JOHN CONYERS JR NEEDS TO RESIGN NOW, END OF STORY (TERM LIMITS)

JOHN CONYERS JR NEEDS TO RESIGN NOW, END OF STORY (TERM LIMITS):

IT'S NOT ABOUT HIM. IT'S ABOUT RESPECTING WOMEN & THE DEMOCRAT'S PARTY FUTURE (2018 & 2020).

HE PAID TO SETTLE A SEXUAL HARASSMENT LAWSUIT.

IS JOHN CONYERS ABOVE THE LAW?

WHAT HAS CONYERS DONE FOR MICHIGAN LATELY?

HOW EFFECTIVE IS CONYERS TODAY?

AGE & RACE DOESN'T MATTER.......HOW EFFECTIVE ARE YOU IN THE 21st CENTURY??

POLITICIANS CAN'T LEAN ON THEIR PAST ACCOMPLISHMENTS FOREVER.

THAT'S WHY CONGRESS NEEDS TERM LIMITS.


Sources: NY Times, ABC News, CNN, Youtube


****** John Conyers Scandal Highlights Divisions, Generational and Gender


WASHINGTON — Representative John Conyers Jr., who took his Michigan seat in the House in 1965, has served in Congress longer than his fellow Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, has been alive.

So when Mr. Conyers, 88, stepped aside as the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee amid swirling allegations of sexual improprieties, it fell to Mr. Jeffries, 47, to hint that the accusations that cost Mr. Conyers his position may hasten broader changes to the Democratic Party that began with the election of President Trump.

“House Democrats have been in transition since the 2016 election with younger members being given the opportunity to be on the playing field in a meaningful way,” Mr. Jeffries said. “This moment that we are in, it may accelerate the elevation of younger voices.”

Sexual assault, harassment and other vulgarities have rocked Hollywood, scarred Silicon Valley and darkened media offices from New York to Washington. But the sexual harassment scandal surrounding Mr. Conyers, the longest serving member of the House, has highlighted schisms that are as much about generations as they are about gender.

Especially among Democrats, Mr. Conyers’s troubles have generated friction between the party’s aging leadership and rank-and-file, and underscored the difficulty that newer members of the House have in rising up in a system where leadership positions, including committee chairmanships, are determined almost solely by seniority.

The three top Democrats in the House — Representatives Nancy Pelosi of California, Steny Hoyer of Maryland and James E. Clyburn of South Carolina — are all in their late 70s. Mr. Conyers has been the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee — either as chairman or ranking member — for 10 years.

And for many of them, the response to the Conyers imbroglio has been telling. Mr. Conyers has denied all the charges, but under pressure, did relinquish his post. Mr. Clyburn suggested that for all he knew, “all of this could be made up.”

Ms. Pelosi, the minority leader, swiftly called for an ethics investigation last week after news broke that two aides had accused Mr. Conyers of sexual harassment, and that he had paid a settlement to one. By Tuesday afternoon, she was working quietly behind the scenes with Congressional Black Caucus members who were trying to persuade Mr. Conyers to resign, according to a senior Democratic aide. His lawyer said he had no immediate plans to do so.

But her path to that point has been meandering. Ms. Pelosi offered an awkward defense of Mr. Conyers on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, saying, “Just because someone is accused — and was it one accusation? Is it two? I think there has to be — John Conyers is an icon in our country.” That earned her scathing reviews.

Melanie Sloan, a respected ethics lawyer in Washington who worked for Mr. Conyers in the mid-1990s, was so incensed by the performance that she called Ms. Pelosi’s staff and reminded them that Mr. Conyers had verbally abused her and had once summoned her to his office while he was wearing his underwear. That prompted Ms. Pelosi to switch course again.

“I find the behavior Ms. Sloan described unacceptable and disappointing,” she said in a statement. “I believe what Ms. Sloan has told me.”

Another Conyers staff member, Deanna Maher, came forward Monday to tell The Detroit News that Mr. Conyers had made unwanted sexual advances toward her three times.

Younger Democrats have been far less equivocal than their leaders. Representatives Kathleen Rice of New York and Pramila Jayapal of Washington say Mr. Conyers should resign.

Mr. Jeffries, who said he supports Ms. Pelosi’s leadership, is among a number of House Democrats who lamented in interviews that the party must have a reckoning over the way it promotes younger, newer members.

Ms. Pelosi has been pushing in various ways to create opportunities for less senior members. As part of that effort, Mr. Jeffries, along with Representatives David Cicilline of Rhode Island and Cheri Bustos of Illinois, now lead the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee. The group is charged, in part, with revamping the messages Democrats use to appeal to voters.

Representative Beto O’Rourke, Democrat of Texas, said that even after three terms in Congress, he feels frustrated by a Democratic Party that seems wedded to older members and stale ideas. He said he has tried to make the best of his time by working on veterans and armed forces issues, but he will relinquish his seat next year for a long-shot run at Ted Cruz’s Senate seat.

In so doing, he is following the path of other rising Democratic stars, such as Rahm Emanuel and Chris Van Hollen, who left the House to pursue other political posts.

“There’s not really a path or the means to really reflect the diversity in ideas and geographical representation and tenure of service,” said Mr. O’Rourke, who was among 63 Democrats who did not support Ms. Pelosi’s bid to be re-elected as minority leader last year.


Mr. O’Rourke said Republicans do a better job of promoting younger members, in part because they limit, to six years, the length of time a member can be chairman or chairwoman of a committee. Democrats do not impose term limits on committee leaders or so-called ranking members, the top slot for lawmakers who are in the minority.

Representative Donald S. Beyer Jr., a former lieutenant governor of Virginia, added that if Democrats want to appeal to young people, young people need to be at the forefront of leadership.

“The best organizations are the ones that blend the éminence grise wisdom with the energy of young men and young women,” he said. “I’m not sure we do that very well.”

But Democrats must be careful if they decide to shake up the seniority system, said Representative Suzanne Bonamici, an Oregon Democrat who is in her third term on Capitol Hill.

Several members of the Congressional Black Caucus are concerned that their members might be pushed out of top positions on committees — including Homeland Security, Financial Services, and the Education and the Work Force committee — if Democrats change seniority rules.

“I want to make sure we continue the diversity we have in the Democratic Party,” said Representative Gregory Meeks, Democrat of New York and a member of the black caucus. “A way that African-Americans and Hispanics particularly have able to been make sure that they have been in committee leadership positions is that there has been a seniority system.”

The leadership has been making changes to the party structure since 2016, when Representative Tim Ryan of Ohio challenged Ms. Pelosi. His campaign pushed Ms. Pelosi to back a number of changes, including creating vice ranking member slots on each committee for younger members.

