Black History Month, Conservatives and a remarkable story

As you know, I've been featuring quotes from Black conservatives as this is Black History Month. That there are plenty of great Black conservatives with great quotes to cover a full month comes as no surprise to conservatives, though it might to many liberals who like to portray the Republican Party - and conservatives in general - as a bunch of old, angry, racist white men.

Yesterday I featured Professor Walter E. Williams, one of my favorites when it comes to economics. So I thought I'd share this with you:

Great job @maggie82. Thank you! is.gd/t2I3m2
— Walter E. Williams (@WE_Williams) February 27, 2013

But that wasn't all. Apparently this post attracted the attention of The Heritage Foundation who sent out this tweet:

Bloggers we love: @maggie82 at Thurber's Thoughts! Check it out: bit.ly/5MRU
— Heritage Foundation (@Heritage) February 27, 2013

That prompted this tweet from fellow blogger and one of the main organizers of BlogBash, Ali Akbar:

A couple of my fav orgs that get the whole blogger love concept: @afphq @heritage @breitbartnews @gridironcomms @actengage ... and many more
— Ali A. Akbar (@ali) February 27, 2013

Indeed, it's true. Bloggers live for links and mentions, as it drives more people to the blog site and results in more Twitter followers.

But it's not just for the recognition - it's for the collaboration. The more people sharing the news and conservative perspectives, the better. It's a 'force multiplier' and it helps the conservative side reach people they previously hadn't.

So thank you to Professor Williams for taking the time to say thanks, though - like me - I'm sure he was raised to exhibit proper manners, and thank you to Heritage for the great people you have on staff and for understanding the blogging world and working with us rather than in competition.

To close out Black History Month, I have a post by DarkKnight3565, a regular blogger on African American Conservatives. In talking about conservatives, progressives and 'Uncle Tom,' he writes something that really struck me - and I couldn't help but wonder why it isn't said more often.

In fact, I wonder why we don't reach out more to such individuals whenever we need people to address charges of racism from the main stream media. There are plenty of conservatives with many different hues of skin color. Unlike on the liberal side, we don't look to them for that varying shade of skin, but for their conservative principles, truly seeing the content of their character.

Black conservatives have a special challenge. They're criticized as much as the rest of us for their principles. But they're also criticized because they are Black, a discrimination I thought we'd ended.

DarkKnight3565 helps us to understand this, which is why I want to end my month of quotes with this excerpt from him.

Even Drs. Thomas Sowell and Walt Williams, African-Americans who escaped poverty to become two of the most respected economic thinkers alive today, were called “a new breed of Uncle Tom [and] some of the biggest liars the world ever saw” by Benjamin Hooks, former president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. If that’s considered advancing colored people…

If someone of Dr. Sowell’s accomplishments can be called an Uncle Tom, then what is an Uncle Tom? Clearly Mr. Hooks did not mean the term to refer to the actual Uncle Tom from Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, who sacrificed himself to a death by beating at the hands of a slave master rather than betray two escaped slaves, as Dr. Turner did. The term as Mr. Hooks and others use it, is, according to dictionary.com, a “disparaging and offensive” term for “a Black man considered by other Blacks to be subservient to curry favor with Whites.”

Generally, this definition comes as much from White Liberal Elite as it does from Blacks. In fact, often the White Liberal Elite seems to be leading Blacks by the hand on issues of race, defining for us what is racist and who are the Uncle Toms, and often using Blacks to promote Progressivism, regardless of the ill effect this Progressivism may have on the Black community. This is generally true today as it has been true historically. Margaret Sanger for example, founder of Planned Parenthood, once said that “We should hire three or four colored ministers, preferably with social-service backgrounds, and with engaging personalities. The most successful educational approach to the Negro is through a religious appeal. We don’t want the word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population, and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members.”

...

One can hardly fault those African-Americans who tend to have to knee-jerk association of Conservatism and racism, and therefore Black Conservatism and Uncle Tom-ism. Much of that is the result of the White Liberal Elite dominance of the media, and their willingness to exploit this dominance in order to fashion a narrative to make Conservatives seem racist. The typical mainstream media reporter will search for a racist on the Right with the same desperation with which I search for the free sample tables at Costco. And if one cannot be found, then one can be created, by way of either planting one at, say, a Tea Party rally (how difficult is it to have some guy stand with a placard of Obama with a bone through his nose?), or by labeling some Conservative as a racist.

...

With over-the-top, hyper-partisan rhetoric such as this taken as gospel by many, is it any wonder then that Black Conservatives are seen as betrayers of their race?

I hope you'll read the entire article, as it tells the story that all conservatives should tell: we have an excellent record when it comes to supporting civil rights, individual rights, property rights and policies that allow every individual to achieve the American Dream - and, most importantly, those conservative principles benefit everyone, minorities most of all.

Quotes of the Day - Walter Williams

For today's Black History Month QsOTD, I'm featuring one of my all-time favs, Professor Walter E. Williams, an economist at George Mason University. His resume is quite impressive with more than 150 publications in various professional journals, 10 books, numerous radio and TV interviews and is often a guest host on the Rush Limbaugh show.

He serves on numerous boards, including for Reason Foundation, Cato Institute and the Heritage Foundation; has received many awards and commendations, and is frequently called upon to provide expert testimony before Congress.

One of the things I like so much about his writing is that he knows how to tell a story - and that makes understanding economic theory very easy. His columns, featured on Townhall.com and available on his website, are something I look forward to each week.

In his last column, A Minority View: Higher Minimum Wage, he writes:

In his State of the Union address, President Barack Obama proposed raising the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $9 an hour. That would be almost a 25 percent increase. Let's look at the president's proposal, but before doing so, let's ask some other economic questions.

Are people responsive to changes in price? For example, if the price of cars rose by 25 percent, would people purchase as many cars? Supposing housing prices rose by 25 percent, what would happen to sales? Those are big-ticket items, but what about smaller-priced items? If a supermarket raised its prices by 25 percent, would people purchase as much? It's not rocket science to conclude that when prices rise, people adjust their behavior by purchasing less.

It's almost childish to do so, but I'm going to ask questions about 25 percent price changes in the other way. What responses would people have if the price of cars or housing fell by 25 percent? What would happen to supermarket sales if prices fell by 25 percent? Again, it doesn't require deep thinking to guess that people would purchase more.

This behavior in economics is known as the first fundamental law of demand. It holds that the higher the price of something the less people will take and that the lower the price the more people will take. There are no known exceptions to the law of demand. Any economist who could prove a real-world exception would probably be a candidate for the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences and other honors.

In just three paragraphs, he gets people to think about how they react to a price increase and, hopefully, makes them realize that an increase in the minimum wage really won't help the poor, as it's touted as doing. He then notes why it's especially hard on minorities, including Black teens:

As detailed in my recent book "Race and Economics" (2012), during times of gross racial discrimination, black unemployment was lower than white unemployment and blacks were more active in the labor market. For example, in 1948, black teen unemployment was less than white teen unemployment, and black teens were more active in the labor market. Today black teen unemployment is about 40 percent; for whites, it is about 20 percent. The minimum wage law weighs heavily in this devastating picture.

Talk about a devastating critique.

Here are some more great quotes from this great man:

History is not going to be kind to liberals. With their mindless programs, they've managed to do to Black Americans what slavery, Reconstruction, and rank racism found impossible: destroy their family and work ethic.

A right, such as a right to free speech, imposes no obligation on another, except that of non-interference. The so-called right to health care, food or housing, whether a person can afford it or not, is something entirely different; it does impose an obligation on another. If one person has a right to something he didn't produce, simultaneously and of necessity it means that some other person does not have right to something he did produce. That's because, since there's no Santa Claus or Tooth Fairy, in order for government to give one American a dollar, it must, through intimidation, threats and coercion, confiscate that dollar from some other American.

In a free society, government has the responsibility of protecting us from others, but not from ourselves.

There are people in need of help. Charity is one of the nobler human motivations. The act of reaching into one's own pockets to help a fellow man in need is praiseworthy and laudable. Reaching into someone else's pocket is despicable and worthy of condemnation.

No matter how worthy the cause, it is robbery, theft, and injustice to confiscate the property of one person and give it to another to whom it does not belong.

Three-fifths to two-thirds of the federal budget consists of taking property from one American and giving it to another. Were a private person to do the same thing, we'd call it theft. When government does it, we euphemistically call it income redistribution, but that's exactly what thieves do -- redistribute income. Income redistribution not only betrays the founders' vision, it's a sin in the eyes of God.

Democracy and liberty are not the same. Democracy is little more than mob rule, while liberty refers to the sovereignty of the individual.

Government is necessary, but the only rights we can delegate to government are the ones we possess. For example, we all have a natural right to defend ourselves against predators. Since we possess that right, we can delegate authority to government to defend us. By contrast, we don't have a natural right to take the property of one person to give to another; therefore, we cannot legitimately delegate such authority to government.

