-obama-immigration-policy-iowa/V5djMwmMRJeWeYfr0crMrM/story.html?comments=all&sort=OLDEST_CREATE_DT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiEJQCB37bo

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/gop-2016-hopefuls-gather-iowa-steve-kings-freedom-summit

http://crooksandliars.com/cltv/2015/01/palin-calls-president-obama-overgrown

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/01/24/palin-on-exec-amnesty-spoiled-obama-acting-like-overgrown-little-boy/

http://www.trendolizer.com/2015/01/palin-sees-obama-as-an-overgrown-little-boy.html

http://buppey.com/racist-speech-sarah-palin-calls-obama-overgrown-little-boy-video/

http://www.perspectives.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=259733

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rush_Limbaugh

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Walsh_(Illinois_politician)

State of the Union: Designated Survivor

Posted on January 21, 2015 by alphaheel

It’s time to Break It Down!

The State of the Union Address…that moment each year, but especially during non-General Election years, when the President of the United States addresses the entire nation in Prime Time. Following last night’s address, President Obama’s penultimate, Republicans offered a rebuttal. Then, Cable News networks and a plethora of print and digital media parsed the speech and enthusiastically told us where and why the President failed or succeeded in setting a tone and laying a course FORWARD! Therefore, I’ll skip the opportunity to pile on what the “experts” have already told you.

That is not what this brief post is about. Rather, it centers on an obscure, but time-honored tradition (dating back to the Cold War years), of identifying a State of the Union Designated Survivor (SOTUDS). This year, that individual is Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx.

I was both interested and intrigued by President Obama’s selection this year because Secretary Foxx is a North Carolina native, a Charlottean, and former Mayor of North Carolina’s Queen City. To be sure, there is no circumstance imaginable under which we hope Mr. Foxx, or anyone else in this position would be required to ascend to and assume the responsibilities of the Presidency. Consider it a prudent, if not necessary precaution. But should the unthinkable have occurred and the Capitol and all in it have been destroyed in some kind of disastrous attack, Secretary Foxx would assume the reins of authority of the most powerful nation on earth.

You may not know it, but the SOTUDS is accorded many of the protections and protocols of the President…for one night. Those amenities included full Secret Service Protection, and a military aide carrying a briefcase with the codes to launch nuclear weapons. The position has often been held by a Cabinet Member, and must be someone Constitutionally eligible to become President. This caveat means some Administration officials, e.g., Sally Jewell, the British-born Secretary of the Interior, are not permitted to hold the position.

While it’s admittedly a cool gig, with little likelihood of turning into an immediate new long term job opportunity, complete with almost unfathomable responsibilities for the position’s occupant, it does come with what many of the highest Federal officials might consider a prime perk; the chance to engage in the pomp and circumstance of the State of the Union.

As a side bar note, it is frequently reported that a number of members of Congress spend hours, some arriving at the Capitol Building as early as 8 or 9 a.m. on the morning of the President’s address, just to get preferential aisle seats. Of course, members of the Administration would not likely take such extreme action. The point, however, is for many in political Washington, the President’s Cabinet included; the State of the Union Address is a proverbial hot ticket item. One which Secretary Fox missed it.

On the off chance the unpredictable, unimaginable, indefensible should have happened last night, Secretary Foxx would have instantaneously transformed from being the man behind many men and women to “the man!” Not surprisingly, it did not happen. So fear not citizens; no Independence Day (the movie), no foreign invasion, and no natural disaster exploding, or otherwise destroying our beloved and majestic Capitol last night. Alas, Secretary Foxx will have to wait his turn and perhaps actually run for the nation’s highest office, in order to become the first North Carolinian since Andrew Johnson, and the second African American to occupy the White House.

Now, I return you to your regular programming, which may include a cornucopia of talking heads extolling, decrying, or simply parsing the President’s comments. Weigh them for yourself; judge them according to your own standards and measures. Have at it. Meanwhile, my shout of the day goes to “State of the Union: Designated Survivor”…Secretary Anthony Foxx!

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.