“It’s been no secret that I think we need new people stepping up across the board in the party providing leadership,” Mr. Ryan said.

As vice ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, Representative Jamie Raskin, a freshman Democrat from Maryland, has managed floor debate on nine bills, he said.

Mr. Jeffries worries that as lawmakers debate the direction of the party and the rules for its leadership, they will lose sight of their broader mission.


“The worst thing we could do right now is conduct ourselves in a circular firing squad based on a generational divide,” he said. “We should be united and disciplined in executing the mission of taking back the House, because nothing less than the future of the country is at stake. Period. Full stop.”

CONYERS vs PELOSI - SEXUAL HARASSMENT AGAINST WOMEN WHEN MEN ARE IN POWER

PELOSI vs CONYERS - SEXUAL HARASSMENT AGAINST WOMEN WHEN MEN ARE IN POWER:

DENIAL OF GUILT DOESN'T MAKE SOMEONE INNOCENT........JUST VERY CUNNING.

IN MOST INSTANCES I DISAGREE WITH NANCY PELOSI BUT THIS TIME I DO AGREE WITH HER DECISION TO INVESTIGATE CONYERS.

IF CONYERS IS 100% INNOCENT WHY DID HE AGREE TO PAY HIS COMPLAINANTS $$$??

OPRAH DIDN'T SETTLE WHEN SHE WAS SUED BY WEALTHY CATTLE RANCHERS.

WATCH OUT DEMOCRATS; TRUMP IS FIGHTING BACK.

"HE WHO COMMITS ADULTERY IS SENSELESS. DOING SO, HE DESTROYS HIMSELF"
PROVERBS 6:32

"FOR WHAT PROFITS A MAN TO GAIN THE WHOLE WORLD YET LOSE HIS SOUL?"
MATTHEW 8:36


Sources: Washington Post, The Hill, YouTube


***** Pelosi calls for ethics investigation into alleged Conyers sexual harassment


House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called for a formal ethics investigation into Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) following allegations he sexually harassed female staff and reached a settlement with an aide who claimed she was fired for rejecting his advances.

"As Members of Congress, we each have a responsibility to uphold the integrity of the House of Representatives and to ensure a climate of dignity and respect, with zero tolerance for harassment, discrimination, bullying or abuse," Pelosi said in a statement Tuesday.

"As I have said before, any credible allegation of sexual harassment must be investigated by the Ethics Committee," she said.

Pelosi is the most senior lawmaker yet to call for an ethics probe into Conyers's behavior. She did not address whether Conyers, the ranking member of the powerful House Judiciary Committee, should step down from that position.

"I expressly and vehemently denied the allegations made against me, and continue to do so," Conyers stated Tuesday.

"My office resolved the allegations — with an express denial of liability — to save all involved from the rigors of protracted litigation. That should not be lost in the narrative," he stated.

A growing chorus of Democrats has called for an ethics investigation into the matter.

"The allegations against Ranking Member Conyers are extremely serious and deeply troubling," said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.), Judiciary's second most senior Democrat, in a statement.

"Obviously, these allegations must be investigated promptly by the Ethics Committee. There can be no tolerance for behavior that subjects women to the kind of conduct alleged," Nadler stated.

A growing chorus of Democrats has called for an ethics investigation into the matter.

"The allegations against Ranking Member Conyers are extremely serious and deeply troubling," said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.), Judiciary's second most senior Democrat, in a statement.

"Obviously, these allegations must be investigated promptly by the Ethics Committee. There can be no tolerance for behavior that subjects women to the kind of conduct alleged," Nadler stated.

"Beyond the sexual harassment allegations are allegations that call into question the amount of money that is used to settle sexual harassment cases, and whether some Members are using their tax payer-funded office budgets to make settlements under the guise of severance payments," Speier said in a statement, also calling for an ethics investigation.

Citing documents from the case, BuzzFeed News reported late Monday that Conyers settled a wrongful dismissal complaint in 2015 with an unidentified woman who alleged that he "repeatedly made sexual advances to female staff that included requests for sex acts." The report included other allegations of harassment by Conyers.

Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) called the report "extremely troubling" in a statement. He noted a recent rules change requiring members and staff to undergo anti-harassment training and said the House Administration Committee is reviewing congressional workplace policies.

"Additional reforms to the system are under consideration as the committee continues its review," Ryan stated Tuesday. "People who work in the House deserve and are entitled to a workplace without harassment or discrimination."

Pelosi denied knowledge of the alleged settlement in a statement first shared with BuzzFeed, citing the requirement that the parties keep their agreement confidential.

TRUMP WINS HAWAII, MICHIGAN & MISSISSIPPI (GOP NOMINEE)

TRUMP WINS HAWAII, MICHIGAN & MISSISSIPPI:

SANDERS TAKES MICHIGAN FOR HILLARY.
WILL RUBIO CONCEDE?

Sources:  NY Times, Young Turks, YouTube

**** Donald Trump Takes 3; Bernie Sanders Wins Michigan; 

Donald J. Trump easily dispatched his Republican rivals in the Michigan and Mississippi presidential primaries Tuesday and won the Hawaii caucuses, regaining momentum in the face of intensifying resistance to his campaign among party leaders.

Senator Bernie Sanders scored an upset win in the Michigan Democratic primary, threatening to prolong a Democratic campaign that Hillary Clinton appeared to have all but locked up last week.

Mrs. Clinton lost badly in Michigan among independents, showed continued weakness with working-class white Democrats, and was unable to count on as much of an advantage with black voters as she had in the South
.

Addressing reporters in Miami while the votes in Michigan were still being counted, Mr. Sanders said that his powerful showing indicated that “the political revolution that we’re talking about is strong in every part of the country.”

“And frankly,” he added, “we believe that our strongest areas are yet to happen.”

While bolstering Mr. Sanders’s hand as the race turns to a series of large states next week, his victory in Michigan did not dent Mrs. Clinton’s delegate lead as she won overwhelmingly in Mississippi, crushing Mr. Sanders among African-American voters, and netted more delegates over all.

Senator Ted Cruz of Texas handily won the Idaho Republican primary, somewhat mitigating his second-place finishes in Michigan and Mississippi.

After losing to Senator Ted Cruz on Saturday in Kansas and Maine, Mr. Trump needed one of his best performances of the campaign to tamp down doubts about his candidacy after a week of gaffes, missteps and questions about the strength of his political organization.

And he got one, demonstrating his appeal with working-class white voters in Michigan, a state Mr. Trump has claimed he could win in the general election, while beating back especially stiff challenges from Gov. John Kasich of Ohio there and from Mr. Cruz in Mississippi.

