Tuesday, September 27, 2016
Racism Exhibited By Young People Is Very Disappointing
From Think Progress:
School officials are investigating a group of white North Dakota college students after they posted a picture of themselves in blackface with the caption “Black lives matter.”
According to Raw Story, a group of female students at the University of North Dakota (UND) are facing potential reprimand after the image was uploaded to Facebook. The incident comes just days after three other white UND students reportedly stole the phone of an African American student, locked her out of her own dorm room, took a picture of themselves laughing, and then posted the image to Snapchat with the caption “Locked the black bitch out.”
“I am appalled that within 48 hours two photos with racially-charged messages have been posted on social media and associated with the UND campus community,” university president Mark Kennedy, according to Raw Story. “It is abundantly clear that we have much work to do at the University of North Dakota in educating our students, and the entire university community on issues related to diversity, inclusion, and respect for others.”
Wearing blackface, once common among turn-of-the-century performers who mocked black people in their shows, is now widely condemned as racist. Yet the practice has become a major issue on college campuses: just this month, a student at Quinnipiac University was expelled for posting a Snapchat photo of a white woman in blackface with the caption “black lives matter,” as was a white Kansas State University student who posted a Snapchat image of white students flashing faux gang signs while wearing dark facial masks with the caption “finally feels good to be a n***a.” Similarly, students at Fairfield University were heavily criticized in February for hosting a “ghetto” party; although no one was reported as wearing blackface, attendees wore baggy clothes and held bottles of 40 oz. Coors Light.
Obviously, we have a serious problem with racism in this country, and sadly, it is not just among older Americans who grew up under a racist system. It seems that those older Americans have been pretty effective in teaching some young people that racism is acceptable.
This is not true of all young people. In fact, I believe the younger generation (commonly called "millennials") are the least racist generation this country has ever had. They give me hope that someday, probably long after I am dead, this country might finally stamp out racism.
For a while after the upheaval of the 1960s and the passage of the three Civil Rights Laws, it was not socially acceptable to be openly racist. They racists did not go away, but they went underground and only expressed their sick views to others that shared them. That gave the illusion that this country had progressed further in establishing equality that it really had done.
But those racists were horrified at the election of President Obama. They came out from under their rocks in droves, and once again started to proudly and openly display their sick views. They became even bolder when they realized that the Republican Party had nominated a presidential candidate who agreed with their racist views. Now they seem to have passed on their depraved views to at least a small portion of our newest generation.
I hope these young people will realize the error of their thinking as they grow older. If not, they will pass their racism on to another generation of Americans -- and that is unacceptable.
A Majority Of Voters Think Trump Would Be Terrible President
Some presidential polls have shown recently that the race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump is getting closer. I'm not ready to get worried, because I'm convinced that most Americans understand that Trump would be a terrible president. And that view is somewhat verified by this recent poll (see the chart above), which shows that 51% of voters think he would make a poor / terrible president (while only 39% think that of Clinton).
This Gallup Poll was done between September 14th and 18th of a random national sample of 1,033 adults, and has a 4 point margin of error.
Another Conservative Newspaper Backs Hillary Clinton
This has been a strange election year. Normally, conservative newspapers are quick to endorse the Republican presidential candidate, even if that candidate was not the one they preferred. But this year, many of them are horrified with their GOP's nominee, Donald Trump, and they are reluctantly crossing the aisle to back a Democrat. It started with the Dallas Morning News, and others have followed suit. The latest is the Cincinnati Enquirer. Here is what their editorial board has written:
Presidential elections should be about who’s the best candidate, not who’s the least flawed. Unfortunately, that’s not the case this year.
Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton, the most unpopular pair of presidential candidates in American history, both have troubled relationships with truth and transparency. Trump, despite all of his bluster about wanting to “make America great again,” has exploited and expanded our internal divisions. Clinton’s arrogance and unwillingness to admit wrongdoing have made her a divisive and distrusted figure as well.
The Enquirer has supported Republicans for president for almost a century – a tradition this editorial board doesn’t take lightly. But this is not a traditional race, and these are not traditional times. Our country needs calm, thoughtful leadership to deal with the challenges we face at home and abroad. We need a leader who will bring out the best in all Americans, not the worst.
