BLACK POLITICAL BUZZ....

"Wait On The Lord" by Donnie McClurkin & Karen Clark Sheard

2012-01-29T02:10:00.000-08:00

Sources: Amazon.com, Youtube

Rupert Murdoch's Media Empire Continues To Crumble: More Arrests!

2012-01-29T01:37:00.000-08:00

Sun journalists and police officer arrested in corruption investigation

Four current and former senior Sun journalists and one serving police officer have been arrested as part of Scotland Yard's investigation into police corruption.

The Metropolitan police have also launched a search at News International's headquarters in Wapping, east London, in an attempt to secure any potential evidence relating to alleged payments to police by journalists.

Officers were accompanied by lawyers who arrived at the Sun's offices between 6am and 8am on Saturday morning. They are there to ensure that "journalist privilege" in relation to sources is not compromised.

It is the first time since the phone-hacking scandal erupted that the Sun has been targeted in such a major way, but sources stressed the dawn raid had nothing to do with voicemail interception and was solely related to paying police for stories.

The four Sun employees arrested are understood to be Mike Sullivan, the Sun's crime editor, the former managing editor Graham Dudman, the executive editor, Fergus Shanahan, and Chris Pharo, a newsdesk executive.

The arrests came after information was passed to the police by News Corporation's internal investigations unit, the Management and Standards Committee. It was set up by Rupert Murdoch in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal, which erupted last July, and operates independently of News International.

It is understood that staff and management at the Sun had no warning of the police plans to make arrests or conduct a search of the paper's newsroom.

A statement from News Corp in New York said: "Metropolitan police service (MPS) officers from Operation Elveden today arrested four current and former employees from the Sun newspaper. Searches have also taken place at the homes and offices of those arrested.

"News Corporation made a commitment last summer that unacceptable news gathering practices by individuals in the past would not be repeated.

"It commissioned the Management and Standards Committee to undertake a review of all News International titles, regardless of cost, and to proactively co-operate with law enforcement and other authorities if potentially relevant information arose at those titles.

"As a result of that review, which is ongoing, the MSC provided information to the Elveden investigation which led to today's arrests.

"No comment can be made on the nature of that information to avoid prejudicing the investigation and the rights of individuals."

The Management and Standards Committee has been charged with ridding the company of old practices and illegal activities such as phone hacking which led to the abrupt closure of the News of the World in July after 168 years. One source said. "They are there to drain the swamp."

In his witness statement to the Leveson inquiry earlier this month, the Sun's editor, Dominic Mohan, said: "To the best of my knowledge, the Sun has never knowingly paid or made payments in kind to police … for information."

Scotland Yard confirmed in a statement that the investigation "relates to suspected payments to police officers and is not about seeking journalists to reveal confidential sources in relation to information that has been obtained legitimately."

It is understood that three of the four journalists were arrested before 8am on Saturday while the fourth was arrested in mid-morning.

"Home addresses of those arrested are currently being searched and officers are also carrying out a number of searches at the offices of News International in Wapping. These searches are expected to conclude this afternoon," the Met said in an earlier statement.

A source said police were interested in everything from "notepads, emails, Post-it notes".

All four men were being questioned at police stations in Essex and London, police said. Fourteen people have so far been arrested under Operation Elveden – 13 by the Metropolitan police and one by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

The operation is being run in conjunction with Operation Weeting, the Met inquiry into the phone hacking of voicemail boxes.

It was launched after officers were handed documents suggesting that News International journalists made illegal payments to police officers.

Others questioned as part of the inquiry include the former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks, the ex-Downing Street communications chief Andy Coulson, the former News of the World managing editor Stuart Kuttner, the paper's former royal editor Clive Goodman, the former News of the World crime editor Lucy Panton and the Sun district editor, Jamie Pyatt.

Brooks and Coulson are both former editors of the News of the World, which was closed in July at the height of the hacking scandal following revelations that the murdered teenager Milly Dowler's phone had been hacked.

Deborah Glass, the deputy chair of the Independent Police Complaints Commission, said: "It will be clear from today's events that this investigation is following the evidence.

"I am satisfied with the strenuous efforts being made by this investigation to identify police officers who may have taken corrupt payments, and I believe the results will speak for themselves."

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Sources: Guardian, ITN News, RT, Youtube, Google Maps

Pat McCrory's Strengths: He's Not Racist! He's Not Partisan! Risk Taker! Decision 2012

2012-01-29T01:06:00.000-08:00

GOP activists say no one wants to take on McCrory

After Pat McCrory lost his campaign for governor in 2008, he had to find a new job. He also got a second chance to impress conservative Republicans and make deeper statewide political connections.

McCrory got the new job, working for a major law firm. And he worked the rubber-chicken circuit tirelessly, building up political IOUs during the 2010 mid-term elections.

As a result, he's the first Republican since Lt. Gov. Jim Gardner in 1992 to have a clear path to the GOP gubernatorial nomination. McCrory, the former Charlotte mayor, will announce his candidacy Tuesday night in Guilford County.

Normally, the governor's race produces a spirited Republican primary. The race was seen as particularly attractive to Republicans this year because polls suggested that Democratic incumbent Bev Perdue was politically vulnerable before her decision last week not to seek re-election.

McCrory, 55, lost to Perdue in 2008 by a 50-47 percent margin in the closest governor's race in the country that year.

In the past, Republicans who have lost races have not been successful in trying to come back the next election. But McCrory was given some slack by many GOP activists because 2008 was a strong Democratic year. Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole lost, and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama carried the state.

"He ran a very close race in a very big Democratic year and I suspect everyone said he would be virtually impossible to beat in a primary," said Bob Orr, who lost to McCrory in a GOP primary in 2008. "As a result, folks who would have considered running for governor opted not to."

When he lost in 2008, McCrory said politics was not foremost in his mind. He had a year left to serve in his part-time job as Charlotte mayor, where he served for a record 14 years. Because he had resigned his long-time job at Duke Energy to run for governor, McCrory had to find another way to make a living.

"I am trying to work that fine balance between making a living and public service, as I have done most of my life, because I am not independently wealthy," McCrory said in a recent interview. "I can't borrow money to run for elective office. The last time I ran for office, most people don't realize, but I quit my job and lived off savings."

McCrory said last week that his campaign anticipated that Perdue might not run. He declined to comment on the possibility of facing any other Democrat, including Charlotte's Anthony Foxx, his successor as mayor.

He said Perdue's decision doesn't change his plan, which had always been to cast himself as the outsider.

"It doesn't change our focus," McCrory said. "We're going to let the Democratic Party work through their primary, and we look forward to debating the issues. Gov. Perdue would have been a very, very strong opponent, especially given the power of incumbency and the resources that come with it. The fact is, she was polling better against me than other Democratic leaders."

McCrory, who is not a lawyer, works for the law firm of Moore and Van Allen doing what he calls policy development work, advising clients on issues such as energy, land use, transportation and the environment.

He also does some consulting, including strategic planning for a Pennsylvania software company. He gives talks across the nation on infrastructure. He was recently in Amsterdam, where he gave a talk to European engineers on 3-D engineering software.

He says he does no lobbying.

Wooing Conservatives

After leaving the mayor's office, McCrory began moving around the state, becoming a regular on the GOP speaking circuit. He had not been able to do enough of that sort of grass-roots politicking during the 2008 Republican primary because he entered the race late. Still, his high visibility in the Charlotte media market allowed him to defeat state Sen. Fred Smith of Clayton and Orr, a former state Supreme Court justice.

McCrory was very visible during the 2010 elections, which were swept by Republicans. By the summer of that year, he had set up his own political action committee. During the Wake County school board elections last fall, he recorded calls for Republican candidate Heather Losurdo.

He also courted Republican conservatives. It was the group where he showed the most weakness during the 2008 primary; some were skeptical of his support for a sales tax hike to help finance a rapid light rail system in Charlotte.

"In my view, McCrory has a enthusiasm gap with some conservatives, particularly in the east," said Marc Rotterman, a Republican media strategist based in Raleigh. "I think he needs to explain his tenure as mayor of Charlotte, especially when it comes to the sales tax, which was used to fund light rail. Having said that, on his worst day, he is far preferable than any of the Democrat pretenders, and, with Perdue's exit, the Democrats now find themselves playing catch-up."

At the state GOP convention in Winston-Salem in 2010, McCrory called for passage of an Arizona-type law against illegal immigrants.

In perhaps his biggest move, McCrory formed a close working relationship with the state chapter of Americans for Prosperity, a conservative advocacy group with ties to Raleigh businessman Art Pope.

With AFP, he toured the state working to defeat President Barack Obama's health care bill. He recorded phone calls to state lawmakers to defeat a bill to extend public financing of elections to some statewide offices, and to pass a voter ID bill. He signed the group's pledge to a Taxpayer's Bill of Rights that would limit spending to inflation and population growth.

McCrory says he's had a chance to step "outside the political bubble."

"There's no doubt I'm the outsider looking in to the people who have been running state government for well over a decade," he said.

Blocking out opponents

McCrory's wooing of the right has brought catcalls from liberal commentators, such as Chris Fitzsimon of N.C. Policy Watch. Fitzsimon has labeled him "Mitt McCrory" because as Charlotte mayor he pushed for tax increases, catered to environmentalists, supported massive incentive packages, advocated for mass transit and other actions "surely sending shivers through the tea party crowd."

That is not how some of his fellow Republicans see it.

"Pat is an inherently conservative person, tempered by a Chamber of Commerce, Charlotte experience," Orr said.

"One thing he hadn't done four years ago that he has done now is sort of touch base with all those folks," Orr said. "He has gone to all the Lincoln Day dinners and precinct rallies and district rallies and county events. ... He has spent four years doing that. Whatever rumblings there might have been have been reduced substantially."

Jack Hawke, McCrory's chief strategist, says his candidate has been involved in "a wooing process." But, he said, "as far as I know, he has not changed any position. He has not gone back on his record."

"There remains a small group of people who think Pat is maybe not quite conservative enough," Hawke said. "But as people have gotten to know Pat and questioned him about his philosophy, they may not agree with him about everything, but they see that he is a conservative Republican."

Having run for governor, having spent the last couple of years traveling the state, and living in the state's largest metro area, McCrory started the current election cycle with a large advantage over any other potential GOP candidates.

"For somebody to just come into the race and develop the level of support McCrory has, or just the level of being known, would cost $1 million or $2 million," said Carter Wrenn, a veteran Republican strategist. "That would be hard for anybody to raise. Politically, he is in such a strong position no one wants to tackle him."

The McCrory campaign has also moved to head off potential competitors, lining up critical support from Sen. Richard Burr and the rest of the GOP members of the congressional delegation.

There was serious talk last year of state Sen. Pete Brunstetter of Winston-Salem, the deputy Republican leader, entering the race. Other names that were circulated included Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler and Raleigh businessman Bob Luddy.

But McCrory, with the help of the Republican Governors' Association, brought in some big fundraising guns: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in November and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal in December.

There were a lot of Republicans willing to get on board the McCrory bandwagon because nearly all the polls of the past year showed him with a comfortable lead over Perdue. North Carolina Republicans are hungry for a victory; only two states in the country, Washington and Oregon, have had a longer run of Democratic governors than North Carolina.

It has been particularly frustrating for the Tar Heel GOP, because Republicans have increasingly dominated the South. Besides North Carolina, only Kentucky and Arkansas have Democratic governors.

"If you are a Republican activist and you have a year of polls showing Pat McCrory beating Bev Perdue," said Wrenn, "why would you look for someone else?"

McCrory as Charlotte's mayor

Pat McCrory was Charlotte's longest-serving mayor with 14 years in the office. During his tenure:

Charlotte built the state's first light rail system. McCrory championed the cause by pushing to increase the local sales tax by a half-cent to fund it. And in 2007, he helped defeat an attempt to repeal the tax.

After a voter referendum to build a new arena failed, he persuaded the NBA to promise an expansion franchise and used that promise to push through what is now Time Warner Cable Arena.

He successfully pushed for an increase in hotel taxes to pay for the city's NASCAR Hall of Fame.

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Sources: Charmeck.org, McClatchy Newspapers, Youtube, Google Maps

OCCUPY Charlotte vs Charlotte City Leaders: First Amendment Rights & Economic Justice!

2012-01-29T00:43:00.000-08:00

Occupy Charlotte Camp Could See Eviction Monday

Starting Monday, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police will be able to evict or arrest people camping, living or sleeping on the muddy lawn at old City Hall, which has been used by Occupy Charlotte since the fall.

But the new police powers may not end the local protest movement, which has targeted its anger at the "top 1 percent," who the group believes hold too much wealth and political power.

Some protesters and attorneys say a small change in the anti-camping ordinance gives Occupy Charlotte an opportunity to keep their multicolored tents, which have vexed city officials.

An early draft of the anti-camping ordinance prohibited placing any tents or temporary structure on city property. But in response to a local conservative activist, who said tea party protesters needed sun shades during rallies in 2009, the city changed the ordinance. It now only prohibits tents or temporary structures if they are used for "living accommodation purposes."

One Occupy Charlotte member said some protesters plan to remove all personal belongings from their tents so the police couldn't construe them as being used for "living accommodations."

The tents would then be used as shelter from the elements, whether it's cold, wind, rain or sun, the protester said.

"We have to get our stuff out, and we have to keep it clean," said Ben Schooly, who has been with Occupy Charlotte for a few weeks. "We will try and keep the tents."

Some Occupy protesters have moved their tents to the plaza at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center, but a camp at old City Hall remains.

Across the country, cities have been enforcing existing ordinances, or passing new anti-camping rules, to clear out Occupy protesters.

The possible removal of Occupy Charlotte would be the first example of the city's new efforts to give police more power in preparation for the Democratic National Convention in September. In addition to the anti-camping ordinance, the City Council recently passed new ordinances that give police more power during the convention.

Police will have greater power to search backpacks and satchels near the convention if officers suspect they are being used to conceal weapons.

The debate over what is and isn't allowed at Occupy Charlotte will likely be magnified during the DNC, as protesters seek to maximize their ability to promote their message.