Mr. Trump, plugging several of his business interests in a victory speech that seemed straight out of QVC, crowed about having prevailed despite what he called millions of dollars’ worth of “horrible lies” in negative ads from his rivals.

“There’s only one person who did well tonight: Donald Trump,” he said in Jupiter, Fla., at one of his golf resorts. He also mocked Mr. Cruz. “He’s always saying, ‘I’m the only one that can beat Trump,’ ” Mr. Trump said, imitating his rival, but adding: “He rarely beats me.”

Mrs. Clinton, addressing supporters in Cleveland, did not mention the Mississippi or Michigan results, instead alluding to the vitriol in the Republican field. “As the rhetoric keeps sinking lower, the stakes in this election keep rising higher,” she said. Running for president, she said, “shouldn’t be about delivering insults; it should be about delivering results.”

But none of the major cable news networks carried her remarks, which came as Mr. Trump was speaking.

The emphatic victories by Mr. Trump were a sharp turnabout from his difficult weekend and suggested that his stumbles in recent days had not done substantial damage to his campaign. He continued his dominance among low-income voters in Michigan and Mississippi but, in a foreboding sign for Mr. Cruz, also narrowly won among white evangelicals in both states.

If Tuesday offered a reminder of Mr. Trump’s enduring appeal, it was nothing short of devastating for Senator Marco Rubio of Florida. After slipping to third or fourth place in the states that voted Saturday, Mr. Rubio collapsed on Tuesday, finishing well behind his three rivals in Michigan and Mississippi — he came away with no delegates in either state — and calling into question how much longer he will be able to stay in the race.

Mrs. Clinton’s victory in Mississippi was the latest in a string across the South fueled by her overwhelming black support. But she had hoped that a win in Michigan would demoralize Mr. Sanders heading into the coming Rust Belt primaries and relegate him to a protest candidate rather than a real threat. Instead, Mr. Sanders can march into Illinois, Ohio and Missouri next Tuesday newly emboldened to lash Mrs. Clinton over her past support for free trade agreements, which he says have wiped out thousands of industrial jobs.

Mr. Sanders badly needed a victory heading into Ohio and Illinois next week, and to demonstrate that he is still viable even though he has fallen far behind Mrs. Clinton in the race to amass the 2,323 delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination.

Mr. Sanders’s Michigan triumph also offered much-needed proof that he could win over voters in the populous, racially diverse swing states where the eventual Democratic nominee will need victories in November.

Mr. Trump’s clear victories Tuesday, meanwhile, showed that he remains the Republican favorite for the nomination and enjoys a fiercely loyal core of support. His success in Michigan, which he won by 12 percent, was especially striking: not only did he easily carry Macomb County, original home of the fabled Reagan Democrats, he also won the more upscale Detroit suburbs of Oakland County.

ROMNEY BREAKS HIS "NO THIRD BID" PROMISE (HILLARY CELEBRATES)

SELFISH ROMNEY BREAKS HIS "NO THIRD BID" PROMISE:

ROMNEY & GOP ESTABLISHMENT LEADERS PLOT "SCREW THE VOTERS" BROKERED RNC CONVENTION.

HILLARY & OBAMA CELEBRATE EARLY VICTORY.

Sources: Newsmax, CNN, Infowars, NBC News, USA Today, Youtube

**** CNN: Romney Plans to Block Trump in Brokered Convention

Mitt Romney is hoping for a brokered Republican convention in July to stop Donald Trump from winning the nomination, CNN reports.

He has instructed close advisers for look into ways to make this happen.

"The goal is to lock him out at the convention," CNN correspondent Jamie Gangel told Wolf Blitzer, citing sources close to the former Massachusetts governor. "Now, they have to get to the convention, but that's the long-term strategy.

"And implicit in that is that Mitt Romney could offer himself up as a white knight to save the party," she said.

Romney slammed Trump Thursday as a fraud who is playing the American public for suckers.

Gangel called Romney's speech "the opening volley" in a GOP strategy that also includes urging all the current candidates to stay in the race to stop Trump from winning the required number of delegates.

"Expect the GOP leadership establishment to hit harder and harder on Trump," she added, primarily on releasing his tax returns.

"There is a thought that he is not as rich or as liquid as he says he is — and they think they can undermine him by doing that," Gangel told Blitzer.

The ultimate goal is to force Trump into a third-party run — and she said that her Romney sources were "willing to take that chance.

"It's better than having him as the Republican nominee."

TRUMP WANTS TO MAKE DETROIT GREAT AGAIN......ROMNEY'S DISRESPECT

TRUMP WANTS TO MAKE DETROIT GREAT AGAIN......ROMNEY'S DISRESPECT

REMAINING GOP PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES FACE-OFF IN DETROIT.

Sources:  Fox News, ABC News, YouTube

It's Thursday, March 3rd and tonight in the historic city of DETROIT, 4 remaining GOP presidential candidates (Trump, Rubio, Cruz & Kasich) will face-off at the Fox Theatre.

This debate is sponsored by Fox News.

Super Tuesday winner and 2016 GOP Presidential Frontrunner Donald Trump is now being targeted by 2012 GOP Presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

Romney a Respected member of the GOP Establishment and a Michigan native, is demonstrating a great deal of Disrespect towards Trump by hurling insults.

Romney has even called Trump a "Fraud" among other very derogatory, negative demagogue.

Could it be that perhaps Romney is JEALOUS of Trump's glory and favorability with 2016 voters?

Regardless of Romney's JEALOUSY, 

does it make sense to help sabotage your own party's success which appears to be within close reach?

When will Romney and other GOP Establishment leaders line up behind Trump as the Koch Brothers have recently done, to help the Republican regain control of the White House?

Tune in tonight to the Detroit GOP debate at 9:00pm ET.

**** Trump answers Romney: 'Mitt is a choke artist'

Donald Trump answered Mitt Romney’s public indictment Thursday of his front-running Republican bid by skewering the 2012 GOP presidential nominee as a “failed candidate” who “let us down” with his loss to President Obama. 

“Mitt is a choke artist,” Trump told supporters at a pre-debate rally in Portland, Maine.

Trump went on to call Romney disloyal, claiming he begged Trump for his endorsement the last time around.

“You can see how loyal he is. … I could have said Mitt, drop to your knees, he would have dropped to his knees,” Trump said.

He spoke after Romney delivered a scathing speech at the University of Utah about the prospect of a Trump presidency, in what amounted to perhaps the most full-throated effort yet by a member of the so-called Republican establishment to thwart Trump’s march to the nomination.

