How the GOP Killed the Reagan Democrats

There was a time when conservatives led by Ronald Reagan, went after the Reagan Democrats. The GOP was interested in getting these blue collar voters in the Industrial Midwest.

But that was so, 1982.

By Dennis Sanders


There is a lot to be said about the whole Obama-taking-over-the-American-auto-industry line, but the thing that has been bothering me for months is how Republicans have dealt with the current situation, which is to say, they have dealt with it by acting rather boorish.

Now, I know some liberal wags will say that this is the only way that Republicans know how to act, but that is not neccessarily so. Listening to this recent comments like this one from Kevin Hassett and the recent glee from some conservatives on the Swedish Government deciding not to support Sabb as well as Senators like Richard Shelby rants against the the Big Three has made it seem to many a worker living in states like my native Michigan, Illinois and Ohio that the GOP doesn't give a damn about them or their lives.

And the fact is, those workers are in a way correct.

There was a time when conservatives led by Ronald Reagan, went after the Reagan Democrats. The GOP was interested in getting these blue collar voters in the Industrial Midwest.

But that was so, 1982.

Now, it seems that the GOP has lost interest in these states as they have with other parts of America save the South. There is a lot of cheering about how Sweden is allowing the free market to deal with Saab, and how we should be doing the same thing here. That is all fine and dandy. In some cases, it would make sense for GM and Chrysler to just deal with bankruptcy to get their financial houses in order.

And I agree with fellow conservatives that yes, the UAW has to share some of the blame here by wanting benefits and pay that was beyond what the companies could afford.

But what happens after that? What do you tell the guy who has worked at a GM plant in Michigan for 20 years and gets laid off in order to help GM restructure? What do you tell that person who might not have any other skills and now has to try to get retraining? What does the GOP has to say other than the wonders of the free market?

Right now, we have nothing to say and that has made that worker decide to vote for the Democrats since they do have something to say.

As the writer at New Majority.com who goes by "Henry Clay" notes, that a lack of real policy from the GOP means that the Republians have lost the Reagan Democrats.



He opines:

The near total collapse of the American auto industry in the Upper Midwest means that conservatives can finally stop their search for those working-class Reagan Democrats. In part because of the free-market revolution that Reagan inspired and presided over, the Reagan Democrats are now either retired and living in Florida or on public assistance.

Whatever happens next with GM and Chrysler, we are looking at further deindustrialization and depopulation for the Great Lakes states. And absent thoughtful reform on the part of conservatives to alter the course of these communities, this phenomenon will only further harden Democrat sympathies in the region.

The last 30 years have not been kind to the Upper Midwest, and its voters are increasingly unkind to Republicans. In 1980 Ronald Reagan won the state of Michigan, along with Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Those states gave Reagan 123 electoral votes. In 2008, Barack Obama won all of those states, but they gave him only 100 electoral votes.

Clay goes on to note how the the Reagan Revolution did win the Reagan Dems over, but even despite some successes, left them behind. His example is my hometown of Flint, Michigan: In spite of their decreasing electoral significance, Republicans cannot afford to ignore these communities. The Northeast and Pacific Coast are long gone. The Mountain West is trending leftward, and the last election showed that Republicans will have their hands full even in the once Solid South.

Reclaiming some ground around the Great Lakes is essential to a Republican revival, but the sympathies of these Great Lakes communities lie increasingly with the Democrats. Consider Michael Moore’s Flint, Michigan. Conceding that Moore is a congenitally dishonest person, his 1989 film Roger & Me did capture the impact of deindustrialization on this one local community. In 1960 the city’s population peaked at almost 200,000. Local GM employment hit a high of 80,000 in 1978. Today, the city’s population is roughly 110,000. And following the 2006 round of GM buyouts, only 8,000 GM workers remained in Flint.

Conservatives should not be afraid to acknowledge that for all of its successes, the Reagan Revolution left Flint and many other post-industrial communities behind.

Instead, however, conservative sentiment is too often a combination of satisfaction that the UAW finally got what was coming to it and belief that citizens in these towns are free to vote with their feet if they are not satisfied with their station.


Republicans don't have to try to prop up GM and Chrysler, but they do have to do something for the many who will lose their jobs, be it money for retraining, or increased unemployment benefits for the newly unemployed. There needs to be a domestic policy answer to help people in Michigan and other states that have been hard hit by the woes in the auto industry.

So, why haven't conservatives come up with any ideas? I think part of the problem is that the GOP has become to see conservatism as more of a lifestyle than a guiding ideology. It has become a place that welcomes those who fit into the movement and ignores those that don't fit. In this case, since conservatives don't like unions, they see the workers at GM, Ford and Chrysler as getting what was coming to them. Conservatism has gone from being interested in governing to being interested in being countercultural, in not fitting in or as David Frum notes, it is more interested in protest than in politics. As David Frum goes on to say:


We saw a country divided in two, red states and blue, NASCAR vs. NPR, real America against the phonies in the cities. A movement that had begun as an intellectual one now scornfully pooh-poohed the need for people in government to know anything much at all. But expertise does matter, and the neglect of expertise leads to mismanagement and failure — as we saw in Iraq, in Katrina and in the disregard of warning signals from the financial market. It was under a supposedly pro-market administration that the United States suffered the worst market failure of the post-war era, and that should have sobered us. Instead, we rallied to Sarah Palin and Joe the Plumber.


Disregarding evidence and expertise, we shrugged off warnings of environmental problems. One consequence: In 1988, the elder George Bush beat Michael Dukakis among voters with four-year degrees by 25 points. In 2008, Barack Obama won the BA and BSc vote, the first Democrat to do so since Lyndon Johnson in 1964.


Conservatives stopped taking governance seriously — and so Americans ceased to trust conservatives in government.


What has happened is that we stopped caring about getting votes and winning elections. What is happening is that there is some cache of being seen as out of touch, culturally alienated. The Republican party has become a support group for conservative culture, a place of safety in world that doesn't seem to friendly. While such a role for a GOP might offer safety and succor, it basically assures the GOP to be consigned to a minority party for a very long time.

As a Republican, I totally understand the notion of free markets and support it. I understand that the Big Three were slow to change and become more nimble in the marketplace and should suffer some consquences for that. I think unions aren't all bad, but they have done a lot to bog down the Big Three against their foreign competitors. I am not against seeing the Big Three face bankruptcy.

But I am also the son of two retired autoworkers. I might disagree with them on politics, but I respect their hard work. They went to work in pain, to make sure I had a good life. My dad worked for General Motors for almost 40 years and my mother for 25. It's hard work and their bodies show it. As their son, I can't tell them that they are on their own. I have to offer them and the many like them something more for their years of hard work.

If the GOP wants to be a winning party, it has to offer something to these workers. They can be pro-worker with out being pro-union. They have to be. Cheering the free market and telling these workers to drop dead is the way to ensuring the GOP's downfall.



Dennis Sanders - A pastor living in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He has worked on centrist Republican issues for years, including stints as President of the Minnesota chapter of Log Cabin Republicans (a gay/lesbian advocacy group) and Republicans for Environmental Protection. Dennis blogs at NeoMugwump and happily lives with his partner Daniel and serves two cats, Morris and Felix.

Republicans of Morehouse College Presents: Shawn Hanley

Morehouse College Republicans will be hosting Shawn Hanley the Fulton County Young Republicans Chair to speak this week on the direction of the Party and othe issues.!

