The only black Republican Party district chairman in Arizona resigned from his post in the wake of Saturday's shooting, citing threats from the Tea Party faction and concerns for his family's safety.

Republican District 20 Chairman Anthony Miller was not the only party official to resign following the shooting that killed six and wounded 14 others, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and a federal judge.

"I wasn't going to resign but decided to quit after what happened Saturday," he said. "I love the Republican Party but I don't want to take a bullet for anyone." Read the full story as reported in the Arizona Republic.

Al Reynolds is considered the Tea Party candidate in Illinois' 52nd District. He has stated publicly that African American men preferred dealing drugs to going to college because it is easier.

"I've been in the city and the dichotomy of the women and the men in the minorities, there is a difference in the fact that most minority women, either the single parent or coming from a poor neighborhood, are motivated more so than the minority men," Reynolds said, when asked what he would do to increase diversity at state colleges. "And it's a pretty good reason. Most of the women who are single parents have to find work to support their family. The minority men find it more lucrative to be able to do drugs or other avenues rather than do education. It's easier." Read the full story.

Challenging foreclosures could become more difficult for homeowners if the president signs a bill that passed through the Senate last week. The little-noticed bill comes at a time when the validity of foreclosure proceedings across the nation have been called into question. Read the full story.

The White House stated that they have some concerns about the bill that easily passed in the House and Senate with little public attention according to Reuters. Read why the the White House has concerns about the bill.

There is a web site that has pulled together the data allowing anyone interested to compare the US Presidents over the last half century on jobs growth, debt, inflation, and GDP.

For example, the jobs data which is listed below covers annualized job growth for each President.

Johnson and Ford replaced Kennedy and Nixon respectively due to assassination and impeachment.


Kennedy/Johnson 3.3%
Carter 3.1%
Clinton 2.4%
Truman 2.3%
Reagan 2.1%
Nixon/Ford 1.9%
Eisenhower 0.9%
GHW Bush 0.6%
GW Bush 0.2%

Read The Complete Post

Cobleskill, NY Mayor and Republican Mark Nadeau quit after he was recorded using the N-word to mock President Obama's campaign slogan, "Change".

Another town official who is a white Democrat can also be heard on the tape using the slur in reference to Martin Luther King Jr. Day. They were both secretly recorded by the highway superintendent.

The Associated Press has more details on this story.

Americans and the White House were bamboozled initially. The Agriculture Department leader has rushed to judgement in forcing the resignation of Mrs. Sherrod over an edited video which made her look like a racist.

Even the NAACP which initially only saw the edited version of the video jumped on the bandwagon supporting the call for her resignation.

FOX news first reported the edited version of Andrew Breitbart's video of her speaking at an NAACP function. FOX anchors were acting as if this video was damning.

Conservative Andrew Breitbart was willing to destroy Mrs. Sherrod in order to paint the NAACP as a racist organization after the NAACP passed a resolution stating that the Tea Party was racist.

The NAACP has now admitted that they made a gross mistake in supporting Shirley Sherrod's resignation. The question remains at this point if the White House and President Obama will push the Agriculture department to rehire Mrs. Sherrod now that we have seen the full video and know the truth.

The Huffington Posthas more details on this story.

UPDATE: The White House has done the right thing. They have apologized for rushing to judgement and The Agriculture Department has offered Mrs. Sherrod another job which she is considering.

AOl News has more details on the White House apology and job offer.

This is history in the making. A brother named Alvin Green actually ran in the Democratic Senate primary without making his identity known during the campaign.

He is an unemployed military veteran who did not set up a campaign website or raise funds for his campaign. Alvin Green spent 13 years in the Air Force and Army before leaving the Army in August.

Green could not explain his win against a four term state lawmaker named Vic Rawl. Alvin shocked South Carolina's Democratic Party leadership by capturing the nomination Tuesday, and he will face Republican U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint in November.

Senator Jim Demint is a Republican Tea Party favorite who is running for a second 6 year Senate term. Alvin is hoping he is a winner again in the fall.

Alvin Green wants to continue to make history and get South Carolina back to work. South Carolina had an unemployment rate of 11.6% in April 2010 versus the Southern region rate of 9.6% according to the BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics).