The party’s 2012 presidential nominee issued a stark warning that Trump’s policies would lead to recession and “make America and the world less safe” -- and said the “only serious policy proposals” are coming from the other Republican candidates on the field.

“I understand the anger Americans feel today,” Romney said, but added: “Here's what I know. Donald Trump is a phony, a fraud. His promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University. He's playing ... the American public for suckers: He gets a free ride to the White House and all we get is a lousy hat.”

Romney also claimed Trump, if nominated, would enable Hillary Clinton to be elected president.

The speech comes ahead of the Fox News Republican primary debate Thursday night at 9 p.m. ET in Detroit, the candidates' first showdown since Super Tuesday.

Trump swiftly responded to the ex-GOP nominee, taking to Twitter to claim he’s the “only one who can beat Hillary Clinton” and recalling Romney’s record in the presidential elections so far.

Later at his rally in Maine, despite claiming he wouldn’t spend much time responding to Romney’s “irrelevant” remarks, Trump delivered a point-by-point rebuttal to many of Romney’s charges.

To Romney’s criticism of his business record, Trump said, “I made so much more money than Mitt,” and pointed to his successful ventures across New York City. 

He also said Romney begged him for his endorsement in 2012 – but Romney later tweeted that if Trump had said the things he’s saying today, he would not have accepted that endorsement.

The address earlier Thursday amounted to an astonishing full-court press by Romney to stop Trump from winning the party’s nomination. Until now, Romney has mostly criticized Trump via Twitter and media interviews, but this is his most robust effort yet to rally the party and primary voters against the GOP front-runner.

Romney cast his alarm-bell warnings Thursday in dire terms, suggesting nothing less than the character of the nation is at stake, and saying Trump’s “brand of anger” has led “other nations into the abyss.” He said Trump “lacks the temperament to be president,” rebuking him for “bullying” and “greed” and “misogyny.” He borrowed a phrase from Marco Rubio, calling Trump a “con man” to boot. 

On the sidelines, the party’s 2008 nominee also seemed to join with Romney in expressing concerns.

“I share the concerns about Donald Trump that my friend and former Republican nominee, Mitt Romney, described in his speech today,” Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said in a statement, urging voters to “think long and hard about who they want to be our next Commander-in-Chief and leader of the free world.”

2016 candidate Ohio Gov. John Kasich also gave Romney a Twitter thumbs-up, tweeting “well said” after the speech.

Romney has not yet endorsed a candidate in the race, or moved any closer publicly to reconsidering a run himself. Romney weighed another White House run at the beginning of 2015 before deciding against the move, reportedly after being out-raised by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush -- who has since suspended his campaign.

FLINT WATER CRISIS REEKS OF POLITICAL CORRUPTION (OBAMA'S DIRTY DEALS)

FLINT WATER CRISIS REEKS OF POLITICAL CORRUPTION (OBAMA'S DIRTY DEALS):

GOV SNYDER & MIKE ROGERS' PREVIOUS POLITICAL DEALS WITH OBAMA ARE LINKED TO CURRENT FLINT WATER CRISIS.

NOW IN 2016 OBAMA USES FLINT WATER CRISIS TO DESTROY MICHIGAN'S GOP LEADERS & HELP DEMOCRATS.


In the video above I discuss how the current FLINT Water Crisis is directly linked to dirty Political deals between Pres OBAMA, Michigan governor RICK SNYDER and former Congressman MIKE ROGERS.

I also discuss the fall of BLACK former Detroit mayor KWAME KILPATRICK who was destined to become Michigan's governor before he was caught up in a CORRUPTION Scandal.


~ Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder Releases Emails Tied To Flint Water Crisis

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder released his collection of emails from 2014 and 2015 surrounding the toxic water crisis in Flint today, hoping, as he said in Tuesday’s State of the State address, to provide a better understanding of how the municipal emergency unfolded.

More than 270 pages of emails were released to the public and posted to the governor's website.

The state's Department of Environmental Quality first became aware of the elevated lead levels in children's blood on Aug. 23, 2015, when Virginia Tech professor Marc Edwards notified the department that the school would be studying Flint water quality issues "over the next few months," the emails indicate.

At that point, the city of Flint had already determined that it needed to install corrosion control treatment into the water system leading into the Flint River, the emails read.

Flint had stopped using Detroit's water system in 2014 while a connection to Lake Huron was established. The city switched back to the Detroit system in October 2015.

The DEQ disputed Edwards' test results indicating corrosion and lead leaching in early September, a timeline of the events leading up to Flint created by the Michigan government states.

On Sept. 5, Director of Urban Initiatives Harvey Hollins said to Snyder in an email that more than 1,500 water filters had been distributed to households and that were was a "demand for more."

On Sept. 26, Snyder's chief of staff, Dennis Muchmore, discussed the potential political ramifications, accusing officials in Flint of turning the crisis into "political football."

“The DEQ and DCH feel that some in Flint are taking the very sensitive issue of children's exposure to lead and trying to turn it into a political football claiming the departments are underestimating the impacts on the populations and particularly trying to shift responsibility to the state,” Muchmore wrote.

Flint residents were urged not to drink the water on Oct. 1, the timeline says. But, a press release from DEQ on Oct. 2 said that the water in Flint's system was safe to drink, "but some families with lead plumbing in their homes or service connections could experience higher levels of lead in the water that comes out of their faucets."

A message from the Flint Water Advisory Task Force to Snyder on Dec. 29 ascribed much of blame to the DEQ for the contaminated water.

On Wednesday, Snyder committed $28 million to remedy the water crisis, according to a statement, calling the funding "just one more step toward a long-term solution." He apologized to Flint residents in his state of the state address Tuesday night and promised to take "full responsibility" in solving the problem.

"No citizen of this great state should endure this kind of catastrophe," Snyder said Tuesday.

In the address, Snyder outlined the actions that were taken last October in response to the contaminated water crisis, including daily door-to-door distribution of water, water filters, filter replacements and water testing kits.

More than 21,000 homes in Flint have been visited by emergency responders and volunteers. Snyder vowed to tend to every home that needs attention "until every person has clean water every single day no matter what."
"We need to make sure this never happens again in any Michigan city," he said.

The Michigan government has made budgetary recommendations to replace water supply pipes and fixtures in Flint schools and to fund specialized staff locally in Flint for follow-up care for affected residents, Snyder said.

Provisions in the budget have also been made to keep Flint on the Detroit water line until the end of 2016, Snyder said.

Flint Mayor Karen Weaver said today during a U.S. Conference of Mayors event in Washington, D.C., that aid provided so far to Flint water is "not enough," adding that the city has been "crying" about the issue for almost two years.

