President Barack Obama returns to Charlotte on Tuesday for his first campaign appearance with presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
They’ll hold a rally at the Charlotte Convention Center – three short blocks from where, four years ago, Obama accepted his own renomination before a packed house at Time Warner Cable Arena.
The visit is Clinton’s second in two weeks to what’s expected once again to be a battleground state. It’s her first visit to Charlotte since a March 14 rally at Grady Cole Center, a day before she won the state’s primary. Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee,will be in Raleigh.
Obama and Clinton will arrive in Charlotte together at 2:25 p.m. on Air Force One and travel to the Convention Center for the 3 p.m. event. Doors open at 1.
Here are some things to keep in mind about Tuesday’s visit.
~ 1. Expect heavy traffic. If you’re going to the rally or just going to work, be prepared for afternoon traffic tie-ups.
Police say to expect intermittent road closures between Charlotte Douglas International Airport and uptown. Though the exact route hasn’t been disclosed for security reasons, previous presidential visits have caused congestion, even on Interstate 77.
Brevard Street and Martin Luther King Boulevard between Caldwell and College streets are expected to close at 9:30 a.m. One lane of Stonewall Street is expected to close for TV satellite trucks. “We don’t anticipate huge gridlock based on the time frame, but we do expect some delays,” said Deputy Chief Jeff Estes of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. Blue Line service uptown will be interrupted from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Trains will run north to the Carson Street Station, where passengers can board a bus to the transit center. For questions, call CATS customer service at 704-336-RIDE (7433).
~ 2. Critical time for Clinton. Clinton will arrive in Charlotte amid renewed and potentially damaging focus on the federal investigation of her use of a private email server as secretary of state.
On Saturday, the FBI interviewed her in Washington for more than three hours.
And even Democrats are still shaking their heads at the news that former President Bill Clinton met with Attorney General Loretta Lynch on an airport tarmac in Arizona last week. Lynch has insisted Bill Clinton was making a social call and that they talked only about family. But she also acknowledged that the meeting had the appearance, to many, of a conflict of interest.
The Obama-Clinton visit comes eight years after an intense presidential primary fight between the two. Aides to Obama and Clinton told The Associated Press that the foe-to-friend narrative will be a key part of Tuesday’s events, with Obama acting as a character witness for his former secretary of state.
~ 3. Fewer no-shows. Two high-profile Democratic candidates have said this time they’ll appear with the president and his former secretary of state.
U.S. Senate candidate Deborah Ross and gubernatorial candidate Roy Cooper both plan to be at the Convention Center. Both were no-shows last month when Clinton spoke at the State Fairgrounds in Raleigh.
One politician who won’t be there: Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts. The mayor, who ushered Clinton onstage in March, is on a family vacation.
~ 4. Why North Carolina? Because it’s an increasingly important presidential battlefield.
In 2008, Obama became the first Democrat in 32 years to carry the state, and he won by a slim 14,000 votes. Four years later, Republican Mitt Romney won the state by 2 percentage points. But it was the only Southern swing state that he won.
Polls compiled by Real Clear Politics show the 2016 race a virtual tie. Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics rates it as leaning Democrat.
~ 5. Trump’s in North Carolina, too.
A few hours after the Clinton-Obama event ends in Charlotte, Trump is scheduled to address a rally at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts in Raleigh. Will he or Clinton get the bigger crowd? Reporters and others will be counting.
Even with the president by her side, Clinton will have to share the day’s North Carolina media coverage with Trump, who will get the last word at his 7 p.m. event.
North Carolina was in the GOP column in 2012, and Trump needs to keep it there in 2016 if he hopes to become president. No Republican has won the White House without carrying North Carolina since Dwight Eisenhower in 1956.
Clinton, who is leading in the polls in most battleground states, doesn’t have to win North Carolina to get the necessary 270 electoral votes. She only has to get Trump to spend precious time and money here so he can’t spend it in states such as Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania – probably must-win states for Clinton.
~ 6. Who’s paying? The Clinton campaign is paying to rent the Convention Center.
A spokesman for the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority said the contract is being finalized, but the Clinton campaign is “definitely paying” and being treated like any other rental client. Her campaign will also pick up the tab for the costs of bringing the president to town.
~ 7. Also on stage … Warming up the crowd for Clinton and Obama on Tuesday will be four Tar Heel Democrats – three of them candidates this year.
Cooper and Ross will each get some time at the microphone in the Convention Center ballroom.
N.C. Democratic Party Chairwoman Patsy Keever will also speak, as will U.S. Rep. Alma Adams – she of the extensive hat collection. The congresswoman will be returning to her new home, Charlotte, and may or may not try to get a photo op with Clinton wearing one of her hats.
Obama will depart Charlotte by 5:05 p.m., according to the White House press office.
According to The Associated Press, the last time Obama and Clinton traveled together was 2012 when they visited newly democratic Myanmar, a pet issue of Clinton’s.
While Obama and Clinton are only expected to be in Charlotte for a few hours, their schedules leave room for a possible unannounced stop around town that could showcase their personal rapport.
Only Young, BLACK People who currently reside in the 21st Century South possess enough Courage to Speak up about how it REALLY is in this region of the United States.
Most Older BLACK people who live in Southern States like North Carolina are either Afraid, too Brain-washed or too Embarrassed to Admit how things REALLY are even in the 21st Century.
Thus I Applaud Young, BLACK Men like Johnathan Wall, a Harvard College Student who decided that he was NOT going to Accept or Tolerate Blatant Racism as a Fact of Life.
This is NOT the 1950's!
This is NOT the 1960's!
This is NOT the 1970's!
Nor the 1980's!
This is the year 2012 and this kind of Blatant, In-Your-Face Jim Crow Racism and Segregation should NOT still be happening in the Southern United States of America.
Why is the Klu Klux Klan STILL being allowed to Control the State of North Carolina and the City Of Charlotte???
Why?
I implore more Young BLACK VOTERS who live in the South to STAND UP FOR YOUR LEGAL & CIVIL RIGHTS!
We Are Human Beings Created In God's Image NOT Animals!
We Have Equal Human Rights & We Demand To Be Respected As Human Beings!
God Bless Johnathan Wall & All Young, Courageous BLACK Voters Who Live In The South!
Nearly 100 people rallied in downtown Raleigh Saturday in support of a man who claims he was physically removed from a bar earlier this month because he is black.
Jonathan Wall, 21, filed a complaint last week against Todd Chriscoe, who manages The Downtown Sports Bar and Grill on Glenwood Avenue. In the paperwork, Wall accused Chriscoe, 47, of simple assault and ethnic intimidation. Wall says Chriscoe grabbed his wrists, put them behind his neck, forced him out of the bar and pushed him to the ground.
William Potter, an attorney for the bar, denies that Wall was mistreated and says he was kicked out because he's not a member. Potter said race had nothing to do with it.
Wall's supporters aren't convinced.
"I wish people were more evolved and we had gotten past things like this, but it's important to remember it still happens everywhere," said Clark Goldentyer, who attended Saturday's rally in Moore Square.
Organizers of the rally, called "Above It All: A Raleigh Stand Against Social Injustice," said they are trying to call attention to discrimination at several bars and nightclubs. They say people can rise above the issues by talking to each other about race and racism.
"This is, you know, an inter-generational dialogue," said organizer Marjorie Fields-Harris. "I think it's just a step in a good journey."
Rachel Powell said it's important for people of all racial backgrounds to stand in solidarity against discrimination.
"Even if we're not people of color, we very much sympathize," she said. "We stand against it as well, and I think that it's important for the community to know that they have support."
Wall and Chriscoe are scheduled to appear before a Wake County judge on July 23. Chriscoe said earlier this week that he looks forward to telling his side of the story in court.
