DarkStar Spouts Off

Coloreds Not Welcome

After listening to Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reily, and Laura Ingram. After reading some opinion pieces by conservatives. After reading the rants on Twitter, all I can say is, the Republican Party, the Grand Ole Party, has put out a sign that says, Coloreds Not Welcome.

 

Obama Won, Part 2 (What It May Mean)

President Obama won re-election. Here is what I think it may mean for the following areas:

Economy

What his administration has done to tis point hasn't worked, so I don't expect anything his administration will do in his second term to work. The housing market is rebounding, but from what I can tell, the actions by his administration aren't responsible for the rebound. In this case, the speculators and families waiting to buy houses at bargain prices are the reason why the market looks like it is rebounding.

Energy

To put it directly, I think the U.S. population is going to get hosed with energy prices. The current Obama administration is pushing policies to make burning coal less viable, i.e. more expensive. Some energy companies have taken coal burning plants off line be of coal burning regulations the Obama administration is pushing. Given President Obama's stated desire to see gas prices rise to promote conservation, I don't see the Obama administration doing anything to encourage more oil drilling and exploration.

World Affairs

I have no clue. Until the Libya fiasco, I thought President Obama was doing a respectable job. His administration has been aggressive in killing terrorists and, frankly, I don't think there is much that can be done about the Middle East except wait for things to happen and then react. I fully expect Israel to take out Iran's nuclear capability with a lot of U.S. support. However, with Libya, it may have been a tragic comedy of errors that lead to the result, but the cover up is always what gets people in trouble. 

Wait... He won re-election. What trouble?

Black Folks

It's just more feel good poster material for some Black people but nothing more and nothing less. I don't expect President Obama to push any "Black issues."

 

Obama Won, Part 1

President Obama won re-election and I wonder if the primary reason was the Republican Party over reach on voter identification.

In Florida the Republican former governor said it was a plan to suppress votes and then there was the Republican hired group that was messing with the voter registration. In Pennsylvania they changed the rules but a Republican official stated the changes will help Romney win and another said, in court under oath, there was no previous case of in person vote fraud.

In Florida, again, the governor tried to end early voting while people were in line.

The non-Cuban Latino vote went for Obama, so I guess the Republican approach to immigration reform didn't work out.

The Republican Party nominated a man who enacted ObamaCare, beta version, said GM should go to bankruptcy, showed disdain for 48% of the population, and said he wanted to defund Big Bird. And he never really detailed his economic plan.

The Republican Party ran against a weak candidate and lost.

Romney Major Flip Flop

Check out the last paragraph. Isn't that limit LESS than what Pres. Obama wants?
http://on.wsj.com/QFaezg

WESTERVILLE, Ohio – After months on the trail touting a major
across-the-board tax cut, Mitt Romney walked back expectations
Wednesday, telling an Ohio crowd not to look forward to a “huge cut in
taxes.”

Mr. Romney’s budget math has faced intense scrutiny as budget experts
find it difficult if not impossible to reconcile his plans to increase
military spending and cut taxes while also balancing the budget in
roughly eight years. The Republican nominee appeared to be acknowledge
Wednesday that the tax-rate cut of 20% that he promised for all
Americans won’t provide as much relief as some may have hoped.

“I want to bring the rates down,” Mr. Romney said at a rally here
Wednesday morning. But “don’t be expecting a huge cut in taxes because
I’m also going to lower deductions and exemptions,” he said.

“My priority is jobs,” Mr. Romney added.

Earlier this year Mr. Romney rolled out a sweeping tax plan that would
have cut rates by 20% for all Americans. He said he would pay for it
by limiting or killing deductions for high-earners and that it would
drive economic growth, which would offset the rest of the cost.

On Wednesday morning, Mr. Romney didn’t limit himself to cutting
deductions solely for the wealthy. Mr. Romney never explained who
would count as a high-earner under his tax plan. And recently a
staffer offered a scenario that he said could make Mr. Romney’s tax
plan workable: Eliminating or trimming deductions for those earning
$100,000 or more – a subset of people that may not always view
themselves as high-earners, particularly depending on where they live.

Yanking My Chain

VP Biden shot his mouth off again and said this:

“Look at their budget and what they’re proposing,” Biden said. (Romney’s vice presidential running mate is House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan.) “Romney wants to let the — he said in the first hundred days he is going to let the big banks once again write their own rules. Unchain Wall Street. They are going to put y’all back in chains.”

Emphasis mine. Hmmmm.... I don't understand the GOP "outrage" over the comment. It seems, to me, to be a play on words. Oh, way, POLI-TRICKS!

Anyway, I won't get outraged at this one when I consider all of the right wing people who have no trouble saying Blacks are enslaved or living on a plantation. That doubly goes for Allen West demanding the NAACP defend him against his opponent's ad. Again I'll ask, where were you Rep. West, when state GOP officials were sending racist pictures and emails around of the President and his family.