A Congressman from Indiana has resigned because he had an extramarital affair with a woman working for him. The Republican, Mark Souder was elected to Congress on a family values platform.

The Congressman was known as a hard line conservative that promoted family values as well as abstinence education. It appears as though he did not believe in abstinence for his staffer.

Hopefully, others that consider following in his footsteps will learn a a lesson or two from this experience.

Mark Souder's made a public statement regarding his resignation.

"It is with great regret I announce that I am resigning from the U.S. House of Representatives as well as resigning as the Republican nominee for Congress in this fall's election. Diane and my family were more than willing to stand here with me. We are a committed family. But the error is mine and I should bear the responsibility. I sinned against God, my wife and my family by having a mutual relationship with a part-time member of my staff. I am so shamed to have hurt those I love."

When doing a Google search, you never would imagine that doing a search for President Obama is would turn up such ridiculous results.

A Google search for President Bush is results in the listing below.


1. is an alien
2. what is he doing now
3. why he is a bad person
4. issues

NJ Republican Governor Chris Christie has not reappointed Justice John E. Wallace to the N.J. Supreme Court. This is the first time that a justice was not reappointed by a governor in the state.

New Jersey Supreme court justices must be reappointed to the bench after serving for 7 years. Many are asking if this is about race or politics. Either way, anyone of these two are wrong for New Jersey.

Wallace will reach the mandatory retirement age of 70 in two years, but Christie couldn't wait. The governor will get at least three more chances to put his stamp on the court as other terms expire in the next three years, but Wallace had to go now.

Christie has chosen a resident of his own town of Mendham Township and someone who has spent much of her career in corporate litigation defending product liability cases. The woman named Anne M. Patterson, who is white, was selected as Justice Wallace's replacement.

It will be interesting to see what happens when the governor has his next opportunity to reappoint a justice. The next justice up for reappointment is the only Latino on the bench.

Joseph Sean McVey, 23 had his car parked at a North Carolina parking lot and it was outfitted with police equipment.

According to the Citizen-Times, he was carrying a handgun and listening to police radio frequencies near the runway around the time President Barack Obama's flight was leaving Asheville Regional Airport.

Police charged him with going armed to the terror of the public, a misdemeanor offense, but investigators haven't yet determined whether he was attempting to target the president.

President Obama was flying out of the N.C. airport after a brief stay in the area due to the memorial service in West Virginia for the 29 coal miners who were killed in an explosion earlier this month.

There was a sticky note found in Joseph McVey's car with formulas for rifle scopes, authorities said. Police have not spoken publicly about what the formulas might mean.

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is learning the hard way that once the system comes after you, it will seem like an unending nightmare.

The ex-mayor Kilpatrick pleaded guilty in 2008 to misconduct after sexually explicit text messages became public. He lied under oath about an affair with a staff member. The 39-year-old resigned, served 99 days in jail, agreed to give up his law license, repay the city $1 million, and stay out of politics for five years.

Newsweek reported that a bodyguard for the the mayor reported that the mayor's personal police posse was running amuck, crashing cars and racking up overtime. Then an investigation was started by a Deputy Police Chief. The Deputy Police Chief was fired weeks later.

The Deputy and the bodyguard decided to bring a whistleblower lawsuit against the mayor and the city. The city settled for 9 million. These two guys did well for themselves.

When asked about the affair under oath, Kilpatrick basically said it never happened. He did not realize that the sexual texts that he sent on his city owned pager could be accessed.

According to the Free Press, one text sent from his city owned pager read "I've been dreaming all day about having you all to myself for three days,." "Relaxing, laughing, talking, sleeping and making love."

First of all, he should have known that text messages and cell phones records are accessible. Second, he should also known that firing a police officer conducting an investigation of him and his staff is stepping over the line.

The ex-mayor made a deal to pay back the city 1 million dollars, and he is currently paying 3 thousand a month. The judge cited him for not being completely upfront about his assets even though he was making regular and timely payments. The judge may send him back to jail over this violation of probation.

I am sure that Kwame Kilpatrick feels like he cannot win and he is right.