A sports bar in Raleigh, North Carolina has sparked outrage for repeatedly denying entry to black customers, with no apparent consequence from local law enforcement.
The most recent instance occurred June 16th when Jonathan Wall, a 21-year-old Harvard-bound college student from Raleigh, North Carolina, arrived at Downtown Sports Bar and Grill.
Wall and his two friends were first hassled when the bouncer told the group they needed a membership to enter the bar.
The bar is known to be a causal sports bar so the assertion that it was members-only club was the first indication that there might be a problem. According to Wall, when the bouncer noticed a police officer outside the bar, he allowed Wall and his friends to enter the bar.
Once inside the bar Wall was confronted by a hostile employee, who he later learned was the bar’s manager, and was identified as Todd Chriscoe.
As Wall tells the story, Chriscoe approached him in a rather aggressive manner and demanded that he buy a drink immediately or leave the bar.
Wall was waiting for his friends to return form the bathroom and told Chriscoe he would be drinking but was only waiting for his friend to return.
After a few moments, when Wall’s friend hadn’t returned form the bathroom, Chriscoe allegedly attacked Wall and began to physically remove him from the bar.
“After staring me down for about 30 seconds, he walked back over and said “Are you going to buy a drink, or are you going to leave?”
I replied, “As soon as my friend comes from the bathroom.” Before I cold utter another word, he grabbed my right wrist and my left arm and threw them behind my head in an effort to constrain me, although I was speaking to him [in a] calm and non-aggressive tone and didn’t once even gesture.
He then used excessive force to push me through the crowd and out of the club while I was still in this “headlock” of sorts, before pushing me out of the front door. As soon as he grabbed me, I let my body go limp because with the degree of force he was already using, I didn’t want him to think I was trying to fight back.
I accepted that he was on an ego-trip, and let him guide me through the club in this position before pushing me out.”
Once outside, Wall found a police officer standing outside and tried to explain what had just occurred. The officer spoke with both parties, but encouraged Wall to overlook the episode, telling him she knew something like this would happen once he entered the bar.
“She explained that this happens all the time, and that if she approached the bartender about it, he’d have witnesses that would corroborate whatever story he made up as to why he kicked me out in such an aggressive manner.
She then explained that my options were limited because if she proceeded with getting statements from both of us and conducted an investigation, the end result could be worse for me: either it would get dismissed in court, or we would both be charged with what is the equivalent of “fighting” and both have a misdemeanor.
She said “He probably has a few charges already, but you’re young with a bright future ahead of you, and you don’t want that on your record.”
What disturbed Wall most was the officer’s casual response to the incident and “that she seemed to assume the worst case scenario in every possible solution to my encounter. She kept talking about how much paper work would be involved,” Wall explained to friends after the encounter.
After Wall’s former professor at the North Carolina Central University, Philip Christman, posted Wall’s account of the incident on his blog yesterday, other African-Americans began to post comments on Christaman’s blog relaying similar experiences at Downtown Sports Bar and Grill in Raleigh.
There are now more than a dozen posts telling tales of racial discrimination at the same bar and others in the area.
Now, Wall and others have embarked on an social media campaign to have the bar shut down and are demanding action on the part of local law enforcement and the City of Raleigh.
On the page, followers tell tales of similar experiences, share legal advice and seem to be building a ground swell of support that may result in serious consequences for the bar and law enforcement for allegedly overlooking these accounts of racial discrimination.
On June 16, a BLACK, Harvard-bound College Student named Johnathan Wall and several of his friends tried to enter a prestigious PUBLIC Raleigh, North Carolina Sports Bar.
Instead of being allowed access they were told they HAD to be Members in order to gain entry.
This occurred as Johnathan and his friends watched WHITE Patrons allowed Entry with NO Membership Cards, etc.,
Johnathan and his friends were ONLY allowed Access AFTER the Bar's Bouncer noticed a Police Officer standing nearby.
After entering the Bar, Johnathan and his friends were immediately approached by another Bouncer and several Hostile Bar Employees who made it clear, that BLACKS were NOT welcome at that establishment.
To make a long story short, Johnathan & his friends were eventually Physically Forced out of the Bar.
How Sad.
I am so happy to live in the 21st Century where this type of stuff NO longer occurs right?
Wait a Minute!
When this did incident take place?
June 16, 2012 in Raleigh, North Carolina!
That's right!
In the 21st Century!
Just another day in Extremely Racist North Carolina with a Democrat, Klan-loving Governor.
And Yes since Gov. Bev Perdue's Election back in 2008 Mistreatment of BLACKS in North Carolina has increasingly grown WORSE.
Bev Perdue tricked North Carolina's BLACK Voters into supporting her, than after her Election she put her foot on Our Necks.
A sports bar in Raleigh, North Carolina has sparked outrage for repeatedly denying entry to black customers, with no apparent consequence from local law enforcement.
The most recent instance occurred June 16th when Jonathan Wall, a 21-year-old Harvard-bound college student from Raleigh, North Carolina, arrived at Downtown Sports Bar and Grill.
Wall and his two friends were first hassled when the bouncer told the group they needed a membership to enter the bar.
The bar is known to be a causal sports bar so the assertion that it was members-only club was the first indication that there might be a problem. According to Wall, when the bouncer noticed a police officer outside the bar, he allowed Wall and his friends to enter the bar.
Once inside the bar Wall was confronted by a hostile employee, who he later learned was the bar’s manager, and was identified as Todd Chriscoe. As Wall tells the story, Chriscoe approached him in a rather aggressive manner and demanded that he buy a drink immediately or leave the bar. Wall was waiting for his friends to return form the bathroom and told Chriscoe he would be drinking but was only waiting for his friend to return. After a few moments, when Wall’s friend hadn’t returned form the bathroom, Chriscoe allegedly attacked Wall and began to physically remove him from the bar.
“After staring me down for about 30 seconds, he walked back over and said “Are you going to buy a drink, or are you going to leave?” I replied, “As soon as my friend comes from the bathroom.” Before I cold utter another word, he grabbed my right wrist and my left arm and threw them behind my head in an effort to constrain me, although I was speaking to him [in a] calm and non-aggressive tone and didn’t once even gesture. He then used excessive force to push me through the crowd and out of the club while I was still in this “headlock” of sorts, before pushing me out of the front door. As soon as he grabbed me, I let my body go limp because with the degree of force he was already using, I didn’t want him to think I was trying to fight back. I accepted that he was on an ego-trip, and let him guide me through the club in this position before pushing me out.”
Once outside, Wall found a police officer standing outside and tried to explain what had just occurred. The officer spoke with both parties, but encouraged Wall to overlook the episode, telling him she knew something like this would happen once he entered the bar.
“She explained that this happens all the time, and that if she approached the bartender about it, he’d have witnesses that would corroborate whatever story he made up as to why he kicked me out in such an aggressive manner. She then explained that my options were limited because if she proceeded with getting statements from both of us and conducted an investigation, the end result could be worse for me: either it would get dismissed in court, or we would both be charged with what is the equivalent of “fighting” and both have a misdemeanor. She said “He probably has a few charges already, but you’re young with a bright future ahead of you, and you don’t want that on your record.”
What disturbed Wall most was the officer’s casual response to the incident and “that she seemed to assume the worst case scenario in every possible solution to my encounter. She kept talking about how much paper work would be involved,” Wall explained to friends after the encounter.
After Wall’s former professor at the North Carolina Central University, Philip Christman, posted Wall’s account of the incident on his blog yesterday, other African-Americans began to post comments on Christaman’s blog relaying similar experiences at Downtown Sports Bar and Grill in Raleigh. There are now more than a dozen posts telling tales of racial discrimination at the same bar and others in the area.
Now, Wall and others have embarked on an social media campaign to have the bar shut down and are demanding action on the part of local law enforcement and the City of Raleigh.