Date:Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Time:5:30pm - 6:30pm

Location:Leadership Building at Morehouse College

Street:830 Westview Dr. S.W.

City/Town:Atlanta, GA

Email: morehouserepublicans@gmail.com

Shawn M. Hanley currently owns his own Government Relations Consulting Company, Shawn Hanley & Associates, LLC, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. His current and former clients include; Choicepoint, Accenture, McKesson, Halcyon-Virtual, Thomas Group, CNSI and the Foundation for Better Sleep. He represents his clients on a number of issues ranging Federal Healthcare, Medicaid processing, Data and Enterprise Security, and IT staffing at the local, state, and federal levels.

In today’s complex political environment, Hanley draws on his relationships with members of the legislative and executive branches across the country to help his clients gain key access to, and understanding of, government procurement opportunities. He has worked with legislatures in thirty states, including Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Florida, and Indiana.In the summer of 2006, Hanley returned from Iraq where he served as the Senior Program Officer for the International Republican Institute.


A graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago, Shawn attended college on the GI Bill and earned a degree in Political Science in 1994. He is a past member of the Board of Advisors for both the Georgia and Atlanta Chambers of Commerce. In November of 2007 Hanley was elected to serve as the Chairman of the Fulton County Republican Party and also serves as a roundtable member of Congressman Tom Price's Military and Veterans Affairs Council. He is a graduate of the Coverdell Leadership Institute, a member of the 159 Group and of the American Legion. He resides in Atlanta.

Democratic State Senator uses 'N' word

According to Radio Iowa Blog, a white Democrat Senator State Senator Jack Hatch Des Moines Democrat who used the "n" word last week in a conversation with a black legislator – went to the King of King's Church in Des Moines last night to meet with state and local leaders of the NAACP as well as the leaders of the Des Moines Black Ministerial Alliance.

Representative Ako Abdul-Samad, the black legislator who Hatch used the word in front of last week, and Representative Wayne Ford, the longest-serving black legislator, were there as well.

At 11 o'clock this morning, the group involved in last night's meeting held a news conference to talk about their conversation and what comes next. Abdul-Samad said Hatch had started a "snowball" with his comments. "We must draw a clear line," Abdul-Samad said, adding there was no way anyone should be tolerant of the use of the "n" word -- or jokes about blonds or Jews either.

Hatch spoke and said: the "n" word incident had exposed a character flaw in himself. "This is not just something that we can slip under the rug," Hatch said, adding he wants to "keep the dialogue going" about how to best use this incident as a "teaching moment."The news conference lasted half an hour. I will post the audio as soon as I've written Radio Iowa's noontime stories.

UPDATE: Reverend Keith Ratliff, president of the NAACP's Iowa/Nebraska chapter, opened the news conference with this reference to Hatch's statement yesterday on the senate floor: "For State Senator Jack Hatch or some lawmakers to suggest that because tensions were high that it in some way excuses this type of language and dialogue, the NAACP feels is ridiculous and blatantly wrong," Ratliff said.

Hatch a few moments later admitted the incident exposed a "character flaw" in himself. "This is not just something that we can slip under the rug," Hatch said. "There was a character deficit in me that came out that moment -- a moment that I have to share with my family and, well, just about everybody."

UPDATE II: Here is the Radio Iowa story. (A 28-minute-long mp3 of the entire news conference can be found on the bottom of that Radio Iowa page.)

Christopher Hitchens vs Mos Def

Mos Def vs Christopher Hitchens: Is Bin Laden a mythical figure?

This Day In History: The 15th Amendment Adopted

This post-Civil War amendment, like its predecessor the 14th, was designed to prevent the pervasive discrimination against African-Americans, both former slaves and free blacks.

Click on image to read full article.

The 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which was adopted this week (March 30) in 1870, has two sections. The first states that “the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” The second section states that “Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.”


Despite the efforts of groups like the Ku Klux Klan to intimidate black voters and white Republicans, assurance of federal support for democratically elected southern governments meant that most Republican voters could both vote and rule in confidence. For example, when an all-white mob attempted to take over the interracial government of New Orleans, President Ulysses S. Grant a Republican sent in federal troops to restore the elected mayor.

However, after the close election of Rutherford B. Hayes, in order to mollify the South, he agreed to withdraw federal troops. He also overlooked poll violence in the Deep South, despite several attempts by the Republicans to pass laws protecting the rights of black voters and to punish intimidation. An example of the unwillingness of the Congress to take any action at this time, is a bill which would only have required incidents of violence at polling places to be publicized failed to be passed. Without the restrictions, voting place violence against blacks and Republicans increased, including instances of murder. Most of this was done without any interference by law enforcement and often even with their cooperation.

By the 1890s, many Southern states had rigorous voter qualification laws, including literacy tests and poll taxes. Some states even made it difficult to find a place to register to vote.

Sane Reading in Troubled Times

Without further ado, here is the list of books:

The Forgotten Man by Amity Shlaes

Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt

The Road to Serfdom by F.A. Hayek

Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman

Economic Facts and Fallacies by Thomas Sowell

The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith - HHR Personal Favorite

Human Action by Ludwig Von Mises

Book of Proverbs by King Solomon and miscellaneous contributors

Quotes of the Day

"This is a party, this Republican Party, a Party for free men, not for blind followers, and not for conformists. Back in 1858 Abraham Lincoln said this of the Republican party - and I quote him, because he probably could have said it during the last week or so:

"It was composed of strained, discordant, and even hostile elements" in 1858. Yet all of these elements agreed on one paramount objective: To arrest the progress of slavery, and place it in the course of ultimate extinction.

Barry Goldwater's 1964 speech at the 28th Republican National Convention, accepting the nomination for president.

A Win Win Situation

“I can’t help the poor if I’m one of them. So, I got rich and gave back, to me that’s the Win Win.” - Jay-Z

by Sonskystar

I’m a stickler for one liners. The whole song has to be good, but the best songs always have one line that is stapled in your memory from the first time you heard it. That phrase has stuck with me since the first time I heard it.

"Is only one Win enough for us? I won that fight, I lost that war".. T.I.

Let’s give a few scenarios:

We rail about making the rich pay higher taxes, but what is that doing directly for you?

We cry about corporate bonuses, but does that get you any closer to making the kind of money those executives make.

We yell about racism, but we do nothing about stopping the self caused destruction in our own neighborhoods.

We complain about how the government is spending money, but we continue to use credit cards and pay day loans.

When are we going to want a complete domination victory instead of excepting small wins, that in the long run have no real long term effect? Have we really gotten to the point where we are satisfied when someone else is brought down a peg or two, instead of being satisfied we have moved up a peg or two?

Do we actually win anything if you put a higher tax on oil and the price of gas goes up? Yeah, we showed that big oil company, but we also hurt the poor and under privileged trying to keep their house warm.

Create an alternative to gas, make it readily available, and then tax the oil companies. Their massive profits get cut, and the small guy has options, and the country gets a Win Win because we are no longer dependent on foreign oil.

Think about that next time you want some one successful to suffer. Who are you hurting by exuding your hate before you make a plan on first how to improve yourself?

~Star is a young black Republican who is also contributor to HipHopRepublican.com you can read more of her stuff at http://whydidyousaythatgirl.com

Steele speaking at State Of The Black Union 2009

Baseball Bat Brigades & Urban Gun Clubs?