That’s why there is only one choice when we elect a president in November: Hillary Clinton.
Clinton is a known commodity with a proven track record of governing. As senator of New York, she earned respect in Congress by working across the aisle and crafting bills with conservative lawmakers. She helped 9/11 first responders get the care they needed after suffering health effects from their time at Ground Zero, and helped expand health care and family leave for military families. Clinton has spent more than 40 years fighting for women's and children's rights. As first lady, she unsuccessfully fought for universal health care but helped to create the Children's Health Insurance Program that provides health care to more than 8 million kids today. She has been a proponent of closing the gender wage gap and has stood up for LGBT rights domestically and internationally, including advocating for marriage equality.
Trump is a clear and present danger to our country. He has no history of governance that should engender any confidence from voters. Trump has no foreign policy experience, and the fact that he doesn't recognize it – instead insisting that, "I know more about ISIS than the generals do" – is even more troubling. His wild threats to blow Iranian ships out of the water if they make rude gestures at U.S. ships is just the type of reckless, cowboy diplomacy Americans should fear from a Trump presidency. Clinton has been criticized as being hawkish but has shown a measured approach to the world's problems. Do we really want someone in charge of our military and nuclear codes who has an impulse control problem? The fact that so many top military and national security officials are not supporting Trump speaks volumes.
Clinton, meanwhile, was a competent secretary of state, with far stronger diplomatic skills than she gets credit for. Yes, mistakes were made in Benghazi, and it was tragic that four Americans lost their lives in the 2012 terror attacks on the U.S. consulate there. But the incident was never the diabolical conspiracy that Republicans wanted us to believe, and Clinton was absolved of blame after lengthy investigations. As the nation's top diplomat, Clinton was well-traveled, visiting numerous countries and restoring U.S. influence internationally. She was part of President Barack Obama's inner circle when the decision was made to go after and kill Osama bin Laden and negotiated U.N. sanctions that led to the Iran nuclear deal.
Her presidential campaign has been an inclusive one, reflected by the diversity of her supporters. She has even moved to the left on health care, expressing a willingness to consider Sen. Bernie Sanders' single-payer "Medicare for all" health care plan. Clinton has talked about building bridges, not walls, and has a plan to keep immigrant families together with a path to citizenship.
We have our issues with Clinton. Her reluctance to acknowledge her poor judgment in using a private email server and mishandling classified information is troubling. So is her lack of transparency. We were critical of her 275-day streak without a press conference, which just ended this month. And she should have removed herself from or restructured the Clinton Foundation after allegations arose that foreign entities were trading monetary donations for political influence and special access.
But our reservations about Clinton pale in comparison to our fears about Trump.
This editorial board has been consistent in its criticism of his policies and temperament beginning with the Republican primary. We've condemned his childish insults; offensive remarks to women, Hispanics and African-Americans; and the way he has played on many Americans' fears and prejudices to further himself politically. Trump brands himself as an outsider untainted by special interests, but we see a man utterly corrupted by self-interest. His narcissistic bid for the presidency is more about making himself great than America. Trump tears our country and many of its people down with his words so that he can build himself up. What else are we left to believe about a man who tells the American public that he alone can fix what ails us?
While Clinton has been relentlessly challenged about her honesty, Trump was the primary propagator of arguably the biggest lie of the past eight years: that Obama wasn't born in the United States. Trump has played fast and loose with the support of white supremacist groups. He has praised some of our country's most dangerous enemies – see Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un and Saddam Hussein – while insulting a sitting president, our military generals, a Gold Star family and prisoners of war like Sen. John McCain. Of late, Trump has toned down his divisive rhetoric, sticking to carefully constructed scripts and teleprompters. But going two weeks without saying something misogynistic, racist or xenophobic is hardly a qualification for the most important job in the world. Why should anyone believe that a Trump presidency would look markedly different from his offensive, erratic, stance-shifting presidential campaign?
