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Posts Tagged ‘Racial Profiling’

If Being Black is not a Crime: Why Does Racial Discrimination Exist in the Criminal Justice System?

March 15th, 2011 5 comments

Introduction

Racial discrimination has been the main entrée at everyone’s dinner table for the past decade. Nowadays, everyone has an opinion about racial discrimination; even researchers have agreed to disagree on many aspects of the question. While various researchers debate on the issue from various approaches, it is evident that racial discrimination is deeply-rooted in the criminal justice system. The term racial discrimination has been used interchangeably with the term “racial profiling,” and the evidence is shown in prosecutorial convictions. Racial discrimination is the result of cumulative unethical practices that have not been properly addressed or redressed within the justice system.

These presumed practices include but are not limited to racial profiling, disparity practices, unethical police behavior, along with prosecutorial misconduct. While history cannot be adjusted, it is, however, important to retrospect in order to comprehend the underlying factors leading to racial discrimination within the criminal justice system. Initially, racial discrimination was fashioned in a legal model whereas race was used to control citizenry and individual rights. Such manifestation beamed through the Civil War, the age of Reconstruction and the era of Jim Crow.  Have not we, as a nation learned enough from the past to realize the damaging and costly effects racial discrimination has induced to the justice system? Nonetheless, it is unclear whether racism itself plays integral roles in the justice system. However, researchers have largely concluded that defendants’ social status and prior records do play key roles in the outcome of a trial. Some people argued that such practice is pure racial discrimination and others believe it to be unfounded bias.  Nevertheless, we can all agree that racial discrimination is not systematic and does not lead to automatic convictions. In other words, being Black or Hispanic is not a crime in itself.

Findings 

According to criminologist Robert Staples, the criminal justice system was founded by Whites to safeguard their own “interests.” (Staples, 1975). He furthers and explains that more than ninety percent crimes committed by Blacks never went to trail, and that the alleged criminals have long been convicted without due process. Another study conducted by the U.S. Sentencing Commission in 1990 reckoned that Whites had a higher success rate at plea bargains than Blacks. (USSC, 1990).

The 1983 RAND Corporation study found that convicted African-American was more likely than whites to go to prison, and received longer sentences. “This disparity,” the study concluded, “suggests that probation officers, judges, and parole boards are exercising discretion in sentencing or release decisions in ways that result in de facto discrimination against blacks.”  A study comprising of 2,000 murder cases prosecuted by the state of Georgia during the 1970s, showed that defendants convicted of killing Whites were than four times more likely to receive the death penalty than those convicted of murdering Blacks. The study also revealed that black defendants who murdered whites had by far the greatest chance of being sentenced to death. The study also revealed that black defendants who murdered whites had by far the greatest chance of being sentenced to death.

Racial discrimination is not solely shown in prosecutorial convictions; police brutality has also been linked to racial discrimination and according to Banks, surveys had confirmed that 960 Los Angeles police officers were in fact enforcing the letters of the law through bias behavior, and racist verbiage. (Banks, 2004). Hence, racial discrimination is not just a legal problem, but also, an unethical one. Before the issue of racial of discrimination can be properly addressed, it is crucial that this phenomenon be discussed through a double-edge analysis. First, it must be viewed and scrutinized from a legal aspect and secondly, it must be considered from an unethical facet. Often times, what is considered to be a legal act is not necessarily unethical and vice versa. Objectively, evaluating racial discrimination from these two angles will help design comprehensive measures to reduce racial discrimination and its impacts on the justice system.

In 1985, Cornell law professor Sheri Lynn Johnson reviewed a dozen mock-jury studies. She concluded that “race of the defendant significantly and differently affects the determination of guilt.” In these studies, identical trials were simulated, sometimes with white defendants and sometimes with African Americans. Professor Johnson discovered that white jurors were more likely to find a black defendant guilty than a white defendant, even though the mock trials were based on the same crime and the same evidence. “Because the process of attributing guilt on the basis of race appears to be subconscious,” Johnson says, “jurors are unlikely either to be aware of it or to be able to control it during that the process.” (Johnson, 1985).