No human should be coerced by the state to bear the medical expense, or any other expense, for his fellow man. In other words, the forcible use of one person to serve the purposes of another is morally offensive.

For the most part, income is a result of one's productivity and the value that people place on that productivity.

One of the wonderful things about free markets is that the path to greater wealth comes not from looting, plundering and enslaving one's fellow man, as it has throughout most of human history, but by serving and pleasing him.

If we wish to be compassionate with our fellow man, we must learn to engage in dispassionate analysis. In other words, thinking with our hearts, rather than our brains, is a surefire method to hurt those whom we wish to help.

People who denounce the free market and voluntary exchange, and are for control and coercion, believe they have more intelligence and superior wisdom to the masses. What's more, they believe they've been ordained to forcibly impose that wisdom on the rest of us. Of course, they have what they consider good reasons for doing so, but every tyrant that has ever existed has had what he believed were good reasons for restricting the liberty of others.

In general, presidents and congressmen have very limited power to do good for the economy and awesome power to do bad. The best good thing that politicians can do for the economy is to stop doing bad. In part, this can be achieved through reducing taxes and economic regulation, and staying out of our lives.

The true test of one's commitment to liberty and private property rights doesn't come when we permit people to be free to do those voluntary things with which we agree. The true test comes when we permit people to be free to do those voluntary things with which we disagree.

What we call the market is really a democratic process involving millions, and in some markets billions, of people making personal decisions that express their preferences. When you hear someone say that he doesn't trust the market, and wants to replace it with government edicts, he's really calling for a switch from a democratic process to a totalitarian one.

Should the fact that if I become injured by not wearing a seatbelt or sick from eating and smoking too much, and become a burden on taxpayers, determine whether I'm free to not wear a seatbelt or puff cigarettes and gorge myself? Is there a problem with freedom? I say no, it's a problem of socialism. There is absolutely no moral case for government's taking another American's earnings, through taxes, to care for me for any reason whatsoever. Doing so is simply a slightly less offensive form of slavery. Keep in mind that the essence of slavery is the forceful use of one person to serve the purposes or benefit of another.

You say, "Williams, you sound like a warmonger!" No, I'm not. But neither am I willing to wait until a chemical or bacteriological attack kills millions of Americans or a "dirty bomb" makes one of our cities uninhabitable for 100 years before there's an effective response to nations who harbor terrorists. I detest the initiation of force, but if I see someone building a cannon aimed at my house, I'm not going to wait for him to fire it. I would eliminate him and anyone else in his house before he gets a chance to fire it.

Black politicians and civil rights organizations' loyalty to the education establishment means academic doom to black youngsters. Washington, D.C,. politics and its schools, among the worse in the nation, are a case in point. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, along with most members of the Congressional Black Caucus, use private schools to educate their children. But, when D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams broke ranks with most black elected-officials and endorsed recently proposed education vouchers, Norton blasted him as being "a sell-out .Whom do you think Frederick Douglass would deem the sell-out: those who seek an alternative to rotten schools that cost taxpayers $13,000 a year per student or those who support the status quo?

Experts and the educated elite have replaced what worked with what sounded good. Society was far more civilized before they took over our schools, prisons, welfare programs, police departments and courts. It's high time we ran these people out of our lives and went back to common sense.

Stainbrook's reaction to Sec of State report: Fire everyone except the two named in report

According to reports from today's Lucas County Board of Elections meeting, the recent review done by the Ohio Secretary of State isn't sitting well with Jon Stainbrook, a Republican member of the board and the chairman of the Lucas County GOP.

The SoS report recommended firing the top two administrators, Republican Director Meghan Gallagher and Democrat Dan DeAngelis.

Stainbrook's solution: keep them and fire everyone else instead!

Talk about 'stuck-on-stupid' ...

The motion by Stainbrook to do just that was not seconded, but discussion ensued, so the board called a brief recess and, upon returning, ended all discussion due to a lack of second on the motion.

No other action regarding the report was taken.

Interestingly, after having had issues with the lack of public comment previously, the BOE still has not developed a policy for accepting public comment on board matters or items on the agenda. As a result, John Mac Avoy, a member of the Northwest Ohio Conservative Coalition, was prevented from speaking or asking questions during the meeting about the report and its recommendations.

Considering this latest, perhaps the county would be better served by firing Stainbrook from the BOE.

Guest Post: When we were colored

In honor of Black History Month, I've been featuring QsOTD from Black conservatives. Today's post is a guest column from Dr. Ada Fisher, the granddaughter of a former slave and a Republican, like her grandfather. She's also Jewish.

She is a physician, licensed teacher in secondary education, former school board member and the North Carolina Republican National Committee Woman. She's also an author and her book, Common Sense Conservative Prescriptions: Solutions for What Ails Us, offers, as one review wrote, "well thought out common sense prescriptions that the GOP had better heed."

When We Were Colored

During this my 65th year of being, Black History Month is a time to remember from whence we came, what we went through, what we have achieved and where our promise lies. My mother used to leave me exasperated referring to us as Colored People; until I found my birth certificate and appreciated that I was listed as Colored. During my time we have gone in the popular vernacular from niggras to colored to negroes to Negroes to Black to Afro-Americans to African Americans and back to Black again. NWA a popular group wants to regress us further and comics think nothing of using the N word gratuitously rather than get us to laugh at the humor in our lives.

Growing up “Colored” in Durham, NC in the south, it was unacceptable for kids not to go to school or not read or not behave. We all were taught and appreciated that for the masses, education would allow us to make a way out of no way. No one owed us anything; it was up to us to get and fight for what we wanted. Parents regardless of their socio-economic status took a certain pride in having children who defied the stereotypes placed on us for our families were our safety nets and most important institutions. On my block most of the children were born within a marriage and every home with a child had a father in that house who worked everyday taking whatever pay to help his family find its way. The Historically Black Colleges were an anchor and stimulator of our cultural and intellectual heritage sponsoring band festivals, summer science and math programs, sports meets, homecoming parades, unparalleled lyceum series bringing in the Joffrey Ballet or an opera singer such as Mattawilda Dobbs of the Atlanta, GA Dobbs and higher educational opportunities denied us by white institutions were made possible through them.

Prior to the sixties we rarely strayed to the white side of town or frequented downtown unless to our businesses there; not because we were afraid, but because with few exceptions we had most of what we needed within the confines of our own community. There were painters, carpenters, plumbers, mechanics, cabs, a dry cleaners, postal substation with likely the first black postmistress in Mrs. Bernice H. Ingram, a newspaper with “The Truth Unbridled”, library, about six doctors, several dentists, our own financial institutions and so much more. My father would say about utilizing segregated businesses-you don’t pay a man who segregates you to then serve you.

The church was our rock and from the one my father assumed (The White Rock Baptist Church) had come the local library, public health services in the minority community, the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People, community recreation programs, worker organization efforts, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and so much more to engage citizens on all levels. International relationships were there from those engaged in Africa or with an Asa T. Spaulding, Sr.’s of the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance company’s sponsorship of George Allen from the Agency for International Development. We also learned to take care of the poor without government help from our clothes closets, food drives and special offerings for scholarships, those burned out of their homes or from the efforts of our home mission societies. And we marveled as one of our own, tore up the NBA in the person of Sam Jones whose records for accuracy and championship rings elevated him to the ranks of one of the NBA Hall of Fame’s top 50 greatest athletes. The church would do and provide what wasn't available elsewhere.

Reminiscing with my fellow baby boomers, it is not uncommon to hear folks say in many ways we were better off during segregated times than we are now -- Integration stripped away a history which was the base of our foundation as well as that for this nation. We were required to assimilate while others have taken our knowledge as their own and we watch as our kids don't appreciate the relevance of personal liberty which coloreds had as important to our well-being and survival. Blacks were pivotal in building the US Capitol, laying out the streets of Washington, DC via Benjamin Banneker as well as building a clock to keep us on time, being the model for the Statue of Liberty given to the nation in recognition of the end of slavery (not as a beacon for immigrants), establishing the Republican Party, fostering the economy of the south and many of the inventions of the industrial revolution as well as through the work of Charles Drew showing us that blood can be transfused from one person to another across ethnic lines making us all brothers under the skin.

If only there were more time for I love to tell the story. . . which in so many ways is my inspiration.

Quotes of the Day - Kevin Jackson, The Black Sphere

Today's Black History Month QsOTD come from Kevin Jackson, author, speaker, radio host and father. He has been described as a "rising star
among young conservative thinkers, writers, and political commentators" while his speeches about Ending Identity Politics have been called “cult classics.” His website, The Black Sphere, aims to "End Identity Politics, (by) educating with satire and humor."