Once again, President Obama has accomplished one of his top priorities. The Student Loan program will change in ways that will benefit students across the country.

The Student Loan bill which was attached to the Health Care Reform bill to give both the best chance of passing will significantly decrease the reliance of private lenders including banks to make loans to students.

President Obama wants to use the savings to send approximately $4 billion to historically black colleges and community colleges.

According to Rep. Ruben Hinojosa, D-Texas, the chairman of a House higher education subcommittee, moving to the federal government's direct loan program, we will put the best interests of students first and make college loans more reliable and affordable.

The Huffingtonpost reported that the bill rewrites a four-decades-old student loan program, and the savings will direct $36 billion in new spending to Pell Grants for students in financial need.

Many private lenders have promised to continue fighting this bill. They have also stated that thousands of jobs will be lost.

Health Care Reform required the leadership of a black man in President Obama and a woman, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to do what Democrats have been trying to accomplish since Social Security and Medicare were passed by Democrats decades ago.

This is probably the Republicans biggest defeat in decades. They have promised to repeal the Health Care Reform bill once they have the majority again. This will be very difficult for a number of reasons.

One, Republicans will have a hard time explaining why the doughnut hole should be opened again now that is has been closed. For 2010, the doughnut hole for the total true out-of-pocket expenses for seniors increased to $4,550. Once drug costs reach $4,350.25, Medicare pays 95 percent of the cost and the beneficiary pays 5 percent.

For too long, seniors in Medicare have struggled with the rising cost of prescription drugs and closing the so called doughnut hole lowers a seniors out of pocket costs for prescription drugs.

Two, insurers have denied coverage to people with pre-existing conditions including children. In one particular case, a newborn baby was denied coverage because of his weight at birth.

Three, young adults can now stay on their parents insurance plan until their mid-twenties. This one will be very popular with parents of teenagers and young adults.

Four, it is being projected by the respected and independent CBO that 32 million more Americans will have health care coverage because of the Health Care Reform bill. How would the Republicans justify repealing coverage for millions of Americans if they really tried to repeal the bill.

Even if the Republicans could find the votes needed to repeal this bill, they would still need a president who was willing to sign it. Everyone can agree at this point that President Obama would not even consider it.

Although the Health Care Reform bill is not perfect, it will be better than the status quo. This bill is seen as historic. The President and Speaker of the House should be applauded.

Kevin Garn resigned as Utah's majority leader in the legislature after it became public that he spent time in a hot tub with a naked teenager.

Even though the event took place 25 years ago, Mr. Garn now 55 years old paid the women $150,000 to keep quiet in 2002.

It has been reported that the woman in this story who was a teenager at the time began contacting reporters about the incident during Kevin Garn's unsuccessful bid for a congressional seat in 2002.

Despite a confidentiality agreement, the now 40-year-old woman named Maher began contacting local news media last week to retell her story about being naked with Garn when she was 15.

We have to thank Kevin Garn for showing everyone the path not to take if you plan to run for politics in the future. He will go on with his life, but it will be extremely tough for him to hold a public leadership position in the future.

Anyone who follows politics, knows that Clarence Thomas is a Supreme Court justice who typically votes with the conservative side of the legal argument. Conservatives in America love him because his votes for conservative issues are very reliable.

Many people do not know that his wife is involved in advocating for conservative issues as well. Virginia Thomas recently spoke during a panel discussion to Tea Party leaders in Washington.

The Los Angeles Times reported that In 2000, while she worked at the Heritage Foundation which is a conservative think tank, she was recruiting staff for a possible George W. Bush administration as her husband was hearing the case that would decide the election. It is interesting that this was not reported before Gore versus Bush was decided by the Supreme Court.

The L.A. Times also reported that Virginia Thomas talked about counting herself among those energized into action by President Obama's "hard-left agenda" during her talk with Tea Party Leaders.

These are interesting observations and it makes a person wonder why these historical firsts are happening now that President Obama is in office.

1. Was there ever a time when a major news network (i.e. Fox) launched an all-out assault, including helping to organize an uprising, against a sitting President?

2. There was never a Congressman like Joe Wilson who interrupted President Obama during the State of the Union Address to call the President a liar.