There is no doubt that racial discrimination pervades the justice system; countless studies conducted by researchers in diverse fields have expansively proved that fact. However, varied nuances have been ignored in the process. Racial discrimination should be assessed on a case by case basis or on factual circumstances simply because black defendants do not receive the same treatment in all parts of the criminal justice system. For instance, a black defendant who has been brutalized at the hands of police officers in the commission of a crime may not necessarily be found guilty or even sent to prison or jail, if the court concludes that the force used by police officers outweighs that used by the defendant. Conclusively, racial discrimination is not a sub-system of the criminal justice system, misunderstanding of this fact have led many to believe in a system of dichotomy, where justice is split in two, one for the rich and one for the poor, or even one for blacks and one for whites.  Howsoever, to what extent is the justice system just to the rich and to what degree is it unjust or unfair to the poor? These are the fine distinctions that must be spelled out in order to measure racial discrimination in the criminal justice system.

Conclusion
Racial discrimination is the result of cumulative unethical practices that have not been properly addressed or redressed within the justice system. These presumed practices include but are not limited to racial profiling, disparity practices, unethical police behavior, along with prosecutorial misconduct. While history cannot be adjusted, it is, however, important to retrospect in order to comprehend the underlying factors leading to racial discrimination within the criminal justice system.

Racial discrimination is not just a legal problem, but also, an unethical one. Before the issue of racial of discrimination can be properly addressed, it is crucial that this phenomenon be discussed through a double-edge analysis. First, it must be viewed and scrutinized from a legal aspect and secondly, it must be considered from an unethical facet. Often times, what is considered to be a legal act is not necessarily unethical and vice versa. Objectively, evaluating racial discrimination from these two angles will help design comprehensive measures to reduce the impact of racial discrimination in the justice system. After all, being black is not a crime.

Reference

David. 2003. “Hispanic Perception of Police Performance an Empirical Assessment.” Journal of Criminal Justice 13: 487-500; Moore, David W. and Lydia Saa

The Gallup Poll Monthly, October: 2-9; the Gallup Organization. 2003. TheGallup Poll Social Audit: Black/White Relations in the United States 2003

Michael. 1978. “Race and Involvement in Common Law Personal Crimes.” American Sociological Review 43 (February): 93-109; General Accounting Office.2003 / Racial Differences in arrests. Washington, DC.

Banks. 2004. Criminal Justice Ethics: Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks,California: Sage Publications, Inc.

 
 
 
 
 

           

 

Pradelyne P Michel StHilaire

Oh no, another lie ?

March 14th, 2010 4 comments

PALIN: "There is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it’s easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform — not even in the state senate."

THE FACTS: Compared to McCain and his two decades in the Senate, Obama does have a more meager record. But he has worked with Republicans to pass legislation that expanded efforts to intercept illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction and to help destroy conventional weapons stockpiles. The legislation became law last year. To demean that accomplishment would be to also demean the work of Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, a respected foreign policy voice in the Senate. In Illinois, he was the leader on two big, contentious measures in Illinois: studying racial profiling by police and requiring recordings of interrogations in potential death penalty cases. He also successfully co-sponsored major ethics reform legislation.

PALIN is ridiculous. If your against gay marriage, abortion, and teaching evolution in schools then by all means VOTE FOR McCain. When he gets nabbed and is tortured to death, (Like PALIN seems to be implying, by talking so much about his success in the POW camp), then she will be our next PREZ!! I DO NOT understand how his ability to withstand interrogation and torture have ANYTHING to do with being president!!! When will people realize that being "tough on terrorism" is NOT WHAT WE NEED. We need someone who is diplomatic and has new, REAL ideas for bringing this country out of the hole George W. has been digging us in ever since Clinton left office. And as for teaching evolution in schools…give me a fucking break!!! OH, YEAH fossils are the handiwork of the devil!! Science speaks for itself. Don’t read the bible like a fucking history book idiots!!

Harvard Professor Gates was he racially profiled?

