Anthony Foxx's Success Linked To Pres. Obama's...Reality

Charlotte's New Mayor Anthony Foxx's success is linked to Pres. Obama's. Its Reality whether one wishes to accept it or not.

If Pres. Obama (America's first African-American President) fails so will every other Black Leader in this country.

Why?

If you are a Minority Citizen in this country White America doesn't care about how pretty your resume is as it relates to Education or Experience.

(As we have learned from the Obama Administration staff, qualifications which look good on paper don't always carry over into real life.)

White America simply wants to know can Minority Citizens do the job and do it well?

This factor is especially true for African-Americans and Hispanics.

Just being able to give "Feel Good" speeches, having a nice smile and a calm demeanor isn't enough (as Pres. Obama has now learned).

For example Pres. Obama's "HOPE" has turned into NOPE because of what appears to be his poor job performance in the White House. (I said "appears to be")

I guess Pres. Obama's Speech Writers never read the bible verse "Faith without works is dead". (James Chapter 2 verse 20)

"HOPE" doesn't pay Mortgages, keep the lights on or fill a hungry child's stomach.

White Voters aren't the only ones sorely disappointed with Pres. Obama, so are many Black Voters.

Do I want Pres. Obama to fail?

Of course not!

However if he continues to focus ONLY on keeping Big Banks afloat, NOT choose to use that $200 Billion of unused TARP (Taxpayer) money correctly by launching Direct Hire Jobs Programs like the WPA versus just giving Tax Cuts (Corporate Welfare) as Incentives for Hiring people (both is what's needed), neglecting America's Middle Class and basically totally Ignoring America's Black Communities even though Racial Discrimination has increased tremendously since his Inauguration, Pres. Obama will ONLY be a one term President whether he chooses to believe this fact or not!

WPA Programs would not only jump start the US Economy with Infrastructure opportunities, but WPA type Job Initiatives would put many Middle Class, Low Income Minority Workers and Less Educated Citizens back to work.

No offense but it appears as if the Obama Administration is trying to pull a "Hitler" by basically totally ignoring America's Senior, Middle Class and Less Educated African-American & Hispanic citizens. (Again I said "appears")

In other words if you don't possess a College degree, are a Senior Citizen, if your Middle Class or Low Income African-American/ Hispanic than your life NO longer has any meaningful value?

Is the obama Administration hoping that people who fall into those categories will soon dissipate or become extinct like Dinosaurs?

Excuse me! Aren't those the same folk who helped to put him in the White House??

Where's the Obama Administration's appreciation for Black Voters, Hispanic Voters, Low Income Voters, Senior Citizen Voters and Middle Class Voters?

Why are these people suddenly being "thrown under the bus"?

This is why I am so strongly opposed to the Straight Ticket Voting election method.

Democrats have relied on Straight Ticket Voting ever since it was legally allowed.

Many Democrat Politicians (even African-American Politicians) know that Straight Ticket Voting is primarily practiced by Low Income, Less Educated Black & Hispanic Voters who are NOT aware of what issues they're really voting for.

Who takes advantage of these type of Voters?

Sadly African-American Politicians more so than White Politicians.

This stems from Black America's Elite vs Low Income Black Citizen Mentality (Willie Lynch). (A Stupid Concept about other Human Beings and life itself!)

So....

Now Due to many, many disgruntled White and Independent Voters, African-American Straight Ticket Voting will NOT be enough to put Democrats back into their seats of power during the 2010 and 2012 Elections.

Whether Anthony Foxx likes it or not if Pres. Obama fails, so will he.

Hey Mayor Foxx what's your "Jobs Strategy"?

Oh yeah I forgot, holding a "Jobs Summit", giving Bankers Tax Breaks via NO Interest Loans to start Small Businesses and a Streetcar.

Let's see, I wonder if a regular African-American citizen or Hispanic citizen approaches the City of Charlotte with an excellent Business Plan and a Great Business Idea, applies for a Small Loan (No Interest) would they be approved or denied?

Inquiring minds would like to know.

You know quite often Elite Black "Leaders" (Politicians) will look down upon or criticize other Black Citizens who ask for Gov't help to pull themselves by their bootstraps but....

When Big Businesses or White America come knocking these same Black "Leaders" hand out Incentives and Blank Checks with few questions asked, which are nothing more than forms of Corporate Welfare.