The Black Sphere brand came from physics. The sphere can hold the most volume in nature, and the black hole is one of the most powerful forces in the universe. The sphere offers a 360 degree perspective from any angle. All ideas are evaluated, but only those important enough to escape the power of a black hold should escape.

Only powerful thoughts emanate from The Black Sphere.

His good looks don't hurt either....

Here is my interview with him on the UN getting involved in voter ID requirements in the U.S. (from a guest hosting stint on WSPD)

You can connect with Kevin Jackson on Facebook or Twitter at Theblacksphere.

Some quotes:

"The worst aspect of the modern liberal abuse of the American black person is the war on religion. Liberals have been trying to remove God from schools, government and the public square for decades. Prayer was cut out of the schoolroom over forty years ago. And it’s easy to see why. If people hold themselves accountable to God for their behavior, as the Bible encourages them to do, then accountability is a normal part of society. Your brethren are even responsible, Biblically speaking, to hold you accountable, and you them. For modern liberal Democrats, accountability is foul language."

"The Republican Party had little to do with the modern black predicament, no matter how loud and shrill the protestations to the contrary. Republicans favor individualism; Democrats cannot win without groups of groups. Republicans ask “why is that guy so mad?” Democrats ask “what’s wrong with those people?” I believe the gap is closeable, but much work remains to be done."

“What you learn about America is people are a lot less interested in race than they are in character.”

"I recall as a child watching Reagan give a speech in his unsuccessful run for the presidency, after which I said to my grandparents, 'Why are we Democrats, when what we believe is what that guy [Reagan] just said?'"

"I grew up with people of the Tea Party movement. I knew them to be what they really are, and not what the lamestream media portrayed. We were not Republican or Democrat, we were just Americans who had finally had enough."

"Educating with humor. A poor black kid who loses his mother at age 5, his father was a drug-addict, and resident of San Quentin prison might need to laugh to keep from crying. I learned to find the good in life, the humor of our situation. I learned that America provided opportunity, not excuses. ... The American Dream is possible for anybody willing to work for it."

"It’s an interesting time to be a black Conservative in America. Black Conservatives may be the only group who has Liberals shaking like a Chihuahua pooping peach pits. We get to say what others believe they can’t say, or at least that’s what they tell me. ... I was discussing my work with a major political pundit, and he said to me, 'Kevin if I say what you say, I’d get burned at the stake.'"

"I've been a Republican and a conservative since I had a formative thought in my brain."

"I won't give Obama all the blame for making America a nation of victims, because he has had plenty of help creating this new Plutopian society. The Progressive Liberal Utopians have been angling for the new Amerika for some time, and all they needed was a useful idiot to make it so. Obama was all too willing to sign up."

"I love the Tea Party movement for many reasons. First, Washington and the media are afraid of it and have tried to demonize the movement calling it racist. Being a black conservative, I can tell you that all I have ever felt at these events is an outpouring of love. I always dispel the idea that Tea Parties are racist events — by showing up! I sell tons of my book, The Big Black Lie, because people love what I have to say about America… not black America. I am an American, who happens to be black. I also like the fact that the Tea Party movement is able to help all movements because it is all encompassing. It is about lack of representation in general, not just taxes. Washington is now made up of prima donnas, who legislate on us, not for us! One of my quotes about Washington is that they tell us, 'We couldn’t fix your brakes, but we made your horn louder!'"

"Black people, a group of people who have survived the atrocities of slavery, including deplorable living conditions and brutal treatment, as well as discrimination pre-Civil Rights movement, and a Hollywood has-been, like Garofolo, and the worst president in history, Carter, decide that they can help us? It's like those two helping Mike Tyson in a fight. Black people have been enduring for years and without this so-called "help" blacks would be titans of industry by now, and some other culture would be discussing racial discrimination. I say to liberals, Democrats, and Regressives (Progressives), please stop "helping" blacks!"

"We (conservatives) win on ideas… period. The only way they win is when they get us backpedaling on things like racism and elitism, i.e. rich against poor. We are not the racists. They are. We are not elitist, just people who actually believe in "The American Dream". Since when did that become a crime? Ask the average poor black person, “Would you like to remain a ward of the government or be rich?" I think we know the answer. So most poor people would choose rich, yet they decry the rich. Such is the logic that Democrats have created with the poor. And more importantly, what this shows is that the poor don’t believe they can become rich. Democrats have them more confused than a woodpecker in a concrete forest!So we must expose this agenda and remove racism from the lexicon of politics."

“I’ve been to hundreds of tea parties around the country. What I can tell you is that I’ve never seen any blacks lynched at one of them. That’s still one of those things that only democrats can hold a distinction about.”

And if you really want to see something entertaining from Kevin Jackson, check out this video where he "absolutely destroyed race-baiter David Shuster" on MSNBC.

Toledo - one of America's most miserable cities

Toledo has made another list - the Most Miserable Cities of 2013.

Living in Toledo, I can think of a lot of places that are worse than this city, but by the criteria of the Forbes list, we end up #11 of the 20 cities on the list.

Job growth has been anemic in Toledo and residents are voting with their feet and leaving the city. The net migration rate out of the city was the nation's fourth highest behind Detroit, Flint and Cleveland.

The sad part about this is that people and voters in the city don't seem to have hit rock bottom yet to know they need to change.

Just look at what's going on with the presidency of Toledo City Council. The seats are supposed to be non-partisan but the Democrats, who hold a majority, are being dictated to by their party. After a 'come-to-Jesus' meeting last night, they're all going to support Paula Hicks-Hudson for the role - and she's pretty much on board with removing any Republicans from their committee chairmanships.

Heaven forbid that the non-partisan body would reflect diversity in who runs the various committees!

The Republican Party, under the current chairman, Jon Stainbrook, is virtually non-existent, except when they're agreeing with one of the most liberal newspapers in the country, the Toledo Blade.

We are the quintessential definition of stupidity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

No wonder I have a 'stuck-on-stupid' designation for so many things I write about on this blog.

Toledo City Council Meeting - Feb. 19, 2013 (with video!)

Sherry has been experimenting with a camera at the council meetings, so you can see and have a link to the full discussions. This is the first post to include them and while she's still working out some of the kinks, I hope you'll appreciate her efforts.

Notes from Sherry:

Toledo City Council Meeting, February 19, 2013

In attendance: Councilwomen Webb, Hicks-Hudson, Councilmen Martinez, Ludeman, Sarantou, Steel, Enright, Riley, Waniewski, McNamara, Collins, Craig, Deputy Mayor Herwat.

Here is the video of the meeting which includes discussion on all items below:



*Item 62 – Appointments – Comfort Heating, Cooling & Refrigeration Board of Control – confirmed – all voting yes.

*Item 63 – Appointments – Plumbing Board of Control – confirmed – all voting yes.

*Item 57 – Expenditures for electronic document management expansion for Dept. of ICT, $312,000 CIP – passed – all voting yes.

*Item 64 – Amend rules of Council to change name to Youth, Parks, Recreation, Comm. Relations Education Comm. - 1st Reading.

*Item 65 – Amend TMC Sec. 933.04 to establish new deposit policy for water service – to Public Utilities Committee.

*Item 66 – Resolution – Encouraging State funding for Ohio Sea Grant and Franz Theodore Stone Library – adopted – all voting yes.

*Item 67 – Amend TMC Sec. 933.02(c) to establish monthly billing for residential customers of DPU – to Public Utilities Committee.

*Item 68 – Amend TMC to create Sec. 933.12 to extend time to pay utility bill from 15 days to 30 days – to Public Utilities Committee.

*Item 69 – Amend TMC to repeal Sec. 933.07 to allow anyone to contract for utility services, not just property owners – to Public Utilities Committee.

*Item 70 – Agreement with Signature Associates for exclusive listing of 90 acres in Triad Business Park, 1 yr, 8% - passed – Martinez abstaining – rest yes.

*Item 71 – Landbanking Sale – 1623 Broadway to Western Ave. Baptist Church for rehabilitation, $150 – passed – all voting yes.

*Item 72 – Amend TMC Sec. 929.19 & 933.04 to establish new security deposit policy for Dept. of Public Utilities – to Public Futilities Committee.

*Item 73 – Contract with Arcadis for credibility study of water rates for average & poverty levels, $25,000 Utility – to Public Utilities Committee.

*Item 74 – Appropriation for 40 aluminum access hatches for basins at Water Treatment, $80,000 Water Bond – passed – all voting yes.

*Item 75 – Modify contract with Kone Inc. for additional work on freight elevator at Water Treatment, $20,000 Water Bond – passed – all voting yes.

*Item 76 – Appropriation for annual Water Main Replacement project , $3,250,000 Water Replacement Fund – passed – all voting yes.

*Item 77 – Expenditure to State of Ohio for 2013 annual regulatory fees for Bay View WWTP, $90,00 Sewer Op. - passed – all voting yes.