Questions over Enforcement

What's undisputed is that the anti-camping ordinance doesn't require anyone to leave city property. Protesters can remain on the old City Hall lawn, or any other city-owned public space, 24 hours a day.

Katy Parker of the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina said a tent used to protect someone from the weather - and not for living or sleeping - could be allowed under the revised ordinance.

Parker said the ordinance would likely allow police to remove a tent filled with a sleeping bag, clothes and other personal items. But an empty tent being used by someone for non-living accommodations would be OK, she said.

"When you have the provision that allows the tents, I don't know how they are going to enforce this," Parker said.

Charlotte attorney Ken Davies, who has been consulting with Occupy protesters, said the wording of the ordinance could present the city and police with a "quandary."

He said it will be difficult for police to determine whether a person is sleeping inside a closed tent. Once they open the tent's doors, or request that someone open the tent, anyone who is sleeping inside will be awake, he said.

In addition, Davies said someone could be lying down and meditating in a tent, which is allowed.

"When you deal with First Amendment rights, you can't have the police making judgment calls," Davies said. "It's unfair to the police."

Charlotte City Attorney Bob Hagemann has said the change was implemented after tea party activist and former council candidate Matthew Ridenhour noted during a public hearing that conservative protesters had used sun shades or canopies and that the ordinance needed flexibility.

Hagemann has said he couldn't speculate on how police may interpret the new anti-camping ordinance.

"I don't how the police will approach it," Hagemann said. "If I speculate, it could reveal law enforcement tactics."

He added he doesn't want to get into a public discussion of how "people might play games" to continue camping on the site.

CMPD, in a statement to the Observer Thursday, said, "Each tent or temporary structure will be reviewed to determine if it is in violation of the ordinance. We will take into consideration the totality of the circumstances which includes the statements made by the occupiers and the how the tents have been used during their occupation."

Council members have been confused about what the anti-camping ordinance does. During the debate, some mistakenly thought there would be a curfew, for instance.

James Mitchell, a Democrat, said he didn't focus in-depth on what the camping ordinance said. His impression is that people could use tents for informational booths.

"The only way I can see tents being permitted is for parades and shows," Mitchell said.

John Autry, a Democrat who was the only council member to vote against the ordinances, said he believes the tents can stay "so long as you aren't sleeping in it."

"You can sit in the tent all day," Autry said. "As soon as you roll out a sleeping bag, that's a different issue."

Other Cities

In New York City, where the Occupy movement started, the private owner of Zuccotti Park prohibited tents and sleeping bags. The police then cleared the park, in keeping with the property owner's wishes.

In South Carolina, Occupy Columbia lost its bid to camp on the public State House grounds. In November, a lower court judge approved an injunction allowing them to resume full-time protests and approved them having sleeping bags and tents. In December, the state's Budget and Control Board, which Republican Gov. Nikki Haley leads as chairwoman, approved emergency regulations that banned camping and sleeping on State House grounds.

Reynolds Blankenship, a Columbia attorney who is advising the Occupy protesters, said the emergency rules specifically prohibited all camping tents from State House grounds. The protesters have since left, he said.

New Ordinance

The Charlotte City Council passed its anti-camping ordinance Jan. 23, along with other measures to give police more power during the Democratic National Convention. Council members delayed putting the anti-camping ordinance into effect until Jan. 30, giving police and Occupy members time to talk and make plans to clear the space.

CMPD chief Rodney Monroe told council members on Monday that police would meet with protesters and discuss the new city rules.

Michael Zytkow, an Occupy member, said his group is hoping to meet with police over the weekend to determine what's permissible. "Right now it's a work in progress," Zytkow said. "We're trying to be unified. It would be great if we could maintain the symbolic nature of the camp with tents."

Schooly said he anticipates some people will go home and some people will fight for what they believe is their right to camp on the lawn. Others, he said, will try to stay and keep their tents - and show the police they aren't being used for living accommodations.

Said Don Faix of Occupy Charlotte: "The intent is to stay there. We want to fight this."

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Sources: Charmeck.org, McClatchy Newspapers, WCNC, Youtube, Google Maps

Romney vs Obama: What's The Difference? Obama Cares! Mitt Fires! Decision 2012

2012-01-29T00:20:00.000-08:00

Obama vs. Romney: Who will blue-collar Americans hate less?

If Mitt Romney becomes the Republican nominee and faces off against Barack Obama in November, we may finally be able to answer a question that has vexed students of American politics since the heyday of George Wallace: Which elite do white, blue-collar Americans hate more?

Despite Newt Gingrich’s apparent surge in South Carolina, Romney remains the odds-on favorite for the Republican nod. And a Romney-Obama contest would pit the very personification of the two elites that generations of Americans have been brought up to loathe:

the paper-shuffling, unfeeling banker, utterly out of touch with most Americans’ concerns, and who comes from inherited wealth to boot; and the cool, academic social engineer who is culturally estranged from the white working class and isn’t opposed to governments helping racial minorities.

Romney is the model of everything in modern American capitalism that makes people pine for the kinder, gentler capitalism that his father personified. As the head of American Motors, George Romney, Mitt’s pop, made cars. Mitt makes deals.

As Michael Tomasky noted this week, George Romney refused a bonus of $100,000 after American Motors had a good year in 1960, saying that no top executive needed to make more than his $225,000 annual salary ($1.4 million today). Romney the lesser has a fortune estimated in the hundreds of millions for his work in private equity, extracting vast amounts of money from the firms — successful and not — that Bain Capital took over.

The younger gets all manner of tax breaks that his father never could, apparently availing himself of the special rate for private equity and hedge fund managers that, he admits, has brought his rate down to around 15 percent.

Worse yet, Romney comes off as a walking, talking compendium of upper-class cluelessness. His offer of a $10,000 bet to Texas Gov. Rick Perry, his dismissal of his yearly speaker fees (around $370,000) as pocket money, his equation of corporations and people — these and other off-the-gold-cufflink comments depict a guy whose points of intersection with the lives of most Americans are few and far between. A rich kid who became a bean counter:

Could anything be worse?

In the demonology of the American right, however, there surely is something worse: a liberal, cultural elitist who sees — from the ivory tower — the mission of government as catering to (lazy) minorities. If Romney represents the target of classic left populism, dating to the farmer-worker upsurge against Gilded Age capitalists, Barack Obama seems sent by central casting to embody the target of neo-classic, racist right populism. Think of George Wallace’s attacks on not only minorities but also on their enablers — “pointy-head bureaucrats,” professors and elitist journalists (“Huntley and Chinkley and Walter Contrite,”

Wallace said in a burst of almost surreal demagogy) who had no understanding of or sympathy for the white working class. To those who think Wallace’s attacks are passe, may I call to your attention Gingrich’s put-down of moderator Juan Williams in this week’s Fox News debate?

In his own way, Obama has as little of the common touch as Romney. In the faux populism of the right, his lack of affinity for certain blue-collar pleasures (He can’t bowl! He doesn’t hunt!), his concern for climate change and other supposed abstractions, are all depicted as signs of contempt for blue-collar lives. Add Rick Santorum’s attack on Obama’s remark that it would be a good thing if every American went to college — a comment, Santorum said, that reeked of hubris and elitism by denigrating workers — to Gingrich’s labeling of Obama as the food-stamp president, and it’s abundantly apparent how the right will go after Obama this fall.

The white working class may be a shrinking segment of the American electorate, but it’s still massive. Over time, as this group has become deunionized and downwardly mobile, and as GOP standard-bearers have learned to channel Wallace’s appeal in less explicit ways, these voters have moved steadily into the Republican column.

But with Romney as Obama’s opponent, the surge of blue-collar whites into Republican ranks may be smaller this year than GOP strategists have anticipated. Indeed, an Obama-Romney contest opens the door wide for a third-party challenger on the populist right.

That’s not a Ron Paul (too culturally libertarian), and surely not the kind of candidate whom the culturally liberal, fiscally conservative third-party advocates of Americans Elect seek, but someone in the mold of a Gingrich or Santorum who is willing to leave the Republican fold. America doesn’t need a neo-Wallace, but this would be a supremely tempting year for one to come forth.

Sources: Reuters, Washington Post, Youtube

Romney vs Gingrich: Wealthy Establishment vs Blue Collar Anti-Establishment

2012-01-29T00:06:00.001-08:00

In Florida, Romney vs. Gingrich is a fight for GOP's direction

Reporting from Cocoa Beach, Fla., and Brooksville,— As Brenda Mulberry stepped into the natural-food grocery in Cocoa Beach this week, she paused to tick off elements of her shopping list for a candidate in Tuesday's Florida primary. Electability was at the top, and for that reason she's backing Mitt Romney.

Mulberry, 53, owns a small business manufacturing souvenir T-shirts, so she appreciates Romney's moneymaking skills and thinks critics should stop attacking him simply because he's rich. As for Newt Gingrich, Mulberry is certain the thrice-married former House speaker would lose in November.

She can hear President Obama now: "Well, I've been married to Michelle for all this time.... If he can't run his own personal life, then how's he going to run a country?"

But Jeff Cloud, 59, who makes a living doing yardwork in Florida's rural interior, questions whether Romney has the toughness it takes to sit in the Oval Office. For that reason, he leans toward Gingrich.

"He's fought a lot of battles," Cloud said, sitting at a picnic table outside the public library in Brooksville. "With Romney, I just don't know if his background is strong enough to be what we need as a leader."

The fight for the Republican presidential nomination, now centered in Florida, has become more than just a contest between Romney and Gingrich. It has become a battle over the direction of the party, between different visions of whom it serves — Wall Street or Main Street? — and whom it should represent.

It is an old fight, waged intermittently for more than 50 years, with different candidates — Eisenhower versus Taft, Rockefeller versus Goldwater, Dole versus Buchanan — in the roles of establishment favorite and conservative alternative. (Spoiler alert: The establishment pick almost always wins the nomination.) It is a fight, as well, between classes and cultures, evidenced by the support won this year by each of the main contenders in the three contests so far.

Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, has drawn his greatest backing from more-affluent voters, the better-educated and those less enamored of the tea party movement. Gingrich has run best among those who are less comfortably off, voters with greater economic anxiety and those angriest at Washington and its institutions. (Rebellious outsider may be an improbable role for someone who has spent decades inside the Beltway and profited handsomely from his knowledge. But as University of South Florida political science professor Susan MacManus put it, "Newt's just their megaphone.")

The social and economic divide is clear here in Florida, where Tuesday's contest will probably come down to Republicans living in a broad swath that cuts roughly across the center of the state, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean.

Hernando County is on the western side of the I-4 corridor, Florida's main east-west route, and stretches from the gulf to the Withlacoochee and Little Withlacoochee rivers. The county was among the fastest-growing in the state, its economy heavily dependent on construction, but now it has one of the highest unemployment rates: 12.7%, compared with 9.9% statewide and 8.5% nationally.

Brooksville, the county seat with a population of around 8,000, is located roughly in the middle. Residents are poorer and less educated than most Floridians, and their homes are worth far less than the state's average.

With the housing industry in such poor shape, economic prospects are grim and the political conversation is freighted with the language of suspicion and resentment.

People question how Romney, who is worth hundreds of million of dollars, can possibly relate to the common person, and some openly express their discomfort with his Mormon faith. They like the fact that Gingrich is a fighter — something many believe the more patrician Romney is not — who could give Obama and others in Washington a fat punch in the nose. Former candidate Herman Cain, who also played to that sentiment, endorsed Gingrich on Saturday night.

"He's exactly what he says he is and, watching him over the years, he does exactly what he says he's going to do," said John Nyhof, 67, a retired auto body repairman and truck driver.

"I think he'll destroy Obama," Nyhof said, relishing the thought.

On the other end of I-4, Cocoa Beach and the surrounding region soared with the ascendance of the space program, which gave the area its name, the Space Coast, and, more, its identity. Along with schools like Apollo Elementary and Astronaut High, there is Armstrong Drive, Grissom Parkway, John Glenn Boulevard and the indelible "countdown" area code: 321.

Brevard County, which takes in most of the Space Coast, lost an estimated 13,000 jobs with the end of the space shuttle program last summer, and while local leaders are working to turn the region into a hub of arts and eco-tourism, unemployment is 10.8%. Housing prices continue to tumble, people are walking away from their homes and the future seems as bleak as the shuttered storefronts along coastal Route 1.

Still, the average county resident is better off and better educated than most Floridians, and the sense of grievance among Republicans, while real, lacks the populist edge that has helped fuel Gingrich's campaign.

There, Romney's financial success is seen as a sign of intelligence and hard work, not greed or corporate ruthlessness. "If he's done as well as he's done in business, then I think there's a lot he can do to turn around the economy," said James Wittholt, 39, who commutes from Titusville to a structural design job in Orlando.

Gingrich visited the Space Coast on Wednesday and delivered an audacious promise: He vowed to colonize the moon by the end of his second term. The pledge drew an enthusiastic response at a rally of supporters, but in Thursday night's debate, Romney called it pandering and financially untenable at a time the country is swimming in debt and looking for ways to cut spending.

Others along the Space Coast agreed.

"Oh, that's crap," snapped Richard Gilbert, 71, a NASA retiree. "Who wants to live on the moon?" he said, his eyes and an arm sweeping skyward. "I don't want to live on the moon. You want to live on the moon? That's a promise he can't keep and we know that."

Gilbert, who lives in Titusville, has already voted; he cast his ballot for Romney. "Mitt to me seems like he's the most logical one," he said. "He knows how capitalism works and knows how to get this country on track. At least, I hope so."

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Sources: L.A. Times, MSNBC, Youtube, Google Maps

College Affordability Linked To Federal Student Loan Reform? YES! Eliminating Student Loan Mills!

2012-01-28T23:47:00.000-08:00

Mixed Reviews of Obama Plan to Keep Down College Costs

In a Campus visit Friday morning, President Obama outlined his plans to keep college tuition costs in check, getting a wildly enthusiastic response at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.