Hmmm. That's something to think about.

Now do you see why I don't jump on the bandwagon for every Black Politician who seeks my vote?

For most of them as soon as they get into Public Office, they forget where God has bought them from and forget Middle/ Low Income, Less Educated Black & Hispanic Voters.

America's Black Communities need to STOP blaming White America and Republicans for its failures (Racecard), when its quite apparent we (Blacks) are our own worse enemy!

Chop, Chop Foxx! Time waits for no one! You better get busy man or your out in 2011.

What's that you say?

Your headed to the NC Senate in 2012?

Not if you screw being Mayor of Charlotte you won't.


Note:

For those of you who don't want to believe or choose NOT to believe the contents of this blog post, please check out the articles/ videos below referring to Pres. Obama's Approval ratings which are rapidly dropping among White/ Independent Voters and how much worse the Black Unemployment rate is compared to White citizens.

Its no secret thousands of companies (even in North Carolina) are using the Recession as an excuse to practice Workplace and Racial Discrimination.

Is it any coincidence that many Well-Educated African-Americans are being fired first ahead of less educated White Workers?

What is Pres. Obama's Administration doing to help us and stop this obvious Discrimination?

Choosing to ignore the latest dismal Gallup Poll results about his Administration's job performance is very, very foolish indeed.

Arrogance is NOT, nor has it ever been a defense to Reality.

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Anthony Foxx offers own set of Mayoral priorities


With jokes, hugs, tears and cheers, the mayorship of Charlotte passed on Monday night from Republican Pat McCrory to Democrat Anthony Foxx - who made clear that his focus will differ in some significant ways from his predecessor's.

Foxx, of course, intends to spend much of his time as mayor working on the economy and adding jobs, as McCrory did during his 14 years in office. When unemployment in Mecklenburg County is 11 percent, with the region's rate at 12 percent, not to do so would be irresponsible.

Speaking after the swearing-in ceremonies, Foxx described a number of initiatives he plans:

Holding an "access to capital" conference to help entrepreneurs and other local businesses find money to grow.

Forming a task force to review the city budget and make cost and efficiency suggestions.

Working to bring about regional decision-making on transportation.

Pushing for innovative technologies to improve the criminal justice system.

Those are issues McCrory would have pinpointed as well: financial accountability, strengthening business, transportation and public safety.

But Foxx's speech also powerfully emphasized Charlotte's homelessness problem, as well as the needs of the city's children.

"Why are we letting children fail?" he asked, challenging the community to get involved with children and, especially, the schools. "That isn't something we can fix inside these four walls. But outside these four walls, we can fix it."

He repeated his pledge to spend time every week in a school, tutoring students, and he complimented council members Andy Dulin and James Mitchell for doing the same. "If I can do it, if Andy can do it, if James can do it, everyone can do it," he said.

McCrory has pushed tutoring, too, with his Mayor's Mentoring Alliance. But in his 14 years as mayor McCrory's signature issues - themes he returned to over and over - were transportation and public safety.

With his strong words about homelessness and child welfare, Foxx made clear he has his own priorities. And the applause that erupted from a chamber overflowing with his Democratic supporters made clear that those were some priorities they've been waiting years to hear.

McCrory leaves office with many accomplishments - a transit system, uptown's NBA arena, the NASCAR Hall of Fame - built during what was, until 2008, year after year of booming economic health. Foxx, in contrast, moves into the mayor's seat at a time of deep financial distress for a city that used to brag it was recession-proof.

So his time in office is guaranteed to be different from McCrory's. But Monday night, to a cheering crowd, Foxx made clear just how different he aims to be.




Mayor Foxx Wants More Handouts


There. More descriptive than this “Business Equity Loan” bunk. It is not city government’s job to finance private sector business endeavors.

Remember this when Foxx and fellow Democrats vote for a property tax increase next year.





Gibbs slams Gallup poll showing record low approval for Obama

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs took a swipe Tuesday at a Gallup poll showing President Obama’s approval at a low point for his presidency.

The poll, released Monday, put the president’s job approval rating at 47 percent – a figure that Fox News correspondent Major Garrett noted, at Mr. Gibbs’ Tuesday meeting with reporters, “is the lowest of any president dating back to [Harry] Truman at this stage of his presidency.”

