Elizabeth Warren Joins Harris in Backing Reparations for Black Americans

Another gift for Trump.

Cross these two right off the list!

Dems will lose the Independents on this issue. What about Native Americans and Chinese kidnapped and brought to the west coast?

Talk about buying votes!

R3, what about the whites who were also enslaved.

Or the more recently trafficked children. Or the victims of child pornography?

Does the Trump Campaign have to report this as a donation?

[quote]Dems will lose the Independents on this issue. What about Native Americans and Chinese kidnapped and brought to the west coast?

So Liz will get some reparations?

The primaries are gonna be lit!

They just re-elected Trump!

How about the US federal government formally apologizing for slavery and Jim crow to African-Americans finally.

They can at least do that. That would be a great way to finally acknowledge America's wrong doing and it's original sin. Also think native Americans should be included in that as well.

So making non slave owners pay money to non slaves?? That's rich!

How about the Democratic party pay black Americans reparations as the that was the pro-slavery party during the time!

Madame President. Get used to it.

Jesus Christ is there a Dem candidate that has an ounce of sense? Are they all trying to see which one is the most ridiculous?

Nope. Not going to happen, ladies. Buh-bye.

R3 is correct.

The overarching problem here is that independents can't vote in presidential primaries in over half the states and most more voters now identify as such vs. registered Democrats or Republicans.

So candidates in both parties have to appeal to their most hard core bases to secure the nomination, and the result is this kind of stuff which will turn off moderate voters as much as Trump's wall.

All they had to do was not be crazy.

That's what you get if you select anyone from either coast. Loons who are totally out of touch with the American people.

Like the rightwingers will say. Don't go full retard.

What about reparations for gay men? How many of us were raped by straight muscular frat boys in college and were forced to suffer in silence?

Full middle America. I don't give a fuck!

I have ambitions of becoming a normal person, therefore I do not vote for dems because they now out-crazy the repubs.

How many of us raped straight muscular frat boys?

EEK I almost posted a hot GIF in this thread.

The people who suffered from slavery and Jim Crow are dead. Just who will be getting these reparations? No to this idea.

Wow almost synchronised foot shootings. Good job, ladies.

R15: Utterly wrong. Studies of states with open primaries show that they actually nominate more extreme candidates than states with closed primaries. Washington and California's Top Two system has not resulted in more moderate candidates. It's time that myth got put to death.

R20 -rooting for a Trump re-election.

Looking better and better for Biden.

R28 He seems very lackluster though.

Absolutely yes to reparations. Fuck Trump! And fuck middle America.

People are so fucking scared of Trump is is really bizarre. They give that asshole way to much power.

Fuck Trump.

Reparations is a NO GO for me. Sorry libs.

Kameltoe is here barking orders again.

Listen up girl, you need to run as an independent to have a shot at this.

Or perhaps, where you behind Pussie Smell-it and his noose?

R32: If you're not a liberal, you don't really belong here.

R34. I am a liberal, just not a stupid one who supports reparations. You seem like a real inclusive type, welcoming all points of view is a real liberal quality which you lack.

This is the problem with both parties. They swing to the cheap seats. And this field of Democrats together mixed in a bowl couldn't defeat Trump. People want Trump out. They aren't interested in reparations shit. They want him out and normalcy restored. Then we can debate these wildly progressive ideas in an open forum. But for now " It's Defeat Trump, stupid" until 2020.But really do you think Elizabeth Warren or Harris has a shot in hell of getting the nomination?

Normalcy is overrated.

Reparations is a poison pill that will take down the Dems and lift up the Repubs. It has no place in today's political dialogue, unless you want to crash and burn.

Jussie Smollett is a very strong proponent of reparations, his face will be all over the issue if the Dems are that stupid.

Campaigning on this issue seems like a really, really bad idea.

I hate that Democrats feel they have to go this insanely far left to win the primary. Winning the primary means nothing, we need them to win the election! And this platform is unwinnable.