Has the time come for good people in the inner city to go their local retailer and buy baseball bats en masse in preparation to give thugs a visual while telling them their destructive services are no longer needed in the Black ( or any other ) community?

By Nadra Enzi



Has the time come for good people in the inner city to go their local retailer and buy baseball bats en masse in preparation to give thugs a visual while telling them their destructive services are no longer needed in the Black ( or any other ) community?

Must we form urban gun clubs with the express purpose of hunting not Bambi or ducks but punks who terrorize the Good Many who comprise inner city populations?

My STREET TEAM OF AMERICA motto: Drawing a line in the concrete is symbolic of how fed up and determined some of us are in not becoming hostages to the least evolved members of our (or any) peer group.

Floating just the notion of baseball bat brigades and urban gun clubs should let those on both sides of the law understand that a new generation of stakeholders lives in the inner city and while we respect life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness we draw the line at the pursuit of these goals at the cost of innocent lives.

Negrophobes, liberal and conservative alike unused to Black folks who actually, actively consider ourselves citizens should take note that we intend to secure our living spaces with at least the same seriousness as you do yours. Past generations of civil rights activists have overlooked the Threat Within our inner cities in favor of begging for more scraps uptown while downtown becomes a free fire zone.

Since our civil rights organizations have decided street crime ( once labeled Black-on-Black crime by some who tried to fight this battle ) isn't a problem, those of us who see it up close and personal have no choice but to lawfully mobilize in the name of survival and safety.

The same presumption of security one feels in the suburbs is the same presumption we seek for the inner city. We refuse to allow violent, misguided minds to shape the reality in which we live. This has been whispered in bedrooms and discussed at dinner tables/barber shops and beauty salons long enough. The time has finally come for us to lay the gauntlet down and tell the world that civil order is what we want and we won't settle for less!!

Once we start telling bad actors how to behave and arranging all expenses paid vacations for those who won't behave is when the tide will change in our communities. Instead of hiding behind burglar bars and peeping through closed blinds we need to openly tell urban terrorists that we refuse to be hostages and invite them to either change their ways or face daily opposition to their criminality. Civil order activism forces Black communities to look at own troublemakers and organize against them for our survival and safety.

Waiting for mayors and police chiefs to do this is as futile as waiting for the President to solve each one of our individual problems all by himself. Promoting civil order means we finally have left the low expectations of the past behind and have become free men and women who demand the best treatment where we live. Survival and safety are basic givens in society. If high income people don't have to worry about drive-by shootings and intimidating groups wandering their streets, why should we or anyone else?

So much in life is determined by what individuals and groups accept. Once we accepted the proposition that Black folks who harm other Black folks are somehow secondary to distant racists who don't even know we exist, a serious strategic error was committed.

Any strategy that doesn't prioritize survival and safety where you live is a worthless strategy and sadly many of the national civil rights organizations platforms fall in this category. Begging for money from Washington has overshadowed the thug factory stuck on overdrive nationwide. Jockeying for favors from corporations trumped making sure little old ladies in the inner city don't have to sleep in their bathtubs to avoid being hit by stray bullets. Our failure to attack street crime has led to a coup being waged from coast to coast by violent young men and women who feel they are our new rulers.

While some may have even voted for the first time last national election cycle, this feelgood moment didn't stop them from returning to making their neighborhoods unsafe. Anyone who thinks forming baseball bat brigades and urban gun clubs is going a step too far should take a leisurely stroll through the 'Hood one fine day. I don't want things to sink to vigilantism but if we don't fight street crime by the book and in large numbers, some future generation may feel extreme measures are the only measures they have left.

NADRA ENZI AKA CAPT. BLACK promotes firsthand conflict resolution and self-development. Black means: BROTHERHOOD-LOYALTY-ABILITY-COURAGE-KINDNESS.

NADRACAPTBLACK@YMAIL.COM and http://www.myspace.com/nadrasw1

Negro, Please: Mayoral Candidate Calls for Lynching To Alleviate Crime

HT-Booker Rising

George Lambus, a conservative Republican, calls for lynchings to be re-established as part of his mayoral campaign platform in Jackson, Miss.

The 62-year old candidate in the mostly black, mostly Democratic city has targeted white neighborhoods with flyers, which slam his Democratic rivals and call for a different solution to crime. From his flyer: "Incompetent negro Democrats at City Hall, negroes without civic pride, negro criminals and corrupt negro police officers have just about driven this city into the ground. Any Negro Democrat running for mayor who tells you that he or she can reduce crime and bring jobs to Jackson is a damn lie. They only want to be mayor for the salary. Job creation is contingent upon the economy improving, and crime can only be alleviated by a noose and a stout tree limb. I will provide the noose, and when the economy improves, I will get the jobs here."

Lambus defended his views to the AP: "Look at recent history, like in South Africa, when apartheid was abolished. Blacks went on a crime spree. Other Blacks got tired of it...and they formed vigilantes and they killed people. It brought crime down....When you cut your yard, carry a gun. When you go to church, carry a gun. When you go to school, carry a gun.

"The Mississippi Republican Party is not supporting Lambus' candidacy. GOP Chairman Brad White said Lambus' message doesn't reflect "the values that we represent."I know he is 62 years old, but what American uses the term Negro in a serious manner? E.g, on campaign literature. My 88-year-old Grandma doesn't even say Negro. No wonder my family left Mississippi back in 1923.

James Flournoy | Calif. Black GOP pioneer, 93

The LA TIMES has a wonderful article on the life of James Flountry a prominent Los Angeles lawyer, the Republican candidate for California secretary of state in 1970, was the first African American nominated by either major party for a partisan statewide office.

Political observers remembered Flournoy as always willing to carry the Republican banner in difficult races. After losing to Brown in 1970, he ran for state controller in 1974 but lost the nomination.Flournoy's 1974 primary campaign was marked by seemingly intentional name confusion as he ran for the same post that was being vacated after two terms by fellow Republican Houston Flournoy, who was running for governor against Brown.

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-james-flournoy5-2009mar05,0,193286.story

NEW GROUP: Republicans Of Morehouse College

Republicans Of Morehouse College

Their is a new student organization at Historically black Morehouse College where young Republicans can feel comfortable discussing policies and procedures of the republican party, while embracing the ideas of others.

Check & Join there FaceBook Group

http://tinyurl.com/clmhzs

Taking a Blog Break!

HHR is going to be taking a blog break for a little while. We are working on some new stuff that we hope will improve the quality and look of the site. We should be back up in about a months time. In the mean time you can check out the site BookerRising.net a Libertarian Blog that focuses on urban and black culture.

Other Sites to Join:Hip-Hop Republican Forum - http://hiphoprepublicans.ning.com/ an online gathering of over 100 urban Republicans & Libertarians to debate and discuss politics and urban/ inner city issues.

The John Langston Forum - http://blackrepublicans.ning.com/ a social networking group of over 200 young black professionals who are Libertarian or Republican HipHopRepublican.com (HHR) is moving from a blog to an online publication. It will feature a boarder scope of issues and topics that matter to the Hip Hop community. More interviews, music, food and resources to supply the demands of our loyal readers.

Your support can help HHR take this next step, as our increasing readership is asking for more news and culture coverage with a fun yet professional look. Presently, we are working on creating an attention grabbing website, but as you know a new website is very expensive.