Some believe Trump's business acumen would make him the better choice to move America's slow recovery into a full stride. It’s true that he has created jobs, but he also has sent many overseas and left a trail of unpaid contractors in his wake. His refusal to release his tax returns draws into question both Trump’s true income and whether he is paying his fair share of taxes. Even if you consider Trump a successful businessman, running a government is not the same as being the CEO of a company. The United States cannot file bankruptcy to avoid paying its debts.
Trump’s rise through a crowded Republican primary field as well as Sanders' impressive challenge on the Democratic side make clear that the American people yearn for a change in our current state of politics. However, our country needs to seek thoughtful change, not just change for the sake of change. Four years is plenty of time to do enough damage that it could take America years to recover from, if at all.
In these uncertain times, America needs a brave leader, not bravado. Real solutions, not paper-thin promises. A clear eye toward the future, not a cynical appeal to the good old days.
Hillary Clinton has her faults, certainly, but she has spent a lifetime working to improve the lives of Americans both inside and outside of Washington. It's time to elect the first female U.S. president – not because she's a woman, but because she's hands-down the most qualified choice.
Monday, September 26, 2016
1/3 Of Voters Say Debates Important To Decide Their Vote
This chart blew me away. I thought, as most polls have reported, that the number of undecided voters was below 15%. This Wall Street Journal / NBC News Poll suggests that about 34% of the population says how the candidates do in the debates will determine how they might vote. Could this really be true? Could a third of all voters still be trying to make up their mind between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump? Or are they just saying that to make themselves seem more thoughtful and unbiased?
Personally, I don't understand why the whole country isn't rising up in opposition to the disaster that is Donald Trump. Isn't it already obvious who the best candidate is?
U.S. Corporations Do NOT Need A Tax Cut
Republicans, and their presidential candidate, want to lower the income tax rate on U.S. corporations to 14%-15% from the current rate (about 35%). They claim the rate is too high and gives foreign companies an advantage. The truth is that almost no U.S. corporation pays that top rate, and many pay nothing at all in spite of making billions in profits, and most U.S. corporations actually pay less in taxes than their foreign competitors.
The Republicans also claim that lowering the corporate tax rate will create millions of jobs -- even though those corporations are already sitting on trillions of dollars, and there has never been any proof that the tax rate has any effect on job creation.
There is no real reason to lower the top tax rate for corporations. They currently enjoy one of the lowest tax rates since World War II, and most avoid paying even that. They used to account for over 32% of the federal governments tax revenues, but now only account for less than 11% -- a 21 point drop since 1952.
In the last few decades, thanks to tax subsidies, tax loopholes, and regulations that let them park money overseas to avoid paying taxes, the Republicans have fixed it so corporations no longer have to pay their fair share of tax revenues -- but they still enjoy all the advantages and protections of being an American company.
Just peruse all of these charts (from the Economic Policy Institute). I think you'll see that corporations, especially the huge domestic and multi-national corporations do NOT need a tax cut. What is needed is to make these corporations pay their fair share of tax revenues.
Of course, that won't happen as long as the Republicans retain enough power to stop it. That is why they must be voted out of power in November.
The Wage Gap Between Blacks And Whites Is Growing
The income gap between the richest Americans and the rest of America has received a lot of attention since the Bush recession. It is as large as it was just before the Great Depression, and it is still growing. It's a serious problem that needs to be addressed before we become a third world country -- a country of just "haves" and "have nots".
But there is another pay gap that is equally disturbing. It is the wage gap between Blacks and Whites, and as the charts above show (from the Economic Policy Institute), it also continues to grow. Back in 1979, Whites earned an average of 18.1% more than Blacks. That has now climbed to 26.7% -- a rise of 8.6 points.
This is just one more illustration of the racial problems that still plague this country. In a truly equal country, there shouldn't be any wage gap between Blacks and Whites at all, and the fact that the gap is still growing shows the racial problem in the workplace is not being addressed.
There may not be a way to fully eradicate racism among individuals, but the same shouldn't be true of our institutions. Racism seems to be built into our social institutions like our schools, law enforcement agencies, and justice system -- and as these charts show, in our workplaces.
It is time we stop denying the institutional racism is this country -- and fix it!
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