March 12th, 2010 4 comments

Well time for my story. I am not one of the 25 most influential Americans in the USA, I did not graduate from Yale, I am magna or summa cm laude…I am just a former SSGT that was racially profiled just like this famous and prominent African-American gentleman. I am not afraid to name one of the officers DC Roper remember his name. He and his co-hort who really was not at fault pulled me over because I was BLACK and I fit the profile of the Jamaican Drug traffickers they were looking to stop. I believe had I not let them search my car I would not be writing this. Since that time, my life has really spiralled out of control I cannot work anymore. I cannot find a job to support my family. I blame some on me but the rest on Milton County Florida on the Santa Rosa County Sheriffs Dept. On DC Roper and all connected who would not let us file a grievance against the police department by me SGT Rice and 2 of my white buddies one named Foxx who grew up in Milton and knows how racist it still is. This even happened tome in the late 1980’s I posted bond I was let out I was refused PTI (pretrial Intervention ) because I was married that disqualified me. Now I have to see a psychiatrist. For all the crap this little racist town put me through. If you have a similar story and especially if you are a person of color tell it now …now that one of the most influential and famous black Americans has been arrested by racial profiling. I was a SGT in the 919th Special operations Air Force police. I had never had a record. Now the FBI has me on their charts did death do me part. I can only be restored by a pardon from the Governor of Florida but almost twenty years has passed. I hope this will not ever happen to anyone it is tragic it happened to Professor Gates of Harvard. Maybe and not because he is black but he is looking out for all Americans and don’t think President Obama is going to take it lightly that one his his most influential and famous citizens was racially profiled and then put in handcuffs and basically snubbed by Harvard Campus police who refused to give their names they should all be charged and fired.

I don’t believe he was racially profiled, but he was singled out for being rude and obnoxious to the responding police officer, the problem with the police is the fact we have a first amendment right to free speech, so once the professor produced documentation of his place of residency the police investigation stopped, the fact he continued to be rude to the police after the fact is not a crime, i.e. why the DA dropped the charge

So while the police may have been offended by the way he conducted himself, once it was established he was not a criminal, the offense nature absent intent to harm the officer, is allowed under our first amendment rights, the police had no right to arrested a person expressing their first amendment right to free speech

Why did Palin lie at the RNC in her speech?

March 12th, 2010 5 comments

I just don’t understand why the Americans liked to be lied to, it amazes me.

PALIN: "I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending … and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress ‘thanks but no thanks’ for that Bridge to Nowhere."

THE FACTS: As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation. While Palin notes she rejected plans to build a $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport, that opposition came only after the plan was ridiculed nationally as a "bridge to nowhere."

PALIN: "There is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it’s easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform — not even in the state senate."

THE FACTS: Compared to McCain and his two decades in the Senate, Obama does have a more meager record. But he has worked with Republicans to pass legislation that expanded efforts to intercept illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction and to help destroy conventional weapons stockpiles. The legislation became law last year. To demean that accomplishment would be to also demean the work of Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, a respected foreign policy voice in the Senate. In Illinois, he was the leader on two big, contentious measures in Illinois: studying racial profiling by police and requiring recordings of interrogations in potential death penalty cases. He also successfully co-sponsored major ethics reform legislation.

PALIN: "The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes, raise payroll taxes, raise investment income taxes, raise the death tax, raise business taxes, and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars."

THE FACTS: The Tax Policy Center, a think tank run jointly by the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, concluded that Obama’s plan would increase after-tax income for middle-income taxpayers by about 5 percent by 2012, or nearly $2,200 annually. McCain’s plan, which cuts taxes across all income levels, would raise after tax-income for middle-income taxpayers by 3 percent, the center concluded.

Obama would provide $80 billion in tax breaks, mainly for poor workers and the elderly, including tripling the Earned Income Tax Credit for minimum-wage workers and higher credits for larger families.

He also would raise income taxes, capital gains and dividend taxes on the wealthiest. He would raise payroll taxes on taxpayers with incomes above $250,000, and he would raise corporate taxes. Small businesses that make more than $250,000 a year would see taxes rise.
Jay – Ah yes the middle class who Obama is standing for when he talks about cutting taxes. The tax cuts on the rich right now would be dropped because they are being under taxed because of those cuts so we as a government are losing money.