3. A Supreme Court Justice's spouse publicly announces her effort to undermine the agenda of the President of the United States of America.


Read the full story.

Weeks after Joe Stack went on a suicide mission against the government by flying his plane into an IRS building, John Patrick Bedell fired shots at a Washington D.C. Metro subway entrance to the Pentagon on Thursday, wounding two police officers.

John Patrick Bedell was shot and suffered a critical injury the day of the shooting. Bedell was heavily armed carrying a semiautomatic weapon and several magazines of ammunition. He has died from head wounds inflicted during the shootout.

What did these two men have in common? They were both angry with the United States government. There are Americans that have always been angry with the government for one reason or another; however, it appears as though a tipping point has been reached.

Hints of a long a deep-seated mistrust of government emerged in anti-government Internet postings linked to Bedell. The LinkedIn blog contained a two-part treatise on big government, including its vulnerability to being controlled by a criminal organization.

"This organization, like so many murderous governments throughout history, would see the sacrifice of thousands of its citizens, in an event such as the September 11 attacks, as a small cost in order to perpetuate its barbaric control," the blog post read.

His postings also expressed general hatred of Washington and added that exposing the Sabow case would be “a step toward establishing the truth of events such as the September 11 demolition,” according to the AP.

Whatever is causing Americans in 2010 to start to go on these search and destroy suicide missions against American targets must be investigated. If a thorough investigation does not take place, Americans may witness many more of these missions in the near future.

The President has embraced a new formula for determining poverty in America. At the current time, this is only an experiment reports the N.Y. Times, but it should be a step in the direction of eliminating the old formula.

The old formula which is still being used focuses on the cost of food and the cash income a family receives annually.

There are many critics that do not want to change the poverty formula.

Poverty statistics are responsible for how federal dollars are allocated to states and cities across the country. There is a fear by some that changing the formula will increase poverty in some areas and increase their share of federal dollars while decreasing federal assistance to other states.

The new formula will continue to focus on the cost of food while also acknowledging that this amount has become a smaller percentage of a families' total cost. The new one will strive to take the bigger picture into account for a family.

The new formula will also consider government benefits such as food stamps and tax credits which will increase the a families' annual cash income. At the same time, the new formula will consider health care costs, home mortgages, child care, and utilities which would all lower a families' annual income.


The old formula was based on 2 parents and 2 children. The new formula will be based on 1 parent and 2 children which is a more accurate of a family living in poverty today versus the 1960's when the old formula was created.

Governor Patterson is not well liked by the media in NY. How else do you explain many newspapers running front page articles based on rumors that a scandal was about to break?

There was no earth shattering news to report about Governor Patterson. What the media did was set the groundwork with voters about changing their minds if they were considering voting for him.

Remember that Governor Patterson was not elected. He won the seat when the former Governor Eliot Spitzer had to step down for a prostitution scandal. There are many powerbrokers in New York who have been rooting for former NY Governor Mario Cuomo's son to run for the governorship. There are others that thought Governor Patterson simply did not have enough appeal to win over New Yorkers.

Governor Patterson should have known that he was a marked man and there are always people watching his every move. After all, there are only two African Americans that have been elected Governor in the history of the Unites States.

Governor Patterson played right into the hands of his opponents supporters. Less than one week after announcing that he planned to run for a full four year term, he had to announce that he was abandoning his campaign.

This announcement came shortly after a New York Times report, which said the governor and a member of his security detail had contacted a woman pressing an abuse charge against a top Paterson aide.

The aide David Johnson who is seen in the picture above with Gov. Patterson had his share of critics. He is from Harlem and it has been reported that he overcame some drug related issues of his younger days to amass a good deal of political power working for the governor. It has been reported that some people resented having to go through Mr. Johnson to reach the governor.

Can anyone figure out why a sitting governor who is gearing up for a reelection campaign would be involved in contacting the wife of an aide who happens to be an alleged victim of domestic abuse about the incident? When people are looking for your missteps, you simply have to have all of your ducks lined up straight.

This is an unwritten rule in politics, especially if you are a black or Latino politician. Hopefully Governor Patterson's political suicide will keep another Brother Connected from making the same mistake in the future.