The HATE Our Party Attracts

[shazeep]

Originally Posted by Originalist

When the SCOTUS makes rulings they are not authorized to make, I can't celebrate...PERIOD. The people of the STATES have lost the FREEDOM of self-determination on matter after matter, in the name of "freedom".

"19Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us; 20That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles. 21And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the LORD. 22And the LORD said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king."

[Jermyn Davidson]

Originally Posted by Originalist

When the SCOTUS makes rulings they are not authorized to make, I can't celebrate...PERIOD. The people of the STATES have lost the FREEDOM of self-determination on matter after matter, in the name of "freedom".

What is more important, the freedom of a state government to impose its will, or the freedom of the individual to be free (without harming other individuals)?

The Supreme Court seems to side with FREEDOM for the individual and I don't think that freedom for the individual is a bad concept. In fact, it is that freedom that forms the foundation of our great country.

Freedom of the individual-- not freedom of the State government.

[Jermyn Davidson]

Originally Posted by shazeep

"19Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us; 20That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles. 21And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the LORD. 22And the LORD said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king."

We are not and never have been and never will be Israel. Our country is not a spiritual entity.

Our home is not this world.

For now, we must share this terra firma with heathens, scoundrels, and good-intentioned men, women and children groping in the darkness.

[Jermyn Davidson]

Whenever the State government has impeded on the rights of the individual, it has been the Federal government that has stepped in.

God bless the Federal government.

[shazeep]

Originally Posted by Jermyn Davidson

We are not and never have been and never will be Israel. Our country is not a spiritual entity.

Our home is not this world.

For now, we must share this terra firma with heathens, scoundrels, and good-intentioned men, women and children groping in the darkness.

i would say Israel, the country, is worse, and otherwise it depends upon what you mean by Israel. All depends upon what you identify with, i guess. ("our" party?)

[deacon blues]

The democrat party is the party of freedom? How has 90%+ support of Democrats from the African American community worked out?

What about poverty? In 2009, when Obama took office, the black poverty rate was 25.8 percent. As of 2014, according to Pew Research Center, the black poverty rate was 27.2 percent.

What about income? CNNMoney says, "Minority households' median income fell 9 percent between 2010 and 2013, compared to a drop of only 1 percent for whites." The Financial Times wrote last October: "Since 2009, median non-white household income has dropped by almost a 10th to $33,000 a year, according to the U.S. Federal Reserve's survey of consumer finances. As a whole, median incomes fell by 5 percent. But by the more telling measure of net wealth -- assets minus liabilities -- the numbers offer a more troubling story."

What about net worth and the black-white "wealth gap"? The Financial Times said: "The median non-white family today has a net worth of just $18,100 -- almost a fifth lower than it was when Mr. Obama took office. White median wealth, on the other hand, has inched up by 1 percent to $142,000. In 2009, white households were seven times richer than their black counterparts. That gap is now eightfold. Both in relative and absolute terms, blacks are doing worse under Mr. Obama." Remember, these numbers apply to all "non-whites." For blacks, it's worse.

When looking only at "black net worth" -- which is lower compared to non-whites as a whole -- white households are actually 13 times wealthier than black households. From 2010 to 2013, according to the Federal Reserve, white household median wealth increased a modest 2.4 percent, while Hispanic families' wealth declined 14 percent, to $13,700. But blacks' net worth fell from $16,600 to $11,000. This is an astonishing three-year drop of 34 percent. Investors Business Daily put it this way, "That's a steeper decline than occurred from 2007 to 2010, when blacks' net worth fell 13.5 percent." The black/white "wealth-gap" has reached a 25-year high.

What about unemployment? In 2009, black unemployment was 12.7 percent, and by 2014, it had fallen to 10.1 percent. This sounds like good news until one examines the black labor force participation rate -- the percentage of blacks working or seeking work. It's the lowest since these numbers have been recorded.

In a report for the Center for Economic and Policy Research, economist Dean Baker writes, "The drop in labor force participation was sharpest for African Americans, who saw a decline of 0.3 percentage points to 60.2 percent, the lowest rate since December of 1977. The rate for African American men fell 0.7 percentage points to 65.6 percent, the lowest on record. The decline in labor force participation was associated with a drop in the overall African American unemployment rate of 0.5 percentage points to 11.9, and a drop of 0.6 percentage points to 11.6 percent for African-American men." Not good.

What about home ownership? According to Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies, the picture is ugly: "Millions of homeowners, particularly in minority and high-poverty neighborhoods, are still underwater on their mortgages, while millions more renters have been forced to live in housing they cannot afford or is structurally inadequate. And with the ongoing growth in low-income households, housing assistance reaches a shrinking share of those in need. ... Homeownership rates have fallen six percentage points among black households -- double that among white households. ... More than 25 percent of mortgage homeowners in both high-poverty and minority neighborhoods were underwater -- owing more than their homes are now worth -- in 2013. This rate is nearly twice the shares in either white or low-poverty neighborhoods."

The chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., in 2011, complained about the economic plight of Black America. He said, "If (former President) Bill Clinton had been in the White House and had failed to address this problem, we probably would be marching on the White House." He repeated the statement 12 months later, when black unemployment stood at 14.1 percent: "As the chair of the Black Caucus, I've got to tell you, we are always hesitant to criticize the President. With 14 percent (black) unemployment, if we had a white president we'd be marching around the White House." Rep. Cleaver should start marching because, to use his own words, the problems have not been addressed.

But, hey, the Confederate battle flag is down.

[Esaias]

Senator Byrd's a republican?

[Esaias]

[Esaias]

[Esaias]