To have HHR take this next leap, we are reaching out to you for a small contribution of $25. Some months ago we started on a site that we thought would be successful but because of a malfunction we had to ditch the entire site. Many Internet Explorer users may recall seeing the "side bar" implanted in the middle of the site while reading the actual blog.

If you are willing to make a (non-tax-deductible) contribution please click on the Paypal button on the blog today if you want to mail it please email us.Thank you very much

Sean Conner Elected DCYR Chair - Makes History

Sean was elected Chairman of the DC Young Republicans with 71% of

ALL: I know we are supposed to be taking a break but I am sorry I just had to post this. This is the recent press release from the DC Republican Committee. For background, this election makes Sean Conner the only African American state Chairman in the YRNF. Two other interesting facts: He succeed Marcus Skelton, also African American, as the 3rd African American since the organization began in 1931 to serve as a state Chairman.

Sean Conner Elected DCYR Chair Conner Wins With 71% of the VoteWashington, DC:

The DC Republican Committee made the following statement in regard to the election of Sean L. Conner as Chairman of the DC Young Republicans last night. "Sean is a member of the DC Republican Committee's Executive Committee and previously worked for the RNC as the Outreach Press Secretary. It's remarkable that he is able to accomplish all this at the age of 25. Sean's future in DC politics is only beginning.

PICTURES FROM LAST NIGHTS EVENT

It's my goal as Party Chairman to bring in more young leaders like Sean to the DCGOP," stated DC Republican Committee Chairman Robert Kabel. Other DC Republican Committee members that are member of the DC Young Republicans are Patrick Mara who was the Republican nominee for the 2008 At-Large DC Council race, Craig Max who serves as the DC Republican Committee's Vice Chair and was Christina Culver's Treasurer, Michael Zurat, Ron Herbison, Kristopher Hammond and Marcus Skelton.

Formerly the RNC Outreach Press Secretary, Sean L. Conner was responsible for communicating the Republican Party’s record of achievement and the Republican agenda with constituencies across the ethnic, religious and ideological spectrums. Prior to joining the RNC, Conner worked at C-SPAN where he led several special projects including field producing the March 31st DNC's Rules and Bylaws meeting and producing C-SPAN's weekly "C-SPAN on BBC." His experience also includes interning in the US Senate and working in government relations in Washington, DC.

Last night, Sean was elected Chairman of the DC Young Republicans with 71% of the vote, serves on the Executive Committee of the DC Republican Party, and mentors in the StreetWise Partners Program, a youth job readiness training program. Nationally, he serves as an appointee of the Young Republican National Federation. Originally from Oakland, CA, Conner holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business with a Minor in Education. A picture of Conner may be found below.

For Immediate Release Contact:

Paul D. CraneyOffice: (202) 289-8005

Mobile: (202) 550-1450

Email: pcraney@dcgop.com

JOIN THE MOVEMENT - HIP-HOP REPUBLICANS

Visit "Hip-Hop Republicans"


Hip-Hop Republican Forum - http://hiphoprepublicans.ning.com/ an online gathering of over 100 urban Republicans & Libertarians to debate and discuss politics and urban/ inner city issues.

The John Langston Forum - http://blackrepublicans.ning.com/ a social networking group of over 200 young black professionals who are Libertarian or Republican HipHopRepublican.com (HHR) is moving from a blog to an online publication. It will feature a boarder scope of issues and topics that matter to the Hip Hop community. More interviews, music, food and resources to supply the demands of our loyal readers.Your support can help HHR take this next step, as our increasing readership is asking for more news and culture coverage with a fun yet professional look.

Taking a Blog Break!

HHR is going to be taking a blog break for a little while. We are working on some new stuff that we hope will improve the quality and look of the site. We should be back up in about a months time. In the mean time you can check out the site BookerRising.net a Libertarian Blog that focuses on urban and black culture.

Other Sites to Join:

Hip-Hop Republican Forum - http://hiphoprepublicans.ning.com/ an online gathering of over 100 urban Republicans & Libertarians to debate and discuss politics and urban/ inner city issues.

The John Langston Forum - http://blackrepublicans.ning.com/ a social networking group of over 200 young black professionals who are Libertarian or Republican HipHopRepublican.com (HHR) is moving from a blog to an online publication. It will feature a boarder scope of issues and topics that matter to the Hip Hop community. More interviews, music, food and resources to supply the demands of our loyal readers.Your support can help HHR take this next step, as our increasing readership is asking for more news and culture coverage with a fun yet professional look.

Presently, we are working on creating an attention grabbing website, but as you know a new website is very expensive. To have HHR take this next leap, we are reaching out to you for a small contribution of $25. Some months ago we started on a site that we thought would be successful but because of a malfunction we had to ditch the entire site.

Many Internet Explorer users may recall seeing the "side bar" implanted in the middle of the site while reading the actual blog. If you are willing to make a (non-tax-deductible) contribution please click on the Paypal button on the blog today if you want to mail it please email us.

Thank you very much

Remembering Hallie Quinn Brown | Republican

By Cleo E. Brown

Hallie Quinn Brown, who was an Educator, Lecturer, Civil Rights Activist, and a Human Rights Activist , worked against and beat the odds all of her life. Born on March 10th, 1848 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania she was the fifth of six children born to her parents named Frances Jane Scoggins and Thomas Arthur Brown. Both Frances Scoggins and Thomas Brown had been former slaves, yet were free at the time of Hallie’s birth. Thomas Brown, who was born in Frederick County, Maryland, bought his freedom on his twenty-fourth birthday. He also purchased the freedom of his family consisting of his sister, brother, and parents. Frances Scoggins-Brown was freed by her owner who was her mother’s grandfather, when she was an adolescent. Scoggins and Brown married each other in 1840 when Frances was twenty-two years old.

In spite of their status as a free people and a free family, it is important to remember that Hallie Quinn Brown was born during a period of time when slavery was, due to the invention of the Cotton Gin in 1794, entrenched with-in the Southern United States. By March of 1857 it is equally important to remember that the United States Supreme Court invalidated The Missouri Compromise claiming that Congress had not had the right to prohibit slavery in The Northern States.The Dred Scott Decision threatened, therefore, to entrench slavery in the United States for another one-hundred years. This means that the Brown Children, as free Black Children, were both isolated from other African-Americans as well as the victims of discrimination. Their particular situation did not improve when the Civil War erupted in April of 1861 since Haille’s father could no longer find work. Inspite of the climate of hostility, intimidation, and fear under which the young Hallie found herself, her parents owned a considerable amount of money and property which they acquired through hard work prior to the Civil War. Thomas Brown was a steward and an express agent for riverboats traveling between St. Louis, New Orleans, and Pittsburgh. He had also worked as a porter and as a conductor on the railroads. It was as the result of the money which the family had earned that Hallie and her sisters and her brothers were able to receive their education.

