Free Republic

Link only due to copyright issues: http://www.detroitnews.com/story/opinion/2016/09/20/trump-plan-inner-cities/90768524/

Yes, the Democrats think they own the problems besetting the residents of our inner cities, but not in the way they believe. Democrats try to own the problems solely as election issues. They see their constituents’ problems only as tools, weapons with which to beat Republicans over their heads during election years, charging that white conservative racism is the cause of all the woes of inner city people. But Democrats take no responsibility for creating solutions. Democrats hold all the relevant government offices and the power to make lives better, but they never, ever, fix any of the problems. Eugene...

On this weekend’s broadcast of “Fox News Sunday,” Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway pledged the campaign will be doing minority outreach events in inner cities .Conway said, “I pledge to you and everybody who is watching, Those events are actually being planned. And we are very excited about them. Look, John McCain and mitt Romney are fine — they’re wonderful human beings, great Americans. they were fine presidential nominees. John McCain got 4 percent of the African-American vote, and Mitt Romney improved that to a whopping 6 percent. We’re fighting for every single vote. We’re going...

Donald Trump has landed himself in hot water again, this time over a statement he made Michigan. Addressing the Black community, he said: “You’re living in poverty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs, 58 percent of your youth is unemployed – what the hell do you have to lose?” Trump left the teleprompter to make this unscripted statement and every political commentator, news reporter, and disgruntled tweeter had something to say about it. Rather than wasting your time with another article focusing on Trump’s offensive speech, his ignorance, or any other way his campaign has managed to...

Donald Trump made a campaign stop and gave a speech in Dimondale, Michigan on Friday, August 19th, 2016 in which he made the controversial statement: "You're living in poverty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs, 58% of your youth is unemployed -- what the hell do you have to lose?" Dimondale, Michigan is a largely white suburb outside of Lansing, although there were non-white people in the crowd, particularly a black woman who stood right behind Trump during his speech and was cheering him on... Liberals, especially high-ranking liberals like Hillary Clinton who called what Trump said...

How many times have Donald Trump's supporters and critics debated whether he will pivot to a larger, more presidential candidacy? Too many to count. So put aside any talk of pivoting — the fact is, Trump delivered a focused, powerful, and disciplined speech Tuesday night in West Bend, Wisconsin, about 45 minutes north of Milwaukee. Trump focused largely on problems that disproportionately afflict black Americans, arguing that his proposals on crime, immigration, trade, jobs, education, and other issues will improve African-American lives more than Hillary Clinton's. Trump began by declaring, "We're at a decisive moment in this election," which few...

It’s so great to be here tonight. I am honored to also be joined this evening by Governor Scott Walker, Chairman Reince Priebus, and Mayor Rudy Giuliani. We are at a decisive moment in this election. Last week, I laid out my plan to bring jobs back to our country. Yesterday, I laid out my plan to defeat Radical Islamic Terrorism. Tonight, I am going to talk about how to make our communities safe again from crime and lawlessness. Let me begin by thanking the law enforcement officers here in this city, and across this country, for their service and...

It’s a given in American politics that urban centers are essentially Democrat strongholds. There is no point in Republicans or conservatives competing there because you’re simply not going to gain any votes or find any agreement on key policy points. This can be attributed to both economic and demographic factors. The low income urban communities are predominantly composed of minority voters and they stand with the Democrats in numbers which are too daunting to contemplate. The majority of the wealthy tend toward the limousine liberal crowd who can afford destructive taxes and have the leisure time available to dictate...

Don’t let anyone tell you that crime is going down in America. All over the United States, rates of violent crime in our major cities are increasing by double digit percentages. Murders are way up, shootings are way up and rapes are way up. So what is behind this sudden spike in crime? In Baltimore, authorities are pointing to the racial tensions that were stirred up by the riots that erupted in protest to the death of Freddie Gray. But what about the rest of the country? From coast to coast, we are witnessing a dramatic increase in violent crime,...

Discussions of racial problems almost invariably bring out the cliché of “a legacy of slavery.” But anyone who is being serious, as distinguished from being political, would surely want to know if whatever he is talking about — whether fatherless children, crime, or whatever — is in fact a legacy of slavery or of some of the many other things that have been done in the century and a half since slavery ended. Another cliché that has come into vogue is that slavery is “America‘s original sin.” The great Supreme Court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes said that a good catch...