Students cheered his oratory on the importance of a college degree, expanded student aid, affordable college costs — and, of course, his many references to Michigan, a key swing state.

But out in the world, the reaction to the president’s proposals — tying colleges’ eligibility for certain federal aid programs to their affordability and outcomes — was far more tempered.

Most people stressed that they, too, wanted to make college education more affordable. But when it came to the particulars of the plan — and paying for it — there was no consensus.

“The idea of helping students and families pay for college is very popular,” said Terry W. Hartle, vice president of the American Council on Education. “On the other hand, nobody would bet on Congress passing much of anything this year, given the poisonous political atmosphere we are living in.

The problem is, many of the president’s ideas are fairly pricey.”

Briefing reporters on Friday afternoon, Department of Education officials said they would release information next month on how the plan could be financed, as part of the budget process.

Generally, in academia, there was strong support for the President’s plan to double work-study jobs and to expand the pool of money available for Perkins loans.

And some leaders, like Bill Powers, president of the University of Texas, liked the administration’s idea of tying aid to results.

“He’s proposing a form of performance funding for a portion of federal spending, and my view is that, whatever level of funding we’re talking about, that’s the approach we ought to take,” he said.

But others said they felt public higher education would suffer from tuition increases that were an inevitable result of state budget cuts. And while they appreciated the president’s advocacy for affordable higher education, many were wary of his plan.

“The answer is not going to come from more federal controls on colleges or states, or by telling families to judge the value of an education by the amount young graduates earn in the first few years after they graduate,” said David L. Warren, president of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.

He warned of unintended consequences: If colleges are forced to cut corners, educational quality could decline.

In Congress, reaction to the plan seemed to divide along party lines.

“The president is saying that people can’t afford to go to college anymore, and that just simply is not true,” said Representative Virginia Foxx, the North Carolina Republican who is chairwoman of the House Higher Education subcommittee. “Tuition is too high at most schools, but it isn’t the job of the federal government to punish those schools. It’s very arbitrary, and the president sounds like a dictator.”

Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, a Republican and a former federal secretary of education, offered his own ideas of improving academic efficiency: “I’ve suggested that they could offer three-year degrees to some students. Colleges could also operate more in the summertime, which would make more efficient use of campuses and reduce their costs.”

Many Democrats offered only the blandest of statements praising the president for tackling the affordability issue. “The president’s higher education proposal rightly calls on colleges, universities and states to maintain a commitment to keep college costs low making it easier for American families and their children to afford a college education,” Representative George Miller, Democrat of California, said in a statement.

Past efforts to rein in college costs have not fared well on Capitol Hill. Nine years ago, Representative Howard P. McKeon, a California Republican, proposed to cap colleges’ tuition increases at twice the rate of inflation, with sanctions including the loss of federal aid, but colleges protested, and the bill died in committee.

At the American Council on Education, there are concerns that Mr. Obama’s proposal to track outcomes by collecting information on graduates’ debt and earnings would harm institutions that train Head Start teachers and other important but low-paid professionals, while rewarding business schools.

Molly Corbett Broad, the council’s president, said many complex questions remained to be answered, among them, how affordability should be judged, and what the effect would be on public institutions that had had to raise tuition because of deep state funding cuts.

Furthermore, she said, even if the administration’s Race to the Top grant competition may have worked in leveraging change in K-12 schools, higher education is so different that it is not clear that the president’s proposal for a similar competition to spur state higher-education reform would be a good tool.

“The devil’s in the details,” she said. “And we don’t know the details yet.”

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Sources: NY Times, White House, Youtube, Google Maps

Romney Out Polls Gingrich & Pres. Obama In Florida: Where's Obama's Re-election Team?

2012-01-28T23:29:00.000-08:00

Poll: Romney holds big lead over Gingrich in Florida

ABOUT THIS POLL:

The telephone survey of 800 registered Florida voters — all likely to vote in the general election — was conducted Jan. 24-26 for The Miami Herald, El Nuevo Herald, Tampa Bay Times, Bay News 9 and Central Florida News 13.

The poll was conducted by MasonDixon Polling & Research, a nonpartisan, Jacksonville-based company.

The margin of error overall is 3.5 percentage points.

For GOP primary questions, the margin of error is 4.5 percentage points.

In Florida’s Republican primary, Mitt Romney’s lead looks insurmountable — and he beats President Barack Obama in a head-to-head race, poll shows.

Newt Gingrich swaggered into Florida as a Republican front-runner, but now he’s close to slipping out as an also-ran against a resurgent Mitt Romney.

Gingrich is badly trailing Romney by 11 percentage points, garnering just 31 percent of likely Republican voters heading into Tuesday’s presidential primary, according to a Miami Herald/El Nuevo Herald/Tampa Bay Times poll released late Saturday night.

President Barack Obama should be wary as well. Romney beats Obama by a 48-44 percent spread — a lead inside the error-margin, however — in a theoretical general-election matchup, the poll shows.

In the Republican primary, Romney’s lead looks insurmountable. It cuts across geographic, ethnic and gender lines. And the poll indicates Romney’s attack on Gingrich as a Freddie Mac insider is a hit with GOP voters.

“What does Gingrich need to do? I would say Romney would need to implode,” said Brad Coker, pollster with Mason Dixon Research & Associates, which conducted the survey from Tuesday through Thursday.

“If there’s no 11th hour surprise,” Coker said, “this race is looking right now like it’s over.”

Rick Santorum and Ron Paul — who did not campaign in Florida — are running well behind and have little chance of pulling into serious contention in the nation’s largest swing state, which holds 50 of the 1,144 delegates needed to help secure the GOP’s nomination at this summer’s convention in Tampa.

Late Saturday, former GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain endorsed Newt Gingrich, but it's unclear how that could help Gingrich make up such a big deficit.

Romney is running strongest in Southeast Florida, from the Keys to the Treasure Coast. About half of all voters favor him here. Gingrich gets about a quarter of the vote. Similarly, 52 percent of Hispanic voters favor Romney, compared to just 28 percent who support Gingrich.

Hispanic voters, namely Cuban Americans, have played an outsized role in this election. They account for 72 percent of registered Republicans in Miami-Dade, the state’s most-populous county with about 368,000 GOP voters.

“I’m going to vote for Romney because I think he’s a dedicated businessman,” said Juan Perez, a 69-year-old Cuban Republican and former Port of Miami worker. “At least he has made his own money and is a capable businessman. He is also an ethical and moral man.”

Hispanics account for up to 14 percent of the total ballots cast in a GOP primary in Florida. But they can be pivotal, especially in Miami-Dade, home to nearly 60 percent of all Hispanic Republicans. Miami-Dade’s vote accounted for about half of John McCain’s 2008 statewide margin over Romney in 2008, and it gave Mel Martinez about 90,000 more votes than Bill McCollum in the 2004 Republican Senate race.

As a result, the candidates spent an inordinate amount of time in Miami this past week, visiting the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday and then returning Friday to the Hispanic Leadership Network and the Latin Builders Association. Romney could be in Cuban-heavy Hialeah on Sunday.

“The Cuban voters here will probably be more homogenous in how they vote than in other parts of the state,” said Dave Custin, a top-tier Miami-Dade political consultant.

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Sources: Miami Herald, PBS News, Politico, Youtube, Google Maps

Tracey Cline: BLACK, Female NC District Attorney Retaliated Against After Filing Complaints

2012-01-28T23:08:00.001-08:00

Watch this at Winston Salem Journal

Durham DA suspended from duty

A Franklin County Judge decided Friday to suspend Durham County District Attorney Tracey Cline from her duties pending a hearing next month.

Cline's accusations of bias against Durham County Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson put her own performance under scrutiny in recent months and led one defense attorney to push for her ouster.

Defense attorney Kerry Sutton filed an affidavit that alleges Cline has "brought the office of the Durham County District Attorney and the entire Durham County justice system into disrepute."

The filing is the first step required by law to remove Cline from office.

On Friday, Sutton said, “It’s an on-going process, and by the time we get to the end everyone has a chance to make their case.” She and Cline will get that opportunity Feb. 13.

Cline has repeatedly accused Hudson in recent months of bias against her and has asked to have him barred from handling criminal cases in Durham County. Two other Superior Court judges have found Cline's complaints to be groundless.

Hudson, the chief judge in Durham County, handed the complaint over to Superior Court Judge Robert Hobgood, who on Friday suspended Cline with pay.

Marcia Morey, a former assistant district attorney in Durham and current District Court Judge, said “It’s a sad day for Durham. The justice system is supposed to be working for the people of this county."

The clash not only puts Cline on the sidelines, it could cause chaos in her office, according to Irv Joyner, a law professor at North Carolina Central University.

"You have a feud or an attack involving the top two elected officials in our court system here, and that does not look good," Joyner said. "It's not good for our profession nor is it good for Durham County."

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Sources: Winston-Salem Journal, WRAL, Youtube, Google Maps

TSA vs White Passengers: Pat Downs Are Ok For BLACKS Not Whites!

2012-01-28T21:11:00.000-08:00

TSA rail, subway spot-checks raise privacy issues

Rick Vetter and his teen son got a pretty good look at the legal line between privacy and security last month, as they wrapped up a day trip to Charlotte, North Carolina.

After watching the NFL's Atlanta Falcons beat the Carolina Panthers, they were looking forward to a three-hour train ride back home to Raleigh when they arrived at the train station.

Walking up a ramp toward the platform, they noticed what appeared to be a uniformed Transportation Security Administration officer holding a leashed police dog.

"He just loosened the leash on the dog, and the dog came over to check me out," Vetter said. Standing on the platform above Vetter were three other officers who appeared to be wearing bullet-proof vests.

As the guard dog smelled him, Vetter -- who has two dogs of his own -- told the officer that it probably was reacting to the smell of Vetter's pets.

"The TSA officer said 'OK' or something like that. Then it was clear that the dog had done what he needed to do, and we went on up the ramp to get on the train."

"I'm sure somebody who wasn't comfortable with dogs would have found it a lot more disconcerting than I did, but I sort of didn't worry about it," said Vetter, an attorney for the Environmental Protection Agency.

The Vetters had encountered VIPR -- special TSA Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response teams that are tasked with performing random, unpredictable baggage and security checks at passenger train, subway and bus stations as well as trucking weigh stations across the nation.

TSA officials like to point out that the acronym stands for Transportation Security Administration, not the Airport Security Administration. And that's where VIPR comes in.

Born after 2004's Madrid railway bombings, VIPR suffered some embarrassing coordination struggles, transit officials say.

The program has 15 teams and is expanding to get access to 12 new teams to spot-check thousands of transportation depots across the nation.

VIPR teams conducted 3,895 operations in "surface modes" nationwide in 2010, according to the Department of Homeland Security (PDF).

The expansion comes after intelligence from Osama bin Laden's Pakistan compound revealed al Qaeda plans to target U.S. rail systems on the tenth anniversary of 9/11.

At a time when TSA airport searches are unpopular among many air travelers, civil liberties groups say VIPR's joint participation with local police in "warrantless" searches have been "flying under the radar" in violation of constitutional protections.

Transit police say it helps them better guard against attacks like those that have hit Madrid, London and Moscow since 2004.

VIPR teams join local authorities for many of their operations aimed at searching passenger bags. Authorities say officers include plainclothes and uniformed team members -- some of them armed -- who arrive without telling passengers in advance.

Officers in the joint operations then randomly ask travelers for permission to search their bags for explosives. To prevent accusations of profiling, searchers choose a random number -- eight for example -- and then search the bags of every eighth passenger before they board.

Also, VIPR observers may be in the vicinity, keeping an eye out for suspicious behavior, police say.

Local and federal authorities insist the searches are not mandatory.

But passengers who refuse are not allowed on the train, forcing some travelers to make a tough decision.

"If you're going to make a choice between having somebody search you -- even though you question whether they have the right to do that -- or having to find another way home, I'd probably have let them search me," Vetter said. Luckily, he said, it didn't come to that. Officers did not ask to search his backpack.

As an attorney for the EPA, Vetter is pretty familiar with his Fourth Amendment constitutional right protecting him from "unreasonable searches."

"At the airport, everybody now understands it's part of the process," he said. "You can either choose to deal with it or not. But in a surprise situation like that, I would not have been pleased."

'Security theater'

New Jersey Transit Police Chief Christopher Trucillo, who works regularly with VIPR teams, acknowledged that the search system isn't perfect.

Potential attackers carrying explosives who refuse searches are free to simply drive to the next station on the line and board there.

"Because of the sheer number of passengers, there's nothing that would prevent you from doing that," Trucillo said. But there also are "things behind the scenes that are not visible to the traveling public that we employ to keep our system safe."

This isn't security, Christopher Calabrese of the American Civil Liberties Union says. It's "security theater."

Such searches offer no protection to society at the cost of passengers' civil liberties and convenience, he says. "We're very troubled by the VIPR program."

A high-profile example of VIPR's growing pains, transit officials say, is a VIPR-assisted passenger screening a year ago at Amtrak's station in Savannah, Georgia.

Instead of screening passengers as they boarded trains -- which is standard security procedure -- officers were screening passengers as they were getting off trains.

Security experts know that makes no sense, because potential terrorists probably would be interested in bringing explosives onto trains, not taking them off.

When Amtrak's police chief, John O'Connor, got wind of it, he "was very clearly angry," said Trains Magazine reporter Don Phillips, who spoke to O'Connor at the time.

O'Connor and TSA officials then hammered out an agreement on how future VIPR/Amtrak operations would be conducted.

The chief now says the Savannah operation simply "didn't make a whole lot of sense, and VIPR has since realized their misunderstanding and have corrected what they do."

"We were pleased with the way O'Connor responded," said Sean Jeans-Gail of the National Association of Railroad Passengers, who fears that the searches might affect a more than century-old tradition in America's train stations.

"The TSA needs to understand that train stations are not airports, they're publicly open hubs for community activity, which often include shopping facilities.

The TSA needs to be more mindful of that."