Oh and the number is 37 Bills That Barack Obama Has Written or Co-Sponsored in Just 2 Years in the US Senate.

She couldn’t get the money out of Washington for the bridge so she then said no thanks to it after fighting for it for so long.

FACTS I NEED FACTS, not conservative spin!! PLEASE!!!
polfanatic – yes you are correct but that is the point as those "small" businesses and people making over $250K are getting tax breaks right now from BUSH which means they are paying less then they should be….he is bringing it back to where it was so we are not losing money….So where is the problem?
McCain ’08 – You fail to realize that maybe his benefit is for the citizens to feel good about their country and feel like they are a part of a system that actually cares. Conservatives like to spin this so much that I don’t think they even care anymore, just as long as they get paid.
Tascha – She was put on the ticket to get people talking after Obama’s historic stadium speech. But keep in mind the taxes for people making over $250K, their taxes will go back to where they were before BUSH’s tax cuts. Technically that is not going up for them, it is just going back to where it was. Why don’t people understand that?

Because she was only put on the ticket to be an attack dog. She has no real substance wow she was mayor for 20 months and popped out 5 kids… Every speech Ive viewed her in she’s lied cant wait till the debates Biden is going to put her on blast! The one lie that really bothers me the most is when she says Obama is going to raise taxes that’s not what he said he said anyone that gets paid over 250,000 a year will get their taxes raised. (aka) upper class not lower or middle class.

Did Sarah Palin lie during her speech last night? What say you?

March 8th, 2010 8 comments

Here’s a list of what seem to be lies and distortions, what do you think?:

PALIN: "I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending … and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress ‘thanks but no thanks’ for that Bridge to Nowhere."

THE FACTS: As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation. While Palin notes she rejected plans to build a $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport, that opposition came only after the plan was ridiculed nationally as a "bridge to nowhere."

PALIN: "There is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it’s easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform — not even in the state senate."

THE FACTS: Compared to McCain and his two decades in the Senate, Obama does have a more meager record. But he has worked with Republicans to pass legislation that expanded efforts to intercept illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction and to help destroy conventional weapons stockpiles. The legislation became law last year. To demean that accomplishment would be to also demean the work of Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, a respected foreign policy voice in the Senate. In Illinois, he was the leader on two big, contentious measures in Illinois: studying racial profiling by police and requiring recordings of interrogations in potential death penalty cases. He also successfully co-sponsored major ethics reform legislation.

PALIN: "The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes, raise payroll taxes, raise investment income taxes, raise the death tax, raise business taxes, and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars."

THE FACTS: The Tax Policy Center, a think tank run jointly by the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, concluded that Obama’s plan would increase after-tax income for middle-income taxpayers by about 5 percent by 2012, or nearly $2,200 annually. McCain’s plan, which cuts taxes across all income levels, would raise after tax-income for middle-income taxpayers by 3 percent, the center concluded.

Obama would provide $80 billion in tax breaks, mainly for poor workers and the elderly, including tripling the Earned Income Tax Credit for minimum-wage workers and higher credits for larger families.

He also would raise income taxes, capital gains and dividend taxes on the wealthiest. He would raise payroll taxes on taxpayers with incomes above $250,000, and he would raise corporate taxes. Small businesses that make more than $250,000 a year would see taxes rise.

http://news.yahoo.com/story//ap/20080904/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_fact_check

In fact, the Tax Policy Institute concluded that everyone making under $250k per year will receive a tax CUT under Obama’s plans.

http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/publications/url.cfm?ID=411741
Go Broncos: Provide a link for the source of that load you posted or give up.

Yes…she totally lied. Especially about that bridge to nowhere…she was SO behind it until it became an embarrassment. I guess she was for it before she was against it?

Sarah Palin speech fact checker?

March 4th, 2010 7 comments

Attacks, praise stretch truth at GOP convention

By JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press Writer

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her Republican supporters held back little Wednesday as they issued dismissive attacks on Barack Obama and flattering praise on her credentials to be vice president. In some cases, the reproach and the praise stretched the truth.