[quote]Asked by host Charlamagne Tha God

Seriously...that's a person's name?

Like Sargon of Akkad, r42.

Elizabeth Warren, I can't figure her out. She is clearly an extremely intelligent and generally sensible woman. But she has such poor judgment when it comes to things like this, how can she think this would be a popular platform to run on? Many blacks even think the idea is ridiculous and many also see it for the pandering bullshit that it really is, they aren't stupid, they know it would never come to fruition. She needs to go back to the drawing board.

Warren knew she was a no hoper but why Harris threw her future away is beyond me. Great news for the rest of them.

[quote]Just who will be getting these reparations?

I've had insufficient.

Well if those two idiots had any real expectations of becoming POTUS they can forget about it now.

I've never understood how reparations would work. I have always assumed Affirmative Action was created out of a sense that this represented reparations.

And if black people get reparations, can you imagine the reparations native Americans would need?

What about reparations for women? Denied property, voting and employment rights into the last century. What about them?

Reparations for GAYS???? Yes, libs pay up

How about descendants of indentured servants like me?

This is Jake Orion, if there are reparations for gay people, please count me in for some of that! My gaping hole proves I am gay.

Trapping Democrats is so easy I'm surprise Putin hasn't lost interest.

[quote] How about descendants of indentured servants like me?

You expect to be paid for having teeth ?

To be fair, reparations payments will need to be indexed by the cost of one’s lifestyle. I mean, how would it be fair to compensate me the same as some poor schlub whose monthly bills are less than the wages I pay even a single housekeeper? I’m going to need real reparations, not some paltry rent assistance or meager food subsidy.

Nope. Just crossed these two completely off my list.

Not going to support any race-baiters and blatant panderers.

None of my family were involved with slavery, and none of my tax dollars will be going for reparations.

Blacks get plenty of opportunities handed to them strictly based on their race (affirmative action, preferential college admission)...no need for anything else.

If we pay reparations, then we need to give the country back to native Americans.

I'm sure that's something Warren could get behind.

Racist. Thread. Closed!!!!

Follow up question for Harris and Warren — Which should take legislative priority — Medicare for All or reparations?

Reparations4All

Fuck no to reparations.

Yup, it's true. Not Boris.

Well, I guess Harris and Warren aren't even going to try to win the Midwest and Rust Belt states they need in order to be elected.

Biden and Beto had better run, or we're going to be fucked.

They really fucked up. They may not even have meant it the way it is being reported. If you read the stories, I gather both are advocating for some kind of government program justified on that basis but I don't get the impression either one wants to cut anybody a check or have Oprah had out new cars.

Even so, they fucked up. But reparations just became the new but her emails, for those two. They did it to themselves.

Hell, R65, they did it to all of us.

I love how people swear the country is moving left when the front runner is a moderate who hasn't even decided to run yet.

Oops, wrong thread.

Only black Americans?? What a about the Mexican/Spanish genocide they US committed in the Southwest? The illegal expulsion of Spanish/Mexican-Americans citizens into Mexico in the 1930s??

What about the mass hanging of Chinese-Americans in California? The largest lynching in US History.

My great great grandmother suffered as a slave, but I looove my bling a ding new car!

Also, how many Native Americans were also victims of the 1930 expulsions and the genocides of the 1800s?

Girl please. The African-American community is not the only wronged minority in this country.

You want to talk robbed - What about Brokeback Mountain? Or even G?

I was molested!!!

Then you get a reparation, R73!

She makem heap big boo boo. Go Biden or Michelle.

Play right into Trump's tiny mitts, ladies.

A lot of Native Americans aren't technically US citizens, so they would probably get nothing. White people also have a lot of opportunities handed to them (white women benefit from affirmative action, legacies get preferential college admission, gerrymandering)

There are fairies at the bottom of our garden, It's not so very, very far away,

You pass the gard'ner's shed and you just keep straight ahead, I do so hope they've really come to stay,

There's a little wood with moss in it and beetles, And a little stream that quietly runs though, You wouldn't think they'd dare to come merry-making there,

Well, they do, yes, they do!