The incident has spawned a Facebook page, ‘Stop Race Discrimination at Downtown Sports bar NOW’ and has over 3000 followers. On the page, followers tell tales of similar experiences, share legal advice and seem to be building a ground swell of support that may result in serious consequences for the bar and law enforcement for allegedly overlooking these accounts of racial discrimination.
Allegations of racially discriminatory practices at a downtown Raleigh bar are nothing new to the man who allegedly put a 21-year-old black patron in a headlock and removed him from the bar last weekend.
Todd Chriscoe, general manager of The Downtown Sports Bar and Grill on Glenwood Avenue, was the subject of a 2001 WRAL Investigates story, which looked into membership and dress code policies at a private Raleigh club on West Street.
At the time, Chriscoe co-owned The Office, which billed itself as an upscale dance club with a strict dress code policy. One thing expressly prohibited by the club: FUBU clothing, a fashion line targeted primarily to African Americans.
Four months after The Office opened, WRAL Investigates sent one white couple and one black couple, both wearing identical outfits, to try to get into the club, which closed in 2009.
The white couple, who said they didn't have a membership, were admitted and told by the doorman that they could get a membership inside the door. The black couple, however, was told that they couldn't come in and that memberships could only be obtained during daytime hours with three full days required for processing.
When confronted about the disparity, Chriscoe said it had nothing to do with race.
"You guys are trying to make it out to be a racist thing and we're not racist at all," he said in 2001. "What we are is an extremely private club, and we hammer people on the dress code because we want to have a very upscale, nice environment."
The Office later released a statement saying their club was a "virtual melting pot of members."
"What we tell our door people is to not let anyone in that their wife or girlfriend would not feel comfortable standing next to at the bar," the statement said. "Is this discrimination? Possibly it is."
Fast forward to the early morning hours of June 17, 2012, when a 21-year-old graduate assistant at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill claims he had a run-in with Chriscoe at The Downtown Sports Bar and Grill.
Jonathan Wall alleges that he and a friend went to the bar early Sunday morning and that they were initially told they couldn't go in because the bar required a membership.
Once inside, Wall says, he was quickly confronted by Chriscoe, the bar's general manager, who told him he had to "buy a drink or leave."
Wall says there were no other black patrons in his vicinity. When he explained that he was waiting for his friend to use the restroom, he says, Chriscoe put him in a headlock and forced him out of the bar.
"It was shock, more than anything," Wall said in a news conference Friday. "It was like one of those feelings, like, 'Is this really happening?'"
Wall said the experience was "demoralizing" and that it underscores the need for dialog about racial discrimination in the 21st century.
His allegations have sparked email and social media campaigns, and even prompted several other people to come forward saying they, too, were treated differently at the sports bar because of their race.
The bar issued a statement Friday, denying Wall's claims.
"Mr. Wall was not roughed up or improperly treated. Mr. Wall was not the subject of racial discrimination," the statement reads.
It continues, saying that Wall "took advantage of a crowded door situation" after being told he could not enter without being a member or the guest of a member.
William Potter, the bar's attorney, says that because of its liquor license, by law, the bar is a private club that limits access to members and their guests.
Plans for a protest at the bar Saturday night have been put on hold because of safety and security concerns due to the high number of people wanting to attend.
The state NAACP has gotten involved to help Wall's supporters organize a larger protest, possibly next weekend, with thousands of expected attendees.
WRAL News spoke with Chriscoe Friday, but he declined to comment on Wall's allegations. He referred all questions to Potter.
When an influential North Carolina lawmaker named Stephen LaRoque helped sponsor and pass a 2011 bill loosening regulations on billboards, he was the co-owner of five billboards and president of a firm that owned four others.
But when LaRoque asked the North Carolina Ethics Commission to review his key legislative role, it found no conflict, citing what it called a “safe harbor” stemming from the fact that his law would benefit everyone owning billboards.
The case reflected what many analysts say is the prevailing state of North Carolina’s ethics regulations: A lengthy set of rules has been enacted to help keep public officials honest, but enforcement has sometimes not been strict. They also complain that the extensive rules haven’t adequately curbed the influence of monied interests on state policymaking.
North Carolina –a state of 9.7 million residents that will host the Democratic National Convention in September — ranks 18tth with a grade of C- and a score of 71 percent from the State Integrity Investigation, a collaborative project of the Center for Public Integrity, Global Integrity, and Public Radio International.
No state received an A, but North Carolina ranked lower than many others on measures of its public access to information, executive accountability, state budget processes, and its procurement. It bested all other states on its lobbying disclosure rules.
Many of its ethics requirements stem from legislation enacted in 2006, following a major scandal in which a powerful lawmaker bribed a rank-and-file legislator. In exchange for his vote the legislator received campaign donations and a government job for his son. A smaller package of changes was enacted in 2010, boosting disclosure requirements and imposing stiffer penalties for illegal fundraising.
The ethics legislation was “a breakthrough, a quantum jump in the way all kinds of things are regulated,” said Bob Hall of Democracy North Carolina, a non-partisan group that promotes government accountability. “We improved our regulation of the whole system.”
There have been some notable accomplishments, signaling the determination of some officials to punish ethics violators: In 2007 the two politicians involved in the bribe went to prison, in 2008 a legislator was expelled for violating ethics rules, and in 2010 a former governor pleaded guilty to a felony campaign law violation.
But campaign financing loopholes remain, enforcement is dispersed among several state agencies and commissions, and critics say the Ethics Commission – the principal body charged with policing conflict of interest standards —lacks sufficient staff and authority to punish violators.
“For the most part, they lack teeth,” said Frank Perry, a former Ethics Commission staff member who now directs investigations for the Foundation for Ethics in Public Service, a North Carolina watchdog group. “They could be a serious force in preventing and exposing and attacking corruption, and sadly we don’t have any proof that they’re doing it.”
The Commission – with four members appointed by the governor and four by the legislature — oversees the filing of financial disclosure reports, issues advisory opinions to officials, and launches a few investigations every year in response to complaints.
But its actions are mostly confidential, and the most severe punishment it can issue is a private admonishment. The Commission also can refer cases to the Governor, legislative leaders, or other elected officials for further action, but it never has done so. The Commission received more than 300 complaints between 2006 and 2010, and investigated fewer than twenty.
Commission Executive Director Perry Newson said most complaints are dismissed because they lack adequate factual support; in some cases, complainants refuse to reveal their identities and sign sworn statements, as the law requires.
But Chris Fitzsimon of NC Policy Watch, the group that first called attention to LaRoque’s financial interests, says the commission “seems to be unwilling to issue firm rulings that might not be in the interest of public officials.”
In LaRoque’s case, his group noted, two state officials with ties to billboards withdrew from a mandated review of the law’s implementation, citing their own conflicts of interest. Of the ethics commission decision to approve LaRoque’s role, Fitzsimon said, “That’s a very narrow interpretation of ethics laws.”
A different state government agency – the Board of Elections — administers campaign finance laws, while the Judicial Standards Commission governs judges’ behavior; legislative ethics committees investigate allegations against members of the General Assembly; the Secretary of State regulates lobbyists; and an elected State Auditor serves as a general government watchdog.
Recent efforts by state leaders to combine agencies and clarify their duties have provoked turf battles and partisan debates, partly because some of the regulatory boards are controlled by Democrats and others by Republicans.
But persistent confusion over enforcement authority was highlighted in January 2012, when a judge acquitted a lobbyist for a steel importer and other firms of charges that he had failed to register properly with the Secretary of State. The judge said the law is ambiguous and that the Secretary lacked authority to impose a $30,000 fine.
Scandal provokes reforms
The lobbying reforms, for which North Carolina scored the best, grew out of a 2002 encounter in the men’s room at an International House of Pancakes in Salibury.