Some examples:
PALIN: "I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending … and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress ‘thanks but no thanks’ for that Bridge to Nowhere."
THE FACTS: As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation. While Palin notes she rejected plans to build a $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport, that opposition came only after the plan was ridiculed nationally as a "bridge to nowhere."
PALIN: "There is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it’s easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform — not even in the state senate."
THE FACTS: Compared to McCain and his two decades in the Senate, Obama does have a more meager record. But he has worked with Republicans to pass legislation that expanded efforts to intercept illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction and to help destroy conventional weapons stockpiles. The legislation became law last year. To demean that accomplishment would be to also demean the work of Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, a respected foreign policy voice in the Senate. In Illinois, he was the leader on two big, contentious measures in Illinois: studying racial profiling by police and requiring recordings of interrogations in potential death penalty cases. He also successfully co-sponsored major ethics reform legislation.
PALIN: "The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes, raise payroll taxes, raise investment income taxes, raise the death tax, raise business taxes, and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars."
THE FACTS: The Tax Policy Center, a think tank run jointly by the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, concluded that Obama’s plan would increase after-tax income for middle-income taxpayers by about 5 percent by 2012, or nearly $2,200 annually. McCain’s plan, which cuts taxes across all income levels, would raise after tax-income for middle-income taxpayers by 3 percent, the center concluded.
Obama would provide $80 billion in tax breaks, mainly for poor workers and the elderly, including tripling the Earned Income Tax Credit for minimum-wage workers and higher credits for larger families.
He also would raise income taxes, capital gains and dividend taxes on the wealthiest. He would raise payroll taxes on taxpayers with incomes above $250,000, and he would raise corporate taxes. Small businesses that make more than $250,000 a year would see taxes rise.
MCCAIN: "She’s been governor of our largest state, in charge of 20 percent of America’s energy supply … She’s responsible for 20 percent of the nation’s energy supply. I’m entertained by the comparison and I hope we can keep making that comparison that running a political campaign is somehow comparable to being the executive of the largest state in America," he said in an interview with ABC News’ Charles Gibson.
THE FACTS: McCain’s phrasing exaggerates both claims. Palin is governor of a state that ranks second nationally in crude oil production, but she’s no more "responsible" for that resource than President Bush was when he was governor of Texas, another oil-producing state. In fact, her primary power is the ability to tax oil, which she did in concert with the Alaska Legislature. And where Alaska is the largest state in America, McCain could as easily have called it the 47th largest state — by population.
MCCAIN: "She’s the commander of the Alaska National Guard. … She has been in charge, and she has had national security as one of her primary responsibilities," he said on ABC.
THE FACTS: While governors are in charge of their state guard units, that authority ends whenever those units are called to actual military service. When guard units are deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, for example, they assume those duties under "federal status," which means they report to the Defense Department, not their governors. Alaska’s national guard units have a total of about 4,200 personnel, among the smallest of state guard organizations.
FORMER ARKANSAS GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE: Palin "got more votes running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska than Joe Biden got running for president of the United States."
THE FACTS: A whopper. Pali

She’s just covering up for the fact that she has fewer qualifications than Urkel:
http://www.bofas.com/stories/UrkelScreech.htm

Is anyone still interested in facts?

February 20th, 2010 16 comments

Interesting article…..

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her Republican supporters held back little Wednesday as they issued dismissive attacks on Barack Obama and flattering praise on her credentials to be vice president. In some cases, the reproach and the praise stretched the truth.

Some examples:

PALIN: "I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending … and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress ‘thanks but no thanks’ for that Bridge to Nowhere."

THE FACTS: As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation. While Palin notes she rejected plans to build a $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport, that opposition came only after the plan was ridiculed nationally as a "bridge to nowhere."

PALIN: "There is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it’s easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform — not even in the state senate."

THE FACTS: Compared to McCain and his two decades in the Senate, Obama does have a more meager record. But he has worked with Republicans to pass legislation that expanded efforts to intercept illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction and to help destroy conventional weapons stockpiles. The legislation became law last year. To demean that accomplishment would be to also demean the work of Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, a respected foreign policy voice in the Senate. In Illinois, he was the leader on two big, contentious measures in Illinois: studying racial profiling by police and requiring recordings of interrogations in potential death penalty cases. He also successfully co-sponsored major ethics reform legislation.