*Item 78 – Expenditure to Nat'l Assoc. of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) for dues for Water Rec., $11,860 Swr – passed – all voting yes.

*Item 79 – Agreement with Lucas County for Gypsy Moth Suppression Program, 2 yrs, $27,000 per yr Gen Fund – passed – all voting yes.

*Item 80 – Expenditure to Lucas Soil/Water Conservation Dist. For Community wide suggestibility plan, $40,000 GF – passed – all voting yes.

*Item 81 – Resolution – Amend pension pick-up plan for 4 City Council employees, 0 pick-up – adopted – all voting yes.

*Item 82 – Additional appropriation for reconstruction of Secor Rd., Monroe to Central, 2.2M TIF & $603,000 ODOT – passed – all voting yes.

*Item 83 – SUP for addition to used auto lot at 5014 Lewis Ave. - passed – all voting yes.

*Item 84 – SUP for Type A day care at 5605 Dorr St. - passed – all voting yes.

*Item 85 – SUP to rebuild convenience store with fuel sales at 905 South Ave. - passed – all voting yes.

*Item 86 – Accept Toledo Warehouse District Plan as amendment to Toledo 20/20 Comprehensive Plan – passed – all voting yes.


Vote for Council President; Martinez, Sarantou, and Hicks-Hudson nominated. (First two rounds of votes I could not keep up – failed anyway.) Third and fourth rounds same results (each person voted the same) – failed both times. Here is who the council member voted for:

Riley – Hicks-Hudson
Waniewski – Sarantou
Martinez – Martinez
Craig – Martinez
Ludeman – Sarantou
McNamara – Martinez
Sarantou – Sarantou
Hicks-Hudson – Hicks-Hudson
Steel – Hicks-Hudson
Collins – Sarantou
Enright – Hicks-Hudson
Webb - Hicks-Hudson

Here is the video - this item begins at the 3:47 mark:



Council held a vote to adjourn. It failed. Council then took a recess for ten minutes.

Discussion upon return:

* Webb – Martinez's votes are obstructionist . Not a lot of votes for him.

* Craig – OBSTRUCTIONIST? (he's not a happy camper – never witnessed him so upset) If anyone is an obstructionist, it is the Council President resigning!

Same nominees, vote failed again.

Vote (that is the Yes and No) for meeting to adjourn – passed.

Riley – Hicks-Hudson - No
Waniewski – Sarantou - Yes
Martinez – Martinez - Yes
Craig – Martinez - Yes
Ludeman – Sarantou - Yes
McNamara – Martinez - Yes
Sarantou – Sarantou - Yes
Hicks-Hudson – Hicks-Hudson - No
Steel – Hicks-Hudson - No
Collins – Sarantou - Yes
Enright – Hicks-Hudson - No
Webb - Hicks-Hudson – No

McNamara remains an at-large Councilman. Since council failed to elect a new president, Enright becomes “President Pro-tem” for the interim.

Quotes of the Day - Ward Connerly

In honor of Black History Month, today's QsOTD are from conservative Ward Connerly, known primarily for his opposition to quotas based on skin color and his legal actions to eliminate them. He is the founder and President of the American Civil Rights Institute – "a national, not-for-profit organization aimed at educating the public about the need to move beyond race and, specifically, racial and gender preferences."

He's also an author with two books to his credit: Creating Equal: My Fight Against Race Preferences and Lessons from My Uncle James: Beyond Skin Color to the Content of Our Character.

His fight against racial and gender preferences - in favor of equal opportunity - began when he was a member of the University of California Board of Regents where he successfully pushed to end the practice of using race as a means for admissions. That same year, 1995, he led an initiative in California (Proposition 209) to prohibit state government institutions from considering race, sex, or ethnicity, in public employment, public contracting or public education. California voters overwhelmingly approved the measure.

He then led similar initiatives in Washington, Michigan, Nebraska and Arizona.

Connerly has been recognized numerous times for his efforts and was the 2007 recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Conservative Union Foundation presented at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

"If I have learned one thing from life, it is that race is the engine that drives the political Left. When all else fails, that segment of America goes to the default position of using race to achieve its objectives. In the courtrooms, on college campuses, and, most especially, in our politics, race is a central theme. Where it does not naturally rise to the surface, there are those who will manufacture and amplify it."

"There is no way to make sense of the decision handed down by the Sixth Circuit, except to say that elections have consequences. Unfortunately, in this case, the consequence is that eight judicial activists have defied the will of 58% of the Michigan electorate to embrace the continuation of race preferences - a paradigm that is being discredited with every passing day, except in the eyes of die-hard preference proponents. And, if our study of race in America teaches any lesson at all it is that justice cannot be denied forever. The ghost of George Wallace, who said "segregation now, segregation forever," can certainly confirm this fact."

The Civil Rights Act “guarantees to all Americans equal treatment under the law, not preferential treatment. There’s no question that affirmative action represents preferential treatment.”

“Race preferences, while they might have been justified at some point in time, have outlived their usefulness and they’re beginning to reverse their effect. We’ve got to get rid of race preferences.”

"When I became a regent of the University of California in 1993, I became a “public official.” And, when I elected to publicly share my conviction that the use of race and ethnicity in college admissions was morally wrong and unconstitutional, not only did I become a public official, I became a marked man subject to an endless stream of abuse and venomous conduct."

"I knew and worked for Ronald Reagan and considered him to be one of the most avid proponents of a colorblind society of any public official I have ever encountered. Reagan eschewed the practice of pandering to individuals based on their “race” in order to get their vote. He strongly opposed race-based affirmative action preferences and was not shy about publicly defending such a position."

"...the principle of equal treatment under the law has given way to the more amorphous concept of “diversity,” which I consider to be the antithesis of a merit-based, colorblind government."

"One fact is indisputable: the centerpiece of American life is a set of basic ideals upon which the nation was founded and to which circumstances occasionally conspire to require our defense of that system. These ideals are relatively few if we think about it. First and foremost is our system of freedom. I would contend that we place no other value above the right to be free. We will die for our freedom. In fact, we believe freedom is sufficiently important that we will even die so that others around the globe might be free.

"Second is the system of capitalism. We are a capitalistic society dedicated to the principle of individual merit and a belief that individuals should be rewarded economically for their individual efforts.

"The third leg of this stool is the ideal of individual equality. To be a capitalist and to be free, one must live in a nation that acknowledges the right of every individual to be treated as an equal and not to be consigned to some station in life based on the ancestral circumstances of one’s birth, including one’s skin color. We call this ideal “equal treatment before the law.” It is also implicitly referenced in our pronouncement about “liberty and justice for all.” ...

"When (Martin Luther) King expressed his yearning for the day when his four little children would be judged based on the “content of their character” and not the “color of their skin,” in that one passage he connected the three pillars of American life: capitalism, equality and freedom. In short, the success of his children should be based on their individual accomplishments and merit and their right to equal treatment. When that happened, he was essentially saying, they would be truly free. King made the critical link between equality and freedom and emphasized through the civil rights movement that one could not exist without the other.

"There are now those who seem to believe that civil rights are just for black people or other “people of color” or women. Those who harbor this belief are not true civil rights “activists;” they are civil rights frauds."

"Suffice to say, however, that the battle to end preferences suffered only a momentary setback on June 23, 2003 when the United States Supreme Court sanctioned the use of race to achieve the amorphous goal of “diversity.” Many thought the Court had erected a stop sign to hold back the anti-preference/pro equality movement. Instead, it was clearly only a speed bump in the journey to make good on our nation’s promise that every American will be guaranteed the right to equal treatment, regardless of race, color, sex, ethnic background or national ancestry, when engaging in transactions with their government. This validation reaffirms our view that “civil rights” belong to whites and Asians as much as they do to blacks and Hispanics."

Light Posting

Regular readers will have noticed a lack of my usual posts lately, so I want to share with you what's been going on and why I've had less time for the in-depth reporting I usually do about local and state politics.

On January 3rd, my father-in-law had what he thought was going to be a laproscopy-type surgery to remove a polyp in his colon. Turns out, it was cancer and it was very large, so it ended up being a regular surgery. He came through fine, but then had some complications. This meant we really needed a family member with him 24/7 to ensure and coordinate his care. He was in the hospital for the entire month of January, spent two weeks in rehab and is now home.

But he still needs help and assistance, which I'm very happy to do, especially because I work from home and have a much more flexible day schedule than any of my in-laws.

Then, on January 8th, we lost a dear friend rather unexpectedly. His children have needed the help of family and friends to handle his estate - from selling or disposing of unwanted items to preparing his house for sale. This has turned out to be much more work than any of us thought and it has taken up any free time we had not caring for my father-in-law.

Of course, we both still work ... So you can understand why my regular postings have been a bit light lately.