Present were two state legislators: Democratic Rep. Jim Black, who was desperate for power, and Republican Rep. Michael Decker, who was desperate for money.
Black needed one more legislator’s vote to be elected a third time as Speaker of the House. In the IHOP bathroom, as Decker later admitted in federal court, he agreed to provide it in exchange for $50,000 in campaign donations and a job for his son.
The deal was part of a pattern of corruption involving Black, investigators eventually concluded. The former speaker pleaded guilty to accepting money from industry groups in exchange for legislation and admitted to the State Board of Elections that he collected blank checks from donors. By 2007, both he and Decker were in federal prison.
Other North Carolina politicians, meanwhile, spent campaign money on children’s clothing, home repairs, and merchandise from Victoria’s Secret. Lobbyists not only raised funds for politicians’ campaigns, but invited them to sports events and golf outings, and picked up the checks for legislators who ate at expensive restaurants near the capitol.
“One lobbyist told me that if he took three legislators out to dinner, three others legislators would send their checks over to him,” said Jane Pinsky of the North Carolina Coalition for Lobbying and Government Reform. “There were legislators who thought it was their prerogative to be wined and dined.”
State legislators responded to the disclosures of these acts by prohibiting the personal use of campaign funds, banning gifts from lobbyists, and establishing the ethics commission.
The ethics law also restricted contributions and gifts from lobbyists to elected officials.
While Pinsky said the revised law still has a few loopholes that allow lobbyists to entertain lawmakers, there’s no longer a culture of lavish hand-outs.
“Lobbyists and legislators work really hard to make sure they don’t cross the line,” she said. “I don’t think that everyone even saw the line before.”
Loopholes and gaps remain
The law has a few holes in it. Lobbyists no longer can buy meals for individual legislators, but still can sponsor receptions for large groups of lawmakers. Benefactors also can treat public officials to trips or outings that are classified as “educational meetings.”
Though lobbyists no longer personally can contribute to political campaigns, the political action committees or interest groups that employ lobbyists are free to donate when the legislature is out of session or on recess. Political parties and caucus committees also have taken a more active role in funneling money to individual candidates, allowing politicians to bypass some of the fundraising restrictions.
“Every time I think we’ve done something smart, they do something at least as smart if not smarter,” Pinsky said. “There’s a level of corruption that has to do with the campaign finance system and the way money dominates politics…that has not gone away,” said Hall of Democracy North Carolina.
Public officials still engage in “pay to play” – in which major donors are rewarded with favorable legislation, state contracts, or appointments to powerful government boards and commissions.
“They put in an inordinate amount of money and have special status,” Hall said of big campaign contributors, noting that relatively small industries, such as video poker operators, have gained influence in state government by showering politicians with donations.
He recently documented how contributions from the commercial finance industry helped Republicans win control in 2010 of both houses of the legislature for the first time since the late 1800’s. Months later, GOP leaders tried to fast-track a bill allowing the industry to charge consumers higher interest rates.
“There was over $100,000 in small donations from commercial lending outfits going to targeted Republican challengers who became the majority,” Hall said. “It looks like a pay to play."
The funds were part of a large infusion of money in 2010 from wealthy conservatives, often to advocacy groups and think tanks, which prompted the New Yorker magazine to profile North Carolina politics in October 2011 under the headline, “State for Sale.”
Leaders of both parties still reward their contributors with appointments to powerful government boards and commissions, such as the University of North Carolina Board of Governors, the Wildlife Commission, and the Board of Transportation. The transportation board “acts like an ATM machine for the governor and other state politicians,” Hall wrote in a 2008 report.
“I think the reforms that we put in place, the reporting that we put in place, and the penalties that we put in place are working pretty well,” said Democratic Rep. Joe Hackney, who sponsored the 2006 ethics bill, then succeeded Jim Black as House Speaker in 2007. “We’ve demonstrated that we will take action.”
Hackney notes that during his tenure as Speaker, the House of Representatives expelled a member for violating ethics rules – the first time in more than a hundred years a North Carolina legislator was forced from office.
A legislative ethics committee concluded that Rep. Thomas Wright – a top lieutenant of Jim Black – failed to report $180,000 in campaign contributions and mishandled a similar amount of money in loans and charitable contributions. Wright is now imprisoned for fraud and obstruction of justice.
Since then, another North Carolina House member resigned amid an investigation of questionable campaign spending, the State Board of Elections assessed almost a million dollars in fines and penalties against politicians who violated campaign finance laws, and in 2010 former governor Mike Easley pleaded guilty to a felony for failing to report a contribution.
Most American states are doing a subpar job in protecting against corruption and assuring accountability, according a study released Monday.
The joint report -- from the Global Integrity nonprofit advocacy group, Public Radio International and Center for Public Integrity investigative news organization -- used data on a host of measures to score all 50 states.
No state received an A grade, while five got Bs and 19 were given Cs.
The majority got grades that would be considered not passing in American schools, including 18 Ds and eight with failing grades.
"What's behind the dismal grades? Across the board, state ethics, open records and disclosure laws lack one key feature: teeth," said an overview of the report written by Caitlin Ginley from the Center for Public Integrity.
The report assessed 330 "Corruption Risk Indicators" across 14 aspects of government such as ethics enforcement, lobbying disclosure, auditing practices and executive, legislative and judicial accountability.
The top-ranked state, after an analysis of these measures, was New Jersey.
It got a score of 87, equivalent to a B+. It was followed closely by Connecticut.
The only three other states earned above-average scores of B- or better: Washington, California and Nebraska.
On the other end of the spectrum was Georgia, which ranked at the bottom of the report's rankings when it came to transparency and accountability.
Citing one reason for Georgia's failing grade, the report claimed "more than 650 government employees accepted gifts from vendors doing business with the state in 2007 and 2008" despite this being a clear violation of state ethics laws -- adding that the state hadn't issued a related penalty since 1999.
The Peach State wasn't alone in scoring an F. It was joined by South Dakota, Wyoming, Virginia, Maine, South Carolina, North Dakota and Michigan.
The report's overview notes that low grades in some sparsely populated Western or Plains states may be attributable to "libertarian roots, a small-town, neighborly approach and the honest belief that 'everybody knows everybody' (that) has overridden any perceived need for strong protections in law."
But overall, the study concludes that many failings are preventable, whether by giving more power to ethics boards, bolstering penalties, increasing openness and transparency, or taking stronger measures to decrease the influence of money in politics.
This is despite some public steps in recent years aimed ostensibly at fighting corruption.
"State officials make lofty promises when it comes to ethics in government.
They tout transparency of legislative processes, accessibility of records and the openness of public meetings. But these efforts often fall short of providing any real transparency or legitimate hope of rooting out corruption," wrote Ginley. The report offers a number of examples.
One is former West Virginia Gov. Arch Moore, in office for three terms in the 1970s and 1980s, who went to a local dealership and took a car on a "test drive" and ended up keeping it for four years, while the dealership earned state contracts.
Then, the report references a North Carolina legislator who owned five billboards and sponsored a bill to loosen billboard construction regulations, with an ethics commission finding no violations. And it also faults a Tennessee ethics commission that hasn't issued a penalty in its six years in existence and that doesn't make complaints available to the public.
Scandals and a history of political corruption can be prime drivers of effective reforms, according to the report, which points to the positive measures taken in New Jersey, Illinois and Louisiana.
It also credits widespread improvements in transparency, in which legislation and "some government records are easier to retrieve than ever." But Ed Bender of the National Institute on Money in State Politics says in the report that such information often isn't presented in an easy-to-use, easy-to-understand format.
Ginley, in the report's overview, also claims the study found that "lobbyists find ways" around even retooled laws and that "across the board, enforcement is weak."
"When it comes to money, influence and power in state government, interest groups and big-money donors will find ways around just about any limit," she wrote.
