Friday, July 10, 2015

The existing law was designed for this to happen.

The fact the FBI check failed regarding this purchase should not be any surprise. Three days is ridiculous. Roof went into the licensed dealer on Saturday. Why? Why on Saturday?

There would only be one working day in the three day waiting period. The weekends have less personnel anywhere there is an office. The drug conviction wasn't going to be found in time. The FBI is not the problem and I'll be damned if the FBI will be scapegoated by gun legislators across this country. 

July 10, 2015
By Elisha Fieldstadt

The errors (click here) that led to accused Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof purchasing a gun even though he faced drug charges fueled both sides of the debate over stricter gun laws Friday.
On Wednesday, two days before the FBI said Roof should not have been allowed to buy the gun he allegedly used to gun down nine church parishioners, those victims' families rallied on Capitol Hill for a bill that would expand background checks on would-be gun buyers.
The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence said Friday that the bill, H.R. 1217, could have prevented the missteps, including a background check oversight, which allowed Roof to acquire the weapon.... 

The gun associations demands less and less regulations regardless of it being sound public policy. 

Gun background checks should require seven days AT LEAST. The hand guns and exotic weapons that are not reasonable hunting guns, should require a 30 period for all background checks to surface. Military style weapons should require an indefinite period until a standardized background check is completed.

Where does Jeb Bush stand on taxes?

We now need a translator in order to understand Jeb Bush?

Really? 

His comments about work was tangent to the issues of the ACA and income inequality. The answer he proposes is far from where the country is. 

He mentioned the ACA has reduced the hours of workers to 30 hours per week. What is going to cure that? Recalling the ACA. That is what Bush is alluding to. I mean we are all allowed to translate right? 

Income inequality is reflected in the fact all people need to do better by working longer hours. He isn't talking to the public. He is talking to the Republican base. What would the Republican base believe those comments are contextualized in? Minimum wage to begin with. Jeb Bush is different than the other Republicans in the field. He speaks tangentially to hide his extremist views that are no different than the rest of the Republican field.

Why pay minimum wage, when people can work longer and harder.

By Howard Schneider

MINNEAPOLIS, July 10 (Reuters) - It is too early (click here) to tell how a recent round of tax hikes and a minimum wage increase will play out in Minnesota, a state where liberal and conservative forces have often swapped control and policies.
But the state's experience may give pause to a crowded field of Republican presidential hopefuls who largely swear by tax cuts and small government as a recipe for prosperity.

Judged by those standards this state on the Canadian border should be a train wreck in process.

Instead, Democratic Governor Mark Dayton's Minnesota could become a touchstone in the national debate over how to bolster the middle class - an example of how solid growth and low unemployment can coexist with some of the highest income and corporate tax rates in the country.

Born into family wealth but a left-leaning Democrat by temperament, Dayton said in an interview that, to him, one fix for income inequality was pretty obvious: take some from the better off and spread it around.

"The wealthiest pay a smaller percentage of local tax than anyone, all the way down to the bottom," Dayton told Reuters. "From a tax equity standpoint I felt an additional two percent on the wealthiest two percent was appropriate."...

Who came first, Senator Elizabeth Warren or Senator Bernie Sanders?

Actually, neither came first.

They each developed their own policies quite on their own. 

Senator Sanders was well versed in public policy from the time he was mayor. 

Senator Warren had the path of learning and teaching. She decided on politics when the country was obviously heading down the wrong path. 

But, to say Senator Sanders popularity is because Senator Warren speaks out is not at all accurate. They both have their own decision tree. It is interesting though how very close their policies are regardless of their independent development.

We need to more from South Carolina Representative Joseph Neal.

Perhaps State Senator Neal could help the country focus on the heritage of African Americans. They didn't come through Ellis Island as my family did. Senator Neal's family had a very different trajectory than my family.

Why is it as a country we do not talk about all the heritage that occurred within the USA? Why is it as soon as these lives are presented in dialogue they become invisible as soon as the dialogue ends. Is it safety? Are African Americans safer if the slaves of the past remain invisible? What is the reason we don't talk about your heritage and the incredible survival of the men and women who brought you to us now? 

I think State Senator Neal needs to travel to Washington, DC to speak as a favor to the US House. He should be allowed to speak in "Morning Business" accompanied by the Democratic Black Caucus. It is important his words reach the House to impact the dialogue regarding hate and the symbols of hate and the depth of that impact on lives in this country. The official record of the US House is missing vital information about State Senator Neal and his family and heritage.

I thank him for bringing his heritage to the floor of South Carolina. Why was I surprised by the words he spoke? Could it be because we don't hear it enough?

South Carolina Rep. Joe Neal (D-Richland) speaks during a special session of the Legislature at the South Carolina Statehouse during a debate about the removal of the Confederate flag from the Statehouse grounds. 
(Rainier Ehrhardt / AP)

July 9, 2015
By Matt Pearce

..."I find it (click here) interesting that no one brought up the fact that there were a million-plus Africans here who were suffering under the weight of enslavement. And it wasn’t really mentioned and no one talked about what they were going through. And they went through it for almost 400 years. ... Let’s remove that flag, let’s do it now. ... 

"My heritage is based on a group of people who were brought here in chains. Who were denigrated, demagogued, lynched and killed, denied a right to vote, denied the right to even have a family. 

"Let me tell you a quick story of my family. My family was taken here to South Carolina. There were four brothers — that much we know. They were purchased by a slave owner by the name of Neal. He brought them to Sumter County. And one of them was taken to Kershaw County — that much we know. We know that two of them immigrated to Richland County, and one remained in Sumter....