In a blame-the-messenger moment, the press secretary, citing swings in Mr. Obama’s approval ratings in Gallup daily tracking data, said: “I am sure a 6-year-old with a crayon could do something not unlike that.”

Gibbs continued: “I don’t put a lot of stake in, never have, in the EKG that is the daily Gallup trend. I don’t pay a lot of attention to the meaninglessness of it.”

The Monitor has asked Gallup for comment. If the polling firm gives one, we will report it here.

Poll numbers bounce around, affected by events in the country and the world. But they do provide a rough guide to the clout a president has in getting his legislative program through Congress.

Falling among friends and enemies

Since November, when Obama’s approval rating was 53 percent, his poll numbers have fallen three percentage points among Democrats, seven points among independents, and four points among Republicans, Gallup reported Monday.

Gallup noted that so far in December Obama has averaged 50 percent job approval – similar to the averages of two presidents who took office when the economy was struggling, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. Other recent presidents, who took office in better economic times, had approval ratings of 57 or more in the December of their first terms.

Worse than Reagan in December 1981

Here are the first-year December approval figures for recent presidents, according to Gallup.

Dwight Eisenhower, 69 percent
John Kennedy, 77 percent
Richard Nixon, 59 percent
Jimmy Carter, 57 percent
Ronald Reagan, 49 percent
George H.W. Bush, 71 percent
Bill Clinton, 53 percent
George W. Bush, 86 percent




Congressional Black Caucus reminds Pres. Obama of pledge not to "forget" Race


In its bluntest challenge to President Obama since taking office, the Congressional Black Caucus expressed disappointment with Obama's Tuesday jobs speech -- and reminded the first Black president he promised not to "ignore" race during his famous Philadelphia speech in 2008.

A week after caucus member boycotted a vote on the administration's regulatory reforms in protest, CBC Chairwoman Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) threw down a gauntlet on the need to address racial disparities in unemployment in the upcoming jobs bill:

In a statement tonight, Lee wrote:

“We need a concerted effort from the Federal government to expand access to education, job training, direct job creation, infrastructure development and economic opportunities to provide pathways out of poverty and opportunities for all.

“The Congressional Black Caucus remains committed to working with President Obama and our Congressional leadership to address the very real economic crisis gripping our nation, which is particularly acute in communities of color.“

Not only is the unemployment rate for African Americans nearly twice that of whites, these racial disparities persist in other areas as well. Nearly 28 percent of African Americans receive food aid compared to 15 percent of Latinos and 8 percent of whites. Recent African American college graduates are unemployed at higher rates than their white counterparts and African American workers remain unemployed an average of five weeks longer than the rest of America. The gaps are very real.

“With more than 24 percent of African Americans living below the poverty line and African Americans 55 percent more likely to be unemployed than other Americans, the existence of racial disparities is undeniable.

“As a candidate, President Obama said in his speech on race during the Democratic primary, ‘race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now.’ The facts speak for themselves. The Congressional Black Caucus recognizes that behind virtually every economic indicator you will find gross racial disparities.

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Pres. Obama's Approval Slide Finds Whites Down to 39%


Obama last week fell below 50% approval in Gallup Daily tracking for the first time in his presidency, both in daily three-day rolling averages and in Gallup Daily tracking results aggregated weekly.

In his first full week in office (Jan. 26-Feb. 1), an average of 66% of Americans approved of the job Obama was doing, including 61% of non-Hispanic whites and 80% of nonwhites. In the most recent week, spanning Nov. 16-22 interviewing, his approval rating averaged 49% overall, 39% among whites, and 73% among nonwhites. Thus, since the beginning of his presidency, his support has dropped 22 points among whites, compared with a 7-point loss among nonwhites.

Given the 17-point drop in his approval rating among all U.S. adults, it follows that Obama's support has declined among all major demographic and attitudinal subgroups, with one notable exception -- blacks.

Blacks' support for Obama has averaged 93% during his time in office, and has been at or above 90% nearly every week during his presidency. Thus, part of the reason Obama's support among nonwhites has not dropped as much as his support among other groups is because of his consistent support from blacks. (With Hispanics' approval rating down five points, greater declines among Asians, Native Americans, and those of mixed races account for his total seven-point drop among nonwhites.)