I hope you've been enjoying the QsOTD from Black conservatives, especially since so many on the left like to characterize conservatives as hostile to African-Americans and all minorities in general. I believe the individuals I've been featuring are wonderful spokesmen for conservative principles, regardless of the color of their skin. I'll finish up Black History Month with more QsOTD and hope to be back to my normal coverage of state and local politics by March.

Thanks for being readers of my blog!

Quotes of the Day - CL Bryant

In honor of Black History Month, the QsOTD are from Black conservatives. Today's conservative is Rev. CL Bryant, a Baptist minister, film producer, speaker and former president of the NAACP's Garland, Texas Chapter.

I first became aware of this amazing individual when I heard him speak at a conference. Being a minister, he had that unique way of talking, shouting and whispering that draws you into the speech and revs up your soul in accompaniment. He was promoting his documentary movie, Runaway Slave, about "the race to free the Black community from the slavery of tyranny and progressive policies." I instantly became a fan.

Rev. Bryant is a proud member of the Tea Party and has consistently defending the groups from charges of racism.

I've spoken with this great man a number of times, including in December 2011 when I was guest hosting on WSPD. You can listen to that interview here. Here are some quotes:

Freedom works - works thru out world. It works for America - it always has. But if we're not careful, it will slip away - like grains of sands through our fingers it will slip away.

But there is also a message that we need to send to DC and the elected officials we send there: we want big government off our backs, their hands out of our pockets. We're tired of their heavy hand in our lives; tired of debt, deficits, unemployment and of being lied to by the people we put in office.

The stakes are high. Government rewards laziness and expects us to foot the bill for it. Something has to be done. If we fail, they will thoroughly poison the minds of our young people and the nation we knew will be foreign to them.

We've never known a day when we did not have our freedom. If we fail, in our lifetime, we may actually know a day when that may come.

Big government is not our solution and answers will not arrive on Air Force 1 regardless of who becomes our president.

Quotes of the Day - Shelby Steele

In honor of Black History Month, I'm featuring QsOTD from Black conservatives. Today's conservative is Shelby Steele, an author, columnist, and documentary film maker. He is also a Robert J. and Marion E. Oster Senior Fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution.

He is was awarded the Bradley Prize in 2006, The National Humanities Medal in 2004 and an Emmy in 1991 for his work on the documentary Seven Days in Bensonhurst.

Steele describes himself as a Black conservative in his book The Content of Our Character: A New Vision of Race in America, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1990. At the Hoover Institution, he specializes in the study of race relations, multiculturalism, and affirmative action and has written extensively about "race in American society and the consequences of contemporary social programs on race relations."

Quotes from Shelby Steele:

Since the social victim has been oppressed by society, he comes to feel that his individual life will be improved more by changes in society than by his own initiative. Without realizing it, he makes society rather than himself the agent of change. The power he finds in his victimization may lead him to collective action against society, but it also encourages passivity within the sphere of his personal life.

I believe that freedom of the individual — as opposed to good works or 'social justice' — is by far the highest goal any society can strive for. I became a conservative precisely to deal with my fate as a black American born into a segregated society. Racism had deprived me of individual freedom as I grew up in segregated America. But then as segregation faded there followed a flood of good works intended to make up for the past: school busing; welfare that asked nothing of its beneficiaries; racial preferences at universities that did not discriminate; and amorphous, do-good concepts like 'diversity' that are merely a license to shallow social engineering — to arranging an optics of race and gender harmony.

Opportunity follows struggle. It follows effort. It follows hard work. It doesn't come before.

The problem with all these liberal good works is that they associate blackness with permanent inferiority. They don’t really believe in the fundamental human equality of the people they claim to help. They want to be valued for their good intentions, never for their effectiveness in uplift. I grew to hate these programs and policies because they not only believed in my inferiority more than my capacity for excellence, but they also encouraged me to use black weakness — the inferiority imposed by four centuries of brutal oppression — as leverage and entitlement in the larger society.

The promised land guarantees nothing. It is only an opportunity, not a deliverance.

Modern liberalism seduces blacks with an idea of justice into an investment in our own historically imposed inferiority, as though it was a kind of talent. Only conservatism gave me a shot at true human equality. Possibly the greatest irony in American political culture is that conservatism — even today — is stigmatized as oppressive to minorities when, in fact, it is literally our only road ahead. We already have equality under the law. Only contemporary conservatism — which simply wants fairness by individuals rather than by groups — offers us the chance for true dignity, for freedom from both bigotry and paternalism.

Since the social victim has been oppressed by society, he comes to feel that his individual life will be improved more by changes in society than by his own initiative. Without realizing it, he makes society rather than himself the agent of change. The power he finds in his victimization may lead him to collective action against society, but it also encourages passivity within the sphere of his personal life.

It is time for blacks to begin the shift from a wartime to a peacetime identity, from fighting for opportunity to the seizing of it.

Do not hurt your neighbor, for it is not him you wrong but yourself.

Quotes of the Day - Thomas Sowell

In honor of Black History Month, I'm featuring QsOTD by Black conservatives and since it's Valentine's Day, I've saved today for one of my all-time favorites: Thomas Sowell. Sadly, no blog post is sufficient for great quotes from Mr. Sowell, because there are just way too many.

Sowell is an economist and has served as Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University since 1980. He has written numerous books, is a regular columnist at Townhall.com and even served for a time as a labor economist in the U.S. Department of Labor.

He has a remarkable ability to take complex economic theories and explain them in terms anyone can understand - usually with examples pertinent to the people who most need to understand them. He also has an uncanny ability to make economic theory seem like the most common sense approach ever thought up. After reading his works, you end up scratching your head and wondering how anyone could possibly think otherwise. Had I come across this great mind earlier in my education, I might have been inspired to be an economist.

If you'd like a general example of Sowell's thinking, read his Random Thoughts columns (his most recent one is here), where he provides commentary on everything from Senators and prostitutes in Central America to gun control to the Justice Department's interference in Budweiser's purchase of Corona - including this, which is a point (in bold) I make regularly:

People who are forever ready to charge others with "greed" never apply that word to the government. But, if you think the government is never greedy, check out what the government does under the escheat laws and eminent domain.

His website includes some of his favorite quotes - clearly an indication of issues and principles that are important to Sowell. And we share a favorite one:

"Civilization is not inherited; it has to be learned and earned by each generation anew; if the transmission should be interrupted for one century, civilization would die, and we should be savages again." ~ Will and Ariel Durant

Sowell, through his teaching, writing and opining, has certainly taken this to heart.

Here are some great quotes from a great man:

Some people seem to think that, if life is not fair, then the answer is to turn more of the nation's resources over to politicians -- who will, of course, then spend these resources in ways that increase the politicians' chances of getting re-elected.

If you don't want to have a gun in your home or in your school, that's your choice. But don't be such a damn fool as to advertise to the whole world that you are in "a gun-free environment" where you are a helpless target for any homicidal fiend who is armed. Is it worth a human life to be a politically correct moral exhibitionist?

The more I study the history of intellectuals, the more they seem like a wrecking crew, dismantling civilization bit by bit -- replacing what works with what sounds good.

The black family survived centuries of slavery and generations of Jim Crow, but it has disintegrated in the wake of the liberals' expansion of the welfare state. Most black children grew up in homes with two parents during all that time but most grow up with only one parent today.

Liberals try to show their concern for the poor by raising the level of minimum wage laws. Yet they show no interest in hard evidence that minimum wage laws create disastrous levels of unemployment among young blacks in this country, as such laws created high unemployment rates among young people in general in European countries.

In recent times, Christmas has brought not only holiday cheer but also attacks on the very word "Christmas," chasing it from the vocabulary of institutions and even from most "holiday cards." Like many other social crusades, this one is based on a lie -- namely that the Constitution puts a wall of separation between church and state. It also shows how easily intimidated we are by strident zealots.

What do you call it when someone steals someone else's money secretly? Theft. What do you call it when someone takes someone else's money openly by force? Robbery. What do you call it when a politician takes someone else's money in taxes and gives it to someone who is more likely to vote for him? Social Justice.

Anyone who studies the history of ideas should notice how much more often people on the political left, more so than others, denigrate and demonize those who disagree with them -- instead of answering their arguments.

It is hard to understand politics if you are hung up on reality. Politicians leave reality to others. What matters in politics is what you can get the voters to believe, whether it bears any resemblance to reality or not.

I hate getting bills that show a zero balance. If I don't owe anything, why bother me with a bill? There is too much junk mail already.

Whether the particular issue is housing, medical care or anything in between, the agenda of the left is to take the decision out of the hands of those directly involved and transfer that decision to third parties, who pay no price for making decisions that turn out to be counterproductive.

It is truly the era of the New Math when a couple making $125,000 a year each are taxed at rates that are said to apply to "millionaires and billionaires."