VIPR-assisted transit and rail searches haven't been challenged in court, but it's likely, civil liberties groups say. "I think expanding the program will be problematic politically and legally," said Ginger McCall of the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

Any courtroom battle over VIPR searches will pick apart the Fourth Amendment, which bars police searches unless there's "probable cause" to believe a crime has been committed.

But the TSA claims "administrative search authority" to conduct random checkpoint searches of passengers and baggage at "surface transportation venues" without probable cause, according to TSA spokeswoman Kimberley Thompson.

"... the administrative search does not require probable cause, but must further an important government need, such as preventing would-be terrorists from bringing an explosive device onto a crowded commuter train," Thompson said.

In certain very limited circumstances, especially after the 9/11 attacks, courts have ruled that Fourth Amendment rights don't apply because of the threat of terrorism.

In a 2006 case that didn't involve VIPR, subway rider Brendan MacWade and three others sued the City of New York and its police commissioner, challenging passenger bag searches at subway entrances where people were chosen at random.

MacWade lost on appeal because the court ruled the searches were legal under the Fourth Amendment's "special needs doctrine."

"The courts have said that -- because airplanes are so vulnerable to hijacking and bombs -- certain privacy interests have to be sacrificed," CNN Senior Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin said. "I think subways are a harder call because so many people ride them and they don't fly in the sky.

But because they're underground and vulnerable, the court said the searches were OK. Would it be the same at a bus station or a busy city street? The line starts to get very tough."

Few Amtrak passengers have ever refused to be searched, O'Connor said. "We've done thousands of them, and I would say less than a handful of people have chosen to seek other transportation."

The TSA says VIPR is performing the searches often at the invitation of local or state authorities. "TSA is not arbitrarily going out there now and searching passengers and trying to violate their rights," Thompson said. "We're conducting searches in conjunction with the stakeholders."

Is VIPR working? It's hard to know.

When asked if VIPR has ever directly resulted in discovered explosives or the arrest of suspected attackers, Thompson said, "Specific operational results are considered security sensitive information.

Although the value of deterrence is difficult to measure directly the presence of law enforcement transportation security personnel VIPR assets increases the difficulty with which potential terrorists plan and conduct terrorist activity."

VIPR's spot-checking role, rail security experts say, saves the high cost of deploying officers at every passenger transportation depot in the nation -- which they point out would be virtually impossible.

The surprise element of a VIPR team accompanying local police at a train station or truck weigh station on the day of a planned attack might force a terrorist to cancel the attack.

"This kind of unpredictability is another tool in the toolbox to manipulate and play with their minds and cause a level of tactical deterrence," Rand security analyst Brian A. Jackson said.

As Amtrak's O'Connor puts it: "You never know where those search scenes are going to show up."

Watching the truckers

Truckers driving their rigs through Tennessee last October were surprised to be caught up in a VIPR joint exercise with local law enforcement targeting five freight truck weigh stations and two bus stations, CNN affiliate WTVF reported.

"Transportation Security officers did not search the trucks," the TSA's Thompson told CNN. "Technically, if you think about a dog walking around a truck, sniffing for trace explosives, from my understanding is still technically a search.

That's the only search the VIPRs were actually involved in." TSA officers, she said, were mostly handing out fliers. "They weren't out there searching people, and they weren't out there searching trucks."

The action was described as a statewide VIPR operation, and officials told WTVF that it wasn't a response to any particular threat, which troubles the American Trucking Associations.

"Adding security personnel at weigh stations in unfamiliar federal uniforms is not likely to raise the comfort level of commercial drivers entering weigh stations, unless there is a threat to the highway sector," ATA spokesman Martin Rojas said.

It "doesn't seem like the best use of TSA resources unless there is information or intelligence that supports increased highway security."

What other countries are doing

Spain and Russia significantly beefed up their rail security in the years after deadly terrorist bomb attacks killed 191 in Madrid in 2004 and 40 in Moscow in 2010.

Although there are no regular baggage checks for passengers on Spanish trains, subways and buses, the nation's bullet trains do use electronic scanners.

Far more undercover plainclothes agents and uniformed officers are believed to be stationed in or near major transit hubs. Madrid's metro trains use a private security patrol force and closed-circuit video surveillance.

Moscow -- with the world's second-busiest subway system -- has spent $1.6 billion over three years to strengthen its transit security, said security analyst Rick Nelson of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

U.S. transit officials look to VIPR to augment security during tough financial times for many communities.

"We'd prefer to see a greater investment directly with the transit agencies," said Greg Hull of the American Public Transportation Association.

"Failing that, having the ability to draw upon these resources that are under the control of the Department of Homeland Security certainly is a viable alternative."

For the Vetters, their father-and-son brush with train passenger searches offered a real-world life lesson.

Rick Vetter remembers that his wife recently gave him a refrigerator magnet featuring a quote from Ben Franklin: "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."

"The VIPR operation certainly didn't amount to that," Vetter said. "They could have handled it better in the sense that they could have provided some advance warning that they're expanding this to train stations and bus stations."

The Ben Franklin magnet sprang from his son's government lessons in school, Vetter said, which led to a family discussion about tradeoffs in society.

"You've got to decide in society where you're going to draw some of those lines," Vetter said. "You, as an individual, may or may not agree where that line is drawn, but once it's drawn, you've got some choices to make."

Sources: CNN, TPM, Youtube, Google Maps

Rick Santorum's Miracle Child Hospitalized: She Deserves To Be Here!

2012-01-28T20:49:00.000-08:00

Rick Santorum’s daughter Bella is hospitalized; candidate cancels Sunday morning campaign plans

Rick Santorum’s campaign announced late Saturday that his 3-year-old daughter Isabella, seriously ill with a genetic disorder, has been admitted to Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia, and he is canceling his plans to campaign in Florida on Sunday morning.

However, the campaign’s statement said, the former Pennsylvania senator plans to resume campaigning as soon as possible. Santorum’s campaign says he currently plans to take part his scheduled 2 p.m. rally in Sarasota and, as of now, has only canceled his morning plans to attend a Miami church.

His daughter, known as Bella, has the genetic disorder Trisomy 18. When Santorum speaks of her illness publicly, it comes in conjunction with his goal of overturning President Obama’s health-care overhaul, which Santorum says is a threat to those like Bella, “on the margins of life.”

The full statement is below:

“Verona, PA - The Rick Santorum for President campaign has issued the following statement on the admittance of Isabella Santorum to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Hogan Gidley, National Communications Director, said: ‘Rick and his wife Karen are admitting their daughter Bella to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia this evening. The campaign will cancel Rick’s upcoming Sunday morning Florida campaign schedule. However, Rick intends to return to Florida and resume the campaign schedule as soon as is possible.’”

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Sources: AP, Des Moines Register, Washington Post, Youtube, Google Maps

Oakland OCCUPY Protesters vs Oakland Police: Economic Injustice vs Brutality

2012-01-28T19:21:00.000-08:00

Police use tear gas on Oakland Occupy protesters

Oakland police used tear gas and "flash" grenades Saturday to break up hundreds of Occupy protesters after some demonstrators started throwing rocks and flares at officers and tearing down fencing.

Three officers were hurt and 19 people were arrested, the Oakland Police Department said in a release. No details on the officers' injuries were released.

Police said the group started assembling at a downtown plaza Saturday morning, with demonstrators threatening to take over the vacant Henry Kaiser Convention Center. The group then marched through the streets, disrupting traffic.

The crowd grew as the day wore on, with afternoon estimates ranging from about 1,000 to 2,000 people.

The protesters walked to the vacant convention center, where some started tearing down perimeter fencing and "destroying construction equipment" shortly before 3 p.m., the release said.

Police said they issued a dispersal order and used smoke and tear gas after some protesters pelted them with bottles, rocks, burning flares and other objects.

Most of the arrests were made when protesters ignored orders to leave and assaulted officers, the release said. By 4 p.m., the bulk of the crowd had left the convention center and headed back downtown.

The demonstration comes after Occupy protesters said earlier this week that they planned to move into a vacant building and turn it into a social center and political hub. They also threatened to try to shut down the port, occupy the airport and take over City Hall.

In a statement Friday, Oakland City Administrator Deanna Santana said the city would not be "bullied by threats of violence or illegal activity."

Interim police Chief Howard Jordan also warned that officers would arrest those carrying out illegal actions.

Oakland officials said Friday that since the Occupy Oakland encampment was first established in late October, police have arrested about 300 people.

The national Occupy Wall Street movement, which denounces corporate excess and economic inequality, began in New York City in the fall but has been largely dormant lately.

Oakland, New York and Los Angeles were among the cities with the largest and most vocal Occupy protests early on. The demonstrations ebbed after those cities used force to move out hundreds of demonstrators who had set up tent cities.

In Oakland, the police department received heavy criticism for using force to break up earlier protests. Among the critics was the mayor, who said she wasn't briefed on the department's plans. Earlier this month, a court-appointed monitor submitted a report to a federal judge that included "serious concerns" about the department's handling of the Occupy protests.

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Sources: ABC News, AP, CNN, Wikipedia, Youtube, Google Maps

Herman Cain Endorses Newt Gingrich! It Doesn't Mean Anything

2012-01-28T19:10:00.001-08:00

Cain endorses Gingrich

Atlanta businessman and former presidential candidate Herman Cain endorsed Newt Gingrich Saturday night at a West Palm Beach Country Republican gathering after two months of wavering on whether he would offer his support to a fellow candidate.

The endorsement comes just three days before the crucial Florida primary, by far the largest state to vote so far in the GOP sweepstakes, and could help Gingrich energize tea party support. Gingrich campaign has flagged since his upstart, double-digit victory over front-runner Mitt Romney in the South Carolina primary a week ago.

"I had it in my heart and mind a long time ago" to endorse Gingrich, Cain said in a surprise appearance at the dinner. "Speaker Gingrich is a patriot, Speaker Gingrich is not afraid of bold ideas, and I also know that Speaker Gingrich is ... going through this sausage grinder. I know what this sausage grinder is all about. I know that he's going through this sausage grinder because he cares about the future of the United States of America."

Cain's ended his presidential bid in early December amid claims of sexual harrassement by several women who worked for him over the years and amid a charge from an Atlanta woman that the two carried on a longstanding marital affair. Until the allegations surfaced, Cain had been steadily gaining ground as a serious primary contender, attracting hundreds of people to his campaign events and winning over tea party activists with his outsider's message and calls for a "9-9-9" flat tax plan.

Cain and Gingrich walked onto stage together to a huge round of applause from the audience, whose excitement continued throughout the former candidate's brief remarks. As Gingrich took the stage after him, he joked that when he accepted the invitation to speak at the West Palm Beach County GOP Lincoln Dinner, he "had no idea it would be this interesting."

Gingrich's campaign can only hope that the support of the once-popular candidate will give a shot of life to his campaign, which is beginning to falter in Florida after a series of rough debates and nonstop attacks from Romney and a super PAC supporting Romney. But Cain's support may have lost his luster after nearly two months out off the campaign trail.

Always unpredictable, Cain had suggested as recently as last week in South Carolina that he would not endorse one of the remaining Republicans in the field. "Here is my unconventional endorsement. Not a candidate seeking the nomination. Not someone that's not running. My unconventional endorsement is the people! We the people of this nation are still in charge," he said.

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Sources: AP, CBS News, Youtube, Google Maps

Black Job Applicants Turned Away Due To Unnecessary Credit & Criminal Background Checks

2012-01-28T13:51:00.000-08:00

Blacks need not apply: Report shows rise in job discrimination

Today, it is estimated that 65 million U.S. adults have a criminal record and continue to face barriers to employment as a result.

According to a new report by the National Employment Law Project (NELP), the overuse of imposing criminal background checks and blanket bans against hiring people who have been charged with even a misdemeanor offense is a practice that has been adopted by at least 10 leading national employers, including Bank of America, Aramark, Lowe's, Domino's Pizza and Radio Shack, among others.

In 1987, the EEOC issued policy guidelines that determined barring people from employed based solely on a criminal conviction history disproportionately excluded African-Americans and Latinos from the labor market because they are overrepresented in the criminal justice system.

Just as it is illegal to overtly discriminate by race, ethnicity or skin color, it is also a violation of civil rights law for an employer to use non-job related selection criteria that disproportionately disadvantages people of color in hiring decisions.

Still, the violations are numerous and bold. NELP's four-month scan of Craigslist, which operates in more than 400 geographic areas of the U.S., documented more than 300 ads precluding the consideration of individuals with criminal conviction histories:

"No Exceptions!...No Misdemeanors and/or Felonies of any type ever in background."
"Do not apply with any misdemeanors/felonies."
"You must not have any felony or misdemeanor convictions on your record. Period."

Though each of these statements violate the EEOC prohibition against blanket bans, employers and their recruitment agencies continue to artificially and illegally limit the pool of qualified candidates for available jobs. The effects take not only a toll on resources in our institutions, as violations are now leading to considerable legal and community advocacy; they also take a human toll as well.

Darrell Langdon, from Chicago, struggled with addiction in his youth.

Despite this setback, he has persevered through the years, working as a boiler room fireman in the Chicago Public Schools and then as a mortgage broker. Though sober for more than 20 years, his 25-year-old felony conviction for possession of cocaine remains on record.

In 2008, Mr. Langdon applied to be a boiler room engineer in the schools. Despite the fact that he'd been clean for more than two decades and that he had prior experience in the schools, he was initially rejected for the job because of his conviction. It was only after Mr. Langdon's case benefited from substantial publicity, that the school system reversed its decision and hired him for the position in 2010.

"When they denied me for the job, I couldn't believe it, especially since it was because of something that happened way back then," said Mr. Langdon. "I just felt that there was no way they could deny me this job, so I went through the motions to contest it. I'm at work right now, and I feel great about it!"

Though research has confirmed that employment helps to thwart recidivism, and many of our public leaders, including U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis acknowledge employment as a pathway to help keep former incarcerated people "out of the legal system," our public policies and private employment practices often fail to consider long-term impact on our communities when people are illegally prevented from reclaiming their lives.

For example, Calvin Moore, who is 59 years old, grew up in a tough neighborhood in Washington, DC. He was convicted and served a 10-year sentence: 3 ½ years in prison, and the remaining 6 ½ years on parole.