President Obama and White House Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett met with Weaver Tuesday to say that his administration will provide continued support to state and local officials.

Obama declared a state of emergency in Flint on Saturday after a request from Snyder on Jan. 14.

Snyder appealed Obama's decision to deny a federal major disaster declaration for Flint, his office said in a statement Wednesday.


Sources: ABC News, BBC News, Shoebat, USA Today, WXYZ, Youtube

BRANDON MCKEAN'S HANDS vs MICHIGAN POLICE (APARTHEID; STOP AND FRISK) )

Ladies and Gentlemen, it's the year 2014 but in the UNITED STATES Of America BLACK Men can't even walk down the street with their hands in pockets without being suspected of being a CRIMINAL.

Can you say "APARTHEID"??

Can you say "BLACK Men have become strangers in the UNITED STATES....Land of the FREE"??

Can you say "the U.S. Federal Gov't and CONGRESS are at Fault"??


Article Sources: AOL; Huffington Post; Youtube


ARTICLE: "Sheriff Defends Stopping Black Man For Walking With Hands In His Pockets"


A black Michigan man who was stopped by a sheriff's deputy after walking with his hands in his pockets said he believes he was the victim of racial discrimination.

The local sheriff says the deputy acted appropriately, and that the video of the incident doesn't show the full story.

Brandon McKean, 25, told The Huffington Post he was in the middle of walking a mile from a friend's house in Pontiac, Michigan to his own home to eat dinner around 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. The temperature had hovered around freezing that day, and he had his hands in his pockets.

McKean had been walking for just a few minutes, he said, when an Oakland County sheriff's deputy drove up, got out of the car and questioned him. McKean began filming with his phone.

"You were walking by … well you were making people nervous," the deputy says in the video McKean recorded, above. "They said you had your hands in your pockets."

"Wow, walking by having your hands in your pockets makes people nervous to call the police, when it's snowing outside?" McKean responds.

"They did," the deputy says. "I'm just checking on you."

McKean posted the video on Facebook, intending to show a few friends what he considered an absurd and unjustified stop by police. But it quickly went viral, with many outraged commenters sharing the post.

By Tuesday, the video had been seen more than 3 million times, according to Facebook's stats, and had circulated widely, from Gawker to "The Colbert Report."

Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard forcefully objected to the version of the incident that comes across when McKean's clip is viewed on its own, saying it doesn't clarify the reason for the stop and leaves out context.

McKean's video cuts off before the end of their conversation, when the deputy further explains why he stopped McKean and the importance of following up on any 911 call.

The video "was posted with an agenda," Bouchard told HuffPost.

The sheriff said that before McKean was questioned, a business owner called 911, audibly frightened, about a man who had walked by the shop six or seven times looking in the windows with his hands in his pockets. The caller believed the man was casing the business and that a robbery could be imminent. The business and its employees had reportedly already been robbed seven times.

Bouchard would not name the deputies who were dispatched nor the business, but said they had determined the person the 911 caller described was McKean, "without question." After the furor over the video, the sheriff's office posted their own video, which the deputy had also recorded with a phone.

"It boils down to this, if someone calls 911, do you want the police to come or not?" Bouchard said. "A police officer responded, made a quick ascertainment of the situation and determined that nothing else was needed, didn't pat down an individual, never detained an individual, called off secondary units and left. I think that was a very restrained, very professional approach."

McKean told The Huffington Post that the suspicious person spotted by the business owner definitely wasn't him and that he had not walked the stretch that many times.

The encounter occurred at a time when racial bias in policing has become a national conversation in part because of the death of Mike Brown, a black 18-year-old who was killed by then-police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri this summer. A grand jury's decision not to indict Wilson was announced just a few days before McKean's brush with police, and McKean said Brown's death was just one of the many situations, including several others he experienced in the past, that prompt him to record encounters with law enforcement for his own safety.

Bouchard said controversial instances of policing around the country, like Ferguson, become teachable moments for his staff, and deputies' continual training includes cultural sensitivity. When his people do wrong, the sheriff said, he wants to hear from the community and hold officers accountable. But he argued McKean's stop is not one of those cases.

"Given the sensitivity and the anxiety for a lot of people around this country, it's not helpful to the dialogue and certainly not helpful to keep the community the safe," Bouchard said.

McKean was less positive about how police handled the incident in Pontiac, despite telling the deputy he was glad officers were around to patrol. He told The Huffington Post he'd been stopped "for absolutely no reason" three or four times in the last five years.

"The crazy thing is, I know somebody who got their house broken into and they called the police, and the police took about two hours to come," he said. "And they came and pulled up on me in under five minutes for walking with my hands in [my] pockets, and that doesn't make sense."

EDWARD SNOWDEN vs MIKE ROGERS: I Trust SNOWDEN! He Deserves Some Level Of Clemency!

#EdwardSnowdenMikeRogersNSA

The whole world now wants America to Pardon/ Forgive NSA Whistleblower EDWARD SNOWDEN for alerting American Citizens that Our Civil Liberties & PRIVACY were being severely Violated by our Elected Officials (Pres OBAMA & CONGRESS).

I too believe Mr SNOWDEN deserves some level of Clemency for his Courageous act.

Initially I judged Mr SNOWDEN as a TRAITOR.

However as I researched the FACTS of his case, I learned this Young Man is indeed more of a PATRIOT than a TRAITOR.

Why??

Here are four reasons:

**1) Mr SNOWDEN did NOT Hire himself as a NSA employee, the Federal Gov't did.

**2) Mr SNOWDEN did NOT conduct his Background Check, the Federal Gov't did.

**3) Mr SNOWDEN did NOT grant himself a Security Clearance, the Federal Gov't did.

**4) Mr SNOWDEN did NOT Violate our Civil Liberties & PRIVACY, the Federal Gov't did.

Thus how can EDWARD SNOWDEN be a Criminal??

Mr SNOWDEN knew he was being Hired to be a HACKER for the Federal Gov't but he thought he was just being Hired to HACK into the Personal Info of Real Suspected TERRORISTS.

Not SPY on Innocent American Citizens WITHOUT PROBABLE CAUSE!

Not SPY on Innocent American Citizens WITHOUT PROBABLE CAUSE for POLITICAL Reasons, or just to keep entire Communities of Human Beings in BONDAGE!

The Federal Gov't Hired Mr SNOWDEN.....offered him a Great Salary....and in exchange for keeping that Great Salary, they expected him to Betray the American People by HACKING into their Personal Lives WITHOUT PROBABLE CAUSE!

Please understand I am Not Opposed to the U.S. Federal Gov't using Broad Surveillance Powers Legally for authentic NATIONAL SECURITY purposes because I too want to be SAFE from TERRORISM.

