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Opportunity School District Amendment: Sneaky Trojan Horse for School Vouchers

Posted in politics on July 12, 2016| 1 Comment »

trojanhousee

If Georgia’s Governor wants to pass a constitutional amendment to create an “Opportunity School District,” what is his ultimate goal?  This OSD would be a statewide school district operated by the governor’s office or his appointee and would be comprised of under preforming schools.  Those schools would have zero to do with the local school system.

I view the OSD as a Trojan Horse and once a Trojan Horse gets into your kingdom or your computer it destroys.  The ultimate scenario could be:

  1. Take failing schools into the Opportunity School District and turn them over to a private company with no accountability to the local taxpayers or local school board.
  2. Close some of the schools and therefore move those students into other area schools.
  3. Parents who don’t want their kids attending school with children from a failed school would push for vouchers so they can send their kids to private school or keep the money and homeschool them.

In summary, the ultimate objective might be creating a climate for vouchers.  The school choice debate can be had because vouchers sound good to some but come in the front door…don’t be sneaky.   The ultimate goal for supporters of the horrible OSD amendment is to keep some kids from going to school with certain kids.

Also, the cause and effect relationship surrounding failing schools isn’t as simple as the governor’s office might think.  What is a failing school anyway?  You can’t measure all factors based on test scores.  We should appreciate the educators who take assignments with challenged kids from challenged environments.  It’s not the kid’s fault that he or she wasn’t born into a more ideal situation.

Some educators go into teaching because they want to help kids from rough situations because they were once that kid.  Oh, as quiet as it is kept, those kids unfortunately have a “seasoning” that some kids don’t have because they faced adversity too early in life.  Hell, every Black kid in the South born before say 1976 have that seasoning because we faced constant racism as well as the crabs in the barrel Blacks.  Good teachers know how to bring out the best in kids rather than stigmatizing them as the OSB would.

State officials should be working with the local school systems to improve failing schools rather than using them to push a secret agenda.  If we don’t vote against the Opportunity School Board amendment, our overall education system will be at risk.

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Governor’s Office Could Close Monroe High, Dougherty High and Southside Middle School in Albany: Vote No “Opportunity School Board”

Posted in politics on July 7, 2016| Leave a Comment »

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Recently, I wrote a blog post about voting against the constitutional amendment called “Opportunity School District.” I considered it a Trojan horse to take over certain schools with option to privatize or closed them.  https://projectlogicga.com/2016/06/30/trojan-horse-vote-no-on-opportunity-school-district-constitutional-amendment/

The Atlanta Constitution newspaper actually has a link with schools that the Governor’s office would takeover in the Fall 2017.  The list includes beloved Monroe High School in Albany, Georgia. Yes, Monroe…green and gold Monroe…the school which has produced, in my opinion, more Black lawyers and doctors than any school in Albany if not more than the other three public high schools combined.

Monroe recently had an all-class reunion and the love made non-Monroe people green with envy; the events were massive.  It’s time to use that same enthusiasm to stop the takeover and possible closure of Monroe and other schools.  Wait a second; Dougherty High is on the list also.

If I am reading this list correctly, following schools would be included:

Monroe High School

Dougherty High School

Alice Coachman Elementary

Southside Middle School

http://m.ajc.com/map-ga-schools-failing/

http://m.ajc.com/news/news/local-education/5-things-know-about-gov-deals-opportunity-school-d/npn6p/

 

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Trojan Horse: Vote No on Opportunity School District Constitutional Amendment

Posted in politics, tagged , , , , , on June 30, 2016| 3 Comments »

trojan-horse-in-troy-city

The November election in Georgia is important because the Governor is trying to slip an education Trojan horse into every school system.   The Opportunity School District constitutional amendment sounds harmless or helpful: “Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended to allow the state to intervene in chronically failing public schools in order to improve student performance?”

Intervene.  Intervene how?  The Governor’s Office, not the state department of education, would take over certain schools with the option to declare them charter schools and privatize these schools.  “Oh, you went to a school so bad that the state took it over…what a stigma…do you know what stigma means?”

First, my concerns aren’t about Democrats and Republicans.  When Governor Deal was a congressman from the northern section of Georgia, he did a fine job representing the people of that region.  However, Georgia is a big and diverse state with different regions.  Muhammed Ali once said that the problem with Atlanta is that it is surrounded by Georgia.  Come on, champ, some of us prefer the rest of Georgia.

My point is that the conservative region above Atlanta doesn’t understand that schools fail for various reasons and only bloggers will admit that the primary reasons might be home life—little Johnny can’t focus at school if home is rough.  Of course, we all want kids to be ready to learn, focused and prepared to concentrate like we were…and we were because we grew up focusing from the front pew of church.

Wait a second, my conservative friends have been fighting against federal or state control of local governmental matters for 40 years.  Generally, they would hate a state officer telling them what to do with their local schools.

History

Some ultra conservatives have been trying to resegregate schools since Brown vs. the Board of Education.  Paying property taxes to fund a school full of kids whose parents don’t pay property taxes burns them up.  The situation is exacerbated by the notion that “those kids” at times are the discipline problems that make the public schools unacceptable.  So, Mr. Property Owner must go deeper into his pockets to pay for private school.  For the record, everyone should cheer for the academic success of every child because you want to have an intelligent labor force to attract well-paying industries.  If you don’t pay for school, you will pay in time in prison cost…Georgia State University or Georgia State Penitentiary.

Ultimate Real Deal

The Opportunity School District is a Trojan horse that would open the door to privatizing public schools and taking control of schools from local leaders and citizens.  I bet you will find some corporations that run schools at the center of this idea.  Remember, they tried the same thing with privatizing prisons—built the prisons and they got rich off mass incarceration.  Orange is the New Black is based on facts.

This deal is even cuter. This plan goes down like this: Rather than cherry-picking the best students and putting them into charter schools or magnet schools, you open the door to cherry-picking the worst schools or students, turn them over to private companies and the remaining students will be better off.

Yes, something must be done about under-preforming schools and the effort will require an honest analysis of all factors…including students, parents and environment.  But, the governor’s office taking over schools is not the answer.

Hillary Clinton Smiling

You know that Democrat voters in Georgia are experiencing an enthusiasm problem.  They aren’t necessarily hyped about voting for president because the national media keeps saying that Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida are the only swing states this side of the Mississippi River.  Clinton will win those states and with the help of Republicans running from Donald Trump, Georgia and North Carolina are on the toss-up list.

Clinton should be smiling because this crazy Opportunity School Board mess would light a fire under unlikely registered voters.  If presented to the people correctly, OSB could be a game changer.  Wait, it gets better.  Real money is flowing around the state to stop this ill-conceived amendment.  Traditionally, Dems raise money in Atlanta to spend in say Florida but this year, Hillary and maybe the U.S. Senate candidate Jim Barksdale might win by riding the coattails of the anti-Opportunity  School Board movement.