Mr. Moore tried to start over and took college courses, but in the late 1980s, he again found himself face-to-face with the criminal system, after being unable to find a job. He was finally able to find various jobs that did not pay well, were hazardous to his health, and ultimately did not provide any benefits.

Over the years, Mr. Moore started developing some serious health problems from these poor jobs, and was forced to go on SSDI. Since August 2008, Mr. Moore has been out of work. He has been diligently looking for a job and since that time, has applied for over 42 jobs. Unfortunately, he's been turned down by all of them due to his criminal record.

In 2009, Mr. Moore went to the D.C. Employment Justice Center about the possibility of sealing his criminal record under the District's 2006 Expungement and Sealing law, but he was unable to seal any part of his record because the law in DC is so narrowly drafted.

"Things are beginning to happen. I'm trying to obtain my certification as a drug addiction counselor, but I have to be employed before I can continue my education," said Mr. Moore, who is optimistic and still interviewing for jobs. "Within the next couple of months, I hope something concrete settles, part-time, full-time...It doesn't matter at this point."

The report offers several recommendations for combating employer abuses of background checks. In addition to calling for the aggressive enforcement of civil rights and consumer protections that apply to criminal background checks by both the private and public sector, NELP also recommends that employers take a more active role in raising the profile of this issue and promoting best practices with respect to fair employment, beginning with an accurate and appropriate use of criminal background checks.

"We want the employer to do the right thing in the first place. I'd love to see the employer community step up in this area. Our employer best practices guide is a good resource for that," said Michelle Natividad Rodriguez, NELP staff attorney and lead author of the new report.

"In the Bay Area, we have a hotline, and in some cases, we try to represent people who have been affected by this type of discrimination. But if an individual feels they've been affected by an automatic ban, they should reach out to their local EEOC office directly, or to a local nonprofit that can help him or her file a charge with the EEOC, try to have a conversation with the potential employer, or look at the consumer protection laws."

In the end, fair and transparent processes -- in both the public and private sector -- are what lead to the best pool of candidates for our nation's jobs. Unnecessarily excluding qualified candidates from work violates these individual's civil and human rights, and limits the capacity of our inclusive nation. We cannot thrive as a democracy or viable economy when so many -- now 65 million people -- "need not apply."

Sources: The Grio, Youtube

Ban The Box! Fighting Employment Discrimination Via Background Checks!

2012-01-28T13:30:00.000-08:00

Background Checks in Hiring: Discrimination or Due Diligence?

Can Employers disqualify Job Applicants for having a Criminal past?

You’d think the answer might be a flat “yes,” but it turns out the answer may not be so clear cut, reports the Associated Press.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has been cracking down on efforts to disqualify potential hires with criminal records or bad credit history, arguing that the practice can be tantamount to discrimination, as such applicants are disproportionately black or Latino.

Companies have increasingly sought to weed out applicants with bankruptcies, court judgments or credit problems in recent years, as improved technology has made the task easier and easier.

“Our sense is that the problem is snowballing because of the technology allowing these checks to be done with a fair amount of ease,” said Carol Miaskoff, assistant legal counsel at the EEOC, in an interview with the AP.

But some employers say the information gleaned from such databases are critical to making hires that will help them maintain a safe work environment.

“Past indiscretions may be an indicator of future behavior, especially in the criminal context,” Chicago employment lawyer Pamela Devata told the AP.

A blanket refusal to hire someone with a criminal record could run afoul of federal employment law, though. According to the story:

If criminal histories are taken into account, the EEOC says employers must also consider the nature of the job, the seriousness of the offense and how long ago it occurred. For example, it may make sense to disqualify a bank employee with a past conviction for embezzlement, but not necessarily for a DUI.

The EEOC indicated its disapproval of such practices last fall, when it it filed a class-action discrimination lawsuit against Dallas-based Freeman Companies, an events planning firm. The EEOC alleged that Freeman Companies used credit history and criminal records to discriminate against against blacks, Hispanics and males. Freeman has denied the charges, according to the AP.

Criminal Background Checks Upend Job Search For Some Unemployed

First, the College sent a letter.

It welcomed Curtis Andrews, Ed.D, Ph.D, to its adjunct faculty. A few days later, the emails about faculty orientation sessions and department meetings started arriving in Andrews' email inbox. But when a college human resources officer called him three times to ask for details about his 2006 wire fraud conviction, Andrews started to suspect that the job was no longer his.

“He just said, 'We’ll be in touch,'” said Andrews. “By that point, I had filled out, I guess, 70, 80 applications. So, I knew all about the box I have to check saying I have been convicted of a crime and that the applications all say that having been convicted may not prevent you from being hired. But you do get the sense that they get one look at a conviction and they put you in the technological trash … This time, they apparently thought I was qualified, then changed their mind.”

About 65 million Americans -- that’s one in four adults -- have an arrest or conviction that can show up on a routine criminal background check. What’s found can effectively upend their search for work or put them out of a job amid one of the most difficult job markets in recent history, according to a new report released by the National Employment Law Project.

In fact, in the years since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, criminal background checks calibrated to detect everything from arrests on dismissed or expunged charges to misdemeanor and felony convictions have become an increasingly common part of the job application process. A 2010 survey of the Society for Human Resources Management's member firms found that more than 90 percent routinely probe job applicants' backgrounds. The trade group’s members are mostly large employers.

A booming private criminal background industry has made clients of all kinds of companies doing everything from cleaning offices and delivering pizzas to sorting and delivering retail merchandise, said Maurice Emsellem, a policy co-director for the National Employment Law Project and one of the researchers behind the NELP report.

The National Association of Professional Background Screeners, a North Carolina-based industry trade group, could not be reached for comment.

“The industry of private screening firms, they make a big buck off of these practices,” Emsellem said. “They’ve got better and better at identifying and isolating employers who don’t use criminal background checks. The marketing pitch goes something like this: 'All your competitors are doing criminal background checks. Do you want to take the alleged risk?'”

What’s never mentioned is the growing body of evidence suggesting that after as few as three years –- depending on the person’s age and original crime -- people released from prison are no more likely than the general population to commit more crime, Emsellem said. But failing to find legitimate work is a major predictor of a return to jail, according to the NELP report.

That’s part of the reason why nonprofit agencies and even some corrections departments throughout the country are working to help ex-offenders find jobs.

"I think we’ve finally reached the point where people are starting to realize that if we have 3 percent of the world’s population but 20 percent of its prisoners, disqualifying that many people from work once they get out just isn’t sustainable," said Todd Berger, the managing attorney with the Rutgers School of Law-Camden’s Federal Prisoner Reentry Project. Berger oversees a law school clinic in which students seek to resolve some of the issues preventing federal parolees in the area from obtaining work.

In Maryland, Catholic Charities of Baltimore established the Our Daily Bread Employment Center four years ago. The center helps people with criminal backgrounds and limited job skills find work. The program reports serving more than 3,000 people in fiscal 2010. Since July, Our Daily Bread has helped place in jobs 296 of the 540 people who committed to the most intensive part of its program, according to Karen Heyward-West, a program manager for employment services.

Our Daily Bread informs employers about tax credits available to companies that hire ex-offenders, but Heyward-West said one of the program’s most effective tools is the mock interview. About 80 percent of the companies that send volunteer representatives to conduct mock interviews wind up offering to hire the center's clients, putting in a good word at their company for the program or referring clients to job opportunities elsewhere, she said.

“I am just going to be really honest -- there is a fear,” Heyward-West said. “There are people, employers who think we don’t want to hire those people, people with (criminal) backgrounds, people who were previously homeless. That’s a big part of what we have to overcome.”

In 1987, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the nation’s workplace discrimination watchdog agency, issued a statement that declared employer policies that disqualify any job candidates with a criminal record likely illegal. Employers are supposed to consider the age and nature of a conviction and its relevance to the job. Because a disproportionate share of African American and Latino adults have criminal records, blanket policies can effectively discriminate against groups protected by U.S. civil rights law, the commission said.

Still, the National Employment Law Project report found ample evidence of job ads that overtly exclude anyone with a criminal conviction. In a review of ads posted on Craigslist during a four-month period in five major cities, researchers found more than 300 ads in which employers stated that applicants with criminal records would not be considered. One ad for a sewer cleaning technician read, “***Do not apply with any misdemeanors/felonies.***”

“This is a major civil rights issue and a violation of the law,” NELP's Emsellem said.

There are entire industries where people with any type of criminal history –- no matter how minor or old –- will have difficulty finding work. After 9/11, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security began requiring truck drivers to undergo background checks in order to pick up or drop off loads at certain locations, such as ports. Truck drivers with a criminal record can request a waiver, but if the waiver is declined, a driver’s ability to work just about anywhere on the east or west coast is virtually destroyed, Berger of the Rutgers-Camden law clinic said. At least three or four times per semester, Berger said, his clinic hears from a truck driver who is having problems getting the necessary clearance to work at a port.

The situation defies reason, Berger said.

“You can understand how someone with an embezzlement conviction should not work in a bank or why someone with a child pornography charge should not work with kids," he said. "But you cannot understand how a drug conviction should disqualify someone from driving a truck or working as a janitor for the rest of their lives.”

A series of lawsuits filed last year against staffing companies and corporations has highlighted just how common blanket bans on hiring applicants with criminal records have become. A 2010 suit filed against First Transit, Inc. alleges that the busing company won’t hire anyone who has been convicted of a felony or served a single day in jail.

The practice isn’t limited to private employers. A class action lawsuit filed last year claims that the U.S. Census Bureau has refused to even consider applicants with criminal records for temporary Census jobs.

“Another part of the problem is the total lack of regulation on background check providers and the extremely high number of errors that pop up in their reports,” said Elizabeth Farid, deputy director of the National HIRE Network. HIRE is a New York-based nonprofit founded by the Legal Action Center, an advocacy group that opposes hiring discrimination against those with criminal records, HIV/AIDS or a history of addiction.

HIRE distributes information and advocates for policies that may expand job opportunities for people with criminal records. It also runs The Rap Sheet Workshop, in which job seekers with a criminal record are taught how to discuss their past in a frank but productive way. Participants are also shown how to identify duplications and errors and find help getting their records corrected.

Some cities, including Chicago, and states such as Michigan have implemented policies that require public agencies or private employers to stop automatically screening anyone with a criminal record out of the applicant pool.

But, there are also places like New Jersey.

Andrews called the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General after the community college backed away from his job offer. Andrews said office staff told him that they were no longer taking on criminal background check-related civil rights cases.

In an email, the New Jersey attorney general's office declined to comment on Andrew's case or its plans to pursue cases involving employers and criminal background checks.

“If I had a hard time, I don’t know what the hell some of the people who are being released form jail are supposed to do,” said Andrews, who has found an adjunct slot teaching liberal arts courses at another New Jersey community college. “People have to be able to work.”

Killing puts background checks in spotlight

The killing of a south Charlotte store manager - allegedly by a felon hired to work there - highlights the risks companies take when they hire an employee with a criminal record, or don't do a full background check on applicants.

The Flying Biscuit Cafe in StoneCrest shopping center faces possible fines or other penalties from the Alcohol Law Enforcement division for hiring Mark Anthony Cox, 22.

Background checks are only legally required in certain fields, such as child care and for people who work with the elderly, but the Flying Biscuit could be penalized because businesses aren't allowed to hire Felons convicted in the last three years for jobs that involve serving alcohol.

Cox is accused of stabbing 25-year-old Danielle Watson to death and robbing the store the night of Jan. 13. Prosecutors also have said they plan to charge Cox with a second count of murder in connection with Watson's unborn child.

He was released from prison in November, state records show, after serving nearly two years for robbery and breaking and entering.

A state Department of Crime Control and Public Safety spokeswoman said the Flying Biscuit's owner told ALE agents that a background check wasn't performed on Cox. The owner did tell WBTV that Cox had acknowledged a conviction during his interview. It's not clear if the owner knew the nature of the conviction.

Attempts to reach Flying Biscuit owner Hugh Bigham were unsuccessful Friday.

"A lot of small employers just don't think about background checks, or say they don't have the money," said Kenny Colbert, president of the Charlotte-based human resources group The Employers Association. He said the cost of a full screening is usually about $50, although there are North Carolina-only screens that go for as little as $10.

In the Charlotte region, Colbert said, 90 percent of companies with 500 or more employees do pre-hiring background checks, based on a survey of The Employer Association's nearly 900 member businesses. In contrast, only about 20 percent of firms with 20 or fewer employees said they do background checks.

Companies that don't conduct background checks on employees could be exposing themselves to legal liability, Colbert said. Employers lose more than 70 percent of negligent hiring lawsuits, according to statistics from background check company American DataBank.

Employers spend roughly $2 billion a year checking out employees, according to published reports. A wealth of material also is available free online, such as N.C. Department of Correction records, which detail Cox's prior conviction.

Timothy Keister, general partner at Charlotte-based background check company Total Screening Solutions, said business has been steady through the recession and recovery. He said his company does background checks and drug tests on behalf of large employers, but also for smaller employers.

"In this bad instance we have here, more than likely we would have pulled it up," said Keister, talking about Cox's past conviction.

He said his role isn't to tell employers whether to hire someone, but to enable them to decide based on the facts.

Advocates for those with criminal records point out that nearly everyone who is sentenced to prison will be released at some point, and they are less likely to be involved with further crimes if they can find legitimate work.

Employers shouldn't assume that someone with a criminal record will cause harm in the workplace, said Myra Clark, executive director of the Charlotte-based Center for Community Transitions, which provides employment and transition services to people with criminal records.

"There are a lot of people who have an encounter with the criminal justice system, and that's the only encounter they're ever going to have," she said. "There are people who make a conscious decision to change their lives."

Often, a search of someone's criminal record will show arrests for charges that may later have been dismissed. That might make it difficult for employers to determine which charges they should pay attention to, Clark said. Last year, background check company HireRight agreed to pay $28.4 million to settle claims related to not notifying people their background was being checked, and not responding to complaints of inaccurate information.