I am Only Opposed to the U.S. Federal Gov't ABUSING its Broad Surveillance Powers to Violate the same U.S. Constitution its ELECTED Officials have vowed to uphold, for POLITICS & other Personal reasons!

So in essence the Federal Gov't is using the NSA NOT to track down Real Suspected TERRORISTS as Congressman MIKE ROGERS proclaims.

And why is the Federal Gov't COLLECTING DATA & INFO on Each American Citizen??

It's being stored at a huge Compound in UTAH but Why??

Federal Gov't Officials are using the NSA to SPY on ALL American Citizens WITHOUT PROBABLE CAUSE just because they Can, NOT because they need to!

i.e., "Big Brother" Is Here!

This is beyond WRONG & ILLEGAL!

Another example of Federal Gov't ABUSE is the IRS targeting Innocent American Citizens for their RELIGIOUS Beliefs & POLITICAL Affiliations.

Or......

Using the IRS to RETALIATE against Innocent American Citizens.

Both actions are also WRONG & ILLEGAL!!

So do I strongly believe EDWARD SNOWDEN is a necessary, Courageous Young Whistleblower who deserves some level of Clemency??

YES!!

FYI:

I WILL NEVER TRUST CONGRESSMAN MIKE ROGERS (R-MI) AGAIN.

Why??

One word.....DETROIT!








"Edward Snowden, Whistle-Blower"


Seven months ago, the world began to learn the vast scope of the National Security Agency’s reach into the lives of hundreds of millions of people in the United States and around the globe, as it collects information about their phone calls, their email messages, their friends and contacts, how they spend their days and where they spend their nights.

The public learned in great detail how the agency has exceeded its mandate and abused its authority, prompting outrage at kitchen tables and at the desks of Congress, which may finally begin to limit these practices.

The revelations have already prompted two federal judges to accuse the N.S.A. of violating the Constitution (although a third, unfortunately, found the dragnet surveillance to be legal).

A panel appointed by President Obama issued a powerful indictment of the agency’s invasions of privacy and called for a major overhaul of its operations.

All of this is entirely because of information provided to journalists by Edward Snowden, the former N.S.A. contractor who stole a trove of highly classified documents after he became disillusioned with the agency’s voraciousness. Mr. Snowden is now living in Russia, on the run from American charges of espionage and theft, and he faces the prospect of spending the rest of his life looking over his shoulder.

Considering the enormous value of the information he has revealed, and the abuses he has exposed, Mr. Snowden deserves better than a life of permanent exile, fear and flight. He may have committed a crime to do so, but he has done his country a great service. It is time for the United States to offer Mr. Snowden a plea bargain or some form of clemency that would allow him to return home, face at least substantially reduced punishment in light of his role as a whistle-blower, and have the hope of a life advocating for greater privacy and far stronger oversight of the runaway intelligence community.

Mr. Snowden is currently charged in a criminal complaint with two violations of the Espionage Act involving unauthorized communication of classified information, and a charge of theft of government property. Those three charges carry prison sentences of 10 years each, and when the case is presented to a grand jury for indictment, the government is virtually certain to add more charges, probably adding up to a life sentence that Mr. Snowden is understandably trying to avoid.

The president said in August that Mr. Snowden should come home to face those charges in court and suggested that if Mr. Snowden had wanted to avoid criminal charges he could have simply told his superiors about the abuses, acting, in other words, as a whistle-blower.

“If the concern was that somehow this was the only way to get this information out to the public, I signed an executive order well before Mr. Snowden leaked this information that provided whistle-blower protection to the intelligence community for the first time,” Mr. Obama said at a news conference. “So there were other avenues available for somebody whose conscience was stirred and thought that they needed to question government actions.”

In fact, that executive order did not apply to contractors, only to intelligence employees, rendering its protections useless to Mr. Snowden. More important, Mr. Snowden told The Washington Post earlier this month that he did report his misgivings to two superiors at the agency, showing them the volume of data collected by the N.S.A., and that they took no action. (The N.S.A. says there is no evidence of this.) That’s almost certainly because the agency and its leaders don’t consider these collection programs to be an abuse and would never have acted on Mr. Snowden’s concerns.

In retrospect, Mr. Snowden was clearly justified in believing that the only way to blow the whistle on this kind of intelligence-gathering was to expose it to the public and let the resulting furor do the work his superiors would not. Beyond the mass collection of phone and Internet data, consider just a few of the violations he revealed or the legal actions he provoked:

■ The N.S.A. broke federal privacy laws, or exceeded its authority, thousands of times per year, according to the agency’s own internal auditor.

■ The agency broke into the communications links of major data centers around the world, allowing it to spy on hundreds of millions of user accounts and infuriating the Internet companies that own the centers. Many of those companies are now scrambling to install systems that the N.S.A. cannot yet penetrate.

■ The N.S.A. systematically undermined the basic encryption systems of the Internet, making it impossible to know if sensitive banking or medical data is truly private, damaging businesses that depended on this trust.

■ His leaks revealed that James Clapper Jr., the director of national intelligence, lied to Congress when testifying in March that the N.S.A. was not collecting data on millions of Americans. (There has been no discussion of punishment for that lie.)

■ The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court rebuked the N.S.A. for repeatedly providing misleading information about its surveillance practices, according to a ruling made public because of the Snowden documents. One of the practices violated the Constitution, according to the chief judge of the court.

■ A federal district judge ruled earlier this month that the phone-records-collection program probably violates the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution. He called the program “almost Orwellian” and said there was no evidence that it stopped any imminent act of terror.

The shrill brigade of his critics say Mr. Snowden has done profound damage to intelligence operations of the United States, but none has presented the slightest proof that his disclosures really hurt the nation’s security. Many of the mass-collection programs Mr. Snowden exposed would work just as well if they were reduced in scope and brought under strict outside oversight, as the presidential panel recommended.

When someone reveals that government officials have routinely and deliberately broken the law, that person should not face life in prison at the hands of the same government. That’s why Rick Ledgett, who leads the N.S.A.’s task force on the Snowden leaks, recently told CBS News that he would consider amnesty if Mr. Snowden would stop any additional leaks.

And it’s why President Obama should tell his aides to begin finding a way to end Mr. Snowden’s vilification and give him an incentive to return home.


Sources: AP, CBS News, CNN, NY Times, Russia Today, The Guardian, Youtube

Obama vs Democrats Who Voted For Rick Santorum In Michigan:"Political Mischief" Or Wake Up Call?

Many WHITE Democrats are beginning to shy away from Pres. Obama NOT because they are Racist but because many of them have noticed how his Administration fails to even help Protect his BLACK & Latino Voters. i.e., His Base!!!
The SAME BLACK & Latino Voters who put him in the White House in 2008.