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, members of Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow Americans:
Last month, I went to Andrews Air Force Base and welcomed home some of our last troops to serve in Iraq. Together, we offered a final, proud salute to the colors under which more than a million of our fellow citizens fought - and several thousand gave their lives.
We gather tonight knowing that this generation of heroes has made the United States safer and more respected around the world. For the first time in nine years, there are no Americans fighting in Iraq. For the first time in two decades, Osama bin Laden is not a threat to this country. Most of al Qaeda's top lieutenants have been defeated. The Taliban's momentum has been broken, and some troops in Afghanistan have begun to come home.
These achievements are a testament to the courage, selflessness, and teamwork of America's Armed Forces. At a time when too many of our institutions have let us down, they exceed all expectations. They're not consumed with personal ambition. They don't obsess over their differences. They focus on the mission at hand. They work together.
Imagine what we could accomplish if we followed their example.
Think about the America within our reach: A country that leads the world in educating its people. An America that attracts a new generation of high-tech manufacturing and high-paying jobs. A future where we're in control of our own energy, and our security and prosperity aren't so tied to unstable parts of the world. An economy built to last, where hard work pays off, and responsibility is rewarded.
We can do this. I know we can, because we've done it before. At the end of World War II, when another generation of heroes returned home from combat, they built the strongest economy and middle class the world has ever known. My grandfather, a veteran of Patton's Army, got the chance to go to college on the GI Bill.
My grandmother, who worked on a bomber assembly line, was part of a workforce that turned out the best products on Earth.
The two of them shared the optimism of a Nation that had triumphed over a depression and fascism. They understood they were part of something larger; that they were contributing to a story of success that every American had a chance to share - the basic American promise that if you worked hard, you could do well enough to raise a family, own a home, send your kids to college, and put a little away for retirement.
The defining issue of our time is how to keep that promise alive.
No challenge is more urgent. No debate is more important. We can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well, while a growing number of Americans barely get by. Or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules. What's at stake are not Democratic values or Republican values, but American values. We have to reclaim them.
Let's remember how we got here. Long before the recession, jobs and manufacturing began leaving our shores. Technology made businesses more efficient, but also made some jobs obsolete. Folks at the top saw their incomes rise like never before, but most hardworking Americans struggled with costs that were growing, paychecks that weren't, and personal debt that kept piling up.
In 2008, the house of cards collapsed. We learned that mortgages had been sold to people who couldn't afford or understand them. Banks had made huge bets and bonuses with other people's money. Regulators had looked the other way, or didn't have the authority to stop the bad behavior.
It was wrong. It was irresponsible. And it plunged our economy into a crisis that put millions out of work, saddled us with more debt, and left innocent, hard-working Americans holding the bag. In the six months before I took office, we lost nearly four million jobs. And we lost another four million before our policies were in full effect.
Those are the facts. But so are these. In the last 22 months, businesses have created more than three million jobs. Last year, they created the most jobs since 2005. American manufacturers are hiring again, creating jobs for the first time since the late 1990s. Together, we've agreed to cut the deficit by more than $2 trillion. And we've put in place new rules to hold Wall Street accountable, so a crisis like that never happens again.
The state of our Union is getting stronger. And we've come too far to turn back now. As long as I'm President, I will work with anyone in this chamber to build on this momentum. But I intend to fight obstruction with action, and I will oppose any effort to return to the very same policies that brought on this economic crisis in the first place.
No, we will not go back to an economy weakened by outsourcing, bad debt, and phony financial profits. Tonight, I want to speak about how we move forward, and lay out a blueprint for an economy that's built to last - an economy built on American manufacturing, American energy, skills for American workers, and a renewal of American values.
This blueprint begins with American manufacturing.
On the day I took office, our auto industry was on the verge of collapse. Some even said we should let it die. With a million jobs at stake, I refused to let that happen. In exchange for help, we demanded responsibility. We got workers and automakers to settle their differences.
We got the industry to retool and restructure. Today, General Motors is back on top as the world's number one automaker. Chrysler has grown faster in the U.S. than any major car company. Ford is investing billions in U.S. plants and factories. And together, the entire industry added nearly 160,000 jobs.
We bet on American workers. We bet on American ingenuity. And tonight, the American auto industry is back.
What's happening in Detroit can happen in other industries. It can happen in Cleveland and Pittsburgh and Raleigh. We can't bring back every job that's left our shores. But right now, it's getting more expensive to do business in places like China. Meanwhile, America is more productive. A few weeks ago, the CEO of Master Lock told me that it now makes business sense for him to bring jobs back home.
Today, for the first time in fifteen years, Master Lock's unionized plant in Milwaukee is running at full capacity.
So we have a huge opportunity, at this moment, to bring manufacturing back. But we have to seize it. Tonight, my message to business leaders is simple: Ask yourselves what you can do to bring jobs back to your country, and your country will do everything we can to help you succeed.
We should start with our tax code. Right now, companies get tax breaks for moving jobs and profits overseas. Meanwhile, companies that choose to stay in America get hit with one of the highest tax rates in the world. It makes no sense, and everyone knows it.
So let's change it.
First, if you're a business that wants to outsource jobs, you shouldn't get a tax deduction for doing it. That money should be used to cover moving expenses for companies like Master Lock that decide to bring jobs home.
Second, no American company should be able to avoid paying its fair share of taxes by moving jobs and profits overseas. From now on, every multinational company should have to pay a basic minimum tax. And every penny should go towards lowering taxes for companies that choose to stay here and hire here.
Third, if you're an American manufacturer, you should get a bigger tax cut. If you're a high-tech manufacturer, we should double the tax deduction you get for making products here. And if you want to relocate in a community that was hit hard when a factory left town, you should get help financing a new plant, equipment, or training for new workers.
My message is simple. It's time to stop rewarding businesses that ship jobs overseas, and start rewarding companies that create jobs right here in America. Send me these tax reforms, and I'll sign them right away.
We're also making it easier for American businesses to sell products all over the world. Two years ago, I set a goal of doubling U.S. exports over five years. With the bipartisan trade agreements I signed into law, we are on track to meet that goal - ahead of schedule. Soon, there will be millions of new customers for American goods in Panama, Colombia, and South Korea.
Soon, there will be new cars on the streets of Seoul imported from Detroit, and Toledo, and Chicago.
I will go anywhere in the world to open new markets for American products. And I will not stand by when our competitors don't play by the rules. We've brought trade cases against China at nearly twice the rate as the last administration - and it's made a difference. Over a thousand Americans are working today because we stopped a surge in Chinese tires. But we need to do more.
It's not right when another country lets our movies, music, and software be pirated. It's not fair when foreign manufacturers have a leg up on ours only because they're heavily subsidized.
Tonight, I'm announcing the creation of a Trade Enforcement Unit that will be charged with investigating unfair trade practices in countries like China. There will be more inspections to prevent counterfeit or unsafe goods from crossing our borders.
And this Congress should make sure that no foreign company has an advantage over American manufacturing when it comes to accessing finance or new markets like Russia. Our workers are the most productive on Earth, and if the playing field is level, I promise you - America will always win.
I also hear from many business leaders who want to hire in the United States but can't find workers with the right skills. Growing industries in science and technology have twice as many openings as we have workers who can do the job. Think about that - openings at a time when millions of Americans are looking for work. That's inexcusable. And we know how to fix it.
Jackie Bray is a single mom from North Carolina who was laid off from her job as a mechanic. Then Siemens opened a gas turbine factory in Charlotte, and formed a partnership with Central Piedmont Community College. The company helped the college design courses in laser and robotics training. It paid Jackie's tuition, then hired her to help operate their plant.
I want every American looking for work to have the same opportunity as Jackie did. Join me in a national commitment to train two million Americans with skills that will lead directly to a job.