People who live within their means are increasingly being forced to pay for people who didn't live within their means -- whether individual home buyers here or whole nations in Europe.

Do people who advocate special government programs for blacks realize that the federal government has had special programs for American Indians, including affirmative action, since the early 19th century -- and that American Indians remain one of the few groups worse off than blacks?

Politicians can solve almost any problem -- usually by creating a bigger problem. But, so long as the voters are aware of the problem that the politicians have solved, and unaware of the bigger problems they have created, political "solutions" are a political success.

Quotes of the Day - Star Parker

In honor of Black History Month, the QsOTD are featuring Black conservatives. Today's conservative is a woman I've long admired: Star Parker. She is an author, columnist, commentator and founder and president of CURE, the Center for Urban Renewal and Education, "a 501(c)(3) non-profit think tank which promotes market based public policy to fight poverty."

After seven years of "first-hand experience in the grip of welfare dependency," she became a political activist. She founded in CURE in 1995. In her book, Uncle Sam's Plantation, she says that welfare is similar to an invitation to a government plantation, which creates a situation where those who accept the invitation switch mindsets from "How do I take care of myself?" to "What do I have to do to stay on the plantation?

I first became aware of her through her 1998 book Pimps, Whores and Welfare Brats: From Welfare Cheat to Conservative Messenger. She is one of the strongest proponents I know for how conservative principles do more to help those in need - and work better - than any liberal/progressive/government program ever could.

Quotes - from her and her books:

When caring for your neighbor becomes a compulsory obligation imposed by government instead of voluntary, charity turns to confiscation and freedom to achieve to involuntary servitude. To liberals, compassion seems to be defined by how many people are dependent on the government; to conservatives, it’s defined by how many people no longer need help. One promotes dependence, the other freedom, responsibility and achievement.

America must go beyond equal rights and responsibilities to guarantee equal outcomes and entitlement programs to ensure that. As a result, if you work hard, save, postpone gratification, and take care of yourself and your family, you lose. Not only must you support your family; you’re “forced” to support many others. Americans have no trouble providing temporary help, but they expect most to bounce back and lift their own weight.

There is no moral or Constitutional justification for taking money honorably earned from a neighbor to pay for what some citizens can’t afford. With one half of American voters no longer paying income taxes, wealth redistribution has turned envy into legitimized confiscation.

It’s up to the individual to embrace freedom and take on the personal responsibilities that go with it.

With moral responsibility thoroughly undermined, personal responsibility—simply taking charge for one’s own decisions—also suffers. The welfare state as it’s now constituted only facilitates this problem by cushioning what would otherwise be the hard smack of bad moral decisions. In one sense this seems compassionate. In a far more real sense, however, it’s cruel because the welfare safety net deceives the poor about the destructive nature of their choices and prevents them from learning how to make good decisions.

I know the social problems afflicting black America are great. I know that confronting black anger is exhausting. But I also know the dreams of my ancestors did not include enslavement on the government’s plantation of poverty. They understood that nothing in the world is greater than freedom, and I know from personal experience that freedom will never come from dependence on the welfare state. Welfare is a sociological monster, perhaps birthed with the best of intentions, but now unwieldy and insidious, damaging the very people it was intended to help.

Of course, hatred and bitterness never solve anything. Bigotry is bigotry no matter the color of your skin. No amount of suffering, past or present, gives you the right to be a racist, regardless of your political affiliation.

Uncle Sam has developed a sophisticated poverty plantation, operated by a federal government, overseen by bureaucrats, protected by media elite, and financed by the taxpayers. The only difference between this plantation and the slave plantations of the antebellum South is perception. If anyone works their way off of the plantation and denounces it, they are called “uppity” or “sellout” or even “Uncle Tom.” Instead of a physical beating, defectors are ostracized in the public forum.

After the civil rights movement confronted the government, the segregationist laws were torn down, and those formerly oppressed by segregation became classified by the government as a victim group needing special protections and special treatment. Certainly some protections and special treatment were warranted at the outset, in light of the harsh methods of the white supremacists and segregationists, but with the immediate threat past, the ongoing characterization of blacks as victims became just another way to keep the lower class in its place.

Quotes of the Day - AlfonZo Rachel

In honor of Black History Month, the QOTD features a Black conservative. Today's conservative is AlfonZo Rachel, a Christian conservative social/political humorist known for his video commentaries at ZoNation on PJTV.com. He is a musician and founder of Macho Sauce Productions which produces “Right minded entertainment.” He's also featured in the movie, Runaway Slave.

Considering that he's known for his video commentaries, I've included several along with his quotes.

"The problem is not Republican principals. The problem is unprincipled Republicans."

"The best way to help your neighbor is not to live off your neighbor."

On securing the borders:



On the Demcratic Party's long history of racism:



On Hollywood celebrities expressing a political opinion:



On Republican Roots:

Some advice I would give to republicans; Get back to your roots. Too many have forgotten what actually made the republican party great. A lot of this isn’t their fault. The liberal democrat dominated school system has worked to cast the roots of the republican party into obscurity, and exalt the democrat party. Let’s turn the tide. Reclaim the roots the democrats have worked to cheat us of. Let’s examine this.

While a slave, Frederick Douglass reached a point where he could Earn a wage. As you read this, replace the words “Master Hugh” with the word “Government” and you’ll see a man who represents some of the finest elements of understanding the Republican party would come to be founded on.

“I was now getting, as I have said, one dollar and fifty cents per day. I contracted for it; I earned it; it was paid to me; it was rightfully my own; yet, upon each returning Saturday night, I was compelled to deliver every cent of that money to Master Hugh. And why? Not because he earned it,‐‐not because he had any hand in earning it,‐‐not because I owed it to him,‐‐nor because he possessed the slightest shadow of a right to it; but solely because he had the power to compel me to give it up. The right of the grim‐visaged pirate upon the high seas is exactly the same.” -Frederick Douglass. self proclaimed, “Dyed in the wool, republican.”

Quotes of the Day - Condoleezza Rice

In honor of Black History Month, we're featuring quotes from Black conservatives. Today's conservative is former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. She was the first female African American Secretary of State.

Prior to that, she served Pres. George W. Bush as his National Security Adviser. She served on Pres. George H.W. Bush's National Security Council. She was also a professor of political science at Stanford University where she served as Provost from 1993 to 1999.

"Self esteem comes from achievements. Not from lax standards and false praise."

“You never cede control of your own ability to be successful to something called racism.”

"After all, when the world looks to America, they look to us because we are the most successful political and economic experiment in human history."

“The essence of America – that which really unites us — is not ethnicity, or nationality or religion – it is an idea — and what an idea it is: That you can come from humble circumstances and do great things. That it doesn’t matter where you came from but where you are going.”

“Education is transformational. It changes lives. That is why people work so hard to become educated and why education has always been the key to the American Dream, the force that erases arbitrary divisions of race and class and culture and unlocks every person's God-given potential.”

“Race is a constant factor in American life. Yet reacting to every incident,real or imagined, is crippling, tiring, and ultimately counterproductive.”

“Prejudice and bigotry are brought down...by the sheer force of determination of individuals to succeed and the refusal of a human being to let prejudice define the parameters of the possible."

Quotes of the Day - Frederick Douglass

In honor of Black History Month, today's QOTD is from conservative Frederick Douglass, who was the first African American to receive a vote for President of the United States in a major party's roll call vote. That was at the 1888 Republican National Convention.

Born a slave, he escaped to freedom in the North and became a well-respected speaker, writer, reformer and statesman. As Wikipedia explains, "He stood as a living counter-example to slaveholders' arguments that slaves did not have the intellectual capacity to function as independent American citizens."

“I am a Republican, a black, dyed in the wool Republican, and I never intend to belong to any other party than the party of freedom and progress."

“I didn't know I was a slave until I found out I couldn't do the things I wanted.”

“The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppose.”

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightning.”

“People might not get all they work for in this world, but they must certainly work for all they get.”

“Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.”

“The thing worse than rebellion is the thing that causes rebellion.”

“A little learning, indeed, may be a dangerous thing, but the want of learning is a calamity to any people.”

“I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence.”

“The life of a nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful, and virtuous.”

“I recognize the Republican party as the sheet anchor of the colored man's political hopes and the ark of his safety.”

“Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them.”

“To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker.”

“The soul that is within me no man can degrade.”

What you'll pay taxes on if Kasich's budget plan is approved

The Columbus Dispatch has provided the complete list of Gov. John Kasich's sales tax plan included in his budget proposal. While he'd lower the sales tax by a half a percentage point, to 5%, he's adding it to more things.

As if we don't pay through the nose for our garbage through the (questionable) trash tax, refuse services are on the list. We'll be paying sales tax on top of our garbage tax!