On the other hand, Hallie’s indoctrination into Civil Right’s Activism was also as the result of her experience with The Underground Railroad. According to Black Pioneers in Communication Research “The Brown Home often served as a station of the Underground Railroad, a haven for fugitive slaves traveling in search of freedom.” The Brown’s helped many of these escaped slaves reach the safety of Canada. Hallie Quinn Brown’s adoption of Human Right’s Policies was also born of her family’s involvement with The African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME). It is said that ministers from the AME Church frequented the Brown Home to the extent that they had a special room called “the Bishop’s Room” inside of the Brown Family Home. (McFarlin, 1975, p. 15)

By 1864, although The Freedman’s Bureau had been established, The Emancipation Proclomation enacted in The Southern States, and The Civil War almost won The Brown Family was compelled to move to Chatham, Ontario, Canada because of Frances Brown’s failing health. This was because although The Brown’s lived in the North and were free, as the end of the Civil War and the end of slavery became apparent the Browns, as free and unprotected Blacks became pawns between pro-abolitionist and pro-slavery factions. Consequently, they were unable to obtain the appropriate medical care for Mrs. Brown. In addition, therefore, to her early education in Pennsylvania Hallie was educated from 1864 to 1870 in Ontario, Canada where her father worked as a farmer. When the family moved to Wilberforce, Ohio in 1870 Hallie Quinn Brown and her younger brother, named John, attended the AME College called Wilberforce University.

Inspite of her education, Hallie Brown did no benefit from the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment. The Reconstruction Amendments had, in 1965, freed all slaves in the United States; In 1968 all African-Americans were given equal access to the exercise of their civil rights by virtue of the Fourteenth Amendment; and The Fifteenth Amendment gave all African-American Men the right to vote. No woman in the United States, however, had the right to vote in 1870 with the exception of the women of Wyoming in 1869. Hallie Quinn Brown, therefore, became a staunch proponent of Women’s Rights and an active member of the Women’s Suffrage Movement. She had seen women of prominence, such as Queen Victoria of England, consequently understanding that Women could accomplish much in their lives. She had also learned, once again, through her first-hand experience of working as a farm hand in Canada once her family’s Pittsburgh home was destroyed by fire during the Civil War,that women are strong and are capable of persevering.

Because The Brown Family Children experienced “prejudice and humiliation” in the educational systems of Canada just as they had in the United States it was decided that Hallie and her siblings would attend College at an African-American College when the family returned to the United States. Brown received her Bachelor’s Degree from Wilberforce University in 1873. She was also her class Valedictorian delivering her very first speech at her graduation in 1873.

Hallie Quinn Brown was extremely necessary as an educator in the Southern United States. Although the Freedman’s Bureau had been created in 1864 to educate the newly freed Blacks in the South, as Reconstruction came to a close so too did The Humanitarian Efforts of the Freedman’s Bureau. Consequently, Brown faced extremely poor living conditions, inadequate teaching facilities, and a high degree of illiteracy among the children and the adults. Hallie Brown wrote, “surrounding me was desolation, poverty and want glared at me.” (McFarlin, 1975, p. 32) Brown initially taught at Senora Plantation School in Mississippi and Allen University in Columbia, South Carolina where she became the Dean from 1875 to 1887. Brown was also the Dean of Women at Tuskegee University under the supervision of Booker T. Washington from 1892 thru 1893. Indeed, Brown and Washington, in addition to being colleagues, were distant cousins to each other.

In addition to her education, career, and expertise in the discipline of elocution , on which topic she wrote several books, Hallie Quinn Brown unlike the African-American people of her day traveled to Europe where she lectured, sang, recited poetry, and worked on behalf of both Women’s suffrage and British Temperance. She was presented to Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle both in 1897 and 1899. The Plessey versus Ferguson Decision, which implemented the policy of the segregation of the races from 1896 to 1954 began. The deteriorating state of affairs for African-Americans did not encourage Hallie Quinn Brown to return to the United States. Rather, she remained in Europe for five years where in 1895 she established a British Chataqua School in North Wales. When she returned to the United States it was as a Professor of elocution at Wilberforce University. She did return to Europe in 1910 where she delivered a speech in Edinburgh on behalf of the AME and The Women’s Missionary Society. She also worked on behalf of the British Geneological and Geographical Societies.

Hallie Quinn Brown wrote or collaborated on at least nine books during her lifetime. While several of the books she wrote were histories, many of her manuscripts had, as its subject matter, the art of elocution. She also belonged to many organizations throughout her life including The Republican Party. Her Club memberships gave to Brown a sense of sorority and inclusion in the world which, because of her education, status as an educator; lecturer; and writer, and her race otherwise would have forced her to live in isolation.

~Cleo Brown is a moderate Republican who works as an Instructor and as The Dean of Student Affairs in a GED Preparation Program in Chelsea. Cleo has a Master’s Degree in Contemporary African-American History from The University of California at Davis and has done work on a Ph.D. in Education at The University of San Francisco in San Francisco, California. Cleo has also published several poems and is a featured artists in The International Poetry Library’s Who’s Who in Poetry.

John Coltrane - My Favorite Things - 1961

1961 in Baden-Baden Germany John Coltrane - soprano sax, tenor sax Eric Dolphy - flute, alto sax McCoy Tyner - piano Reggie Workman - bass Elvin Jones - drums

Tiffany Shorter on the FOX Strategy Room @ 1pm EST (12pm CST)

Tiffany Shorter will be on the Fox News again today at 1pm. You can listen to her views today on the economy, the GOP and other current events. Tiffany works for the Hudson Institute. She moved to New York after graduate school at the University of Kent in Brussels, Belgium. Her focus is on the United Nations as an international security institution.

While in Belgium, Tiffany was a member of Republicans Abroad Belgium where she was responsible for coordinating outreach events and political discussions. Tiffany earned a Master’s degree in International Law from the Brussels School of International Studies.

http://www.twitter.com/tiffanyshorter

The GOP Urban Agenda: Dealing With Environmental Issues in the Inner-CityShare

~The GOP Urban Agenda should have a line-item with environmental issues. This is something important that should not be ignored. After all what affects us in the inner city will affect us regionally. It's time to move away from the industrial age and move into the information age with green technology.

By Akindele Akinyemi

I find it strange that most conservatives will not discuss green issues. Many feel that these issues are a hoax (such as global warming). That is not the issue here. When we are viewing green issues from a silver rights perspective through urban conservatism we need to look at this in dollars and cents.

Before we look at the economic benefits of this I want to expose environmental disparities in urban communities.

Environmental pollution hits the urban community harder than other communities. For example:

If you’ve ever driven on I-75 South of Downtown Detroit, it’s hard to miss the smell coming off the landscape of industrial stacks and facilities. Del-Ray residents, located in this highly industrialized area of southwest Detroit, are neighbors with Marathon Oil, Great Lakes Steel, Detroit Edison, wastewater treatment plants, and a dozen other industrial facilities.

A while ago in Mexicantown, the Detroit Public Schools built Beard Elementary School (renamed Roberto Clemente Learning Academy) on top of a site contaminated with PCBs, lead and arsenic. The community was faced with the unfair dichotomy of fighting between children’s education and a safe environment.

On the near east side, the Greendale community continues to bear the burden of exposure from the irresponsibility of Canflow Environmental Services, a company that dumped industrial wastewater in the sewage system, which overflowed in residents’ basements and backyards with sludge, chemicals and human waste.

Further east, Master Metals left a legacy of lead contamination and hazardous waste. Soil samples from lawns and nearby property reveal significantly high levels of lead. Studies show that among infants and young children, lead poisoning has been associated with development and behavioral disorders and juvenile delinquency.