[Verse 2]: There are fairies at the bottom of our garden, They often have a dance on summer nights, The butterflies and bees make a lovely little breeze, And the rabits stand about and hold the lights,

Did you know that they could sit upon the moonbeams, And snatch a little star to make a fan, And dance away up there in the middle of the air? Well they can, yes they can!

[Verse 3]: Oh those fairies at the bottom of our garden, You cannot think how beautiful they are, They all stand up and sing when the Fairy Queen and King, Come lightly floating down upon their car. Oh, the King is very proud and very handsome, And the Queen, now can you guess who that could be?

She's a little girl all day, but at night she steals away. Well, it's ME! Yes, it's ME!

This won’t sell nationally and Warren and Booker just gave Republicans something to hit the eventual Democratic nominee with.

The Democratic nominee will either have to defend this and alienate a bunch of non-black voters, or they will have to be against it and alienate a lot of black voters. Well played, Liz and Cory. Well played.

[quote]Native Americans aren't technically US citizens

Imagine that, being Native of the US, but you are not recognized as being American.

People forget that Hoover also kicked out Cherokee, Yahid, and many other Natives because he wanted to whiten the West. Oops only for African Americans to take their place. Herbert Hoover must have had a coronary when he realized the Southwest was turning brown again by the 1960s

This is my most sexist thought: Women will run the democratic party into the ground. A man needs to set the party on the right path. And no, Bernie Sanders is not the right man.

I will back reparations to all of those who were brought over from Africa against their will. They can get paid.

I think men have done enough damage.

Men have done a lot of damage, but I don't think a female liberal will be elected president any time soon...especially if her core issues are reparations and trans rights.

Well R82 nobody will be getting paid anything then because they all died a hell of a long time ago.

The government can just give more money to historically black colleges and universities instead of reparations to individual people.

Hey Donald, you're starting to 👀 good

This is a bit too progressive for me.

R86, that's an excellent idea.

How do we get them or one of their lackeys to come and read this thread? They need to see the response...

UnBELIEVEably stupid idea.

Warren especially represents the 'We're All Victims' wing of the party.

I hope the chosen candidate tacks hard towards the center once selected.

Most Dem supporters don;t really care who the candidate is, just as long as Trump is defeated. The two women just took themselves out of the running. The Dems cannot merely play identity politics; they are too afraid that one identity group will not vote for them, so they have to try to appease everyone with preposterous proposals. How about they focus on issues that unify, rather than divide?

I'm not paying, not my fault -- my ancestors were too busy starving to death in Ireland.

DL is not the Democratic Party. A CNN poll asked Democrats what they wanted in the nominee.

49% identified a candidate who can beat Trump.

25% said holds progressive positions on the issues.

The country isn't moving left. The party isn't even, not in any reparative sense.

The CNN crowd is center-left R94. I would say DL falls right in that bracket. Moderate.

Democrats are kind of stubborn because I know many will go rogue if the candidate is someone they dislike. At least Republicans rallied around their candidate when they had to. I don't think a divided democratic party can beat Trump. Republicans know their place and wouldn't dare oppose Trump. I can't say the same for Bernie supporters.

It's the issues like this in society why the word sobriety will not come to pass in my lifetime.

Yes, and I suspect the descendants of many others will second you- like Jewish Americans whose grandparents arrived from the ghettos and shtetl shitholes of Eastern Europe and landed on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and went to work in factories and sweatshops and lived in the slums of the area for a generation protesting.

Who do Harris and Warren think were the girls names who died in the Triange Shirtwaist Factory - girls with Russian, Polish, and Italian names.

How about the Jewish population of Europe lining up at the Hague and demanding reparations for the restrictions, ghettoisation, pogroms, the Holocaust, etc.?