My Administration has already lined up more companies that want to help. Model partnerships between businesses like Siemens and community colleges in places like Charlotte, Orlando, and Louisville are up and running.
Now you need to give more community colleges the resources they need to become community career centers - places that teach people skills that local businesses are looking for right now, from data management to high-tech manufacturing.
And I want to cut through the maze of confusing training programs, so that from now on, people like Jackie have one program, one website, and one place to go for all the information and help they need. It's time to turn our unemployment system into a reemployment system that puts people to work.
These reforms will help people get jobs that are open today. But to prepare for the jobs of tomorrow, our commitment to skills and education has to start earlier.
For less than one percent of what our Nation spends on education each year, we've convinced nearly every State in the country to raise their standards for teaching and learning - the first time that's happened in a generation. But challenges remain. And we know how to solve them.
At a time when other countries are doubling down on education, tight budgets have forced States to lay off thousands of teachers. We know a good teacher can increase the lifetime income of a classroom by over $250,000. A great teacher can offer an escape from poverty to the child who dreams beyond his circumstance.
Every person in this chamber can point to a teacher who changed the trajectory of their lives. Most teachers work tirelessly, with modest pay, sometimes digging into their own pocket for school supplies - just to make a difference.
Teachers matter. So instead of bashing them, or defending the status quo, let's offer schools a deal. Give them the resources to keep good teachers on the job, and reward the best ones. In return, grant schools flexibility: To teach with creativity and passion; to stop teaching to the test; and to replace teachers who just aren't helping kids learn.
We also know that when students aren't allowed to walk away from their education, more of them walk the stage to get their diploma. So tonight, I call on every State to require that all students stay in high school until they graduate or turn eighteen.
When kids do graduate, the most daunting challenge can be the cost of college. At a time when Americans owe more in tuition debt than credit card debt, this Congress needs to stop the interest rates on student loans from doubling in July. Extend the tuition tax credit we started that saves middle-class families thousands of dollars. And give more young people the chance to earn their way through college by doubling the number of work-study jobs in the next five years.
Of course, it's not enough for us to increase student aid. We can't just keep subsidizing skyrocketing tuition; we'll run out of money. States also need to do their part, by making higher education a higher priority in their budgets. And colleges and universities have to do their part by working to keep costs down. Recently, I spoke with a group of college presidents who've done just that.
Some schools re-design courses to help students finish more quickly. Some use better technology. The point is, it's possible. So let me put colleges and universities on notice: If you can't stop tuition from going up, the funding you get from taxpayers will go down. Higher education can't be a luxury - it's an economic imperative that every family in America should be able to afford.
Let's also remember that hundreds of thousands of talented, hardworking students in this country face another challenge:
The fact that they aren't yet American citizens. Many were brought here as small children, are American through and through, yet they live every day with the threat of deportation. Others came more recently, to study business and science and engineering, but as soon as they get their degree, we send them home to invent new products and create new jobs somewhere else.
That doesn't make sense.
I believe as strongly as ever that we should take on illegal immigration. That's why my Administration has put more boots on the border than ever before. That's why there are fewer illegal crossings than when I took office.
The opponents of action are out of excuses. We should be working on comprehensive immigration reform right now. But if election-year politics keeps Congress from acting on a comprehensive plan, let's at least agree to stop expelling responsible young people who want to staff our labs, start new businesses, and defend this country. Send me a law that gives them the chance to earn their citizenship. I will sign it right away.
You see, an economy built to last is one where we encourage the talent and ingenuity of every person in this country. That means women should earn equal pay for equal work. It means we should support everyone who's willing to work; and every risk-taker and entrepreneur who aspires to become the next Steve Jobs.
After all, innovation is what America has always been about. Most new jobs are created in start-ups and small businesses. So let's pass an agenda that helps them succeed.
Tear down regulations that prevent aspiring entrepreneurs from getting the financing to grow. Expand tax relief to small businesses that are raising wages and creating good jobs. Both parties agree on these ideas. So put them in a bill, and get it on my desk this year.
Innovation also demands basic research. Today, the discoveries taking place in our federally-financed labs and universities could lead to new treatments that kill cancer cells but leave healthy ones untouched.
New lightweight vests for cops and soldiers that can stop any bullet. Don't gut these investments in our budget. Don't let other countries win the race for the future. Support the same kind of research and innovation that led to the computer chip and the Internet; to new American jobs and new American industries.
Nowhere is the promise of innovation greater than in American-made energy. Over the last three years, we've opened millions of new acres for oil and gas exploration, and tonight, I'm directing my Administration to open more than 75 percent of our potential offshore oil and gas resources.
Right now, American oil production is the highest that it's been in eight years. That's right - eight years. Not only that - last year, we relied less on foreign oil than in any of the past sixteen years. But with only 2 percent of the world's oil reserves, oil isn't enough.
This country needs an all-out, all-of-the-above strategy that develops every available source of American energy - a strategy that's cleaner, cheaper, and full of new jobs.
We have a supply of natural gas that can last America nearly one hundred years, and my Administration will take every possible action to safely develop this energy. Experts believe this will support more than 600,000 jobs by the end of the decade. And I'm requiring all companies that drill for gas on public lands to disclose the chemicals they use.
America will develop this resource without putting the health and safety of our citizens at risk.
The development of natural gas will create jobs and power trucks and factories that are cleaner and cheaper, proving that we don't have to choose between our environment and our economy.
And by the way, it was public research dollars, over the course of thirty years, that helped develop the technologies to extract all this natural gas out of shale rock - reminding us that Government support is critical in helping businesses get new energy ideas off the ground.
What's true for natural gas is true for clean energy. In three years, our partnership with the private sector has already positioned America to be the world's leading manufacturer of high-tech batteries. Because of federal investments, renewable energy use has nearly doubled. And thousands of Americans have jobs because of it.
When Bryan Ritterby was laid off from his job making furniture, he said he worried that at 55, no one would give him a second chance.
But he found work at Energetx, a wind turbine manufacturer in Michigan. Before the recession, the factory only made luxury yachts. Today, it's hiring workers like Bryan, who said, "I'm proud to be working in the industry of the future."
Our experience with shale gas shows us that the payoffs on these public investments don't always come right away. Some technologies don't pan out; some companies fail. But I will not walk away from the promise of clean energy.
I will not walk away from workers like Bryan. I will not cede the wind or solar or battery industry to China or Germany because we refuse to make the same commitment here. We have subsidized oil companies for a century.
That's long enough. It's time to end the taxpayer giveaways to an industry that's rarely been more profitable, and double-down on a clean energy industry that's never been more promising. Pass clean energy tax credits and create these jobs.
We can also spur energy innovation with new incentives.
The differences in this chamber may be too deep right now to pass a comprehensive plan to fight climate change. But there's no reason why Congress shouldn't at least set a clean energy standard that creates a market for innovation. So far, you haven't acted. Well tonight, I will. I'm directing my Administration to allow the development of clean energy on enough public land to power three million homes.
And I'm proud to announce that the Department of Defense, the world's largest consumer of energy, will make one of the largest commitments to clean energy in history - with the Navy purchasing enough capacity to power a quarter of a million homes a year.
Of course, the easiest way to save money is to waste less energy.
So here's another proposal: Help manufacturers eliminate energy waste in their factories and give businesses incentives to upgrade their buildings.
Their energy bills will be $100 billion lower over the next decade, and America will have less pollution, more manufacturing, and more jobs for construction workers who need them. Send me a bill that creates these jobs.
Building this new energy future should be just one part of a broader agenda to repair America's infrastructure. So much of America needs to be rebuilt.
We've got crumbling roads and bridges. A power grid that wastes too much energy. An incomplete high-speed broadband network that prevents a small business owner in rural America from selling her products all over the world.