PALIN: "The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes, raise payroll taxes, raise investment income taxes, raise the death tax, raise business taxes, and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars."

THE FACTS: The Tax Policy Center, a think tank run jointly by the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, concluded that Obama’s plan would increase after-tax income for middle-income taxpayers by about 5 percent by 2012, or nearly $2,200 annually. McCain’s plan, which cuts taxes across all income levels, would raise after tax-income for middle-income taxpayers by 3 percent, the center concluded.

Obama would provide $80 billion in tax breaks, mainly for poor workers and the elderly, including tripling the Earned Income Tax Credit for minimum-wage workers and higher credits for larger families.

He also would raise income taxes, capital gains and dividend taxes on the wealthiest. He would raise payroll taxes on taxpayers with incomes above $250,000, and he would raise corporate taxes. Small businesses that make more than $250,000 a year would see taxes rise.

MCCAIN: "She’s been governor of our largest state, in charge of 20 percent of America’s energy supply … She’s responsible for 20 percent of the nation’s energy supply. I’m entertained by the comparison and I hope we can keep making that comparison that running a political campaign is somehow comparable to being the executive of the largest state in America," he said in an interview with ABC News’ Charles Gibson.

THE FACTS: McCain’s phrasing exaggerates both claims. Palin is governor of a state that ranks second nationally in crude oil production, but she’s no more "responsible" for that resource than President Bush was when he was governor of Texas, another oil-producing state. In fact, her primary power is the ability to tax oil, which she did in concert with the Alaska Legislature. And where Alaska is the largest state in America, McCain could as easily have called it the 47th largest state — by population.

MCCAIN: "She’s the commander of the Alaska National Guard. … She has been in charge, and she has had national security as one of her primary responsibilities," he said on ABC.

THE FACTS: While governors are in charge of their state guard units, that authority ends whenever those units are called to actual military service. When guard units are deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, for example, they assume those duties under "federal status," which means they report to the Defense Department, not their governors. Alaska’s national guard units have a total of about 4,200 personnel, among the smallest of state guard organizations.

FORMER ARKANSAS GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE: Palin "got more votes running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska than Joe Biden got running for president of the United States."

THE FACTS: A whopper. Palin got 616 votes in the 1996 mayor’s el
Patrick…..I didn’t realize the AP worked for Obama…..thanks for the info.

Huckabee was being humorous, but you Obama sheep know nothing about that.

Still, not one lie you can point out. This article is also full of misleading crap, must be an Obama talking points article. I guess you all were e-mailed it this morning and told to cut and paste it to your blogs.

Bunch of sheep.

NObama 08 or ever

Did Palin & McCain lie in their speeches?

February 19th, 2010 2 comments

I heard both speeches and then read some news articles and trying to figure out why they seem to blantantly lie..Is this true?

Palin’s speech:

PALIN: “I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending … and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress ‘thanks but no thanks’ for that Bridge to Nowhere.”

THE FACTS: As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation. While Palin notes she rejected plans to build a $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport, that opposition came only after the plan was ridiculed nationally as a “bridge to nowhere.”

PALIN: “There is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it’s easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform — not even in the state senate.”

THE FACTS: Compared to McCain and his two decades in the Senate, Obama does have a more meager record. But he has worked with Republicans to pass legislation that expanded efforts to intercept illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction and to help destroy conventional weapons stockpiles. The legislation became law last year. To demean that accomplishment would be to also demean the work of Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, a respected foreign policy voice in the Senate. In Illinois, he was the leader on two big, contentious measures in Illinois: studying racial profiling by police and requiring recordings of interrogations in potential death penalty cases. He also successfully co-sponsored major ethics reform legislation.

PALIN: “The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes, raise payroll taxes, raise investment income taxes, raise the death tax, raise business taxes, and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars.”