In case you are wondering NO I am NOT Hating on Pres. Obama!

I repeat I am NOT Hating On Pres. Obama, just trying to Analyze & Rationalize a few things I Don’t Understand.

For Example:

I don’t Understand why Pres. Obama’s Administration & the BLACK Congressional Caucus failed to Address Widespread National Unemployment Discrimination against BLACKS, Latinos & Older Workers for the past 3 years.
His Administration Fought Diligently for Gay Rights But NOT for Unemployed BLACKS, Latinos & Older Workers.

I also don’t understand why Pres. Obama’s Administration Refuses to Investigate Or Reprimand NYPD’s Widespread Practice of Racial Profiling with the use of Federal Funds.

I don’t understand why Pres. Obama’s Administration is fighting Diligently to protect Women’s Rights Groups i.e., ABORTION Rights Proponents, while continuing to allow Congress to Slip Federal Funds to Planned Parenthood, when in 2010 he Signed the Bart Stupak Amendment which Promises he would NEVER give money for any ABORTION Provider Services.

And....

I don’t understand why the Obama Administration has Refused to Address the Widespread GOP Voter Suppression Laws which currently Disenfranchise Millions Of BLACK, Latino, Senior Citizen & College Student Voters.

I repeat: I am NOT Hating On Pres. Obama, just trying to Analyze & Rationalize a few things I Don’t Understand.

I Really Want to See Pres. Obama be re-elected this Fall, I just don’t understand what is going on.

If Democrats on Capitol Hill & Pres. Obama's Re-election Staff think those WHITE Democrats who Voted for Rick Santorum Tuesday in Michigan was simply a "Political Trick" to hurt Mitt Romney, I have some Swamp Land in Florida to Sell them.

Didn't Mitt Romney win Michigan's Popular Vote Yesterday?
Well then I rest my case!

This Long Drawn Out GOP Primary is Strengthening the GOP, while Weakening Pres. Obama's Base because the Obama Administration & Congressional Democrats are failing to help their Base.

Who are the members of Pres. Obama's Base?

Millions of Unemployed, BROKE BLACK, Latino, Senior Citizen & College Student Voters currently being Disenfranchised by GOP Voter Suppression Laws!

Pres. Obama’s Re-election Staff & the Tired BLACK Congressional Caucus keeps telling us in the Media that as soon as the GOP nominates a Candidate, they will begin to Strike.

By then it may be too late!

GOP Leaders are intentionally dragging out this Primary as a way of Weakening Pres. Obama’s Base, while Strengthening their Own.

So what are Pres. Obama’s Re-election Staff & Democrats in Congress Waiting for?



Democrats Voting for GOP Candidates like Rick Santorum is NOT another example of "Political Mischief"!
Its a Wake Up Call!




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Sources: CNN, MSNBC, PBS, Politico, Youtube, Google Maps

Newt Gingrich Should Drop Out & Endorse Romney Or Santorum

Gingrich brushes aside dropout talk, but retools strategy


Coming off several disappointing primary performances, Newt Gingrich said Monday he's not dropping out -- but that he is retooling how he campaigns.

Gingrich brushed aside a call from the conservative National Review to quit the race to make room for Rick Santorum, saying it has called for him to abandon his campaign in the past. Santorum, for his part, has not called for Gingrich to abandon his bid.

The former House speaker said he has decided he's at his best when he focuses on problems and solutions and not on attacking his opponents. During his speech here, he avoided any mention of Santorum or front-runner Mitt Romney.

Special Section: Campaign 2012
"I do dramatically better when I focus on the nation's problems and I focus on the nation's solutions," he told the press following the event. "I don't do nearly as well when I focus on my competitors."

Gingrich acknowledged that he's shifting gears, after recent polls have shown his support plummeting.

"I think our strategy has to change to.a strategy of having better positive bold ideas." He pointed to earlier periods in Iowa and South Carolina when he rose to the top of the field as examples.

"The two periods where I focused on communicating those ideas, I ended up number one in [the Gallup poll] both times. And we're going to go back and do what we did that worked."

But the former speaker could not avoid the topic of his slide in the polls. When asked by a voter at his second stop in Pasadena how he would "bounce back," Gingrich pointed out that only one week ago the political conversation was focused on his win in South Carolina and two second place finishes in Florida and Nevada.

"Santorum ran fourth in all three places," he said. "He had a really good Tuesday. And suddenly the very people who told me I was dead in June came back and said 'see, I told you so.' Well I have a message for them. I'm still here and we're going to come back again."

Gingrich also called on Republicans in Congress to be "much, much more aggressive" in standing up to President Obama's fiscal 2013 budget plan.

"The time to have the fight over the next debt ceiling is not this fall," he said. "We have no choice. Time to stop it is right now. What the congress ought to do right now is passing the kind of reform that would make the debt ceiling increase unnecessarily."


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Sources: CBS News, Fox News, MSNBC, Newsy, Youtube, Google Maps

Romney vs Santorum: Michigan! Does Michigan Still Hate Romney?

Michigan to Romney: Go away


One very clear reason why Mitt Romney is far from a lock to win the Michigan primary, despite his ties to the state, is that he's not really tied to the state.

He was born here, he lived here. But he's not family. Not anymore.

That's why the characterization of Rick Santorum polling well in Romney's backyard is a bit misguided. The truth is, many of us disowned that two-faced liar years ago.

We remember how, back in 2008, Romney came home promising to do all he could to save the auto industry. And we believed him and voted for him and he won the primary here.

Then, after he dropped out of the race, he wrote a New York Times op-ed that carried the headline "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt."

The opening sentence: "If General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye."

What the hell?

I thought he said he was one of us.

Later in the piece, Romney talks about why we should let the auto industry go bankrupt. Although he lays out some very sound reasons for this -- including an anecdotal story of when his father, George, took over American Motors -- at the end of the day he fails to mention the most important thing. Us.

He forgot about the people back home who depended on the auto industry to put food on the table, pay mortgages, send the kids to college. He greeted us like family when he needed our votes, but when he left town he treated us like strangers.

If Romney didn't think a bailout was the best way to help the state, he should have said that when he came here looking for delegates and let the people at his rallies decide if they agreed with him. Instead he pandered, then kicked dirt in our faces on his way out the door -- an all too familiar pattern with Romney.

The reason Santorum is gaining votes in Michigan isn't because he's so liked here, though his social conservative rhetoric plays well in the western side of the state.

But it's because we've been burned by Romney before. He tells the people in front of him what they want to hear. But when he sets his sights on a new shiny object, he changes the script to fit his new needs.