Bloggers are ready to stop OSB with rallies, cookouts, tailgates, receptions and radio spots.  Georgia Dems can be elitists at times—elbowing each other for glory.  We don’t have time for that crap this time because the stakes are too high…what’s in the balance is the future of our kids.  We won’t let them recreate a second class school system based on race, region, or income. I think they want rural school systems to have a city kids school and county kids school but that is really county kids getting new schools and town kids keeping the old, current schools.

Plan

The plan to stop OSB centers on early voting and educating voters about voting the total ballot.  President Obama recently said at Howard University’s graduation that he would have had a different congress if voters who voted for him would have voted for congress and other ballot items. We must get the word out and it needs to come from trusted members of the community…like me.  They need to put that money on the street…old school style, Maze and Motown playing at rallies, family reunion style.  Oh, I would put a Trojan horse with OSB on him on 3,000 t-shirts in one month.

Citizens should consider their use of time in support of the communities’ youth.  So, you can sit in a high school football game for three hours to support the players, cheerleaders and band but you won’t take 10 minutes to early vote for good candidates and against junk like OSB.  You use your smartphone to play Angry Birds but won’t get angry about conservative politicians trying to quietly take over our schools; we are talking about the same conservatives who constantly called for the end of the state and federal departments of education.  As projectlogicaga.com’s Best Interest Initiative states, everyone has an agenda.

My agenda is to use social media to mobilize and energize every voter this year.

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Democrats and Republicans/Sanders and Trump: For Granted or For Granite

Posted in politics, tagged , , , on May 23, 2016| Leave a Comment »

The 2016 presidential race will be decided by who is taken for granted.  Five groups are in the political arena: the traditional Democrats, the Bernie Sanders liberals, the traditional Republicans, the Trump revolutionaries, and registered voters who might stay home.  If you check history, the side that gets out it’s base while securing the center/moderates wins, i.e. Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan.

“For granted” could be a pun of “for granite” because the foundation of a political party should be etched in stone…rock solid.  In 2016, nothing is rock solid. First of all, Hillary Clinton better not forget that Blacks in Dixie won the nomination for her; Sanders was winning all over New England, the Rust Belt and with the liberals of the Pacific Northwest.

When it’s time to set the Democratic platform, we better see some southern pine planks.  The fear is that Sanders and his people will demand some socialism that pulls Hillary too far left.  The Democrats shouldn’t be surprised that Sanders isn’t a team player because he isn’t really a Democrat.

Of course, the traditional Republicans are pulling out what remains of their hair because Trump is a loose cannon.  They risk permanently damaging their brand if he is the leader of their party but his folks might bounce like Sander’s people if he is disrespected.

The voters who might stay home are primarily Obama supporters who registered to make history in 2008.  About history, Obamacrats need to know that his historic gains would be reverse quick, fast and in a hurry by Trump.

Trump and Sanders created successful national agendas from the bottom up while the two major parties normally sit in D.C. offices and create the agendas—top down. Well, the people have spoken and they like the unconventionality of Trump and Sanders.  Newsflash: you can tell voters you would do this and that if in office but actually doing that stuff is impossible or improbable.

The Trump and the Sanders folks need to consider the hip hop axiom “be where you are celebrated..not tolerated.”

The Bible says in Psalm 118:22 “the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.”  The side that takes granite for granted will watch their political house fall in the Fall. Black folks have been granite for the southern Democrats but who calls the shots…who is at the table when the money is counted…who gets crumbs after the big dogs feast.

Finally, I want to explore what happens to Black people if Trump becomes president.  Democrats give Blacks a false sense of hope; “the government is going to fix your life.”  We know Trump isn’t “studying” us and that’s the reason our community might be compelled to improve on our own if he was in the White House.  In a strange twist, that man in the Oval Office could bring out our best by necessity.

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Space Cowboys: Can Bill Clinton Dems Save the Day From Trump And Sanders

Posted in politics, tagged , , , , on May 17, 2016| Leave a Comment »

So, Trump has Newt Gingrich and Hillary has Bill Clinton.  That is a really good deal because (as quiet as it is kept) leaders got along after hours for the good of the nation back in the day.  If you notice Bill Clinton is like Bush 41’s play son.  President Clinton and Speaker Gingrich met privately late at night  and supposedly saved Social Security.

It seems most of the players in the political arena are actually acting most of the time.  On the Democrat side, most members of the Congressional Black Caucus care more about keeping their positions of power by promising free this and that than telling the truth about improving our communities.  The truth starts with folks taking an honest look in the mirror.

On the Republican side, a little article in the Capitol Hill newspaper from the Clinton/Gingrich era sums it up for me.  When the Contract With America Republican revolutionaries went on a retreat to Maryland’s Eastern Shore, a cover band that night played Steve Miller Band’s “The Joker” and a surprising number of freshmen put their fingers to their lips on the part about “I am a midnight toker.”  Basically, the reporter felt these high-minded conservatives were no strangers to being literally high.

You know a brother played bass on “The Joker” and that first line about “some people call me the space cowboy…some people call me the doctor of love” got me thinking about the movie Space Cowboys.  In that film four Air Force test pilots hoped to be the first Americans in space but the government in their wisdom replaced the Air Force with NASA and the first in space was a chimp named Mary Ann.  Well, dam.

Four decades later, NASA sought the help of those old fellows because a Russian communication satellite needed to be control and the systems were similar to American old technology.  After taking the space shuttle to the Soviet craft, they discovered four nuclear warheads that would target America if they fall out of orbit.  Tommy Lee Jones’ character decided to use his jet pack to push the weapons into deep space before finally getting to the moon and dying.  Hey, Jones was Vice President Gore’s roommate at Harvard.

Thank you for reading that long movie recap because I needed that foundation to make a point.  The point is that those of us who were around the Congress and White House during the Clinton era seems like those space cowboys.  Remember, Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich and House Budget Committee chair John Kasich crafted an economic plan (after fighting like cats and dogs) that left America with a budget surplus and a strong, healthy economy.

After riding his coattails, the nasty Republicans figured out a way to toss homeboy Newt.  More surprising, Al Gore loss to George Bush because the same people that the Clinton/Gore White House helped failed to vote.  I am not pissed at the Republicans for winning; I am pissed at our community for not voting.

As in the movie Space Cowboys, it’s time for the old school Clinton Dems or the Blue Dog Democrats to rescue the world from pending disaster.  To me, there are five sections to the electorate right now.  On the Republican side, you have the “traditional establishment, less taxes, pro-business conservatives” and you have the “far Right, listen to talk radio until a blood vessel is going to pop in their forheads, I want my country back” folks.   On the Dem side, you have the Clintonites/Obamacrats who are the Dem establishment and you have the new socialists of Bernie Sanders with their give me, give me, give me mentality.

The 5th section would be the millions of people who will sit at home and not vote this year.  Mind you, these same people might be living in government-assisted housing and eating food….I better stop there but you get the point.

If the Sanders supporters don’t vote for Clinton, Trump is president.  I have friends who argue that Trump being president would be better for our community than Sanders because we will know once and for all that the White House can’t help us and it is therefore vital that we help ourselves by changing our personal actions.