In Hamtramck, possibly one of the most ethnically diverse parts within the city, residents were at one point exposed to the mercury, dioxin and other toxic emissions coming from the Hamtramck Medical Waste Incinerator. Local community members, along with environmental justice groups were so vocal in opposition of the incinerator that the state shut it down. However, the OTHER incinerator still operates near Russell and I-94 near Dequindre Yard in Detroit.

The incineration of sewage sludge has no beneficial effect on persistent toxic substances such as PCBs and mercury. Settling of particles that are contaminated with these chemicals is enhanced by optimal design and management of the treatment facility. However, the presence of these and other toxic contaminants does not allow utilization of the collected sludge as fertilizer which is a disposal method that many communities take advantage of. The method opted for by the two largest sewage treatment plants in the area (Detroit and Wyandotte) is incineration. The collected sludge is burned to form ash and flue gas; the latter contains most of the PCB and mercury which in turn falls out on the watershed and thus is dispersed throughout the area.

There are numerous reports out here that can show how people of color make up the majority of those living in host neighborhoods within 2 miles of the nation's hazardous waste facilities. Racial and ethnic disparities are prevalent throughout the country. Points I would like to bring up.

While socio-economic status plays an important role in the location of commercial hazardous waste facilities, race is the leading factor.

Three out of the five largest commercial hazardous waste landfills in the United States are located in mostly Black or Hispanic (Latino) communities; these landfills account for 40% of the nation’s estimated commercial landfill space.

Cities with large Black populations like St. Louis, Houston, Cleveland, Chicago, Atlanta, Detroit and Memphis have the largest numbers of uncontrolled toxic waste sites.

About half of all Asian/Pacific Islanders and Native Americans live in communities with uncontrolled waste sites.

Michigan leads the nation in terms of the disparity between the percentages of people of color living within 2 miles of a hazardous waste facility compared to the percentage of minorities outside that radius — 66 percent versus 19 percent. In other words, more than two-thirds of the people living near these sites are people of color, while fewer than 20 percent of those living outside the 2 mile radii are minorities.

So when President Obama discuss the need for cleaner air and energy conservatives have a problem with that. Why is that? In suburbia, where most conservatives live, are switching over to solar and other forms of alternative energy to CONSERVE money. Yet, discussing environmental issues are looked upon as a liberal issue. Give me a break. We all breathe the same air and somwehat drink the same water so go figure.

Recently, there was a debate regarding location of a second river crossing between Detroit and Windsor. When the group studying the issue initially suggested a bridge could be located in such upscale communities as Grosse Ile and Grosse Pointe, those communities quickly mounted protests and those plans were discarded. Consequently, the focus of a new crossing is the poorer, heavily minority community of southwest Detroit.

How do we tie in discussing environmental issues that are affecting poorer communities in urban America in a GOP Urban Agenda?

First we need to acknowledge that there is a problem. We need to continue tackling the critical questions that appear before us. For instance, why do many "brownfield sites" exist in the Detroit (and other urban areas) where soil and sediment contamination create environmental and human health concerns, and block economic redevelopment?

Due to fear that involvement with these sites may make them liable for cleaning up contamination they did not create, developers are more attracted to developing sites in pristine areas, called "greenfields." The result can be blighted areas rife with abandoned industrial facilities that create safety and health risks for residents, drive up unemployment, and foster a sense of hopelessness. Therefore, urban conservatives must be on top of these issues to pour forth silver rights by transforming brownfield into greenfields by way of investing resources into a particular area (Benton Harbor, Muskegon Heights, Muskegon, Inkster, Ecorse).

Second, going green can also be economically sound for a city that is on life support. Conservatives make fun at green jobs and green technology. Some ask how can windmills support the environment? The answer is competition. Windmills produce electricity. Here is a chance to contribute to the free market by way of producing green jobs through manufacturing. That would force other utilites like DTE Energy or Consumers Energy to drive down the cost of utilities.

There are some reports that estimates green enterprise as a $229 billion market sector. CleanEdge.org reports clean/green technology as the third largest venture capital investment category in 2007.

These investment categories mean new green-collar jobs for American workers at a time when blue-collar jobs are drying up or shipping out: Solar panel manufacturer; green building construction worker; sustainable forestry worker. These are all green jobs.

By their nature, green jobs are also local jobs, meaning that money stays in the community and creates a multiplier effect for the local economy. You can't outsource a green job, and a green job doesn't take a toll on public health.

There is a challenge here, of course: Boom times like the dot-com era didn't do much for communities of color or low-income workers. But green jobs require a specialized skill set, giving workers who have been locked out of the old economy an opportunity to skill up and move to the front of the line for jobs in the new clean and green economy.

Places like Oakland, California are becoming models for a green city. I cannot understand why places like Muskegon Heights, Flint, Sgainaw, Pontiac or even Benton Harbor cannot become green cities (NOT COOL CITIES).

These are areas where we can possibly create the state's first Green Jobs Corps, a training partnership between the community college system and the city to train and employ residents—particularly hard-to-employ groups—in the new green economy.

Another one is to develop Green Enterprise Zones. These are areas where green businesses and green-collar employers are given incentives and benefits to locate and hire. This will be part of a comprehensive Green Economic Development Plan distinguished by eco-industrial parks.

While President Obama has promised $15 billion per year towards green infrastructure projects. While seemingly a large figure, it is a drop in the bucket, that will have little economic impact on the $14 trillion U.S. economy. What is needed is a much larger investment in the green economy, one that will create a new era of high paying middle class jobs, and an investment that strengthens the overall economy by reducing government budget deficits.

That is where urban conservatives can pick up the ball and make a slam dunk on both environmental and green issues. The GOP Urban Agenda should have a line-item with environmental issues. This is something important that should not be ignored. After all what affects us in the inner city will affect us regionally. It's time to move away from the industrial age and move into the information age with green technology.

Akindele Akinyemi a fresh and new powerful conservative voice for a new generation of leadership, is the founder of the Genesis Initiative. The Genesis Initiative specializes in charter school policies, developing charter schools, global economic development and leadership training. He blogs on public policy and urban areas at http://whoisakindele.info/

New Article by John McWhorter: A Look at Real Diversity

By Richard Ivory

"I have been quite happy to have my black and Latino students in the class - as individuals. After the rich experience we have had over the past school year, discussing substantial works by such a vast number of thinkers through the ages, for me to cherish them because of the color of their skin would be vapid at best and condescending at worst"

Asserts John McWhorter's in his latest article over at the website MindingtheCampus.com, the article is entitled "A Look at Real Diversity."

In the article Dr. McWhorter reflects about his experiences teaching at Columbia University and opines about what true diversity really means.

You can find the article here: http://tinyurl.com/d6r9qp

Why Republicans need to STRIP: A Random Guy's Perspective

A party cannot claim to be “fiscally conservative” when under its watch nondefense spending increases at almost as high a rate as under Lyndon Johnson8. A party, and its standard-beareer, cannot claim to support free-market capitalism and oppose social democracy, but preside over one of the largest “wealth redistributions” in American history, from the working and middle classes to the upper classes.

By Steven Powell

When Barack Obama won the presidency on November 4, 2008, our party fell into disarray. Obama had won unprecedented victories in Indiana, which had not gone to a Democrat in almost 40 years, as well as the once “Solid South”. Every Republican was forced out of his or her seat in New England. Conservatives, moderates, and libertarians all began attacking each other. Social conservatives were attacked by more secular conservatives. The Party was left reeling and wondering what caused the disaster, how best to recover, and who to blame for this turn of events.