The accompanying table shows how Obama's approval rating has changed by subgroup from his first full week in office to the most recent week. The only subgroup showing a greater change than whites is Republicans, down 24 points during this time. Independents' approval of Obama has declined nearly as much (down 18 points), whereas support among Democrats is down only 6 points.

Obama's strongest support comes from blacks, Democrats, and liberals -- all of whom give him approval ratings above 80%. He maintains solid support of more than 60% from nonwhites, Hispanics, and young adults.

A Closer Look at Race and Party

One reason Obama may have maintained support among blacks is their overwhelming affiliation with the Democratic Party. This is not a sufficient explanation, though, because Obama's approval rating has dropped among Democrats even as it has held steady among blacks.

In fact, it appears as though Obama's relatively small loss in support among Democrats has come exclusively from white Democrats. In late January/early February, Obama averaged 87% approval among white Democrats and 90% approval among nonwhite Democrats. Now, his approval rating among white Democrats is 76%, down 11 points, but is essentially the same (if not a little higher) at 92% among nonwhite Democrats.

Bottom Line

Obama won the Democratic nomination and the presidency with strong support from blacks and other racial minorities. In fact, according to exit polls and Gallup's final pre-election estimates, he won the election despite losing by double digits to John McCain among white voters.

Those patterns of support seem to have persisted into his presidency, with his support among whites starting out lower and dropping faster than his support among nonwhites. And though he maintains widespread loyalty among Democrats, the small loss in support he has seen from his fellow partisans seems to be exclusively from white Democrats.

It is important to note that this pattern is not unique to Obama. For example, Bill Clinton averaged 55% job approval during his presidency, including 52% among whites but a much higher 76% among nonwhites and 82% among blacks.

Survey Methods

Results are based on telephone interviews with 3,611 national adults, aged 18 and older, conducted Nov. 16-22, 2009, as part of Gallup Daily tracking. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of error is ±2 percentage points.

For results based on the sample of 2,879 non-Hispanic whites, the maximum margin of error is ±2 percentage points.

For results based on the sample of 732 nonwhites, the maximum margin of error is ±5 percentage points.

Interviews are conducted with respondents on land-line telephones and cellular phones.

In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.





Anthony Foxx: Charlotte will adjust (Remarks from his Swearing In Ceremony Speech)

Excerpts from Foxx's prepared remarks after his Monday night swearing in as mayor of Charlotte:

The story of Charlotte is perhaps as improbable as my standing before you here today as mayor of Charlotte. As a Charlotte native, I know our community as one that always seems to adjust when the time calls for it.

When new opportunities emerged or new directions became necessary, Charlotte found a way to reinvent itself - through the ingenuity of those who live here. What contributions will we add to the continuing, improbable and remarkable story of Charlotte?

We will strengthen and diversify our economy. We will strive to make every corner of Charlotte a great place to live. We will renew our crucial relationship to our state government.

We face challenges today.

We are experiencing a 12 percent unemployment rate and a much higher rate of underemployment.

Our state experienced a $2 billion-plus shortfall last year and a shortfall of at least that amount is predicted for this coming year. These threaten to destabilize critical human services, including public education, and local government budgets.

Last year, I saw these statistics born out in people's real lives:

A 70-year-old man I met at a job fair who lost all his retirement earnings in the stock market and had to get back to work.

Countless men and women have had to go home to families and explain that they've lost their jobs.

Business owners who struggle to make payroll.

A growing population of homeless residents.

Neighborhoods that have lost families and stability due to foreclosures and neglect.

There are many challenges before us. But if we fixate just on the rough patches, it will blind us to the possibilities.

The good news is that we are not starting from scratch. We are standing on the shoulders of leaders who have bequeathed to us a city that, unlike many others, is remarkably resilient.

Within the hearts and minds of our residents, there is still the same old hunger to evolve to the best of our collective ability.

Tonight we reaffirm that the remarkable story of Charlotte is not over. A new chapter is beginning. What will that new chapter look like?

Stronger, more diverse Economy

The City of Charlotte, at its best, enables economic opportunity. At our worst, we get in the way. We absolutely must work to enable and encourage job growth. In the coming weeks, I will ask this City Council to take immediate steps to strengthen and diversify our economy:

Expand the Small Business Loan program to grow emerging industries.

Appoint a task force to review and recommend revisions to the Small Business Opportunity Program.

Initiate a broader review of the city's utilization of small businesses and recommendations of improvements.