Real talk, Trump’s message of making goods in America sounds similar to the “Look for the Union label” movement of my childhood.  Hell yes, we use to have four factories in every south Georgia town and of course we had agriculture.  Today, stuff is cheap in the dollar store because it’s made by cheap labor overseas.  But, the homies don’t have a dollar because the community is unemployed.  Wall Street did that to increase their profit margins.  I would pay a little more for American made goods and products if that put people back to work.

We can’t fall for Trump’s excellent acting job; he is more P.T. Barnum than F.D.R.  There is a sucker born every minute and you can’t blame Trump for trying to pull off the greatest ruse in history.  Being president is harder than it looks and some folks simply aren’t presidential material.  In the political arena, you have activists and governors.

Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Newt Gingrich, John Kasich and Ronald Reagan are governors while Sarah Palin, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump are activists.  Activists serve an important purpose but to govern requires tact and diplomacy.  There is a big difference between Wall Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.

Winning the White House in 2016 might come down to which side listens to their old school space cowboys.

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Hillary’s Relationship with Georgia

Posted in politics, tagged , , , , , on May 12, 2016| Leave a Comment »

hillary-clinton-hosts-african-americans-for-hillary-rally-in-atlanta

Hillary Clinton wouldn’t be the Democrat nominee without Blacks in the South. Bernie Sanders has been whupping her almost everywhere else because he promises free this and free that.  Young Blacks are eating his candy by the spoonful but oldheads know the path to success doesn’t run through government offices and that wishing for governmental free stuff makes Americans soft.

The nerds from the Ivy League that run the DNC think Clinton wins the White House without winning much between Virginia and Texas but I think she needs to win two of four certain states: Florida, Georgia, Virginia and North Carolina. She wins Georgia and/or Florida by keeping it close in the rural areas and going over the top in the cities.  Rep. Sanford Bishop can deliver three of Georgia’s non-Atlanta cities and therefore counterbalance a quarter of rural Georgia.

The Sanders factor should have Dems worried because his voters might stay home if progressive elements aren’t in the Democrat platform.

Hillary Clinton can’t do it alone.  A certain number of people will vote for Hillary Clinton while a large number of Black voters will be voting against Donald Trump.  Hillary, gratefully take those votes.  Another large number of Black voters will be folks voting to protect President Obama’s legacy from Trump and his minions.  Again, Mrs. Senator/Secretary, Merry Christmas from the Obamas.

So, this election will involve having billions on the table.  The Democrat elite are planning on spending money raised in Atlanta on T.V. ads in swing states.  A quarter of that money should be used as Get Out the Vote in the best Black state in the union….the peach.  Nationally, we don’t need ads of Clinton in a hard hat, Clinton reading to school kids or Clinton watching a production line.  We know the Clintons are good people.  That money should be spent getting infrequent voters to the polls.  Who is good at that?  Me.

I am calling it the way Babe Ruth called that home run or the way Curry tosses up a 3 point shot and walks toward the other basket.  Hillary Clinton will be president and we will hand her Georgia on a platter.  It’s not about her winning our state; it’s about us lighting a fire under infrequent voters.  Next year, we want to see one Georgian in her cabinet…Ag Sec, Labor Sec, HUD Sec…a few names come to mind.

 

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Stop Tripping on the 1994 Crime Bill

Posted in politics, tagged , , , , , , on April 11, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Clinton Crime

A million years ago, I was a congressional staffer and the 1994 Crime Bill was my baby. Since I wasn’t a high-profile staffer like the cats on House of Cards, I generally did the less sexy issues involving national parks, crops and naming post offices. But I was knee deep in that crime bill drama.

That legislation was driven by years of high crime rates and drug addiction.  In 1986, Maryland basketball star Len Bias died shortly after signing with the Boston Celtics and House Speaker Tipp O’Neill demanded that legislation addressing crack be ready after the August recess.  I was in college then but word is that a staffer from legislative counsel sat at his dining room table and just made stuff up—no hearings, no research.  That is the reason we had that crazy difference in sentencing for crack crimes and powder cocaine crimes.

Anyway, our Crime Bill was well researched and well fought over.  While Black Lives Matter is tripping on Bill Clinton, they need to see how many members of the Congressional Black Caucus crafted and voted for the Crime Bill.  And for the record, I appreciate the spirit of activism of the Black Lives Matter movement but I generally don’t care for people jumping up inside anyone’s event…there is a time and place.

The 1994 Crime Bill was a balance of prisons, prevention and policing.  I want to say that the community policing provisions could be used by local police today.  At times, I feel that the local police seem like overseers in my community—the average citizen isn’t the enemy and the average citizen hates crime more than anyone.  Some police have been hardened by the constant battle with the worst 10% of the community but that is no reason to treat the community a certain way.

With community policing, the officers develop personal relationships with folks on their beats.  They get out of the cars and pull off those mirrored Cool Hand Luke sunglasses to connect with citizens…Mrs. Jones didn’t turn on her porch light at dark, check on her.  I will always have a glass of Crystal Light Peach Mango Tea for any officer literally walking a beat.

Officers, deep inside, don’t want to see youth in jail but they must do their jobs and as Beretta said, “don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.”  It’s the community’s job to offer options and opportunities to young people so they don’t go down that wrong path.

Finally, I can’t remember if the assault weapons ban was in the final Crime Law but I told my boss that people should have a certain amount of fire power to defend their families and to hunt.  However, military style weapons for home defense in  subdivisions is too much; good news is you got the bad guy…bad news is you blasted Mrs. Jones’ porch light across the street.

On the other hand, Worth County, Georgia, is half the size of Rhode Island and if the bad guys are at your rural house on one end of the county, your family could be cold by the time the deputies arrive.  In that case, you need to let that clip sing.  Biggie Smalls said, “Call the coroner..there’s gonna be a lot of slow singing and flower bringing if my burglar alarm starts ringing.”

So, Hillary Clinton isn’t responsible for everything President Bill Clinton and the Dems did back in the day.

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Obama 2016: One More Time

Posted in politics, tagged , , on March 15, 2016| Leave a Comment »

obama2016666

Obama is on the ballot in 2016 and Hillary couldn’t be luckier.  Politics watchers know that it would have been smart to let the sitting president ride off into a lovely Hawaiian sunset because there is a segment of the Democratic electorate that will vote for him only—it’s not right but it’s true.

So, if the Republican establishment was smart, Jeb Bush or John Kasich would have been their guy and the Blue Team would be facing motivation post-Obama issues.  But no, the GOP let Donald Trump get to the top…I say “let” but they didn’t let him do anything.  When you live by the sword…  Let see, who is the one candidate who would drive out Obamacrats in 2016….birther Trump.

From a policy standpoint, any Republican president would reverse the actions of the Obama White House.  They simply need to be quite about it.  But no, they have been mad and angry…talking cash sh-t while the world watches.

For some reason, Hillary has a hard time connecting with voters.  There is no reason in the world for Sanders to be winning traditional Dem states. It’s not a good look for the Blue Team. For Secretary Clinton to win the White House, it would require winning two or three southern states…VA, GA, NC, FLA.  Hell, the dirty South kept Sanders from being the nominee and that would have been a mess.