Much of this blame has fallen on Sarah Palin, since near the end of the campaign season she was viewed quite unfavorably by the larger voting base 1(although she remains immensely popular among Republicans), and what was seen by some as a very nasty embrace by John McCain of negative, personal tactics that seemed to be off-message in the face of a very serious economic crisis.

Ultimately though, however favorable one's view of John McCain may or may not be, his loss was not entirely his fault. His loss, along with the loss of many other good Republicans and conservatives on election night, was mainly due to his associations with what are seen as wrong-headed neoconservative policies, and the numbers seem to back it up. For all the talk of record turnouts this election cycle, turnout was up only about 1-2% nationwide from 20042.

And while the size of the electorate remained practically the same, the President's approval ratings remain low while 83% of people believe that the country is headed in the wrong direction3. Even while the country is still in shock from the terrorist attacks 7 years ago, majorities polled still disapprove of the Iraq war4.Obama's share of white and middle-class voters, the lifeblood of the Republican Party, increased by sizable margins over John Kerry's from 200456, and even religious conservatives were not immune to a shift in allegiances, with substantial increases in the young Evangelical vote from 2004 as well as a majority of the Catholic vote going to Obama.7

The reversal of fortune for the Republican Party began in 2006, when a public disappointed in a President seen as out of touch with ordinary Americans, building up executive power, and widening an unpopular war without their approval voted in a majority-Democratic Congress with a divided Senate. 2008 was merely a continuation of this expression of dissatisfaction – it speaks volumes when almost all the incumbents of a party which controls a Congress with an approval rating of barely 10% are voted in and actually gain a stronger footing. But then, this is also in part due to Republicans' unwillingness to provide an effective opposition to negative traits associated with the Democratic Party. A party cannot claim to be “fiscally conservative” when under its watch nondefense spending increases at almost as high a rate as under Lyndon Johnson8. A party, and its standard-beareer, cannot claim to support free-market capitalism and oppose social democracy, but preside over one of the largest “wealth redistributions” in American history, from the working and middle classes to the upper classes.


A Random Guy's Suggestions for the Future

1. Become a bigger-tent party...for conservatives: What I've been trying to say trying to say is that the current path of our party is unsustainable. The result of the 2008 election was that the Republican Party really only fared well and survived in the American South, and the “Reagan Coalition”of Southerners, neoconservatives, and the Religious Right, have been the main focus of the Party's policies, while alienating the rest of the nation along with many other factions of the conservative movement. As a result of this election, the coalition has largely been confined to the margins of American politics, and key constituencies have begun to flee the Party.

The leaders of our party have concerned themselves completely with the projection of American power, especially military power, and strict social conservatism, and as a result have left it as an ideological sect, while paradoxically allowing it to become a haven for leftists like Joe Lieberman. Conservatism is not merely defined by the hard-and-fast stances of partisan magazines; it is a living ideology with many diverse viewpoints on how to best “conserve” the American way of life. There are other kinds of conservatives such as fiscal conservaties, the secular Right, libertarian-conservatives (as Barry Goldwater was), traditionalist conservatives and the paleoconservatives (which both claim lineage from Russell Kirk and the members of the pre-Buckleyite Right, and have a connection to the modern national-conservatism of Europe). The election also proved that our Party cannot win with just Whites, so we have to tap the rich vein of minority social conservatism, while also trying to disprove the myth that the Democrats inherently represent minority economic interests. The Democratic Party prides itself as embracing a pluralism based on different races and classes of people...why can't we pride ourselves as a party that embraces a diversity of ideas?

2. Begin to reform our economic image: Our Party is frequently for using free-market language to justify subsidies for the wealthy. Sitting down talking with Democrats, the question is frequently asked: “Why can we support X the rich/a war but not [entitlement program Y]?” Sometimes this criticism isn't unfounded, but more often than not it's a conflict of arguments rather than policy. The Republican Party must show more of a commitment to a free market that eschews both positive AND negative intervention. Most economists agree, however, that unforseen changes in market conditions cause changes in the business cycle, and that an outside force needs to act to correct these. It's understandable for individual people to be angry that their tax dollars are being used to correct these; it's very rare for the government to step in to correct “externalities” in an individual's life, and certainly not due to poor decisions. Individuals pay private companies to provide for these externalities; it's called insurance. I'm no economist, nor will I try to be one, but why not let companies that represent key industries buying into a form of “baliout insurance” like an individual would – setting aside a one-time payment of taxpayer funds as a starter and allowing companies to pay into an insurance-like system at a certain percent of their income for a certain amount of their worth to be insured in case of a major crisis? Barring this, though, the Republican Party needs to figure out a way to keep the U.S. Economy vibrant without having to resort to more wealth redistribution.

3. Adopt a strategy for fighting terrorism that doesn't require frequent American intervention: The cost of projecting American power over the last eight years has all but erased the peace dividend left by Ronald Reagan at his Cold War victory and replaced it with unsustainable and increasing government spending, generated international controversy and damaged relations with many of our European allies, left behind several thousand Americans and others dead and injured, and a Shiite controlled government with possible ties to Tehran in power.

Historically, only 10% of terrorist groups have been cited as defeated by a military “victory.”9 Most of the time, terror groups are defeated by police work and by local opposition, and a conservative antiterror strategy must reflect this. Also, conservatives must not be blind to the power that these terror groups hold as social/political movements and quasi-governments themselves, which often provide some basic services10, and focus on wresting this power and influence from them.

Since WWII, and especially since the Cold War it has been all but taboo to pose the questions “Can the projection of American power actually be damaging to American interests?” and “(knowing this) What should be the logical limits of American power?” During the presidential primaries, the only Republican candidates willing to pose these questions were Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul, and both were savagely attacked as a result. It makes no since for a right-wing movement to promote “responsible governance” and yet not use responsibility and skepticism when determining its policies. The next right-wing movement must be mindful of these questions, while keeping its objectives in mind, to formulate its strategy.

4. Return to the STRIP principle (Sovereignty, Tradition, Restraint, Identity, and Property) for policymaking. Out of all the things I've proposed, this one is by far the most important. These five principles, in one form or another, have formed the bedrock of conservatism for many decades. I believe they're universal ideological principles which can be applied to almost any problem, but they've been forsaken in recent years in favor of a “compassionate” conservatism which has driven the United States into bankruptcy. Reclaiming these principles and conquering our party's own problems will give us better moral footing to take on the Left's excesses and rebuild our image as a party of principle and a party with an ideology that is best to help Americans thrive and succeed in the world.


Steven Powell is a sophomore at MIT, Powell is currently majoring in both aeronautics and astronautics. Steven is an independent Republican who writes for HipHopRepublican.com on issues dealing with foreign policy and issues facing the Republican Party.

Michael Steele The One

The problem is not Steele (though he has made his share of unforced errors). The problem is the Republican Party! You can have the best party chairman in the world, but if the people don’t like the product or service you are offering, then the support will not be there.

Raynard Jackson

Michael Steele, the new head of the Republican Party, has been in office less than 50 days and he is already being set up to be the fall guy for the state of the party. On Friday, he will be criticized for the anemic fundraising numbers for March. Mind you that he became chairman on Friday, January 30 around 5:00 p.m.