Outside of industries that are legally required to conduct background checks, there's little in the way of universal standards when it comes to employer liability, said Bernard Tisdale, managing partner for the Charlotte office of labor law firm Ogletree Deakins.

"It's all a matter of degree," said Tisdale. "It's all gray. Not everybody has got a duty to do a background check."

Aside from extreme cases - "bringing on the convicted ax murderer with ongoing psychological problems," as Tisdale put it - employer liability can vary greatly. It depends, for instance, on the type of business, and whether the employer kept the employee on despite warning signs.

Tisdale also said employers could put themselves at risk of legal action if a background check prompts them to improperly reject an applicant.

Colbert tells employers to examine how relevant and recent a prospect's criminal record is.

Background checks have figured in several high-profile N.C. cases. The estates of two women who were beaten to death at Galloway Ridge retirement home near Chapel Hill sued the facility in 2010. They claimed the facility should have done a background check on the cleaning woman convicted in their killings. The case is still in court.

But employers can be faulted even if they performed background checks, especially if those checks miss something.

The city of Charlotte has paid more than $617,000 to defend and settle lawsuits stemming from former Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer Marcus Jackson. He was arrested and charged with sexually assaulting women during improper traffic stops. CMPD admitted that a pre-employment screening didn't turn up a domestic violence restraining order filed by Jackson's girlfriend, which should have disqualified him.

And Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is being sued by a former South Mecklenburg High School student who claims she was sexually victimized by a band director. A proper background check, the lawsuit alleges, would have found a history of inappropriate behavior with students at previous schools. CMS said it conducted a thorough background check.

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Sources: AOL, HuffPost, The Grio, Wall Street Journal, WCNC, Youtube, Google Maps

North Carolina Pushes Background Checks Again: Due Diligence, Safety Or Discrimination?

2012-01-28T13:08:00.000-08:00

Killing puts background checks in spotlight

The killing of a south Charlotte store manager - allegedly by a felon hired to work there - highlights the risks companies take when they hire an employee with a criminal record, or don't do a full background check on applicants.

The Flying Biscuit Cafe in StoneCrest shopping center faces possible fines or other penalties from the Alcohol Law Enforcement division for hiring Mark Anthony Cox, 22.

Background checks are only legally required in certain fields, such as child care and for people who work with the elderly, but the Flying Biscuit could be penalized because businesses aren't allowed to hire Felons convicted in the last three years for jobs that involve serving alcohol.

Cox is accused of stabbing 25-year-old Danielle Watson to death and robbing the store the night of Jan. 13. Prosecutors also have said they plan to charge Cox with a second count of murder in connection with Watson's unborn child.

He was released from prison in November, state records show, after serving nearly two years for robbery and breaking and entering.

A state Department of Crime Control and Public Safety spokeswoman said the Flying Biscuit's owner told ALE agents that a background check wasn't performed on Cox. The owner did tell WBTV that Cox had acknowledged a conviction during his interview. It's not clear if the owner knew the nature of the conviction.

Attempts to reach Flying Biscuit owner Hugh Bigham were unsuccessful Friday.

"A lot of small employers just don't think about background checks, or say they don't have the money," said Kenny Colbert, president of the Charlotte-based human resources group The Employers Association. He said the cost of a full screening is usually about $50, although there are North Carolina-only screens that go for as little as $10.

In the Charlotte region, Colbert said, 90 percent of companies with 500 or more employees do pre-hiring background checks, based on a survey of The Employer Association's nearly 900 member businesses. In contrast, only about 20 percent of firms with 20 or fewer employees said they do background checks.

Companies that don't conduct background checks on employees could be exposing themselves to legal liability, Colbert said. Employers lose more than 70 percent of negligent hiring lawsuits, according to statistics from background check company American DataBank.

Employers spend roughly $2 billion a year checking out employees, according to published reports. A wealth of material also is available free online, such as N.C. Department of Correction records, which detail Cox's prior conviction.

Timothy Keister, general partner at Charlotte-based background check company Total Screening Solutions, said business has been steady through the recession and recovery. He said his company does background checks and drug tests on behalf of large employers, but also for smaller employers.

"In this bad instance we have here, more than likely we would have pulled it up," said Keister, talking about Cox's past conviction.

He said his role isn't to tell employers whether to hire someone, but to enable them to decide based on the facts.

Advocates for those with criminal records point out that nearly everyone who is sentenced to prison will be released at some point, and they are less likely to be involved with further crimes if they can find legitimate work.

Employers shouldn't assume that someone with a criminal record will cause harm in the workplace, said Myra Clark, executive director of the Charlotte-based Center for Community Transitions, which provides employment and transition services to people with criminal records.

"There are a lot of people who have an encounter with the criminal justice system, and that's the only encounter they're ever going to have," she said. "There are people who make a conscious decision to change their lives."

Often, a search of someone's criminal record will show arrests for charges that may later have been dismissed. That might make it difficult for employers to determine which charges they should pay attention to, Clark said. Last year, background check company HireRight agreed to pay $28.4 million to settle claims related to not notifying people their background was being checked, and not responding to complaints of inaccurate information.

Outside of industries that are legally required to conduct background checks, there's little in the way of universal standards when it comes to employer liability, said Bernard Tisdale, managing partner for the Charlotte office of labor law firm Ogletree Deakins.

"It's all a matter of degree," said Tisdale. "It's all gray. Not everybody has got a duty to do a background check."

Aside from extreme cases - "bringing on the convicted ax murderer with ongoing psychological problems," as Tisdale put it - employer liability can vary greatly. It depends, for instance, on the type of business, and whether the employer kept the employee on despite warning signs.

Tisdale also said employers could put themselves at risk of legal action if a background check prompts them to improperly reject an applicant.

Colbert tells employers to examine how relevant and recent a prospect's criminal record is.

Background checks have figured in several high-profile N.C. cases. The estates of two women who were beaten to death at Galloway Ridge retirement home near Chapel Hill sued the facility in 2010. They claimed the facility should have done a background check on the cleaning woman convicted in their killings. The case is still in court.

But employers can be faulted even if they performed background checks, especially if those checks miss something.

The city of Charlotte has paid more than $617,000 to defend and settle lawsuits stemming from former Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer Marcus Jackson. He was arrested and charged with sexually assaulting women during improper traffic stops. CMPD admitted that a pre-employment screening didn't turn up a domestic violence restraining order filed by Jackson's girlfriend, which should have disqualified him.

And Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is being sued by a former South Mecklenburg High School student who claims she was sexually victimized by a band director. A proper background check, the lawsuit alleges, would have found a history of inappropriate behavior with students at previous schools. CMS said it conducted a thorough background check.

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Sources: McClatchy Newspapers, WBTV, WCNC, Youtube, Google Maps

Bill Faison Joins Race For North Carolina Governor! Where's Cal Cunningham?

2012-01-28T12:32:00.001-08:00

NC Rep. Bill Faison says he's running for Governor

Democratic state Rep. Bill Faison announced his bid for North Carolina governor on Saturday, saying he's the best candidate to restore education and health care jobs through his work in the Legislature and when he reaches the Executive Mansion next January.

Faison's decision means there will now definitely be a Democratic gubernatorial primary in May. Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton joined the race within hours of Gov. Beverly Perdue announcing Thursday she wouldn't seek a second term. At least a half-dozen other Democrats are considering whether they have the money, message and organization to win the nomination and take on likely Republican nominee Pat McCrory in November.

"I've heard the requests to step up and assume a position of leadership in the state of stepping up on the issues that matter," Faison said at a Greensboro hotel where the state Democratic Party was meeting. "I believe that what I should do ... is to step forward for the people of our state to go and run for the people for the office of governor of our state - to go and run for the office of governor for the reason of implementing solutions that matter, of making the government work for people."

Faison's entry was expected: The Orange County medical malpractice attorney had toyed with a gubernatorial bid for months and had been going around the state in campaign-style talking up a plan to raise sales taxes. He predicted in the fall that Perdue wouldn't run despite her campaign saying for months she would. Perdue was expected to speak Saturday night to the dinner crowd in her first public appearance since her surprising decision not to run for re-election.

Faison, 64, continued his verbal attacks upon Republicans. He blames them for passing a budget last June that cut hundreds of millions of dollars from public schools, the University of North Carolina system and Medicaid. He claims the budget will cost 36,000 public and private sector jobs. Republicans say those job numbers are extremely exaggerated. Republicans passed legislation in 2011 on abortion, voter identification and gay marriage.

"What they've had their focus on has been a radical social agenda of a few in their party rather than the issues that matter to all of us, which are jobs education, the economy and energy," Faison said, surrounded by four of his children and other family members.

But Faison also tried to contrast himself with Dalton, arguing he put out his "jobs plan" to raise the sales tax most people pay from 6.75 percent to 7.45 percent. He's expanded that plan to other areas, such as working to make sure every high school student has a computer or tablet and free high-speed Internet access at home.

"What I have not seen in the last five months is him or really anyone else at that level really stepping out to really come on board and help move things forward," he said. "The difference that immediately comes to mind is that not only do I listen, not only have I heard, not only have I come up with a plan that no one else has done but I'm here to implement that plan."

Dalton said Friday he supports a proposal Perdue rolled out earlier this month to raise the base sales tax to 7.5 percent temporarily, with proceeds designed to protect education. Dalton said he'd be open to other ideas but Republicans haven't offered anything else.

Faison said he would decide later whether he would give more of his personal funds to his campaign. He already said he's making a personal loan of $500,000 to his campaign. Dalton had nearly $600,000 in his campaign coffers as of Dec. 31.

Other Democrats considering a gubernatorial bid as the campaign filing period begins Feb. 13 include former state treasurer Richard Moore, current Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx and ex-U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge. Many Democrats have also said they want former UNC system president Erskine Bowles to get in.

Faison, a Wake County native, went to UNC law school in Chapel Hill. He is twice divorced and has six children.

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Sources: Fox News, McClatchy News, WRAL, Youtube, Google Maps

Mitt Romney vs NBC: Take Down Gingrich Ethics Ad With Network's Content!

2012-01-28T11:42:00.000-08:00

NBC objects to Mitt Romney’s "History Lesson" ad

A harsh new ad from former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney uses news footage from 1997 to remind voters of then-House speaker Newt Gingrich’s ethics violations.

“History Lesson” is unusual in that neither Romney nor Gingrich appears. The entire 30-second spot consists of an NBC News report from Jan. 21, 1997, the day Gingrich was reprimanded by Congress for using tax-exempt money for political purposes and giving the House Ethics Committee false information.

NBC News has asked the Romney campaign to pull the ad off the air.

“I am extremely uncomfortable with the extended use of my personal image in this political ad,” NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw said in a statement. “I do not want my role as a journalist compromised for political gain by any campaign.”

NBC News has also objected to the use of its material.

“Good evening,” Brokaw says in the vintage clip. “Newt Gingrich, who came to power, after all, preaching a higher standard in American politics, a man who brought down another speaker on ethics accusations, tonight he has on his own record the judgment of his peers, Democrat and Republican alike. By an overwhelming vote, they found him guilty of ethics violations; they charged him a very large financial penalty, and they raised — several of them — raised serious questions about his future effectiveness.”

With the Florida primary just three days away, Romney is leading in polls and also dramatically out-spending Gingrich on television ads.

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Sources: NBC, Romney Campaign, Washington Post, Youtube, Google Maps

Grover Norquist Threatens Pres. Obama! GOP Will Impeach Him Over Bush Tax Cuts!

2012-01-28T10:54:00.000-08:00

Grover Norquist King Of The GOP Anti-Tax Movement (For RICH People) Has Publicly Threatened Pres. Obama!
Apparently Norquist Knows Pres. Obama Will Be Re-elected But Says If He Refuses To Extend Those Job Killing Bush Tax Cuts, GOP Lawmakers Will Impeach Pres. Obama! OMG!
So I Take It This Means Norquist Firmly Believes The GOP Will Be In Control Of Both Congressional Chambers Right?
This Fool Is CRAZY!

Impeach Obama?

While other Washington insiders are wringing their hands over the lack of action expected on Capitol Hill in this election year, Grover Norquist is studying his color-coded maps.

The antitax advocate and president of Americans for Tax Reform is taking the long view on Congress and charting the ways that Republicans could eventually control the House, Senate, and White House, along with statehouses across the country (all while making sure politicians adhere to his anti-tax pledge).

“The context for the next 12 months is that 2011 was supposed to be the ‘Year of the Tax Increase’—you know, like the ‘Year of the Woman’ or the ‘Year of the Dragon,’ ” he says with a smirk.

But, last year was not marked by tax hikes at all, thanks to congressional gridlock and the failures of various deficit-reduction efforts. For Norquist, that means 2012 could practically be a vacation, or at least a fun year of dreaming about future slashes in marginal rates. He recently spoke to National Journal. Edited excerpts from the interview follow.

NJ What are the major points of tax policy you’re looking at this year?
NORQUIST Even Obama is not going to want to raise taxes, because it’s an election year. He came up with this idea for the one-year tax holiday so he could claim that he’s for a tax cut. Mind you, it’s a temporary tax cut, but he does not want to run as a tax increaser. I think we’re in reasonably good shape.

Between now and November, I believe we will see a one-year extension of the FICA tax [cut]. I believe we will see the extension of [the break on] depreciation spending. And then the third one that you could have is repatriation.

If I was Obama’s political consultant, I’d have put repatriation on the table when he extended the Bush-era tax cuts by two years [in 2010]. The estimates are that it would bring $6 [billion] to $800 billion back. If I were president, I would love to have that money flow back into the real economy, not the Solyndra economy, the year before I’m running for office.

NJ At the end of 2012, a number of major tax provisions, including the Bush-era cuts, are set to expire. Do you have any predictions?

NORQUIST We’re focused on the fact that there is this Damocles sword hanging over people’s head. What you don’t know is who will be in charge when all of this will happen. I think when we get through this election cycle, we’ll have a Republican majority, [though] not necessarily a strong majority in the Senate, and a majority in the House.