The Black Dem base in Dixie will be required in November as well.  But the Ivy League pinheads surrounding Hillary need to step back. Oh, they can run the official campaign but an outside effort needs to be in place (similar to the Tea Party on the Right) that talks rough with non-traditional voters.  Simply put, ice-cold homies like bloggers need funding to explain the importance of this election.  Do you really want hot-head Donald Trump to have the nuclear codes?

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Obama On the Ballot; Help Hillary or Stop Trump; Kasich kool

Posted in politics, tagged , , on February 29, 2016| Leave a Comment »

They say you don’t want to know how laws and sausages are made.  Willie Byrd told me to watch Netflix’s House of Cards and he was right.  That show really contains some of the nastiness of Official Washington.  The above mentioned “they” also say that the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

The squeaky wheel award should go to those loud and busy far Right conservatives who have taken over the formerly reasonable country club Republican Party.  Tea Party types seem larger than they are because the Democrats help people who don’t bother taking the time to vote.  Oh, they can spend hours on facebook and you tube but can’t take 10 minutes to vote.  We need loudmouths like me to guilt them into voting every election.

For dadgum example, Democrats would win elections if working people that receive the Earned Interest Tax Credit actually voted.  Most people don’t know that those big tax season checks aren’t refunds.  Those big dollar amounts are basically the government saying that working people shouldn’t be below the poverty line (actually Republican Richard Nixon came up with this idea.)  So if the poverty line for a certain size family is X amount, the IRS gives that family back the estimated taxes paid in during the year and give them enough additional money to reach the poverty line.

Of course, most far Right conservatives would say “don’t give them anything nor should you provide any assistance to unemployed families because they shouldn’t get food to sit at home when they are too good to pick crops or wash dishes for a living…they made their beds by getting in the bed to have kids before they had job training or money….”  Dam, I am pretty good at that conservative talk…maybe I should work for Fox News.

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Powell with JFK

Bottomline is that Hillary Clinton needs some support from real homies like me from outside her campaign; homies who make it plain like Adam Clayton Powell use to do on the streets of Harlem.  Homies who are quick to say ”be suspicious of both major political parties.”

powell

Congressman Powell in Watts

I am suspicious of those Washington types because their jobs aren’t a better America or a more perfect union.  Their jobs are to keep up mess and stay paid as a result of the ensuing sh-tstorm.  Barack Obama is a good person and he really is about bringing folks together…solutions.  But he was a fish out of water in ugly ugly D.C.

Barack Obama is on the ballot this election season…don’t act like he isn’t.  The next president will either move forward with what Obama started or erase Obama’s achievements on day one.  We have a dilemma: is it more important to put Hillary in the White House or more important to keep Donald Trump out. I have a presidential preference list with Trump on the bottom because he is just playing or acting.  The guy isn’t Hitler but he seems like Mussolini.

Ted’s Presidential List

  1. Hillary Clinton
  2. Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley (gone)
  3. Jeb Bush (gone but was presidential material)
  4. Ohio Republican Governor John Kasich (reasonable adult…budget expert..levelheaded)
  5. Marco Rubio (good dude if you can get past his Tea Party history….JFK like)
  6. Rand Paul (gone but had fresh ideas)
  7. Bernie Sanders (bless his heart..means well but he is a socialist with a big checkbook)
  8. Me (Yes, I would make a better president of this m.f. than the rest of those nutty candidates)
  9. Ted Cruz (he crazy)
  10. Donald Trump (he crazy…like a brand building fox)

I want Hillary Clinton to be president but if she isn’t the president, it should be Kasich.  Wow, if she picked him as a running mate, it would be the coolest thing ever.  Remember, Kasich was House Budget Committee chairman when Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich created a budget plan that led to some really great times.  Since Hillary has the Dem nod, I am voting for Kasich this week.

Lawd, would someone get those Ivy League pinheads out of Hillary’s ear.  They are telling her that the South is a “no go” from Virginia to Texas.  Hogwash!  When those nerds look at Georgia, all they see is that population center in Atlanta.  Hillary could go 45%-55% outside Atlanta and win the state in the ATL but it would require getting Obamacrats out to defend his legacy. We can do it…yes we can.

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2016 Rural Georgia Voters Guide: Consider Yourselves Told

Posted in politics, tagged , , , , on February 10, 2016| 1 Comment »

MAD-Magazine-Uncle-Sam-Scream

Why why why won’t Georgia voters listen to me.  They should be because I hold the keys to election and policy success.  Georgia has gone to hell in a handbasket politically because the far Right folks have hijacked the conservative movement and the people Democrats break their necks to help won’t getting in the voting line.  They will get however in the “where is something free” line with a quickness.

Bernie Sanders: Senator Sanders is a nice enough fellow but how are you win Democratic primaries when you aren’t a freaking Democrat.  Geez.  The last thing Black folks need to hear in rural areas is a Santa Claus type character talking about redistributing wealth like Robin Hood.  The first thing working families need to read is the Best Interest Initiatives blog posts   on improving your life with little government involvement.

Hillary Clinton’s Southern Plan: Don’t sleep, Black generally love the Clintons and the Obamas.  But, cue the Janet Jackson tune about “what have you done for me lately.”  Most of the “Marched with King” folks are exiting the national stage and post-Obama will bring the reality that Candidate Obama was right: the White House can’t fix your life.  You need to fix your life or, more importantly,  you need to be deliberate in your actions/careful about how you carry yourself.

So, Team Hillary is counting on Black pastors and labor leaders to rally the bros and get Sanders off here back.  However, the hip hop culture is starting to embrace that socialist talk because they didn’t experience the cold war and the red scare…to me, socialism and communism are first cousins.

The Democrats southern plan shouldn’t start in the big cities because those people are real liberals.  In the non-Atlanta parts of Georgia for example, Blacks like moderate Sanford Bishop and don’t hate reasonable conservative Johnny Isakson.  The sensible center sways elections and the Tea Party got the GOP to kick most moderates out of their ranks.

So, Hillary needs to dust off the old Clinton/Gore/Zell Miller brand of moderation for the non-urban parts of her efforts. The new moderation starts with a frank discussion about limited government and so hard talk about why folk’s situations are messed up.  Of course, presidential campaigns can’t directly hard talk but that’s why Al Gore invented the internet and bloggers.

Democrats options for the Republican primaries: We know that Hillary will be the nom and why waste your primary vote.  Dems in Georgia can vote in the GOP primary and my first notion is to vote for Jeb Bush or John Kasich because they are presidential material should something bad happen with that Clinton email witch-hunt.   Of the other hand, helping Donald Trump win the GOP nomination would lock the White House for Clinton because (missing linking verb coming)…..”he crazy.”

Sanford Bishop gentlemen in waiting: Old Jimbo Fisher waited formally for Bobby Bowden to retire as head football coach at FSU.  In Dem circles, we speculate who wants to be 2nd District congressman or woman when Bishop heads for the golf course.  I think Hillary can win Georgia and it would be important for the South that she gets a few Dixie states.  To win Georgia, Dems need to go 45% in rural areas and go over the top in Atlanta.  To do that, they need candidates to take one for the team in GOP control congressional districts.