THE FACTS: The Tax Policy Center, a think tank run jointly by the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, concluded that Obama’s plan would increase after-tax income for middle-income taxpayers by about 5 percent by 2012, or nearly $2,200 annually. McCain’s plan, which cuts taxes across all income levels, would raise after tax-income for middle-income taxpayers by 3 percent, the center concluded.

Obama would provide $80 billion in tax breaks, mainly for poor workers and the elderly, including tripling the Earned Income Tax Credit for minimum-wage workers and higher credits for larger families.

He also would raise income taxes, capital gains and dividend taxes on the wealthiest. He would raise payroll taxes on taxpayers with incomes above $250,000, and he would raise corporate taxes. Small businesses that make more than $250,000 a year would see taxes rise.

MCCAIN: “She’s been governor of our largest state, in charge of 20 percent of America’s energy supply … She’s responsible for 20 percent of the nation’s energy supply. I’m entertained by the comparison and I hope we can keep making that comparison that running a political campaign is somehow comparable to being the executive of the largest state in America,” he said in an interview with ABC News’ Charles Gibson.

THE FACTS: McCain’s phrasing exaggerates both claims. Palin is governor of a state that ranks second nationally in crude oil production, but she’s no more “responsible” for that resource than President Bush was when he was governor of Texas, another oil-producing state. In fact, her primary power is the ability to tax oil, which she did in concert with the Alaska Legislature. And where Alaska is the largest state in America, McCain could as easily have called it the 47th largest state — by population.

MCCAIN: “She’s the commander of the Alaska National Guard. … She has been in charge, and she has had national security as one of her primary responsibilities,” he said on ABC.

THE FACTS: While governors are in charge of their state guard units, that authority ends whenever those units are called to actual military service. When guard units are deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, for example, they assume those duties under “federal status,” which means they report to the Defense Department, not their governors. Alaska’s national guard units have a total of about 4,200 personnel, among the smallest of state guard organizations.

McCain’s speech:

MCCAIN: "We lost their trust when instead of freeing ourselves from a dangerous dependence on foreign oil, both parties and Senator Obama passed another corporate welfare bill for oil companies. We lost their trust, when we valued our power over our principles."

THE FACTS: Yes, Obama voted for a 2005 energy bill backed by Bush that included billions in subsidies for oil and natu
natural gas production. McCain opposed the bill on grounds it included unnecessary tax breaks for the oil industry. But Obama has said he supported the legislation because it provided money for renewable energy. Obama did vote for an effort to strip the legislation of the oil and gas industry tax breaks. When that failed, he voted for the overall measure.

MCCAIN: "When a public school fails to meet its obligations to students, parents deserve a choice in the education of their children. And I intend to give it to them. Some may choose a better public school. Some may choose a private one. Many will choose a charter school. But they will have that choice and their children will have that opportunity."

THE FACTS: Despite his goal of giving parents choice in the schools their children attend, he is not proposing a federal voucher program that would provide public money for private school tuition.

Yes, they did lie. Neither one seems to get it that with the super highway it’s easy to cross-check this stuff. McCain barely knows how to use email so to him the internet is beyond his grasp. I don’t know what her excuse is.

Barack Hussein Obama, the Annointed One?

January 15th, 2010 4 comments

Why is everyone in the media falling all over themselves to paint this clown in a positive light? He’s nothing but an ultra leftwing extremist.

His voting record certainly displays the ideology characteristic of an far left liberal. Obama favors abortion, socialized medicine, and Affirmative Action. Obama sponsored a bill in the Illinois legislature requiring local police departments in Illinois to record the race of anyone stopped for questioning so that the data can be used to track the occurrence of racial profiling. He opposes a $2,000 tax credit for retirement and has voted against private gun ownership, mandatory sentencing and the death penalty. He abstained from voting about an abortion parental notification bill. Obama is soft on crime. In 2001, he voted against a bill that added extra penalties for crimes committed in furtherance of gang activities. In 1999, he was the only state senator to vote against a bill prohibiting early prison release for criminal sexual abusers

So it seems. He speaks well, looks good on TV & hasn’t acconplished a thing. It’s called the JFK gambit.