He will be blamed if Republicans lose the March 31 special house election. The seat became vacant when NY governor, David Paterson (D), appointed then congressman, Kirsten Gillibrand (D) to fill the vacant senate seat of Hillary Clinton (she was picked by President Obama to become Secretary of State).

Now, let’s add a little context to the picture. As with any new chairman, Steele asked for the resignation of all the employees of the Republican National Committee. During the month of February, he had his transition team do a top-down review of the entire operation of the committee and to make recommendations on how to better run the organization.

Earlier this month, Steele began to announce his senior staffers. April will probably be the first month that he will have anything resembling a full compliment of senior level staffers in place. Then he has to hire staff to fill out the rest of the committee.

Now, let’s talk about the real problem. The problem is not Steele (though he has made his share of unforced errors). The problem is the Republican Party! You can have the best party chairman in the world, but if the people don’t like the product or service you are offering, then the support will not be there.

Conservatives represent about 30% of the Republican Party, but exercise a disproportionate amount of influence within the party. Even if all 20 million of Limbaugh’s listeners voted Republican, it is not enough to win a national election.

So, when Michael made his comments about abortion in GQ magazine, he was being pragmatic. I have known Michael for close to 20 years and he has always been pro life. But what amazes me about my more conservative friends who went apoplectic at Steele’s comments is: they are quick to say that he is a party chairman who happens to be Black (not a Black party chairman). But, when it comes to ideology, these same people claim that he is a conservative chairman not a chairman who happens to be conservative. What hypocrisy. So, let’s get this straight, Steele is only chairman of 30% of the party and not the remaining 70%? This is the fundamental problem with the party, either you agree with us (the 30%) on all the issues that we care about or you are not welcome in our party (the 70%).

Michael understands that he must bridge this gap in order to put together a winning coalition. That’s what he was trying to say (however ineptly) in the GQ story. Most of the large contributions to the RNC come from pro-choice Republican corporate executives, not conservatives. They tend to give in smaller amounts and account for a good portion of the direct mail contributors ($ 10 and $ 20 amounts).

If the Republican Party was run like a business, it would be bankrupt. One of the keys to any business’s longevity is the ability to adapt to the ever changing business climate. Like Blacks within the Democratic Party, conservatives act very emotionally sometimes and not strategic.

After the 1990 census Republicans joined with Democrats in pushing for more Black and Hispanic congressional districts, thereby guaranteeing a Republican takeover of congress in 1994. So, minorities got what they wanted but at the cost of their majority in the house and senate. Similarly with conservatives, you mention abortion and they lose their minds. As a Republican candidate, conservatives would much rather see you lose if you are not pro-life; rather than see you win if you agree with them on 80% of the issues.

When McDonald’s Hamburgers open stores in China, they adjust their menu to reflect cultural differences. That’s just smart business. But, Republicans would go to China and tell them they have to change their culture to fit the Republican approach to business.

Changing this mindset is going to be Michael’s biggest challenge. He understands the necessity of broadening the party. As with any change, there are winners and losers. Those losers are the source of most of these anonymous quotes in the media and they are hell-bent on tarnishing Michael’s reputation and weakening his support within the committee. These are the outside consultants who used affirmative action (their relationship with party insiders) to further their own business interests. Michael ended all of these contracts once he became chairman.

Now it’s time to affirm Michael’s actions of creating a new paradigm with fresh faces and new voices. I hope Black Republicans like Lynn Swann (ran for governor of PA), Michael Williams (currently chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission and U.S. senate candidate), will finally speak out and embrace Michaels efforts to change the face of there party. That’s why I support Michael Steele!

Raynard Jackson is president & CEO of Raynard Jackson & Associates, LLC., a D.C.-based political consulting/government affairs firm. You can listen to his radio show every Saturday evening from 7-9:00 p.m. Go to www.ustalknetwork.com to register and then click on host, and then click on his photo to join his group.

Populism's 15 Minutes of Fame is Almost Up

These executives are captains of industry, highly educated, frequently well-spoken, and disproportionately male and upper class. Let's face it society is and has always been somewhat enamored with these guys, even though at times it can be a testy relationship.

By John S. Wilson

I'm sure you've noticed the rampant populism oozing out of your favorite news anchor or your not-so-favorite politician; they're mad at this and they're mad at that. I have thought to tell these folks what my father used to tell me: there's no point in getting mad unless you plan on doing something about it. And they don't.

The latest version of populism du jour is specifically bonuses offered at bailed out financial companies (e.g., AIG) and in general executive compensation and pay caps. In a New Republic piece Kennedy School of Government Professor Pepper Culpepper, a corporate governance expert, had a peculiar suggestion on how to curb excessive pay. He states:

"Here's a better idea: the Financial Services Committee could annually identify the top two executives whose compensation is most out of line with company performance. In recognition of their monstrous pay and of Congressman Frank's past legislative efforts, these could be called the Frankenpay awards. Winners of the awards would be required to testify before the committee about the details of their pay packages. Boards of directors will think twice before approving a pay package likely to land a CEO in front of Congress, and they would not be able to avoid the cap on direct pay by choosing alternative payments, such as stock options, because the awards would target the whole compensation package."

3 reasons come to mind as to why this wouldn't work. (1) How would Congress define an executive whose compensation "is most out of line with company performance?" Would it be based on contributions said executive made to his division or the company as a whole? And based on what time table? Derivatives traders at AIG (the guys who are most blamed for the company's losses) did a great job in 2007. Only problem is those credut default swap contracts they traded didn't do so well in 2008; and (2) Even if you could establish a consensus on how executives would be evaluated, wouldn't the extensive lobbying done by high profile Fortune 500 companies somewhat shield them from the embarrasment Professor Pepper envisages? Most likely. It's not to say legislators can be bought, but lobbying might as well be an unwritten lease (Madoff's political donations total $200,000 over 18 years and the SEC received numerous tips they didn't act upon, think it bought him a little less scrutiny?); and (3) The little guy may not be enamored with what executives take home, but I think he secretly thinks they deserve it. I'm serious, stay with me here.

Pepper says how "[b]etween 1996 and 2000, CEO pay jumped from 100 to almost 300 times that of the average American worker, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Yet press coverage of the issue in three major national newspapers increased only slightly" and I think I know why. These executives are captains of industry, highly educated, frequently well-spoken, and disproportionately male and upper class. Let's face it society is and has always been somewhat enamored with these guys, even though at times it can be a testy relationship. We're told that without them capitalism wouldn't be the same; charities would become nonexistent without their massive donations (legislators have used such arguments in opposition to Obama's charitable deduction change, though it's estimated to affect giving by 1.3%); they create many jobs through their genius and business acumen; and the middle class and, for that matter, the nation owes its gratitude to these soldiers of fortune. Sure, every now and then we put on our populist masks and scare unsuspecting C-suite executives with our rants and threats - but our volume is low, threats empty, and time frequently runs too short. We've got a few minutes of this left then everything will go back to normal.


~John attends Virginia Commonwealth University with a triple major in economics, sociology, and women's studies. He blogs at Policy Diary, contributes to Hip-Hop Republican.com, and serves as a regular contributor to PolicyNet, where he writes about domestic and foreign affairs. He recently served as a legislative fellow in the office of the Honorable David Englin (D) of the Virginia House of Delegates.