I think this opinon sums it up quite nicely:

This is the campaign that continues to be a-okay with supporter Donald Trump’s racist birtherism.

This is the campaign that has been mute in the face of Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) hyperbolic assertion that Obama would “rather you be his slave.”

This is the campaign that is allowing Newt Gingrich to host “Newt University” at the Tampa convention this month. The former House speaker is fond of calling Obama a “food stamp president.”A wicked phrase that has more racial baggage than a klansman’s El Camino.

This is the campaign of the candidate who uttered the equally racially fraught “if they want more stuff from government ... more free stuff”when talking to supporters in Montana about what he told the NAACP about his desire to repeal Obamacare.

Yeah, I think that was good rhetoric.

 

Playing The World's Smallest Violin for Rep. West

Rep. West is complaining that the NAACP isn't coming to his defense over a political ad that depicts him, in a boxing ring, punching an old white lady and some others. He's calling the ad racist. It really does reek of the "Willie Horton" ad and I think I'd have to back him on this if it wasn't for one major thing.

Alan West NEVER came to the defense of the Obama family when state Republican officials were caught sending around racist jokes and pictures about President Obama and his family. At the times it happened I looked and couldn't find a comment. Before writing this I visited West's website and still can't find anything.

Do you see me playing the world's smallest violin for Rep. West?

The NYPD Is A Brown Shirt Organization

The NYPD is a Brown Shirt organization.

HARLEM — The NYPD has created a "wanted" poster for a Harlem couple who film cops conducting stop-and-frisks and post the videos on YouTube — branding them "professional agitators" who portray cops in a bad light and listing their home address, DNAinfo.com New York has learned.

The flyer featured side-by-side mugshots of Matthew Swaye, 35, and his partner Christina Gonzalez, 25, and warned officers to be on guard against them. It was spotted by multiple people, including the couple, when it was taped to a podium outside a public hearing room in the 30th Precinct house last Thursday, where residents met for precinct council meeting.

"Be aware that above subjects are known professional agitators," read the flyer, which bears the NYPD shield and a seal of the NYPD's Intelligence Division. It also gave the home address of the couple.

"Above subjects MO is that they video tape officers performing routine stops and post on YouTube," the sign said. "Subjects purpose is to portray officers in a negative way and too deter officers from conducting there [sic] responsibilities."

The flyer also listed the name and cellphone number of a Sgt. Nicholson in the 30th Precinct, and implored cops to "not feed into above subjects propaganda."

Nicholson did not respond to a request for comment. The NYPD also did not respond to repeated requests.

If Brown Shirt is too strong of a term to use, what would YOU call it?

 

Conservative Strained Reasoning On Health Care

As I read and listen to some conservatives coming to the defense of Chief Justice Roberts, I'm stunned almost beyond belief. 

Some are saying it was a blow to the commerce clause in that Roberts said the health care law didn't come under the commerce clause. But, if I understand it correctly, the majority didn't agree to that point. Next, they are saying that since the ruling also said the federal government can't forces states to comply by withholding funding, it is a vote for states rights, in a way. 

Lastly, some are saying that Roberts has deftly placed the health care ball back in the political arena and has, on purpose, handed the Republicans a tool to use against President Obama in the general election. Well, if that is true, then they have just supported Michelle Bachman's comment that Roberts is an activist judge, although she meant it as an attack because he was the swing vote. For them to praise "activist judges" in an interesting twist.

But that's just one man's opinion.

Maryland'ers Got It With No Vaseline

Marylanders, if you think $100k/$150k-per family for increased taxes doesn't affect you, wait until next year when they come back and lower what they consider "high earners." Also, the part of the teacher's pension that is going to be responsible to be paid by the counties and Baltimore City, means your county/city tax is guaranteed to increase in the coming years.

Black Enterprise: 10 Black Republicans You Should Know, But Don't

[ Update ]

Black Enterprise: 10 Black Republicans You Should Know, But Don't

I don't know the qualifications for this, but it was interesting. A lot of this is insider stuff.

Baltimore Dem Mayor Supports Talking Homes Over Wrong Water Bills

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-ci-water-bill-hearing-20120320,0,2989228.story

Rhonda Wimbish says she has been battling Baltimore officials over a $300 water bill — more than six times her normal rate — for more than a year.

Now Wimbish, a single mother of a disabled child, says her West Baltimore home is scheduled to go to tax sale over the bill, which she maintains is inaccurate.

"What do I do? Do I pay my inflated water bill or do I feed my child?" Wimbish said to a City Council committee Wednesday evening. "I've gone through your process. I've done everything I could to fight this bill."

Wimbish was one of scores of angry residents who packed a hearing on water bill errors.



Mayor Rawlings-Blake, a Black woman, supports the city selling homes as a tax lien sale when the water bills issued by the city are wrong.