The last big action of Bishop’s national political career should be similar to his first—helping the Clintons win Georgia.  Rep. Bishop often quotes Luke 12:48 For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.

This blogger and former Bishop staffer is formally asking “the more.”  We need SDB to in charge of turning out the Dem 45% everywhere in Georgia under a line from Columbus to Augusta.

Secondly, someone who wants to be congressman after Bishop retires should run in the 8th congressional district.  That candidate will help drive out the Dem faithful in the heart of Georgia and that energy will spill over into neighboring areas.  We know the five serious candidates thinking about being next after Bishop and I know a good effort in the 8th would help hone that message…a message I hope to help craft.  And remember, news media coverage in the radiates into the 2nd.

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Jeffery Almonte: 30 Times more important than Stacey Dash and Ben Carson

Posted in politics, tagged , , , , , , on January 25, 2016| Leave a Comment »

jeff

While Stacey Dash and Ben Carson get much T.V. time, a young man name Jeffery Almonte should be the voice of what’s next for conservatives, moderates, centrists or whatever. Hillary or Bloomberg should literally knock on this guy’s Harlem door this week.

http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/video.php?v=wshhI76ly9X8w1PL80W3

 

Readers of projectlogicga.com blog know that the Best Interest Initiative is my vision of fixing my community by considering what we can do for self rather than looking to the government….JFK…ask not what this country can do for you.

One of the BII blog post centered on the effect the hip hop culture is having on our community. I wrote that hip hop was worse than the Klan today because the substantive music of my youth has become a tool to glorify and glamorize pimps, thugs and crime.  Our community is being directed and led by the worst element.. the most ignorant.

Almonte’s recent video on the matter makes some of the same points in a better way.  This young man lives in the NYC but if he headed down South and into the Midwest, he would learn that his views are shared by a silent majority that crosses racial and political lines.

The Tea Party Movement has hijacked the GOP and that’s why their top two candidates are experts at dividing the nation.  On the Dem side, Bernie Sanders is a freaking socialist; he means well but capitalism drives America.  The last thing my community needs is a leader talking about giving us this and that for nothing.  I will give you something very helpful: read the blog post on the Best Interest Initiative and improve your life yourself.  Mark my word, Jeffery Almonte is going to be famous soon.

https://projectlogicga.com/best-interests-initiative/

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Everything in Black and White: Absolutes are the root of evil

Posted in politics, tagged , , , , on January 5, 2016| Leave a Comment »

abso

The reduction of absolutes in our daily thinking would improve our functioning in the world.  A new friend recently explained that she tries to limit “absolutes” because she isn’t judgmental.  Of course, she when on with biblical references and might have tossed in Tupac’s statement about God and judging.  Whatever, my big takeaway or teachable moment came from the absolute part.

The dictionary defines absolute as “free from imperfection, complete, perfect; free from restrictions or limitations.”  If you think about it, ignorant people like Donald Trump walk around all day talking about “all” this and “every” that.  For the record, Trump is brilliant…he just plays dumb on T.V. to build his brand.

As a Black southern kid, I knew I had to be mindful of absolutes because many southern Black minds are restricted by self-imposed limitations.  “Why you talkin’ White….we not supposed to play tennis…we play football and basketball…we ‘posed to struggle….you got to wear the latest style.”

Would someone please tell the ignorant that fashion comes and goes but style remains the same…furthermore, fashion is a cruel scheme created to separate you from your little money.  Often, people with sensible style use saved money to buy HOUSES…but you just keep on making Michael Jordan and Michael Korrs rich.

Speaking in absolutes indicates your mental limits and I can write that because people like that wouldn’t read 200 words down into an article or blog post.  (Smile)  Let’s talk about them.

Every and All Examples

All Black folks like chicken and basketball.  (I happen to love both)

All Jewish people have money.

Every Black person is looking for a handout.

All Blacks with nice cars are selling drugs.

All poor Whites drink Mountain Dew.

All Asians are good at math.

All Muslims are terrorists.

All Christians aren’t terrorists.

All women date for money.

All money is evil.

Everyone should worship like you.

Every White person is exactly like the few Whites you have met.

Everyone in the hood is up to no good.

Everyone in a fancy community got there from fair dealing.

All teachers really want to do another job.

Everyone must pay to play.

All hip hop is bad.

All hip hop is good.

Every man cheats…a man is going to be a man.

All politicians are shady.

All guns are bad.

Every southern White person wants to still own slaves.

All limitations on Blacks come from Whites.

Everyone in the world is out to get America.

Everything the U.S. government does in the world is good.

All Mexicans want to take my job.

All Frenchmen want to take my wife.

Nobody wants my wife…including me.

Everyone in the Pacific Northwest is a candles and sandals liberal.

All Republicans are evil.

Blacks are never conservatives.

No White southerners are Democrats and they couldn’t wait to get the hell out of a party with Negroes.

Everyone in a hoodie is a thug.

Everyone who loves NASCAR wants their country back.

All Indian store owners smell funny.  (Newsflash: you smell like what you eat and your pork eating –ss smells funny to them…but they thank you for getting them rich.)

All gay people are trying to recruit you because you are irresistible.

All lesbians had daddy issues.

All ugly White women can find some Black or Mexican guy to date them…. (I better stop here)

All successful Black women should consider dating the above mentioned White woman’s equally ugly brother because all Black men are in jail, gay, broke or cheaters.

All preachers are good men.  (Some are called…some just went.)

Every woman in high heels is a floozy.

Every woman in low heels isn’t a floozy.

All private schools are better than all public schools.

All social media is evil.

All wine is bad for you….read your Bible.

All pickup truck drivers are rednecks….must stop now, need to go wash my truck.

 

This humorous list could go on and on but the point is made.  We must think with more understanding and complexity.  “All” and “every” could be replaced with “most” or “most that I have met in my limited life.” You know the real deal is this: people with mental and cultural limits don’t realize how dumb they are and get used by manipulators time and time again.  Businessmen were at home when the Klansmen were doing their dirty work…well, some were right there in the mix.  Some rappers are negatively shaping our community’s culture while other folks reap the benefits.

Everyone should be mindful of what they say out loud.  The Trump supporters aren’t new…they just decided to say out loud what they had been thinking for years.  Malcolm X would have thanked them for their honesty because honesty is the starting point of most productive dialogs.

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BAT: Bloggers Against Trump

Posted in politics, tagged on December 11, 2015| 4 Comments »

We should form B.A.T. or Bloggers Against Trump to-dam-day…before it’s too late.  First, I am not hating on Trump for being Trump…dude, do you.  But, he is having fun playing a serious game.

When your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.  Trump was wildly successful in real estate and big business doing things his way and I lateral move into the public service sector (Oval Office) seemed easy.  That’s the issue: a lot of things seems easy from the outside looking in: Quarterback of the Falcons, parenting, Leader of the Free World, NASCAR.  But, jobs are usually harder than they seem.