During the Great Depression, America built the Hoover Dam and the Golden Gate Bridge. After World War II, we connected our States with a system of highways.
Democratic and Republican administrations invested in great projects that benefited everybody, from the workers who built them to the businesses that still use them today.
In the next few weeks, I will sign an Executive Order clearing away the red tape that slows down too many construction projects.
But you need to fund these projects. Take the money we're no longer spending at war, use half of it to pay down our debt, and use the rest to do some nation-building right here at home.
There's never been a better time to build, especially since the construction industry was one of the hardest-hit when the housing bubble burst. Of course, construction workers weren't the only ones hurt.
So were millions of innocent Americans who've seen their home values decline. And while Government can't fix the problem on its own, responsible homeowners shouldn't have to sit and wait for the housing market to hit bottom to get some relief.
That's why I'm sending this Congress a plan that gives every responsible homeowner the chance to save about $3,000 a year on their mortgage, by refinancing at historically low interest rates. No more red tape. No more runaround from the banks. A small fee on the largest financial institutions will ensure that it won't add to the deficit, and will give banks that were rescued by taxpayers a chance to repay a deficit of trust.
Let's never forget:
Millions of Americans who work hard and play by the rules every day deserve a Government and a financial system that do the same. It's time to apply the same rules from top to bottom: No bailouts, no handouts, and no copouts. An America built to last insists on responsibility from everybody.
We've all paid the price for lenders who sold mortgages to people who couldn't afford them, and buyers who knew they couldn't afford them. That's why we need smart regulations to prevent irresponsible behavior. Rules to prevent financial fraud, or toxic dumping, or faulty medical devices, don't destroy the free market. They make the free market work better.
There is no question that some regulations are outdated, unnecessary, or too costly. In fact, I've approved fewer regulations in the first three years of my presidency than my Republican predecessor did in his.
I've ordered every federal agency to eliminate rules that don't make sense.
We've already announced over 500 reforms, and just a fraction of them will save business and citizens more than $10 billion over the next five years. We got rid of one rule from 40 years ago that could have forced some dairy farmers to spend $10,000 a year proving that they could contain a spill - because milk was somehow classified as an oil. With a rule like that, I guess it was worth crying over spilled milk.
I'm confident a farmer can contain a milk spill without a federal agency looking over his shoulder. But I will not back down from making sure an oil company can contain the kind of oil spill we saw in the Gulf two years ago.
I will not back down from protecting our kids from mercury pollution, or making sure that our food is safe and our water is clean. I will not go back to the days when health insurance companies had unchecked power to cancel your policy, deny you coverage, or charge women differently from men.
And I will not go back to the days when Wall Street was allowed to play by its own set of rules. The new rules we passed restore what should be any financial system's core purpose:
Getting funding to entrepreneurs with the best ideas, and getting loans to responsible families who want to buy a home, start a business, or send a kid to college.
So if you're a big bank or financial institution, you are no longer allowed to make risky bets with your customers' deposits. You're required to write out a "living will" that details exactly how you'll pay the bills if you fail - because the rest of us aren't bailing you out ever again.
And if you're a mortgage lender or a payday lender or a credit card company, the days of signing people up for products they can't afford with confusing forms and deceptive practices are over.
Today, American consumers finally have a watchdog in Richard Cordray with one job: To look out for them.
We will also establish a Financial Crimes Unit of highly trained investigators to crack down on large-scale fraud and protect people's investments.
Some financial firms violate major anti-fraud laws because there's no real penalty for being a repeat offender. That's bad for consumers, and it's bad for the vast majority of bankers and financial service professionals who do the right thing. So pass legislation that makes the penalties for fraud count.
And tonight, I am asking my Attorney General to create a special unit of federal prosecutors and leading state attorneys general to expand our investigations into the abusive lending and packaging of risky mortgages that led to the housing crisis.
This new unit will hold accountable those who broke the law, speed assistance to homeowners, and help turn the page on an era of recklessness that hurt so many Americans.
A return to the American values of fair play and shared responsibility will help us protect our people and our economy. But it should also guide us as we look to pay down our debt and invest in our future.
Right now, our most immediate priority is stopping a tax hike on 160 million working Americans while the recovery is still fragile. People cannot afford losing $40 out of each paycheck this year.
There are plenty of ways to get this done. So let's agree right here, right now: No side issues. No drama. Pass the payroll tax cut without delay.
When it comes to the deficit, we've already agreed to more than $2 trillion in cuts and savings. But we need to do more, and that means making choices. Right now, we're poised to spend nearly $1 trillion more on what was supposed to be a temporary tax break for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans.
Right now, because of loopholes and shelters in the tax code, a quarter of all millionaires pay lower tax rates than millions of middle-class households. Right now, Warren Buffett pays a lower tax rate than his secretary.
Do we want to keep these tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans? Or do we want to keep our investments in everything else - like education and medical research; a strong military and care for our veterans? Because if we're serious about paying down our debt, we can't do both.
The American people know what the right choice is. So do I. As I told the Speaker this summer, I'm prepared to make more reforms that rein in the long term costs of Medicare and Medicaid, and strengthen Social Security, so long as those programs remain a guarantee of security for seniors.
But in return, we need to change our tax code so that people like me, and an awful lot of Members of Congress, pay our fair share of taxes.
Tax reform should follow the Buffett rule: If you make more than $1 million a year, you should not pay less than 30 percent in taxes. And my Republican friend Tom Coburn is right: Washington should stop subsidizing millionaires. In fact, if you're earning a million dollars a year, you shouldn't get special tax subsidies or deductions.
On the other hand, if you make under $250,000 a year, like 98 percent of American families, your taxes shouldn't go up. You're the ones struggling with rising costs and stagnant wages. You're the ones who need relief.
Now, you can call this class warfare all you want. But asking a billionaire to pay at least as much as his secretary in taxes? Most Americans would call that common sense. We don't begrudge financial success in this country.
We admire it.
When Americans talk about folks like me paying my fair share of taxes, it's not because they envy the rich. It's because they understand that when I get tax breaks I don't need and the country can't afford, it either adds to the deficit, or somebody else has to make up the difference - like a senior on a fixed income; or a student trying to get through school; or a family trying to make ends meet.
That's not right. Americans know it's not right. They know that this generation's success is only possible because past generations felt a responsibility to each other, and to their country's future, and they know our way of life will only endure if we feel that same sense of shared responsibility. That's how we'll reduce our deficit. That's an America built to last.
I recognize that people watching tonight have differing views about taxes and debt; energy and health care. But no matter what party they belong to, I bet most Americans are thinking the same thing right now:
Nothing will get done this year, or next year, or maybe even the year after that, because Washington is broken. Can you blame them for feeling a little cynical?
The greatest blow to confidence in our economy last year didn't come from events beyond our control. It came from a debate in Washington over whether the United States would pay its bills or not. Who benefited from that fiasco?
I've talked tonight about the deficit of trust between Main Street and Wall Street. But the divide between this city and the rest of the country is at least as bad - and it seems to get worse every year.
Some of this has to do with the corrosive influence of money in politics.
So together, let's take some steps to fix that. Send me a bill that bans insider trading by Members of Congress, and I will sign it tomorrow. Let's limit any elected official from owning stocks in industries they impact.
Let's make sure people who bundle campaign contributions for Congress can't lobby Congress, and vice versa - an idea that has bipartisan support, at least outside of Washington.
Some of what's broken has to do with the way Congress does its business these days. A simple majority is no longer enough to get anything - even routine business - passed through the Senate. Neither party has been blameless in these tactics. Now both parties should put an end to it.
For starters, I ask the Senate to pass a rule that all judicial and public service nominations receive a simple up or down vote within 90 days.