There MUST be lawsuits over this!

It's Wonderful Living In The State Of Maryland

It really is wonderful living in the state of Maryland. The government is run very well here.
What?
Huh?

Maryland Ranked Low Among States For Risk Of Corruption

Maryland came out 40th among the fifty states in an investigation into integrity in state government.

That's according to the nonprofit group, Center for Public Integrity, that gave Maryland a D- because of difficulty in getting information.

The state got an overall grade of D minus...with an F in public access to information.

Randy Barrett of the organization that spearheaded the study said one barrier in particular seems to keep the state among those with the least: transparency.

Barrett said, while there are laws on the books that guarantee the public access to government records, they often are not used or enforced.

The state also received F's in executive accountability, state pension fund management, and legislative accountability.

OH, forget what I just wrote. I guess that what happens when you live in a one party state.

Political Quickies

Rush Limbaugh called a woman who said the government should fund women's contraceptives, a slut. I think the government needs to stay out of everyone's sexual concerns, but I find it interesting that the man who was caught with Viagra in his possession (which is legal), by a TSA agent, when Limbaugh was going to the Caribbean, is calling someone a slut. Especially when you consider the understated fact that
there are Caribbean "sex tours" that cater to American men.

Andrew Brietbart died and some on the left are celebrating. Celebrating the death of a person is twisted in some circumstances, especially when the celebration is happening because he was a political opponent. However, the same people decrying the celebration, didn't say a thing when some on the Right, celebrated the death of Corretta Scott-King.

[ ADDED ]

Where are the Black Republicans commenting on the FEDERAL JUDGE who forwarded email that he considered racist but sent it anyway because he's anti-Obama?

Politicians Are Amoral At Best

Some time ago, I came to the conclusion that politicians on the national level are amoral at best. In that vein, think about this.

What does it say about Rick Santorum that he would ask Democrats, in an open primary state, to cast votes in the Republican primary race to vote for him? What does it say about Santorum that he would claim to be THE conservative in the race, yet has for Democrats, liberals, to vote for him in the Republican primary?

I think this shows some of Santorum's character and what is being shown is not a good think, IMO.

Why Does Baltimore City Have A NFL Sky Box?

From the Baltimore Sun:

A government watchdog group said Thursday that Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has politicized invitations to her office's Ravens skybox, and urged her to include more working-class residents.

"The mayor has made the choice to turn this into a political skybox and not the people's skybox," said Susan Wichmann, the director of Common Cause Maryland. "We call on the mayor, going forward, to use the skybox to highlight good work being done by people in the city. There's no reason why she couldn't invite the firefighters and the police officers and the good students and the teachers."

...

The stadium was built with $200 million in public financing, and the offices of the mayor and governor were given premium skyboxes as part of the lease agreement for the stadium in 1995.

O'Doherty said skybox tickets were not intended as a reward for campaign donations or political support, adding that the mayor invites people of all socioeconomic backgrounds.

I really don't care about the political games the mayor played with the seating in the sky box. The issue is, why the city of Baltimore continues to have a sky box in the first place? Especially since the current mayor won't pay a judgement against the city to lead paint victims. In fact, one set of lawyers have confiscated city property to settle the judgement!

Note This Destruction Is Coming From Congress

Note that this is coming from congress.

A House-Senate conference report this week called on the Administration to accelerate the use of civilian unmanned aerial systems (UAS), or “drones,” in U.S. airspace.

The pending authorization bill for the Federal Aviation Administration directs the Secretary of Transporation to develop within nine months “a comprehensive plan to safely accelerate the integration of civil unmanned aircraft systems into the national airspace system.”

“The plan… shall provide for the safe integration of civil unmanned aircraft systems into the national airspace system as soon as practicable, but not later than September 30, 2015.”

People are complaining about the Obama administration destroying the United States, meanwhile, congress is quietly stomping all over the Constitution and few people who are going after the Obama administration, say anything about this mess.

The Poor

Romney said he isn't worried about the poor because the existing social net is in place and if there are holes, he is willing to patch the holes.

The problem is, welfare doesn't eradicate poverty, it sustains it at a certain level. From my point of view, in the long term, that's not what you want to happen. You want the family getting welfare to be able to earn enough so that they no longer need welfare. The same thing applies for WIC.

I'm just saying.

Change of Registration

Going back to "non-aligned." I can't take the sanctioned and cheered insults to Blacks. If I don't take it from Democrats, why take it from Republicans?

Republican official praying for the death of the President vs praying for a change of his mind?

Enough!

What Is PIPA?

Start here for a definition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PROTECT_IP_Act

What Is SOPA?