So, the Republicans considered Herman Cain, Donald Trump, Carly Fiorina and Ben Carson for the most important job in the world but they have never held elected office.  What does that say about the arrogance and ignorance of part of the conservative movement?  It’s the same mentality that solves all of the world’s problems over coffee and eggs in breakfast spots around the nation every morning.  Don’t you love a guy to say the job is hard and I don’t have all of the answers?  That sounds like candidate Barack Obama back when and sounds a little like Jeb Bush today.

Yes, Democrats who love politics are salivating over the possibility that Trump will be the GOP nom but Americans who love America and the freaking Constitution are hella worried that Trump might actually win.  The stakes are too high to play like that.

On the Dem side, Bernie Sanders is equally nutty but in a sweet, well-intended way.  The last thing we need in the post-Obama era is someone telling everyone that the public wallet can fixed what’s wrong with your life.  You and the things you do are what is wrong with your life and for more information on solutions see the Best Interests Initiative posts on this blog.

https://projectlogicga.com/best-interests-initiative/

Since the beginning of this great nation, we have had hucksters peddling nonsense to execute their agendas and build their brands.  Often, these people knew what they were selling was crap but they did it anyway for money or fame.

The two major political parties can’t function without money and people and they will employ a Machiavellian “Ends Justifies The Means” mentality to whip the masses into a riotous frenzy.  Democrats with their “you should make $15 an hour flipping burgers” and the Republicans with their “we should take our country back.”  The country that was stolen from the Indians and built by free African labor.

At the end of the day, you can say some wild stuff that will get you elected but you know down inside that it’s undoable or wrong.  This nation was created by people escaping religious persecution in Europe and the Founders wanted no official religion.  To be honest, there would be fewer terrorists if America and Europe respectfully dealt with peoples around the world but we bullied and colonized Africa, Asia and the Middle East.  We wanted their natural resources and didn’t care what the leaders did with or to their people.  Quick: name a terror group that we didn’t indirectly support or fund initially.  When the people toss the selfish leaders, they remember who propped them up for years.

Again, to be honest, I don’t care about most of the other parts of the world but U.S. foreign policy is concerned that those poor folks might join together and create a power we can’t control.  We didn’t see Pearl Harbor coming because those little yellow people couldn’t seriously attack us without European assistance and planning….the Germans must have been involved.  Yea and the Germans built the pyramids also.

 

Public opinion is driven my television and radio personalities (I don’t called those people on Fox News and far right talk radio real journalists.)  Their jobs are to drive ratings up “by any means necessary” and the result is a sizeable part of the public that can see Donald Trump as president.  The thought just messed up my Christmas and as Christ said on the cross…forgive them father for they know not what they do.

Look, peace to peaceful followers of any faith.  Jesus had compassion for non-believers.  These terrorist have corrupted Islam like the Klan corrupted Christianity.  However, America can’t take in refugees if those who hate us are mixed in with them.

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The Centrist Dilemma: Keeping Trump Out of the Oval Office Is More Important Than Putting Hillary In It

Posted in politics, tagged , , on December 7, 2015| Leave a Comment »

donald

Donald Trump is good theater; he’s much fun.  The guy says what’s on his mind and that’s refreshing to some.  However, governing in the nuclear age requires more than P.T. Barnum.  It requires the tact and diplomacy of Kennedy, Lincoln, anybody named Roosevelt and nobody named Trump.  Yes, even bullish Teddy walked softly and carried a big stick.  Donald Trump is good for reality television; Trump in the White House would be a nightmare.

Trump is forcing me into the waiting arms of Bush, Kasich and Rubio.  As a moderate/centrist Democrat, one would think that I would prefer the worst GOP candidate to be the nominee because that person would be an easier opponent for Hillary.  But, this isn’t a Saturday Night Live skit.  This is real life and the issues on the table are far too important.  An organized Democrat Party would declare Hillary our nom and urge primary voters to help secure the GOP nomination for Trump by switching.  Hell naw!

If voting for Bush, Kasich or Rubio in the GOP primary helps one of them actually win the White House over Hillary, I will take that over a possible President Trump.  Anyway, Hillary only loses next November if the coalition Obama created doesn’t come back out to vote and if that happens the Democrats get what we deserve….helping working people who can’t find the time to vote….ask Al Gore about that.

Finally, the Republicans are shooting themselves in the foot by flirting with three candidates that never held elected office.  Reagan couldn’t be a member of the current GOP.  Democrats must seize the opportunity created by the GOP being pulled too far to the Right.  Hillary can win but Democrats need to vote down ballot also—from Congress to dog catcher.  Decent Republicans shouldn’t stand idly by when crazy stuff is being said.  Thank you Governors Kasich and Bush for being reasonable American leaders… your poll numbers reflect how crazy things have become since Fox News and the Tea Party commandeered your party.

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“Strategery” Why Blacks should vote for Jeb Bush and Vivian Childs

Posted in politics, tagged , , , , , on November 16, 2015| Leave a Comment »

strategery1

Strategery is a comical word said by Will Ferrell on Saturday Night Live while playing candidate George Bush.  Voting with a strategy is no laughing matter for Blacks in the South.

As we know, most Black southerners who vote favor the Democrat Party however, I stay ticked off by the fact that many Blacks simply don’t vote.  Oh, hard working, church attending, clean nosed African Americans vote as part of our civic duty and to help form a more perfect union.  But, a shocking percentage of Blacks who live in part on public assistance can’t be troubled to go vote.  But, the same folks pay 8 bucks every Friday night to profile at the high school football game…in the cold….for hours.   Really?

If those folks voted, the Republicans wouldn’t run most of politics in the South outside the largest cities.  Strategery would dictate that Blacks Who Actually Vote (BWAV) come up with a fallback plan because begging cats to vote isn’t working.  The purpose of voting is to select elected leaders who best reflect your views and opinions.  So logically, if the Democrats aren’t even fielding candidates in most contests, we must select from the Republicans…I won’t say “the lesser of evils” because most of them aren’t actually evil and I have yet to see any horns.

Georgia has a special election in December in State Senate District 20 and Mrs. Vivian Childs is a candidate.  You won’t meet nicer people than Mrs. Childs and her retired colonel husband Henry.  They are deeply involved in the Houston County/Middle Georgia community and raised outstanding children.

Let’s talk about trump but not about presidential candidate Donald Trump. I mean the fact that candidate Childs’ membership in a prominent African American sorority “trumps” the fact that she is a Republican.  Yes, DST trumps GOP with me because we are cut from the same cloth and have a shared cultural history.  This blog often points out many southern Blacks are conservative in actuality because we think success comes from personal actions rather than governmental involvement.  Yes, the government should protect basic civil rights but the safety net has created a softness with citizens of all colors.

Of course, the far Right trips so hard that they have ensure that Blacks aren’t comfortable joining the GOP until the traditional conservatives retake the ship….that won’t happen soon.  But, putting a reasonable, positive person like Vivian Childs in the state senate would be a step in the right direction.  Mrs. Childs’ career always involved helping people through education or ministry.  District 20 Democrat voters should vote for one of the GOP candidates in this non-partisan election and Mrs. Childs is a wise move.

Donald Trump got rich in business by using leverage and the Black community has little leverage in state government these days because we are overwhelmingly with the losing team.