While Kasich's proposal will lower individual income tax rates, and taxes on business, how much more will individuals and businesses be paying when they have to pay sales tax on accounting and bookkeeping, attorneys and other consultants? Of course, those costs will passed on to consumers, so you will probably pay twice.

But look at the entire list. Aren't funerals bad enough without being hit with sales tax on top of the other costs?

And if you're in need of debt counseling, do you really have enough money to pay sales tax on it?

How, exactly, are you going to pay sales tax on a coin-operated washing machine? Do they even have slots for pennies?

Magazine subscriptions? Downloaded books, movies and music? Parking lots and parking garages?

As Matt Mayer of Opportunity Ohio wrote in an email:

Yes, I know that Governor Kasich's proposed budget contains an income tax cut, but that tax cut is funded by tax hikes elsewhere instead of government spending reductions. And, yes, taxing consumption is generally preferred over taxing income, but, by refusing to reduce high government spending, that choice really is a choice between the lesser of two inferior choices. Some of those tax hikes will come right back to consumers as businesses will pass along those taxes to consumers or, worse, businesses and consumers who can move the location of their service purchases will do so, thereby harming Ohio businesses.

To back that up, he included some startling budget data:

1. Governor John Kasich's Budgets: 24.4% increase in General Revenue Fund expenditures in 4 years or 6.1% increase per year average.

2. Even within his own budgets, Governor Kasich increases General Revenue Fund expenditures by 20.7% from 2012 to 2015.

3. From 1990 to 2015, General Revenue Fund expenditures grew by 182% or 63% adjusted for inflation.

4. Ohio Governor Term General Revenue Fund Expenditures Growth: Voinovich Term I=19.8%; Voinovich Term II=20.3%; Taft Term I=25.7%; Taft Term II=11%; Strickland=4.4%; and Kasich=24.4%.

Additionally, Kasich is again proposing to raise the severance tax on oil and gas drilling (fracking). This idea was rejected by the legislature previously, but it's back - and he's hoping to *purchase* the new tax on one of our most economically promising industries through a class warfare approach: we'll tack from the evil big oil and big gas and give to you, the average, hard-working Ohioan. How is that any different from Pres. Barack Obama's class warfare of tax the rich and give to the poor?

It's the spending, stupid. Cut that and maybe we can truly lower the taxes - without having to increase them elsewhere.

And here's the kicker: counties get to add a percentage to the state sales tax and collect it as well, though the amount varies from county to county. In Lucas, they add 1% for a total of 6.5%. So local governments will see an increase in revenue just because the taxable list has been expanded to apply to additional items. Some might think this is a good thing as it could avoid other taxes, but remember: sales taxes are regressive - hitting lower income individuals harder than others.

This is not the path to growth for Ohio - only a path to the growth of government.

Here are the previously exempt items that you'll have to pay sales tax on - if his budget plan is approved by the General Assembly:

* Pet Grooming
* Intrastate Courier Services
* Marine Towing Services
* Packing and Crating
* Refuse Collection
* Insurance Services (not policy purchases)
* Investment Counselling
* Loan Broker Fees
* Property sales agents (real estate or personal)
* Real estate management fees (rental agents)
* Real estate title abstract services
* Service charges of banking institutions
* Tickertape reporting (financial reporting)
* Accounting (Personal services)
* Cutting, coloring, styling of hair
* Dating Services
* Debt Counseling
* Fishing and hunting guide services
* Funeral Services
* Laundry and dry cleaning services, coin-op
* Legal Services (Personal services)
* Mailbox Rentals
* Tax Return Preparation
* Travel Agent Services
* Accounting and Bookkeeping (Business services)
* Advertising agency fees (other than ad placement)
* Architectural, engineering, and related services
* Bail Bond Fees
* Call Center
* Check and Debt Collection
* Commercial art and graphic design
* Credit information, credit bureaus
* Interior Design and Decorating
* Legal Services (Business services)
* Lobbying and Consulting
* Magazine Subscriptions
* Mailroom Services
* Management consultant services
* Marketing
* Process Server Fees
* Sale of Advertising time or space (billboards, magazine, newspaper, local radio and television)
* Public relations, management consulting
* Secretarial and court reporting services (excludes temporary hiring)
* Telemarketing services on contract
* Telephone Answering Service
* Test laboratories (excluding medical)
* Software - custom programs - programming and modifications to pre-written program
* Downloaded books, music, movies/digital, other electronic goods
* Parking lots and garages
* Admission to: cultural events; professional sports events; school and college sports events' park admission and rides; circuses and fairs - admission and rides.
* Billiard Parlors
* Bowling Alleys
* Cable TV services
* Coin-operated video games
* Pari-mutuel racing events
* Pinball and other mechanical amusements
* Rental of films and tapes by theaters
* Professional Services: accounting & bookkeeping; architects, attorneys; credit rating services; data mining services; engineers; land surveying; public relations; sound recording; Stenographic services.
* Trailer Parks - overnight

Coast Guard to break ice on Maumee Bay Channel

Press Release:

DETROIT — The Coast Guard is advising Maumee Bay Area residents that the Coast Guard Cutter Bristol Bay is scheduled to conduct ice-breaking operations in western Lake Erie and the Maumee Bay Channel on Thursday.

The cutter will escort the tug Michigan from the Detroit River to Toledo, Ohio. The estimated time of arrival in Toledo is between the early afternoon and the early evening.

Any ice in this area should be considered unsafe, and the Coast Guard advises everyone to stay away from the area.

For additional information contact Lt. Justin Westmiller, Coast Guard Sector Detroit public affairs officer at 313-701-6016.

The ice on the bay isn't safe...don't go on it!

Quotes of the Day - Mia Love

In honor of Black History month, today's quotes come from Mia Love, the mayor of Sarasota Springs, Utah, and last year's Republican candidate for Congress in Utah's 4th District. She served six years on the city council before being elected mayor.

"The government is not your salvation. The government is not your road to prosperity. Hard work, education will take you far beyond what any government program can ever promise."

"We need to remind everyone that the GOP was originally formed to end slavery. … We're trying to end slavery from the federal government."

"The America I know is great - not because government made it great but because ordinary citizens like me, like my father and like you are given the opportunity every day to do extraordinary things.

"I believe this country is in real trouble, and it's up to us, to fix it before its too late."

"I will tell them that you can work hard, you can improve your life and the lives of your children in one day when you deliver your youngest child to the university, you will look her in the eye and say, 'You will give back.'"

"My parents immigrated to the United States with $10 in their pocket and a belief that the America they had heard about really did exist as the land of opportunity."

"Regardless of the difficulties we may face individually, in our families, in our communities and in our nation, the old adage is still true - you can make excuses or you can make progress, but you cannot make both! The America I know doesn't make excuses."

"What are the Democrats, the party of Jim Matheson, telling them? The message of the Democrats is that the Amercian dream is over. 'The government is all you have. Give up your dreams, and the government will save you, the government will heal you, the government will be your hope and change.' We know here in Utah, none of that is true."

"The influence I would hope to have is to create an environment where we're not singling Americans out - that we are creating opportunities for all Americans. Not saying, 'I'm going to funnel money into your city so that you're completely dependent on government.'"

"Difficult things aren't easy, but they're worth it."

Toledo City Council Meeting - Feb. 5, 2013

notes from Sherry:

In attendance: Councilmen Steel, Collins, Martinez, Sarantou, Craig, Ludeman, Riley, McNamara, Waniewski, Councilwomen Webb, Hicks-Hudson, Deputy Mayor Herwat, Mayor Bell.

Item 37 – Resolution – Support Ohio's Energy Efficiency Resource Standard – adopted – all voting yes. (Video 1 started)

Item 38 – Resolution – Recognize Scott High School on their 100th Anniversary – adopted – all voting yes.

Item 39 – Resolution – Recognize Horizon Science Academy (Springfield – Reynolds Rd.) for receiving “Excellent”
rating – adopted – all voting yes.

Item 22 – Expenditure to Solar Turbines for Co-Generation Facilities at Bay View WWTP & Landfill, $1,918,386 – passed: Ludeman, Waniewski, voted no; rest yes.

Item 40 – Agreement with LAWO for Civil Legal Assistance Services (CLAS), 2 years, $200,000 annually, Trust Fund – passed – all voting yes.

Item 41 – Resolution – Support rehabilitation of Vistula Heritage Village for low-income housing tax credits – adopted – all voting yes.

Item 42 – Repeal Resolution 35-13, LMHA Collingwood Green, change word from rehabilitation to construction – adopted – all voting yes.

Item 43 – Agreement with DTID for 2013 event in Levis Square – passed – Steel abstaining, rest yes.

Item 44 – Re-appropriate 32 – 36 Year CDBG funds to 38 Year CDBG Fund, $1,588,861 – passed – all voting yes .

Item 45 – Amend Ordinance 357-10 for ODOT to direct pay contractors for Suder Ave. Bridge – passed – all voting yes.