Try this definition for a start:

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

Sell Off Baltimore City Hall

When it was first reported that then acting mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake had authorized the Baltimore City Housing Department to ignore a court order to pay victims of lead paint poisoning in Baltimore housing projects, I thought to myself that the lawyers should have a lien filed on city hall. Then, after field, chain lock the doors on city hall and hold an auction to sell everything in the building. Today, I read this:

Representatives from the Baltimore sheriff's office moved across a city housing authority parking lot Wednesday morning, tagging 20 of the agency's vehicles to be seized and eventually sold to pay part of a court judgment to lead paint victims.

The Housing Authority of Baltimore City has resisted paying siblings Antonio Fulgham and Brittany McCutcheon the $2.59 million awarded by a jury in 2010, as the agency appeals the case. But the plaintiffs, who suffered lead poisoning while living in public housing, have filed legal actions to move forward with collecting the debts. The levy against the vehicles, and Wednesday's tagging, paves the way for them to be auctioned.

It's not city hall, but it's a start. It's a great move on the lawyers part.

Waxing Rhetorical On Ron Paul

Actually, I'm waxing rhetorical on the Republican response to Ron Paul:

1. How many people bashing Ron Paul as a racist for what was written in the Ron Paul newsletters, supported Charles Murray's "Bell Curve"?
2. Why are Republicans upset about Ron Paul ideas on 9-1-1 now? He's had those views for years, now.
3. If Republicans think Ron Paul is nuts, why didn't they supports candidates running against him in congress when he was running for re-election?

Just, rhetorically, asking.

The U. S. Financial Mess Stated Simply

From an article I saw somewhere, and now I can't seem to locate it:

That professionalism is evident in the GAO analysis of the net present value of the Social Security and Medicare promises Washington has made to Americans. “Net present value” means the total that would have to be set aside today to pay the costs of these programs in the future. The government puts these numbers in appendices, rather than in headlines. But the costs are real.

In fiscal 2011, the cost of the promises grew from $30.9 trillion to $33.8 trillion. To put that in context, consider that the total value of companies traded on U.S. stock markets is $13.1 trillion, based on the Wilshire 5000 index, and the value of the equity in U.S. taxpayers’ homes, according to Freddie Mac, is $6.2 trillion. Said another way, there is not enough wealth in America to meet those promises.

I think that does it.

 

Republicans: Ron Paul and Racists

How is it for all of this time that Ron Paul has been a member of congress, not one Republican has brought up the racist newsletters that appeared under Ron Paul's name:

As Ron Paul rises in the polls, he is once again fending off questions about those pesky newsletters where racist material appeared under his name. This time around, rather than expressing much in the way of regret, Paul is instead slamming the media for rehashing what he considers an old, irrelevant story.

To recap, back in the 1990s, Ron Paul produced a series of newsletters, all with his name on them, which published a ream of racist and anti-Semitic columns. Among a long list of offensive comments, one notorious column about the LA riots said that, “Order was only restored in L.A. when it came time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks.” Another pilloried Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as “Hate Whitey Day.” Paul has always denied writing them and insists he doesn’t know who did. He has expressed regret that the comments were printed.

but now that the "isolationist" Ron Paul appears to be picking up support, the neo-conservative Republicans NOW want to play the race card on Ron Paul? These newsletters were known the last time Ron Paul ran for the Republican nomination.

Facist Police

I keep telling the facist law & order conservatives that the longer unwarranted stop and frisk happens, the more the people it happens to will distrust the police and when those same people get into a court room, they won't believe the police and that may result in a criminal being found "not guilty."

We need change. When I was young I thought cops were cool. They had a respectable and honorable job to keep people safe and fight crime. Now, I think their tactics are unfair and they abuse their authority. The police should consider the consequences of a generation of young people who want nothing to do with them — distrust, alienation and more crime.

Last May, I was outside my apartment building on my way to the store when two police officers jumped out of an unmarked car and told me to stop and put my hands up against the wall. I complied. Without my permission, they removed my cellphone from my hand, and one of the officers reached into my pockets, and removed my wallet and keys. He looked through my wallet, then handcuffed me. The officers wanted to know if I had just come out of a particular building. No, I told them, I lived next door.

One of the officers asked which of the keys they had removed from my pocket opened my apartment door. Then he entered my building and tried to get into my apartment with my key. My 18-year-old sister was inside with two of our younger siblings; later she told me she had no idea why the police were trying to get into our apartment and was terrified. She tried to call me, but because they had confiscated my phone, I couldn’t answer.

Meanwhile, a white officer put me in the back of the police car. I was still handcuffed. The officer asked if I had any marijuana, and I said no. He removed and searched my shoes and patted down my socks. I asked why they were searching me, and he told me someone in my building complained that a person they believed fit my description had been ringing their bell. After the other officer returned from inside my apartment building, they opened the door to the police car, told me to get out, removed the handcuffs and simply drove off. I was deeply shaken.

In many areas, the police are out of control.

Hat Tip P6