The majority in the House will continue to be a Reagan majority, a conservative majority. Boehner never has to talk his delegation going further to the right.

If the Republicans have the House, Senate, and the presidency, I’m told that they could do an early budget vote—a reconciliation vote where you extend the Bush tax cuts out for a decade or five years. You take all of those issues off the table, and then say, “What do you want to do for tax reform?”

Then, the question is: “OK, what do we do about repatriation and all of the interesting stuff?” And, if you have a Republican president to go with a Republican House and Senate, then they pass the [Paul] Ryan plan [on Medicare].

NJ What if the Democrats still have control? What’s your scenario then?

NORQUIST Obama can sit there and let all the tax [cuts] lapse, and then the Republicans will have enough votes in the Senate in 2014 to impeach. The last year, he’s gone into this huddle where he does everything by executive order. He’s made no effort to work with Congress.

NJ The Republicans seem more divided over tax policy than in the past. The House Republicans didn’t want to pass the payroll-tax holiday bill, even though that was a tax cut. Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania proposed revenue increases as a super-committee member. Do you think the party is in disarray over its take on taxes?

NORQUIST Those are different things. Toomey is deciding on which unicorn he’d like if unicorns existed, and you’re asking me if I’m unhappy about his choice of a pet? There aren’t any unicorns. The Democrats are not going to make permanent what they said was their nonnegotiable plan for a 25 percent corporate and individual tax rate. The Democratic Party cannot physiologically do that.

NJ So you don’t get mad when Republicans propose tax increases if you feel they won’t come to fruition?

NORQUIST There’s no point in spending any time getting too worked up on imaginary conversations about imaginary things. The disarray you had was the House and the Senate being on different rhythms, and the House not understanding that anyone would lie so completely about what they’d just done.

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Sources: AOL, HuffPost, Meet The Press, National Journal, NBC, Youtube, Google Maps

BLACK Voters In The 21st Century! What Is Our Vote Worth Now?

2012-01-28T09:14:00.000-08:00

How Much Is The BLACK Vote Worth In 2012???
I Am A Registered Independent NOT A Registered Democrat! But I’m Supporting Pres. Obama.

As The 2012 DNC Convention In Charlotte, NC Approaches I Feel It Necessary To Pose This Very Important Question To Democrat Leaders:
What Is The BLACK Vote Worth In 2012??
Why Do I Suddenly Feel That While Campaigning For Re-election This Year Pres. Obama Will Slowly Try To Move Towards The Center (Again)??
I Can Almost Feel It Deep Within My Soul That Once Again Pres. Obama Is Listening To His Team In The White House Instead Of "We The People" (Includes BLACK People Too).
His White House Team Is Advising Him To Move Towards The Center To Attract Upper Middle Class WHITE Voters.
Well What About BLACK Voters Being Disenfranchised Due To GOP Voter ID Laws? What About Former Upper Middle Class BLACK Voters Now Unemployed Due To Bush's Deregulated Wall Street Policies?
What About Low Income BLACK Seniors Now Retired With Little To Live On?
What About BLACK Vets Who After Defending Their Country Are Experiencing Difficulty Finding Good Paying Jobs They're Qualified For?
What About BLACK College Students Riddled With Student Loan Debt? What About BLACK College Grads Experiencing Difficulty Finding Work Due To Employment Discrimination?
What about For-Profit Colleges & Vocational Schools Robbing BLACK, Low Income Students Via Student Loans? (Student Loan Mills!)
What About BLACK Youth Locked Up In Prisons In Every State?
What About Police Brutality Such As In Charlotte, NC Where Even With A BLACK Police Chief We Are Still Being Harassed?
What About BLACK Ex-Cons Who Want To Work But No One Will Hire Them?
What About Qualified BLACK Applicants Who Can't Find Employment Due To Unnecessary Background Checks?
What About BLACK Communities Being Hit Hardest By Foreclosures?
What About BLACK Homeless Families & BLACK Homeless Veterans?
What About VA Hospitals Turning BLACK Vets Into Prescription Pill Addicts (South Carolina)??
What About Housing Discrimination Against BLACK Applicants Seeking To Rent In NYC?
What About BLACK Community Leaders (Including Mayors) Receiving Federal Funds But Doing NOTHING To Help Their BLACK Constituents?
What About BLACK Public School Students Being 30 Years Behind WHITE Students? What About BLACK Entrepreneurs Or Would-Be Entrepreneurs Who Can't Get A Break Due To Lack Of Opportunity?
Especially BLACK Entrepreneurs Desiring To Enter Silicon Valley/ Web 2.0?
What About The BLACK Progressives?
What About Us?
We've Been Patiently Waiting For 3 1/2 Years Pres. Obama While Every Other Group Received Something From Your Administration.
What About Us Pres. Obama? I Know You Need EVERY Vote But Please Don't Move Towards The Center & Abandon The American BLACK Community.
What About Us?

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Sources: Charlotte2012, Youtube, Google Maps

Charlotte Leaders Hike CATS Fare Again! But Reduce Service In Some BLACK Neighborhoods!

2012-01-28T08:05:00.000-08:00

Please note that what you have viewed on the video above is NOT the way Charlotte's Mass Transportation System functions Citywide.

Charlotte, NC like most Southern Cities is still 20 years behind Major Metropolitan Cities as it relates to the benefit Of Mass Public Transportation.
Especially Major Metropolitan Cities on the East Coast.
Charlotte City Leaders like other Southern City Leaders, believe ONLY Low Income Citizens use Public Transportation, thus they rarely invest in Improving that segment of Public Service.
Of course Nothing could be further from the Truth!
More than 85% Of New York City & New Jersey residents including Very Well-To-Do Citizens, frequently use Mass Public Transportation traveling to & from Work on a Daily basis.
In fact there are many, many New Yorkers who have NEVER possessed a Drivers' License due to the city's Very Efficient Public Transportation System. i.e., Amtrak, Subway, Buses, Ferry.
This includes thousands of Wall Street employees who live in Connecticut & Pennsylvania but prefer to travel via Public Transportation versus Driving hundreds of miles.
By providing Efficient means of Mass Public Transportation in BLACK, Latino & WHITE Communities, in return those East Coast Major Metropolitan Cities reap HUGE Revenue Profits Annually from the Passengers!
So it would be to the benefit of Charlotte's future to STOP Stereotyping the type of Passengers who utilize its Mass Public Transportation System & just invest in improving the entire Freaking System Citywide NOT just in Charlotte's WHITE Communities!
Thank You

Bus, rail fare hike sought

Still struggling with stagnant sales-tax revenue, the Charlotte Area Transit System is seeking a fare increase for bus and light rail - its fourth hike since 2008.

CATS is proposing to raise the one-way local fare for buses and trains to $2, up from $1.75.

The fare hike is expected to generate an additional $2.5 million in revenue. The transit system expects ridership to decline by 3 percent because of the hike.

CATS receives roughly half of its budget from the half-cent sales tax dedicated for transit. But since the 2008 recession began, tax revenues have plummeted.

Olaf Kinard, CATS director of marketing and communications, said the sales tax is stuck at 2005 levels.

"We have reduced over $23 million in expenses," Kinard said. "But you run against the sales tax. We don't know yet what will truly happen."

In 1998, the cost of a local one-way bus fare was 80 cents. The next fare hike was in 2004, when it increased to $1.10.

CATS has continued to have increases, in 2006 ($1.20); 2008 ($1.30); 2009 ($1.50); 2010 ($1.75) and now 2012 ($2).

The cost of express buses also would go up.

One-way express bus fares within Mecklenburg County would go from $2.40 to $2.75; one-way express bus fares outside of the county would go from $3.50 to $4.

The Metropolitan Transit Commission will hold a public hearing on the increases at its March 28 meeting.

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Sources: CATS, Charmeck.org, McClatchy Newspapers, WCNC, Youtube, Google Maps

Charlotte Police Officer Puts Dog Feces In BLACK Citizen's Mailbox! Brutality & Harassment!

2012-01-28T07:53:00.001-08:00

Whenever a BLACK citizen tries to assert their Legal rights with a Charlotte Cop, that citizen ends up DEAD Or in a Coma.
But get this!
Charlotte has both a BLACK Police Chief & a BLACK Mayor!
So what's going on?
Is this some kind of local Conspiracy to run many of Charlotte's BLACK residents out of Charlotte? i.e., Mayor Bloomberg style in NYC?
There have even been instances where BLACK College students have tried to assert their legal rights in a Civil manner with Charlotte Cops & those citizens were STILL Arrested!
This is being done from the Top down!
Its almost as if Charlotte's City Leaders & Charlotte Police Chief Actually HATES most of Charlotte's BLACK Citizens.
Something sure smells fishy!

Teen says police officer put dog feces in mailbox

A teen charged with assaulting Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Captain Charles Adkins says he caught Adkins putting dog feces in a friend’s mailbox and that’s what started the fight.

CMPD is now investigating Capt. Adkins and his actions before that confrontation, as well as conducting a criminal investigation into his assault. Adkins was off-duty at the time.

Captain Adkins suffered severe lacerations, plus ended up kicked and punched. He is now on sick leave as a result of the injuries.

Jamel Williams, 16, says he looked out a window Wednesday in the Reedy Creek neighborhood and saw Adkins putting dog poop in friend Kendrick Neely's mailbox.

That is when Williams and Neely both went outside to confront him.

"He knew I knew it was him and he tried to walk away,” Williams said. "He just got all nasty and all angry and we were asking why he'd put it in the mailbox."

Williams claims Adkins admitted putting the dog poop in Neely's mailbox that day, plus several times over the last two weeks. Williams claims Adkins blames him and Neely for recent neighborhood crimes.

Neely was arrested January 10 on three counts of possession of stolen goods. Neely was also arrested January 16 for assault and battery, communicating threats and disorderly conduct.

Williams, meanwhile was arrested last December for breaking and entering, larceny and possession of stolen goods. Williams says he found a bag of stolen items in the woods and was arrested while looking through it but says he didn’t steal it.

Both of their pictures are on flyers distributed in the Reedy Creek neighborhood with the headline "Community Safety Alert." It’s unclear who distributed the flyer.

"He said we'd been doing things in the neighborhood that we haven’t been doing,” Williams said.

Williams says he asked Adkins several times if he was a police officer but didn't get an answer.

That's when Williams says he decided to follow Adkins home and told him he was going to call police on Adkins about the dog poop in the mailbox.

"When I said we were going to follow him to his house, that's when he punched me,” Williams said.

Williams has a swollen lip and bruised arm from the fight.

"He didn't want us to find out he was a cop and that's why he started this whole big thing,” Williams said.

Williams says he had a knife on him and showed it to Adkins but didn't use it in the fight. Williams was arrested and charged with assault and battery.

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Sources: McClatchy Newspapers, WCNC, Google Maps

Romney, Wolf Blitzer & Santorum Win Thursday Night's GOP Debate (Florida)

2012-01-27T10:42:00.000-08:00

Romney beats Gingrich at his own game

The first competitive debating technique I teach is AARP. No, I don't tell my teams to debate like older people. Argue. Attack. Respond. Presence.
Mitt Romney has improved in all four areas, and I can't overstate how important that was in Thursday night's CNN/Republican Party of Florida debate, especially presence.

Argue: Make your case. Romney was better at explaining his ideas.

One example:

On immigration, Romney said the issue involves three categories of people: those who come here illegally on their own, people brought in by coyotes and those who are waiting on one in their own home country. Romney said he believed we should focus our attention on the latter two groups and make legal immigration work better. That idea played well in the debate.

Attack: Point out your opponent's weaknesses. Romney improved here as well. In response to a question that had been first aimed at Newt Gingrich about colonizing the moon, Romney said he would fire anyone who brought him such an idea in this economy. (He really does like firing people.) He went on to make the point that candidates need to stop pandering by promising projects to voters, and ended with, "We've got to say no to this kind of spending."

Gingrich responded that we should not be "cheap everywhere." But he lost the point, especially with fiscally conservative Republicans. Moon colonies, to many, sound utterly ridiculous in this economy, and Romney exploited that fact.

Respond: Don't let criticisms go unanswered. Again, Romney learned from previous debates. He first had an excellent line answering Gingrich's assertion that grandmothers and grandfathers were not likely to "self-deport."

Romney came back:

"Our problem is not 11 million grandmothers." Boom! It both mocked Gingrich's grandmother self-deportation argument while at the same time underscoring the vast issue of illegal immigration.

And on his investments in Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, Romney countered by saying that they were made from a blind trust (a "backward step" in debate strategy).

Romney continued with the "pivot forward" technique, which turns a potential negative into a positive by reminding us that one's financial accomplishments "... shouldn't be seen as a detriment ... [but] as an asset to help America." Perfect. Isn't it nice when something plays out exactly like you drew it up?

Presence: No matter how good your argument is, your delivery must be convincing. Romney made his stand in Florida. He changed his demeanor. And that one change was more important than all the other improvements combined.

I believe Republicans in the South Carolina primary rejected Romney because he didn't look or act like a winner in the debate there. He does now. He bested Gingrich on attitude in front of a raucous crowd -- Gingrich's usual "comfort zone." In other words, he beat Gingrich at his own game.

The first example was when he told Gingrich to stop calling him "anti-immigrant." Romney stared down the former House speaker and said, "The idea that I'm anti-immigrant is repulsive. Don't use a term like that." What followed next was telling.

Gingrich looked away and actually mumbled (almost inaudibly) "I'll tell you what ... " And trailed off. The lecturer (Gingrich) got lectured! It wasn't the slick Mitt with the professional style anymore.

It was a man-to-man stare-down. And Newt blinked. Romney was indignant and believable. That one debate moment might have shifted the balance permanently in his favor.

The other memorable example was when Gingrich was trying to avoid repeating negative statements he made about Romney's finances.

Moderator Wolf Blitzer pressed him, and Gingrich appeared about to squirrel his way out of it when Romney interjected, "Wouldn't it be nice if people didn't make accusations somewhere else that they weren't willing to defend here?" Kaboom! Again, Romney's stage presence was stronger.