I’m a Democrat. I’ve been a Democrat my entire life. I used to utter those two sentences with pride and would shout them from the highest rooftops. Now, I’m almost embarrassed to say those words. I almost can’t articulate my political affiliation in public (or on the radio) without immediately offering an apology and an explanation. How did I get here? I’ve been asking myself that question a lot lately. The more I ask it, the more I come to the realization that I haven’t changed all that much. Sure, I’m a little older … OK, a lot older. I...

Ted Cruz mocked President Obama's new "Promise Zones" initiative on Thursday, challenging the president for failing to address economic equality. "It's altogether fitting that President Obama is today talking about income inequality because income inequality has increased dramatically as a direct result of his economic policies," he said. Cruz criticized Obama for proposing more government spending and debt without addressing taxes and regulations that were choking job growth, suggesting that he was running out of new ideas to stimulate the economy. "All of America needs to be a real 'Promise Zone' -- with reduced barriers to small businesses creating private-sector...

There's little good news in a report on American life expectancy from the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington. We'll begin with the silver lining: Between 1985 and 2010, life expectancy in the U.S. climbed from 78 to 80.9 years for females and from 71 to 76.3 for men.But this is no cause for celebration.Dig into the numbers of the report and two troubling trends become apparent. One: Compared with the rest of the industrialized world (OECD countries), America is falling behind. "These improvements are much less than what countries of similar income per capita...

Rep. Cleaver has proposed a $48 billion earmark When absurdity gives way to hilarity, you must be talking about politics. In the midst of a colossal global concern for the economic stability of our great nation, Emanuel Cleaver, Missouri's 5th Congressional District representative, has one small earmark on his wish list that deserves some attention. Cleaver has listed a new earmark -- one of several -- and he promises to "fight for every one." But this is a whopping $48 billion package that must go down as the grandaddy of all earmarks. Proposed by a gentleman named Lamar Mickens, president...

In response to this piece in which I reacted to the death of Derrion Albert, I received this comment. So how do we break the cycle? What perpetuates it? I attended a high school plagued by gang violence, surrounded by awful neighborhoods and I don't have an answer for you. But I'd love to hear people's thoughts.

How many points do you get for just showing up? John McCain will get an idea at the end of the month when he travels to venues where Republicans don't usually campaign. McCain is planning to speak in inner cities, heavily African-American sections of the South, and poor sections of Appalachia. Most of his stops will be in areas where voters have traditionally supported Democrats. How many points do you get for just showing up? John McCain will get an idea at the end of the month when he travels to venues where Republicans don't usually campaign. McCain is planning...

'White flight' increasing, race chief says By Philip Johnston, Home Affairs Editor Last Updated: 1:41am GMT 15/01/2008 The flight of the white middle classes from the inner cities is accelerating, the Government's race relations chief has said. Trevor Phillips said so-called ''white flight" - an American phenomenon now increasingly seen here - was deepening racial segregation. Mr Phillips has warned in the past of the growing polarisation of the country along ethnic lines. But his use of the emotive term ''white flight" will fuel the controversy triggered by the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester. He said last...

O'Brien O'Baltimore: The Maryland Tradition, Vol. XV, Day One Before a packed Cathedral of Mary Our Queen -- and with its historic trappings in a seemingly omnipresent evidence -- after ten years as the globe-spanning shepherd of the US Armed Services, Archbishop Edwin O'Brien finally took possession of a territory, a cathedral and a cathedra of his own... and not just any residential see, but the mother church of American Catholicism. Shown above getting to his church on time, the 15th archbishop of Baltimore -- by longstanding custom and Roman decree, now the US hierarchy's first among equals --...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- On a street once known as Murder Row, a teen center founded to steer youths away from drugs and crime has become an outpost in another crusade - a nationwide push by anti-abortion activists to expand their foothold in heavily black and Hispanic inner cities. The campaign involves crisis pregnancy centers, whose counselors seek to dissuade women with unplanned pregnancies from having abortions. There are more than 2,300 centers across America, yet relatively few in inner cities where abortion rates are typically highest. Now the two largest networks - Care Net and Heartbeat International - have launched...

PEOPLE living in inner-city concrete jungles surrounded by graffiti are more likely to be obese than those from more green areas, a study has revealed. Research has suggested that where people live may be linked to levels of obesity and physical activity. Evidence also suggests that high levels of "incivilities" - such as litter and graffiti - are linked to poor health. Researchers from the British Medical Research Council studied whether living in less pleasant areas was linked to higher levels of obesity among adults. And it was ... about 50 per cent higher