We've seen him do it with abortion and health care reform.

We've seen him do it with taxes.

When Romney was running for the Senate in 1994, he sent the Log Cabin Republicans of Massachusetts, a gay rights organization, a letter saying "don't ask, don't tell" was the first of "a number of steps that will ultimately lead to gays and lesbians being able to serve openly and honestly in our nation's military."

Then in 2007, when he was running for president, he said he would not change the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, and that changing it would amount to a "social experiment."

I might not like a lot of Santorum's views, but at least I know what they are. Saying Romney flip-flops is an insult to flip-flops. That's why, according to a poll by the American Research Group, 33% of Michigan GOP voters say they support Santorum and only 27% support Romney.

In response to his unstable footing in his "home" state, Romney penned a new op-ed in Tuesday's Detroit News to defend his New York Times piece.

In true partisan fashion, he blasts President Obama for orchestrating the auto bailout while neglecting to mention in 2008 President Bush had moved to give Chrysler and GM billions of taxpayer's dollars at the beginning of 2009.

This is one of the reasons why Obama has to remind the public about the Bush years. If he doesn't, Republicans like Romney and Santorum will try to whitewash history and limit the economic conversation to the past three years as if we're in a vacuum.

Oh, and by the way, he was wrong.

The auto industry did not collapse.

In fact, reports show the bailouts saved an estimated 1.5 million jobs.

The auto industry is expected to grow by 28% by 2015, with the Big Three set to hire about 33,000 people in Michigan alone. And while Ford did not participate in the bailout, G.M. did, and was able to regain its place as the top automaker in the world.

Chrysler also took part and recorded its first annual net profit since 1997, and announced plans to invest $500 million in an assembly plant in nearby Toledo, Ohio, adding an entire second shift of jobs over the course of the year.

Couple all that with 23 consecutive months of job growth across the nation and what you have is good news for Michigan and choppy political waters for Romney.

He's scheduled to appear in Grand Rapids on Wednesday, presumably with a big ol' plate of crow.
He knows as the auto industry goes, so goes the state. He also knows we remember he said the country should let the auto industry hit rock bottom. Had Romney said that to our faces when he was campaigning here four years ago, we could at least respect what he has to say about the auto industry and the state of the economy today.

But it's going to be tough to sit and listen to Romney, knowing he will try to say whatever he thinks we want to hear. And besides, our backs are still sore from that knife he stuck in them in 2008.


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Sources: CNN, Fox News, GM, Wikipedia, Youtube, Google Maps

Jennifer Granholm: Obama's New Labor Secretary? Excellent Choice!

Former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm As U.S. Labor Secretary During Pres. Obama's 2nd Term?

Yes! Excellent Choice!

While I Do Think That Hilda Solis (Obama's Current Labor Secretary) Is Doing A Good Job In Her Role As U.S. Labor Secretary, I Believe Gov. Granholm Will In Fact Do An EXCELLENT Job! (Sorry. No Offense Hilda)

Listen I Know On A Political Level Pres. Obama Needs Hilda Solis To Help Please The Hispanic Population However....

I'm Looking At Things Long Term!

At This Time In U.S. History American Jobs Are Badly Needed For Many People: White, Black, Hispanic, Indian, Asians.

Gov. Granholm Not Only Possesses Great Executive Leadership Experience But She's Also An Expert In Economic Recovery & Will Most Likely Be Able To Communicate More Effectively With Organized Labor Union Leaders.

Organized Labor Unions Are Crucial To Our Nation's Recovery Too Because Who Wants To Work Hard For $5.00 Per Hour & NO Benefits??

Its Time For Pres. Obama To Begin Hiring People With REAL Civilian Work Experience Like Gov. Granholm To Help Govern Our Country, Versus Just Hiring People With Academic Experience.

I Really Hope Pres. Obama Considers Nominating Gov. Granholm As Labor Secretary For His 2nd Term.

Once Again I Thank Hilda Solis For Her Service To Our Country But Sometimes New Blood Is Needed To Help Right The Ship!

VOTE OBAMA IN 2010!!!!




The Black Labor Force in the Recovery


African-Americans or blacks made up 12 percent of the United States labor force in 2010.1 Overall, 18 million blacks were employed or looking for work, representing 62.2 percent of all black people.

In 2010, about half of blacks aged 16 and older had a job and 17.5 percent of those employed worked part-time.2 Blacks are the only racial or ethnic group where women represent a larger share of the employed than do men — more than half (54.3 percent) of employed blacks in 2010 were women, compared to 46.3 percent among employed whites. Employed black women still earn less than employed black men.

More than a quarter of employed black workers aged 25 or older have earned a college degree, a share that exceeds that for Hispanics3, but continues to trail whites. While the share that are college graduates has risen 20 percent in the past decade, the gap in the share of employed blacks and whites who are college graduates has not narrowed and a 10 percentage point gap remains.

Black workers are more likely to be employed in the public sector than are either their white or Hispanic counterparts. In 2010, nearly 1 in 5 employed blacks worked for the government compared to 14.6 percent of whites and 11.0 percent of Hispanics. Conversely, blacks are less likely than Hispanics and nearly as likely as whites to work in the private sector, not including the self-employed.4 Few blacks are self-employed — only 3.8 percent reported being self-employed in 2010 — making them about half as likely to be self-employed as whites (7.4 percent).

Half of black workers employed full time earned $611 or more per week in 2010, 80 percent of that earned by whites. The gap in earnings has been similar throughout the recession and recovery period.

The average unemployment rate for blacks in 2010 was 16.0 percent, compared to 8.7 percent for whites, and 12.5 percent for Hispanics. Historically, blacks have persistently higher unemployment rates than the other major racial and ethnic groups and the recent recession and recovery period has largely reflected this pattern.

Nearly half (48.4 percent) of all unemployed blacks were unemployed 27 weeks or longer in 2010, compared to 41.9 percent of unemployed whites and 39.3 percent of unemployed Hispanics. Moreover, blacks remained unemployed longer than whites or Hispanics in 2010, with a median duration of unemployment approaching 26 weeks.

The unemployment rate for blacks has remained high. In May 2011, the unemployment rate for blacks was 16.2 percent; down only 0.3 percentage points from the peak of 16.5 percent in March and April 2010.

The past few months have seen private sector job growth in areas such as transportation and warehousing as well as continuing employment gains in health care; both industries have a large share of black workers. However, blacks are more vulnerable to continuing local government job losses because they make up a disproportionate share of public sector workers.


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Sources: BET, CNN, U.S. Dept Of Labor, Wikipedia, Zimbio, Google Maps