And although Gingrich eventually answered the question, by then it was unimportant.
For his part, Rick Santorum went overboard repeatedly.

There's a fine line between criticizing others and being overzealous. Remember, I liked his approach in my previous debate analysis, but last night, Santorum's emotions were overdone.

He looked overheated. In fact, Romney at one point said to him in response to Santorum's passionate phrasing of a question on health care in Romney's home state, "It's not worth getting angry about." The content of Santorum's argument was lost in what sometimes seemed like a manic delivery. He needs to take it down just a notch or two.

Ron Paul? He was pretty darn funny last night, telling Blitzer at one point that the subject at hand didn't really interest him; challenging everyone to a 25-mile bike ride to demonstrate his good health; and suggesting sending politicians to the moon, instead of building colonies there.

But my favorite moment was when Paul was asked about a hypothetical phone conversation he might have with Raul Castro from the Oval Office. Paul's response? "I'd ask him what he called about, you know?" Awesome.

My takeaway: Republicans want somebody to fight for them, and after South Carolina, they seemed to think Gingrich was that guy. Not anymore. As of last night, Republican voters should see Romney as strong enough to be president. And more than anything, that's why he won the debate.

Romney's found his presence. And now that he has, there's zero chance he'll give it up the rest of the way through the primaries.

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Sources: CNN

Pat McCrory vs Anthony Foxx: Foxx Should Seek Congressional Office Instead

2012-01-27T09:41:00.001-08:00

POLL: How would you rate Bev Perdue's term as N.C. governor?
Excellent: 5%
Good: 12%
Fair: 17%
Poor: 67%
Total Votes: 2,042
SOURCE: Charlotte Observer

As it relates to Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx (D) campaigning to become North Carolina's First BLACK Governor, I don't believe he could pull it off right now. He should instead finish his term as Charlotte Mayor & then seek Congressional Office.

Now Before you bash me or tell me I'm being negative, please allow me to explain why I believe this Political theory may be beneficial to Anthony Foxx. Bev Perdue's GOP Challenger former Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory served as Charlotte's Mayor for 14 Years.

He ran against Bev Perdue in 2008 but only lost due to Pres. Obama's Outstanding Nationwide Campaign. As Charlotte's Former Mayor, Pat McCrory did a lot to help Black-Owned Businesses emerge in Charlotte, thus he created a lot of BLACK Charlotte Supporters. Pat McCrory is NOT a Tea Party Republican.

Instead he's a Moderate & he's NOT Hateful or Mean to BLACK people. After losing to Bev Perdue in 2008, Pat McCrory spent the next 3 years preparing for a rematch.

This Man (Pat) has money in the bank & a HUGE amount of Supporters across the state of North Carolina.

While serving as North Carolina Governor, Bev Perdue Wasted, I do mean WASTED Billions in Stimulus Money, Fired Thousands of Teacher, did NOT let those Teachers receive Unemployment Benefits, Used Former NC Revenue Chief Ken Lay Then Threw him under the bus, Stepped on BLACK Voters who helped to Elect her & cut Medicare/ Medicaid for Low Income Seniors but gave Millions in Tax Payer money to North Carolina's Wealthy Coastal Residents.

In addition several of Perdue's 2008 Campaign staff members were Indicted for Campaign Finance Crimes. There was NO WAY Bev Perdue would have been re-elected!

No Way!

In fact She would have hurt Pres. Obama in North Carolina.

She's an Alleged Crook & a Racist! That is why she dropped out! Notice how she dropped out.

She made this announcement late in the Campaign Season knowing it would be difficult for another Democrat to run in her place. I'm telling you Bev Perdue is DIRTY!

North Carolina is still a VERY Racist State! There is NO Way Anthony Foxx (a BLACK Man) would be able to raise the Money or garner enough State Wide Support in 9 Months to run Successfully against Pat McCrory!

If he had more time then Yes. But NOT in 9 Months!

Thus Anthony Foxx should remain as Charlotte Mayor & then run for Congress in 2 years. i.e., Mel Watt's Seat. Mel Watt (D) is TIRED & NO Longer Effective anyway.

He does NOT Care about his BLACK North Carolina Constituents unless they are in his Fraternity or Sister Sorority. So word to Anthony Foxx just keep serving as Charlotte Mayor & then go to Congress.

He could do more for North Carolina on the Federal Level anyway, then on the State level because the State Of N.C. is still a mess for BLACK Citizens!
Peace!

Could it be Charlotte mayor vs. Charlotte ex-mayor in N.C. governor's race?

Could two Charlotte mayors face off for N.C. governor?

That possibility emerged Thursday when Democrat Anthony Foxx said he's considering a race that suddenly opened up with Gov. Bev Perdue's decision not to seek re-election.

Foxx's predecessor, Republican Pat McCrory, plans to launch his own long-anticipated campaign Tuesday, but in a landscape dramatically different from the one he expected.

"He's got a completely different race today than he had last night," said Republican strategist Carter Wrenn. "The world just changed."

Perdue's surprise decision - less than three weeks before candidate filing opens - sent Democrats scrambling. Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton of Rutherfordton was the first to announce his candidacy. State Rep. Bill Faison of Chapel Hill expects to announce soon.

Among those leaving the door cracked was Foxx.

"I remain focused on Charlotte and the substantial work ahead," he said in a statement. "I will spend the coming weeks talking with my family and friends about how I could best serve our city and state, and I ask the public and media for some patience as I work through those conversations."

In his own statement, McCrory said, "My message has been and will continue to be that we must fix our broken government and broken economy and put our North Carolina resources back to work."

Neither Foxx nor McCrory could be reached.

Both would join a long line of Charlotte mayors who have sought statewide office. Each of the last five mayors - back to then-Democrat Eddie Knox in 1984 - have run and lost.

The last was McCrory. Charlotte's only seven-term mayor fell to Perdue in 2008.

McCrory vs. a fresh face

Since then he has prepared for an expected rematch. He has traveled the state in support of other Republicans and promoted GOP causes. And campaign reports due today will show him with around $2 million in the bank.

He has consistently led Perdue in polls. Now that she's out, supporters say the outlook is even brighter.

"We're seeing that literally today with Pat's phone ringing off the hook with people who were on the fence or had not yet gotten involved and wanted to be helpful on the fundraising side," said McCrory strategist Brian Nick.

As an incumbent, he said, Perdue essentially froze out donors who might otherwise have given to McCrory. "Now, he added, "that ice has thawed."

In addition to his war chest, McCrory has another advantage: name recognition. A survey last fall showed him leading Dalton, Faison and even three-term Democratic Attorney General Roy Cooper in hypothetical matchups.

But that may not matter, said Wrenn. "I expect it'll make it a tougher race for (McCrory)," said Wrenn, who ran former Charlotte Mayor Richard Vinroot's 2000 campaign for governor.

"Bev carried a lot of baggage and a lot of negatives ...So a fresh candidate may help the Democrats and make life a little more complicated for Pat. He's still in pretty strong shape, but a fresh face might be harder to beat than Perdue."

Tom Jensen, director of Raleigh's Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling, said surveys suggest McCrory's strongest Democratic challenger would be Charlotte's Erskine Bowles, a former White House chief of staff and president of the University of North Carolina system.

"Democrats have a better chance no matter who the candidate is, but especially if Erskine can be coaxed into the race," he said. "It just changes the whole calculus."

Bowles could not be reached.

Charlottean vs. Charlottean?

Foxx's entry would change it even more.

After two terms on Charlotte's City Council, he became the city's youngest mayor in 2009 at age 38. During his first term, he developed a working relationship with President Barack Obama, was a frequent guest at the White House and played a key role in landing this year's Democratic National Convention.

Though untested statewide, he would bring a strong base. Charlotte is home to almost one in 10 N.C. Democrats.

Foxx is also a proven fundraiser. During two mayoral bids, he raised more than $1.3 million from a national fundraising network.

Their time leading Charlotte could create disputes over who is most responsible for various accomplishments.

Foxx would have served three years. McCrory was Charlotte mayor for 14 years.

During Foxx's last campaign, Republican opponent Scott Stone charged that some of Foxx's touted accomplishments - such as bringing 14,000 new jobs to the city - were in part due to McCrory's earlier efforts.

Michael Bitzer, a political scientist at Catawba College, said a divisive primary could hurt Democrats against McCrory.

"Ideally they would want someone picked (in the primary) so they can start making amends, start solidifying the base and get ready to go into the summer and the fall," he said.

Andrew Taylor, a political scientist at N.C. State, said Foxx - like most other would-be Democratic candidates - would have to work to become known statewide. If he did run, and did win, it could set up a race between two Charlotteans.

"There is this rather absurd argument that you can't elect someone from the Charlotte area as governor," Taylor said. "What we think of as our economic capital to a certain extent would all of a sudden have more political clout than it's had for a while."

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Sources: McClatchy Newspapers, WCNC, WRAL, Youtube, Google Maps

Bev Perdue Won't Seek Re-election! Her Decision Will Help Obama!

2012-01-26T10:53:00.000-08:00

Good News for Obama From N.C.: Dem Gov. Declines to Run in ’12

North Carolina Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue will not seek re-election in 2012, a Democratic source confirmed to ABC News.

That decision should improve President Obama’s chances in the state next November, as Perdue is deeply unpopular, and that unpopularity could have hurt the president — and Democrats in general – in North Carolina in 2012.

Perdue will make the announcement this afternoon. The North Carolina Democratic Party would not confirm whether Perdue had declined to run, only that an announcement would be made Thursday.

In April, an Elon University poll showed that Perdue’s approval ratings had sagged behind Obama’s in the state. Perdue’s disapproval rating was 52 percent, while her approval rating was 33 percent.

Obama, meanwhile, enjoyed a 48 percent job-approval rating and a 46 percent disapproval rating in North Carolina. While reliable polls have been hard to come by in North Carolina, since April a string of automated phone surveys have corroborated Perdue’s unpopularity.

Obama carried North Carolina in 2008, 50 percent to 49 percent for Sen. John McCain. Democrats made significant gains in North Carolina in 2006, and, along with Obama’s victory in Virginia in 2008, North Carolina gave the party hope of an expanded electoral map and newfound competitiveness in the South.

Obama’s campaign has said it would focus its efforts again on North Carolina in 2012.

“We put the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., in part because we believe so deeply in this map,” campaign manager Jim Messina said in a YouTube fundraising video that laid out Obama’s potential electoral strategyin late December.

Had Perdue remained in office, she could have dampened the campaign efforts of President Obama, who would presumably have campaigned alongside Perdue and shared the stage with her at North Carolina events.

Perdue’s tenure saw a series of bad headlines and political disasters that sullied her image after she won the race to the governor’s mansion in 2008.

In September, she caused a stir by suggesting that the United States suspend its congressional elections for two years. In November, three of her aides were indicted for allegedly violating state election law in a scheme to pay a staff member $32,000 for work that was kept off the books.

This month, House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline, R-Minn., launched an inquiry into whether Perdue breached government protocol by alluding to new unemployment numbers in a speech before their scheduled release by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The top Republican candidate to replace Perdue is Pat McRory, who ran against Perdue and lost in 2008. Democrats do not yet have a leading candidate to step into the race, although Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton and Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx appear to be likely contenders.

Bev Perdue will not seek re-election

First-term North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue will not seek re-election, she announced Thursday.

Saddled with low poll ratings, Perdue, a Democrat, was the most endangered incumbent governor of the cycle and faced grim prospects in the fall against Republican Pat McCrory, a former Charlotte mayor who is expected to formally launch his bid in the coming weeks.

“I have spent my tenure in office — and, in fact, my adult lifetime — fighting for things that I care deeply about. And as anyone who knows me will tell you, I do not back down from tough fights,” Perdue said in a statement.

“But I understand this:
We live in highly partisan times, where some people seem more worried about scoring political points than working together to address the real challenges our state faces. And it is clear to me that my race for reelection will only further politicize the fight to adequately fund our schools.

A reelection campaign in this already divisive environment will make it more difficult to find any bipartisan solutions.”

The announcement resets what’s expected to be a vigorously fought open-seat contest in a state that will host the Democratic National Convention and could be crucial to President Obama’s re-election.

Democrats had been fretting for months about Perdue’s prospects but sources indicated Thursday that the governor came to the decision herself and was not forced out by leaders in Washington or Raleigh.

“She’s a very pragmatic woman. The scenario always was, If the polling didn’t turn around, she’d reconsider,” said a Democratic source close to the process. “She saw the writing on the wall and knew that it would be a very tough year ahead.”
Tough is an understatement.

Recent public polling found Perdue trailing McCrory by 10 points and her approval rating mired in the 30s. She had also been plagued by scandal. In November, three of her former 2008 campaign aides were indicted on obstruction of justice charges following a grand jury investigation that found a staffer was allowed to work off the books.

Her campaign also faced self-inflicted wounds when she suggested in September that congressional elections be suspended for two years, and in May when her son took to Facebook to accuse a McCrory fundraiser of adultery.

Most recently, she issued a picked a fight with the GOP-lead General Assembly through a string of vetoes and proposed a new sales tax to fund education.
Following Perdue’s announcement, which is scheduled for Thursday afternoon, Democrats will swiftly turn to finding a replacement.

Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton and Attorney General Roy Cooper have been floated as potential contenders, but Democrats believe no matter who becomes the nominee they’ll ultimately be in stronger position to hold this critical governorship.

“For the last two years Republicans have made this race about Bev Perdue because that’s all they had. Starting today it’s going to be all about Pat McCrory, a failed mayor, an unsuccessful candidate for governor,”said a Democratic source.

Republicans signaled they won’t allow the eventual candidate to carve out any distance from Perdue.

“As governor, Bev Perdue continues to set the Democrat agenda in Raleigh, which now includes a massive, job-crushing sales tax hike. No matter how hard they try, whoever emerges as the Democratic Party’s successor to Bev Perdue won’t be able to run from the Democrats’ record of higher taxes and disappointing job losses,” said Republican Governors Association Executive Director Phil Cox.

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Sources: ABC News, CNN, Fox News, Politico, WRAL, Youtube, Google Maps