The executive branch also needs to change. Too often, it's inefficient, outdated and remote. That's why I've asked this Congress to grant me the authority to consolidate the federal bureaucracy so that our Government is leaner, quicker, and more responsive to the needs of the American people.
Finally, none of these reforms can happen unless we also lower the temperature in this town. We need to end the notion that the two parties must be locked in a perpetual campaign of mutual destruction; that politics is about clinging to rigid ideologies instead of building consensus around common sense ideas.
I'm a Democrat. But I believe what Republican Abraham Lincoln believed:
That Government should do for people only what they cannot do better by themselves, and no more. That's why my education reform offers more competition, and more control for schools and States. That's why we're getting rid of regulations that don't work. That's why our health care law relies on a reformed private market, not a Government program.
On the other hand, even my Republican friends who complain the most about Government spending have supported federally-financed roads, and clean energy projects, and federal offices for the folks back home.
The point is, we should all want a smarter, more effective Government. And while we may not be able to bridge our biggest philosophical differences this year, we can make real progress.
With or without this Congress, I will keep taking actions that help the economy grow. But I can do a whole lot more with your help. Because when we act together, there is nothing the United States of America can't achieve.
That is the lesson we've learned from our actions abroad over the last few years. Ending the Iraq war has allowed us to strike decisive blows against our enemies. From Pakistan to Yemen, the al Qaeda operatives who remain are scrambling, knowing that they can't escape the reach of the United States of America.
From this position of strength, we've begun to wind down the war in Afghanistan. Ten thousand of our troops have come home.
Twenty-three thousand more will leave by the end of this summer. This transition to Afghan lead will continue, and we will build an enduring partnership with Afghanistan, so that it is never again a source of attacks against America.
As the tide of war recedes, a wave of change has washed across the Middle East and North Africa, from Tunis to Cairo; from Sana'a to Tripoli.
A year ago, Qadhafi was one of the world's longest-serving dictators - a murderer with American blood on his hands. Today, he is gone. And in Syria, I have no doubt that the Assad regime will soon discover that the forces of change can't be reversed, and that human dignity can't be denied.
How this incredible transformation will end remains uncertain. But we have a huge stake in the outcome.
And while it is ultimately up to the people of the region to decide their fate, we will advocate for those values that have served our own country so well. We will stand against violence and intimidation.
We will stand for the rights and dignity of all human beings - men and women; Christians, Muslims, and Jews. We will support policies that lead to strong and stable democracies and open markets, because tyranny is no match for liberty.
And we will safeguard America's own security against those who threaten our citizens, our friends, and our interests. Look at Iran.
Through the power of our diplomacy, a world that was once divided about how to deal with Iran's nuclear program now stands as one. The regime is more isolated than ever before; its leaders are faced with crippling sanctions, and as long as they shirk their responsibilities, this pressure will not relent.
Let there be no doubt: America is determined to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, and I will take no options off the table to achieve that goal. But a peaceful resolution of this issue is still possible, and far better, and if Iran changes course and meets its obligations, it can rejoin the community of nations.
The renewal of American leadership can be felt across the globe. Our oldest alliances in Europe and Asia are stronger than ever. Our ties to the Americas are deeper. Our iron-clad commitment to Israel's security has meant the closest military cooperation between our two countries in history.
We've made it clear that America is a Pacific power, and a new beginning in Burma has lit a new hope. From the coalitions we've built to secure nuclear materials, to the missions we've led against hunger and disease; from the blows we've dealt to our enemies; to the enduring power of our moral example, America is back.
Anyone who tells you otherwise, anyone who tells you that America is in decline or that our influence has waned, doesn't know what they're talking about.
That's not the message we get from leaders around the world, all of whom are eager to work with us. That's not how people feel from Tokyo to Berlin; from Cape Town to Rio; where opinions of America are higher than they've been in years.
Yes, the world is changing; no, we can't control every event. But America remains the one indispensable nation in world affairs - and as long as I'm President, I intend to keep it that way. That's why, working with our military leaders, I have proposed a new defense strategy that ensures we maintain the finest military in the world, while saving nearly half a trillion dollars in our budget.
To stay one step ahead of our adversaries, I have already sent this Congress legislation that will secure our country from the growing danger of cyber-threats.
Above all, our freedom endures because of the men and women in uniform who defend it. As they come home, we must serve them as well as they served us.
That includes giving them the care and benefits they have earned - which is why we've increased annual VA spending every year I've been President. And it means enlisting our veterans in the work of rebuilding our Nation.
With the bipartisan support of this Congress, we are providing new tax credits to companies that hire vets.
Michelle and Jill Biden have worked with American businesses to secure a pledge of 135,000 jobs for veterans and their families.
And tonight, I'm proposing a Veterans Job Corps that will help our communities hire veterans as cops and firefighters, so that America is as strong as those who defend her. Which brings me back to where I began. Those of us who've been sent here to serve can learn from the service of our troops.
When you put on that uniform, it doesn't matter if you're black or white; Asian or Latino; conservative or liberal; rich or poor; gay or straight. When you're marching into battle, you look out for the person next to you, or the mission fails. When you're in the thick of the fight, you rise or fall as one unit, serving one Nation, leaving no one behind.
One of my proudest possessions is the flag that the SEAL Team took with them on the mission to get bin Laden. On it are each of their names. Some may be Democrats. Some may be Republicans. But that doesn't matter.
Just like it didn't matter that day in the Situation Room, when I sat next to Bob Gates - a man who was George Bush's defense secretary; and Hillary Clinton, a woman who ran against me for president.
All that mattered that day was the mission. No one thought about politics. No one thought about themselves. One of the young men involved in the raid later told me that he didn't deserve credit for the mission.
It only succeeded, he said, because every single member of that unit did their job - the pilot who landed the helicopter that spun out of control; the translator who kept others from entering the compound; the troops who separated the women and children from the fight; the SEALs who charged up the stairs.
More than that, the mission only succeeded because every member of that unit trusted each other - because you can't charge up those stairs, into darkness and danger, unless you know that there's someone behind you, watching your back.
So it is with America. Each time I look at that flag, I'm reminded that our destiny is stitched together like those fifty stars and those thirteen stripes. No one built this country on their own. This Nation is great because we built it together. This Nation is great because we worked as a team.
This Nation is great because we get each other's backs. And if we hold fast to that truth, in this moment of trial, there is no challenge too great; no mission too hard. As long as we're joined in common purpose, as long as we maintain our common resolve, our journey moves forward, our future is hopeful, and the state of our Union will always be strong.
Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America.
Welcome to the BLACK POLITICAL BUZZ Blog. (Established 2008)
My name is Laurel. (Author & Publisher)
I Blog with a focus on POLITICS, Business, and occasionally Entertainment.
FACTS ABOUT LAUREL:
Wife,
Mother of a U.S. Soldier,
Sister,
Woman of GOD,
Loyal Friend,
Creative,
Blood-related to a nationally known Charlotte Politician.
Black Female, Intelligent,
Married,
Love to Travel,
Credentialed by the RNC and DNC.
Political Blogger/ Commentator
Grassroots Activist,
PROFESSIONAL STATUS:
Credential Political Blogger/ Commentator,
Registered Independent Voter
Original Native of BROOKLYN, NY
Currently reside in CHARLOTTE, NC
I’m Nice but don’t get it twisted because my Mind is Sharp!
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Per the Landmark U.S. Supreme Court Case: 1964 case of New York Times v. Sullivan………
The Public has a Right to Criticize the People who Govern them, so the least Protection from Defamation is given to Public Officials. When officials are accused of something that involves their behavior in office, they have to prove all of the above elements of defamation and they must also prove that the defendant acted with “actual malice.” (For a definition of actual malice, see the “History of Defamation and the First Amendment, below.”)
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God Bless
Laurel @BLACK POLITICAL BUZZ
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