Working with the Charlotte Chamber, I will help lead an "access to capital" conference, to match local businesses with potential capital sources to help them grow.

I will do all within my power to recruit and retain jobs in our city.

Improving quality of Life

I am proud that Charlotte continues to make improvements in public safety that are driving down the crime rate and investments in transportation and neighborhood infrastructure that will improve our ability to attract families and businesses. We must continue working to do our part. However, we must take this economic crisis as an opportunity to push the limits on efficiency and effectiveness in delivering city services.

Next week, I will ask this City Council to appoint a task force to review our budget and recommend strategies to reduce costs and improve efficiency.

Relations with Raleigh, region

Charlotte is a key economic driver within North Carolina. Many of our local challenges, on the other hand, cannot be addressed effectively without state help. Whether the issue is transportation, economic development, education or criminal justice, Charlotte's fate is tied to the state of North Carolina, and North Carolina's fate is tied to Charlotte. I'd say the same thing about our region.

I will work for regional transportation decision-making and innovative technology to improve efficiency and effectiveness in the criminal justice system.

There are two other major priorities that reach into the conscience of this community and that we cannot allow to continue.

Housing & Homelessness

We live in a city in which 3,000 children are documented as homeless. On any given night, 8,000 people are homeless.

Last week, our community lost one of the great voices for ending homelessness, Chris Wolf. We have more homeless men and women on our streets today than ever before. In 2009, this City Council can make progress to eliminate homelessness.

Children

As a product of the Charlotte community, I know this city is capable of taking young people from a variety of backgrounds and giving them the tools to be successful in life. For too long, we have tolerated low performance from our children and from ourselves. We cannot solve this problem completely within these four walls. But we can address this problem as a community - by mentoring.

Every time Charlotte has faced a serious challenge - a turning point that threatened its future - the people of Charlotte have pulled together to push the city forward. In a time of doubt and uncertainty, we must do what previous generations of Charlotteans have done - draw on our spirit of optimism, our collective belief that the future can and will be better and act upon it.




Pres. Obama's First 100 Days -- The Black Agenda Report Card


Why a Report Card At All?

The hundred day report card is an enduring tradition in American journalism for a very good reason. It's journalism's job to help citizens make sense of the world, to seek the truth and tell it without fear or favor no matter where it leads. Three months and a week into a new administration, everybody knows where the mens and ladies rooms are, most of the key hires are in place, and the bus has definitely cleared the station. There's plenty of evidence by now to assess where it's going, and whether it's anyplace we really ought to be headed.

Should We Grade President Obama on What He Promised, or on What People Need?
The answer to this should be easy. It all depends on whether we imagine government derives its authority from the blessedness of anointed men and women in office, or whether legitimacy comes from the informed consent of the governed. Most of us who were not home schooled learned it the latter way: governments are legit only insofar as they serve the people. Limiting the scope of a report card to what politicians promise confers upon them the power to lock down our collective imagination and deny our hunger and thirst for justice before we can even express it.

Why These Categories?

Because these are the issues that matter to our people. As the journal of African American political thought and action, they are what our authors write about every week.

1. Health Care Reform (9 points)
2. Creating New Jobs and Preserving Old Ones (5 points)
3. Fully Funding and Preserving Public Education (6 points)
4. War & Peace (9 points)
5. Transportation (5 points)
6. Caribbean and Latin America (4 points)
7. Obama's Africa Policy; Our Brotherman and the Motherland (5 points)
8. Wall Street Bailout (6 points)
9. Debt and Foreclosure Crises (6 points)
10. Investigating Bush-era Crimes (5 points)
11. Criminalizing Immigration, Militarizing the Border (5 points)
12. Broadband For Everyone and a Just and Fair Media (5 points)
13. Environment (5 points)
14. Agricultural Policy, and Policy Toward Black Farmers (5 points)
15. Mass imprisonment (5 points)
16. Employee Free Choice Act (5 points)
17. Urban Policy (5 points)
18. Privatization of Government Agencies and Services (5 points)



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Sources: McClatchy Newspapers, Charlotte Observer, Gallup Poll Report, Politico, MSNBC, Huffington Post, Black Agenda Report, CBC, The Meck Deck Blog, John Locke Foundation, WCNC, AnthonyFoxx.com, Charmeck.org, Chattahbox, Youtube, Google Maps