What the heck is the Black presidential plan relative to Donald Trump in the South?  Hillary is the Dem nominee and that reality frees us up for strategery in the GOP primary.  First, the Republicans hate it when Democrats vote in the GOP primary so I like that…let their heads explode but I want to vote where the action is.

We could vote for Donald Trump or Dr. Ben Carson because Hillary would have an easier time whupping them next November.  But, what if they actually won?!  As we say on my block, “don’t even play like that.”  The GOP nom needs to be a serious leader with a proven history of governing…a big state governor.  While Chris Christie is a “big” state governor who can lead, I mean a governor from a “big state” like Florida or Texas.  With Rick Perry gone, Jeb Bush is the guy and Ohio Governor John Kasich should be his running mate.

Bottomline, Black folks need to get behind Vivian Childs, Jeb Bush and John Kasich because the stakes are too high to let the GOP voters decide alone.

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ESPN’s Steven A. Smith Is Right: Blacks Should Vote for Republicans Occasionally

Posted in politics, tagged , on October 26, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Smith-Thumbnail

ESPN’s Steven A. Smith is catching heat for saying that Blacks need to vote for Republicans sometimes to keep the Democrats from assuming they will always have us.  I must be a political prophet because I have been saying and doing that for years.  The GOP in the South doesn’t really want Black voters and the Democrats mission of give, give, give isn’t reparations nor is it healthful for us.

Politics is different from governing and I am about the business of governing.  Politics is the science of winning elections for power and treasure.  A candidate/officeholder might be an idiot but the goal is to put him in place so he can get his supporters richer.  Actually, it would be easier if the official was an idiot.

The ultimate objective is a better America.  For me, that objective comes from elected officials telling the people that the role of government in their lives is limited.  So, the Democrats are doing broke folks wrong by having them wait for assistance when the better assistance would be knowledge and wisdom about personal conduct and actions.

Candidates are like brides while governors are wives.  You dig?  A woman can be a master of getting guys to marry her and an expert on planning and having weddings.  However, are the same women good at being a day to day wife/spouse?  The cool guy in the club would make a handsome groom but is he a take the trash out/pay the bills/don’t cheat/cook dinner every other night husband.

Former House Speaker Tom Foley use to say that any jackass could kick down a barn but it takes a carpenter to build one.  Black America could diversify our political portfolio or not put all of our eggs in one basket.

If the Republicans control your area, vote for the GOP candidate with the best comfort level with us.  Of course, this official is as conservative as the rest of them; however, he or she goes into every community to explain his votes and actions.  In Georgia, Rep. Sanford Bishop, Sen. Johnny Isakson and former Rep. Jack Kingston get down like that…Bishop from the moderate angle.

Between the Red Team and the Blue Team, you can’t vote “none of the above.”  However, you can support the candidates who agree with the “do for self” mentality as a secondary aspect of their political mindset.  Project Logic Ga’s Best Interest Initiative is a good starting point on the road to “do for self.”

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USDA Affordable Homes: New House vs. Retrofit Rehab

Posted in politics, tagged , on October 19, 2015| 1 Comment »

Federal programs on rural housing should have options to suit the real world needs of the people.  President Obama’s UDSA is very active in improving the quality of life in rural America; so I tip my hat to everyone involve from Secretary Tom Vilsack to local office specialists.  We shouldn’t forget the authorization and appropriations of the U.S. House and Senate.  However, I would love to see a little flexibility in rural housing programs.

The Direct Rural Housing Loan Program seeks to get low income people into new homes.  We know that the economy is stimulated when new houses are constructed and that home-owning families are the backbone of our nation. To my understanding, this program would put a family with an income between 20 and 30K in a house between 90 to 124K.  The highest cost house would be a net zero home, a home with advance energy technology that zeros out the utility bill.

While that concept sounds wonderful, everyone can’t afford wonderful.  To me, your financial obligations reflect your pocket and that goes for car, children and homes.  If you grew up struggling, your mentality should be that of Scarlett O’Hara when she said, “As God is my witness, I will never be hungry again.”  Okay, invoking Scarlett is being a little dramatic but low income people should have a preoccupation with building wealth (nest egg) and living inside their means—everyone should.

When a family has more house than they can comfortably afford, it’s called house poor.  Of course, USDA has guys smarter than me calculating affordability.  However, 20 or 30 years is a long time for a person to service a “house note” when their income is from a job rather than a more stable career.  Current families are often single parent or one income so that’s one layoff from housing disaster.  Actually, the recent mortgage crisis was exacerbated by the fact that unemployed people with houses didn’t have the mobility to search for employment elsewhere.

I grew up in a small community of USDA and VA homes and the general rule to me is double your income—a house should comfortably cost twice a family’s income.   For example, a single mom with an income of 25K can afford a 50K home.  That amount won’t get you a new home other than a mobile home.  Mobile homes can be really nice but we are too close to the hurricane region.  If I had a trailer, you can best believe I would brick it up…I know, not a good look.

In rural Georgia, 50k will get you an older home but the headaches will come from concerns about the bones.  Bones of homes to me are the foundation, wood framing, roof, plumbing, electrical, etc. and that’s before worries about energy cost from HVAC, windows, doors, insulation and dated appliances.

USDA should better market their current programs to qualified citizens. If they find a considerable amount of surplus funding, a program should be created to help people retro-fit older homes…perhaps homes in the family.  Grandma passes away and the family wants 30K for her 1980s USDA house.  The new owner could do a 20K energy-based renovation and still have a house for half the cost of the earlier mentioned USDA program.  I think some agencies in the federal and state governments are doing this now.

I would take an older house on a concrete slab and go to work.  If the house has siding, I would remove it and put in state of the art insulation.  The best colleges and technical schools should be researching ways to blow foam insulation under the house, in the roof and into exterior walls.  The answer might be gutting the drywall inside the house to create a proper insulation shell from the inside.

In rural counties, more families are moving out into the county and that’s nice.  Often, the county seat is a town left to slowly decay but it shouldn’t be that way.  Those older homes could be a first step for some families and they can pay off that house then get a new home later.

My high school Economics teacher was a Vietnam bombardier and had a master’s degree.  When he looked into how much the house he wanted would cost, he went to the technical college at night and on the weekend to learn construction.  Mr. Tomlinson reduced the cost of his house considerably by putting in that work himself.  In Georgia, we have an excellent technical college system and the presidents of those institutions display amazing flexibility regarding community needs.

These schools and the four year regional colleges once had active continuing education programs.  We need a short-time certification program that would prepare a homeowner to do demolition, insulation and certain other tasks on a renovation.

I can read faces and some families are reluctant to tell USDA housing officials that certain programs are a little too rich for their blood.  These families don’t know that the Clinton Administration was and the Obama Administration is all ears….let them hear from you and let’s get working folks into affordable homes.

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What The South Should Do For Hillary Clinton NOW

Posted in politics, tagged , , , on October 19, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Turning-Blue-Red-Map

To be frank, Democrats in Dixie carry little weight for either major party.  The Republicans know Democrats aren’t for them.  National liberal Democrats tolerate moderate southern Dems unenthusiastically.