Item 46 – Agreement with UT for Pavement Management Information System, $73,508 – 2013, $80,000 – 2014 SCM&R – passed – all voting yes.

Item 47 – Contract with Today's Distributor for PipePatch for sanitary sewers and storm sewers, 1 year+2 - passed – all voting yes.

Item 48 – Re-issue Notes – Facility & Fleet Building, $3,250,000 – passed – all voting yes.

Item 49 – Resolution – Amend pension pick-up plan for Municipal Court non-union employees, 5%, 2%, 0 – passed – all voting yes.

Item 50 – Amend TMC Ch. 2105, AFSCME Local 2058, June 2012 – May 2015 – passed – all voting yes.

Item 51 – Enact new TMC Ch. 2016, AFSCME Local 2058 Comm. Op. Supvr., June 2012 – May 2015 – passed – all voting yes.

Item 52 – Purchase Accela database system for Inspection, 80 users, $560,629 CIP and $222,567 GF – passed – all voting yes.

Item 53 – Expenditures to Engr. Srvcs. CIP, matches, resurfacing, sealing, curbs, sidewalks, Naut. Vill., $12,692,000 – passed – all voting yes.

Item 54 – Expenditures for new salt storage facility at SB&H Central Ave., $600,000 CIP – passed – all voting yes.

Item 55 – Expenditures for SB&H Bridges Matches and Planning, $554,00 CIP – passed – all voting yes.

Item 56 – Expenditures to U.S. Army for feasibility and design of Nelson St. Embankment project, $100,000 CIP – passed – all voting yes.

Item 57 – Expenditures for electronic document management expansion for Dept. of ICT, $312,000 CIP - 1st Reading.

Item 58 – Expenditures for Parks & Recreation, general improvements, playgrounds, sport courts, $450,000 CIP – passed – all voting yes.

Item 59 – Expenditures for Police marked and unmarked vehicles and equipment, $680,000 CIP – passed – all voting yes.

Item 60 – Expenditures to Police continued implementation of Data Driven Policing Project, $380,000 CIP – to Criminal Justice Committee

Item 61 – Expenditures for Police automated timekeeping system, $150,000 CIP – passed – all voting yes.

* Waniewski – disappointed in SAP – we are guardians of the tax payers – we spent 15-16 mil on this system, unheard of – SAP should be ashamed – not happy with the SAP system – Dr.McLean does this have the integrity to go into SAP module?
* McLean – Should fit in.
* Steel – integrated – choose to move forward.
* McLean – we are moving forward. Martinez – concerned – status with SAP (McLean)?
* McLean – yes.
* Martinez – your office put me through training – bottleneck some where? There is a lack.
* McLean – SAP works well – whole new effort – reports, get them into system – no easy task – this is a Cadillac system.
* Martinez – there is data error problems – lesson learned.
* Sarantou – the Feb. 21st agenda for the Finance Meeting – Kerry Bruce to be there for facts – seems we bought a vacuum, attachments not included.

Last Call:

Hicks-Hudson – Thank you for supporting item 41, people will appreciate it. Went to a memorial/concert for Claude Black last night, very good. You are invited to a meeting on Saturday, Feb. 9th at 1-3 p.m., held at the Friendly Center – Youth in media – better stories. There when you're bad, not there when you are doing good. This meeting will also be about mentoring.

Steel – Department of Neighborhoods – mentions report due on Friday. My referral is for the time from 6/1/2012 to 7/31/2012 on the homeless board. Cleveland Mayor has a role in its local School Board. What roll should Toledo have in the schools? (None I hope. SZ) Youth, Parks, and Recreation meeting engaging.

Waniewski – Blue paint on the snow in front of my house? Someone is messing with this Council member. Kudos to the Administration on the streets.

Webb – Utilities – discussion about the $200.00 security deposit – legislative process is a key piece. This is to be received 15 days after notice. We (council members) did not find out about this until we read the paper. The first step in the open and clear – move to legislative process.

Collins – Complements Webb and Steel – should involve Council more. Re feral- poll civilian call takers – negotiate – no document from Administration – separate list. Were these people, when terminated/quit, offered exit interviews? Huge amount of retirees – why are they leaving?

Quotes of the Day - Angela McGlowan

In honor of Black History Month, the QOTD is featuring Black Conservatives. Today's conservative is Angela McGlowan, CEO of Political Strategies & Insights (PSI), a government affairs, political strategy, public relations consulting firm. She is a best-selling author (Bamboozled: How Americans Are Being Exploited by the Lies of the Liberal Agenda) and a political/business analyst for Fox News. Interestingly, she was Miss Washington DC USA in 1994.

Below are quotes from her book:

"As the old saying goes, 'money is power' and the more money the government takes, the more power it has over individuals."

"The liberal line is that poverty is caused by a vicious brew of “institutional” racism — conservative policies promoted by racist Republicans — combined with high incarceration rates of black males. In the fashion typical of bamboozlers, these liberals have it exactly backwards. Conservative policy prescriptions aren’t the cause of underachievement for minorities and the poor, they’re the cure. And furthermore, Republicans advocate policies that recognize the innate value of all humans, as opposed to the liberal policies that demean the poor and disadvantaged by encouraging victimhood."

"The exploitation agenda advocated by liberals is modeled after the dependency-inducing design of the drug dealer’s business model: “We’ll supply the first hit for free, and after that, you’ll need us forever in order to survive.” In order for the liberal scheme to succeed, all attempts at self-empowerment or individual initiative are to be met with fierce resistance and social sanction."

“The bamboozlers’ mantra became: “We liberals are here to help you. Don’t let those evil conservatives judge you. You’re the victim! You shouldn’t have to work. Your standard of living isn’t your responsibility. It’s ours. You don’t need to marry your baby’s daddy. Uncle Sam is your baby’s daddy, and will be as long as you keep voting for us.”

“In his book White Guilt, Shelby Steele explains that white guilt remains one of the liberals’ greatest sources of power. “In the age of white guilt,” writes Steele, “whites support all manner of silly racial policies without seeing that their true motivation is simply to show themselves innocent of racism.” The bamboozlers know of this phenomenon and exploit it regularly.”

“Without any scientific justification, liberals hoodwink black and Latino parents into believing that having more minorities teach their children will improve their performance. When Wallace, Lester Maddox, and Bull Connor supported doing this, we called them racists. Isn’t it ironic that many of the advocates of this policy today belong to the same party as George Wallace and Lester Maddox?”

“There comes a moment in every young black person’s life, sometimes in college, when he or she asks a silent but powerful question: Why do we all vote for a party that’s against almost everything that’s integral to our faith? The faith that is reflected in the powerful Negro hymnals which sustained us through slavery, Jim Crow, and the civil rights movement? Are we to believe that it’s no longer relevant today? Why are we so loyal to those most hostile to our faith? It’s a question many blacks ask silently. I know I did. It’s a question that you want to tuck right back down where it came from. Well, you figure, There must be something I’ve yet to learn. There must be something I don’t know that explains why we vote against our values. Many Latinos go through the same process. But there isn’t anything that explains it. There’s fear. There’s social sanction. There’s being ostracized. And that’s it.”

“Other blacks give LBJ glowing credit for advancing the cause of civil rights. “I happen to think that Lyndon Baines Johnson was the greatest President in our nation’s history, short of Abraham Lincoln,” Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. told me. This is curious logic, to be sure. If you hate blacks all your life and then do the right thing, you’re a hero. But, if you fight for justice and equality all your life, but happen to be a Republican, such as Senator Everett Dirksen of Illinois, the real hero of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, you’re undeserving of praise and support? That doesn’t wash.”

“It’s often said that the Democrats fight “for the little guy.” That’s true: liberals fight to make sure the little guy stays little! Think about it. What if all the little guys were to prosper and become big guys? Then what? Who would liberals pretend to fight for? If the bamboozlers fight for anything, it’s to ensure that the little guy stays angry at those nasty conservatives who are holding him down.”

“Jesse Jackson and Julian Bond. See, that’s a racket — they have got to keep this information from being disseminated. They have to, if they are going to stay in place,” Secretary Alphonso Jackson said. “That’s what most black people don’t understand. The civil rights movement is unlike what Reverend King talked about — it’s a business now. So the business is to keep us uninformed — that’s the business. Isn’t it amazing that Condoleeza Rice, Colin Powell, and Rod Paige have never been on the cover of Jet, Ebony, or Essence, or Black Enterprise magazine? Isn’t it amazing?”

“It’s often said that the Democrats fight “for the little guy.” That’s true: liberals fight to make sure the little guy stays little! Think about it. What if all the little guys were to prosper and become big guys? Then what? Who would liberals pretend to fight for? If the bamboozlers fight for anything, it’s to ensure that the little guy stays angry at those nasty conservatives who are holding him down.”