In a presidential general election, the Democrats concede the South and save their ammo for the so-called battleground states.  Dems also put up little fight in southern governors, U.S. Senators, and state legislatures contests.  However, the D.N.C. will hit up southern cities like Atlanta for fancy fundraising.

Nutshell:

Republicans win White House = Dam those rural Dems

Democrats win White House = rural hick Dems didn’t help worth a dam

Not so fast: Southern rural Democrats who are moderate to conservative can support Hillary Clinton in the primaries.  Real city liberals on the two coasts (wine-sipping, tofu-eating, NPR listening) are feeling that Bernie Sanders socialism rhetoric.  Black southern moderates know “give me, give me, give me” is the last thing Blacks in the struggle need to hear at this pivotal time.  Deep inside, President Obama was a “lift yourself up” moderate raised by corn-fed Midwesterners.  The Clintons were Democrat Leadership Council moderates before getting “citified.”

Moderate Democrats should spend the next few months standing up for the center and convincing young Southerners that Sanders playing Santa Claus isn’t the move.

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Don’t Flirt with Bernie Sanders/ Life on $7.50 hour—You Are In My System

Posted in politics, tagged , , on October 9, 2015| Leave a Comment »

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Political flirting is a very bad thing for our community.  Flirting in general isn’t cool because by nature it implies certain possibilities to elicit a certain response.  We are in the middle of a pivotal presidential campaign and Americans are flirting with feel good candidates.

It’s just like the girl in high school who flirted with the guy who said all of the right stuff but that guy wasn’t “till death do we part” husband material.  With the first primaries and caucuses quickly approaching, we need to focus on serious candidates who can enter the Oval Office and lead the free world.

Bernie Sanders seems like a smart and considerate guy.  His ideas and facts on wealth and income add substance to the debate.  However, he is an advocate or activist like Jesse Jackson and Ralph Nader.  Activist point out problems while leaders solved them.   Our community can’t let Sanders get into our system…it’s all about systems.  Sanders knows the economic system is tilted toward the rich but wealth redistribution gives our community more dreams of getting something for nothing.  Rich people design the system to benefit themselves but they did put in the work…most of the time.

The criminal justice/penal system seems like modern slavery to me but again did you commit a crime.  If you know the system is jacked up, you should avoid it.  The educational system clearly needs improvement but can your family and you honestly say that your best effort was or is being made.  Sanders and the real liberals have people feeling like victims.  Yes, you are a victim of the person in the mirror.  If the local school system is so horrible, why were so many focus kids able to learn there?

Sanders is a self-confessed socialist and to me that means he is half a step from being a communist.  What the hell?  The Democrat nominee will have to explain to the nation in the general election why her party seriously considered a socialist.

Let me talk “cash s” to my people for a second.  America has a capitalist system and a democracy.  For most of our nation’s history, people of color didn’t have a fair chance to participate in this system.  We built America for free before 1865 and for nearly free for 100 years after that.  When capitalism works properly, you get up in the morning and legally grind for your family while keeping liabilities balanced relative to income.  Young people shouldn’t jump up and have babies with the idea that the government or grandparents will provide for them—grannie stepping in financially for the sperm donor.

Friends familiar with Europe keep telling me that Sanders’ version of socialism is similar to our allies in Western Europe who pay like 25% in taxes but the government pays for health care, college etc.  I have a bad feeling about bring that crap over here…wait a second, we are half way there.

Here is a system for you: a kid listens to his or her parents and focuses in school.  After high school, the young person slowly learns a career from formal training or on the job.  A family is started with a person he knows well—a person who also is executing clearly defined goals and objectives.  This family has and raises children without stepping foot into the public assistance system because focus people don’t need the government telling them to care for their kids.

Senator Sanders will blow your mind with the stats on his videos; he is keeping Secretary Clinton on her toes.  We can take elements of his plans into consideration but plans on paper don’t always turn out well in reality.  Sanders could pull enough “want something for nothing” voters to steal the Democrat nomination.  If that happens, I can’t vote for him.  Dems can flirt with Sanders for a second but take Hillary down the aisle. Remember, Hillary might pull 20% of the women who voted for Romney.

Finally, Sanders’ views on the minimum wage have young voters dreaming of getting fatter checks.  These young people could struggle less if they put less on their plates.  The recent CNN video of the struggling young lady who works at McDonalds broke my heart.  However, who made her have a kid with that heading to jail guy before they established a constant income.  The government can’t save you from you—avoid their systems.

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Marketable Skills: UDSA’s Quinton Robinson promotes STEM learning in rural Georgia….welder Keith McCants challenges Donald Trump on building America

Posted in politics, tagged , , , , , , on October 5, 2015| 3 Comments »

housessssss

Young people today often lust for the expensive lifestyle of a rapper.   Without family wealth or marketable skills, the wrong path has been a horrible option. Donald Trump is right about the exportation of jobs and available jobs require knowledge of STEM subjects… Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.  While these important fields involve many hours of studying, we should remember how many hours are spent trying to make the NBA or the rap charts.

President Obama and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack are on a mission to ensure that kids from every rural area have the STEM opportunities to prepare them for the jobs of the future.  Southwest Georgia is one of the poorest areas of this nation but the students in five SOWEGA counties will have advanced distance learning connections with researchers at Georgia Tech “stemming” from USDA grants.  These young people will be ready to help keep America at the forefront of advancements and they will be able to purchase the nice life from using their minds.  I bet they will be more prudent with their dollars than most rappers and ballers.

The following press release includes a quote from my college classmate Quinton Robinson that reads

“This will exponentially expand effectiveness of educational programs and help ensure rural Georgia is workforce ready”, said USDA Rural Development Georgia state director, Quinton Robinson.

At Albany State’s homecoming this month, the fellows are going to say thanks for making sure kids today have resources we didn’t have.  As quiet as it is kept, HCBUs produce graduates who often advocate for people and communities that could use a hand up…not a hand out.

http://www.rd.usda.gov/newsroom/news-release/science-technology-engineering-and-mathematics-stem-education-expands-five

Keith McCants is my favorite young person in American politics.  This conservative/moderate blogs at Peanut Politics when he isn’t getting up “before day in the morning” to work as a welder at the bus plant in Fort Valley.  Oh yea, he is also seeking reelection to the Oglethorpe, Georgia City Council.  And the fellow was born two weeks after I graduated from high school in 1982.

When Democrats and Republicans want to know what a real working man thinks about an issue, they call Keith while he is coming from or going to build America.  Donald Trump says we don’t make anything in this country anymore but he should tell that to Keith’s aching muscles.

Too many young people are focused on sports skills, rap skills, shake dancing skills and I better stop right there skills.  My daddy would say that Keith has marketable skills and recently Keith put a video of a young lady on facebook that was too exciting.  This young business woman was finishing drywall; she has the skills to pay the bills on a HGTV style.

When I was a kid, John Travolta’s character on Saturday Night Fever did a bunch of dancing after he spent the day learning how to sell paint at the hardware store. In the old school, you burn off youthful energy by attending college, serving in the military or learning a career from the ground up.  If young people stay focus and patient, they will eventually make manager or start their own businesses.

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