Can you imagine white underclass unfortunates in the Rust Belt, like Dayton, OH, reading that in the papers as they head off to food banks to feed the kids whilst the parents work two minimum-wage jos?

Many people do not know that the word "pale" (as in the use about a territory restricted to a demographic population) originated in Ireland, not Russia.

Well, I'm sure the DNC leadership is face-palming, and the moderate white middle-class and the white working class are sitting there thinking, Fuck you and the unicorn you rode in on, as they decide to vote for Trump.

Tribalism always rules. Harris and Warren are morons.

R93 - Sorry, my post above was a response to yours about Ireland.

R98

No, r95, DL is not moderate. DL is left to far left. Moderates get abuse here.

Moderates get ̶a̶b̶u̶s̶e̶̶ banned here.

Pandering, with absurd promises that are financially unrealistic, and incredibly complex to even establish any kind of objective qualification criteria, is identity politics at its worst.

Wow. Here's a winning issue for American voters in the Age of Trump!

Why not just donate to Trump's campaign?

Affirmative Action/EOE, Head Start, Higher Education TRIO programs, multiple HUD programs, War on Poverty, urban grants, direct grants to black farmers and business start-ups, Medicaid, etc.

Cut all these equality and advancement programs in favor of direct checks to individuals, or maintain both? As it is now, beyond existing entitlements, military funding, 6% for education, Energy, EPA, foreign aid, Homeland Security, disaster relief, intrastructure and transportation, etc.; there is precious little that is discretionary. And the debt is already in the trillions.

If any Black person who has been a beneficiary to any govt program (paid by you all) would be exempt from reparations, then I would possibly consider it.

It would narrow the pool down considerably.

I would never agree to paying reparations to an unwed black mother of children with different fathers living in a govt paid project with govt food, Medicaid and public assistance. Count me out on something like that.

Why aren't presidential candidates advocating more practical ideas like teaching poor students how to create their own business when employment options are bleak? Motivation to stay in school for those who aren't academically oriented. Yes you can be an entrepreneur even if you're not wealthy.

I'd also back a candidate who stressed the importance of on the job training for Jr High and High school students in growing fields. Mistake to push so many towards a pricey university education for which they're not suited and really can't afford even with loans especially when the job market is in a different direction.

Ivanka Trump makes these women look like insane asylum residents.

Ivanka Trump will be our first female president. Our first Jewish president too.

I know I will be voting for her in 2024/28.

The Chappelle Show skit on this is legendary

I think Warren and Harris (but especially Warren) have a philosophy of "I'm going to say what I truly believe about social justice issues, no matter how unpopular it might be or how poorly it might play in Middle America. Yes, I'm willing to 'go there.'" They think that if they can "create a national conversation" and "educate" voters in Middle America, those voters will begin to understand concepts like "systemic racism" and support things like reparations. As admirable and principled as it might be, it is electoral poison. The GOP is going to have a fun time creating TV ads about this.

White slavery is real - it’s called paying for everyone else...

R109, I guess you didn't see the comments in the NYTs article. This goes beyond Middle America.

I can't pull up the article for some reason R111 what are the commenters saying?

R104 LBJ's Great Society programs were intended to act as a form of reparations and did. LBJ said “it is not just Negroes but all of us, who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry,” he really meant all of us, including himself.

LBJ had the power and savvy to push those programs through Congress which he played like a violin. He knew where all the bodies were buried and the Southern Dixiecrats were helpless to oppose him. JFK could do nothing and did nothing. LBJ strong-armed the US into a new era. There is no comparable figure in our time. Proposing reparations without giving a precise definition of what those reparations would represent and who would get them and how they would be funded, is suicidal.

The short version, r112, is that most are against it.

Yes, r113, I don't think people realize how instrumental LBJ was to civil rights, which is why it bothered me when DuVernay changed his history in Selma.

What about the occupation, overthrow, and forced annexation of the Kingdom of Hawaii?

They just lost all white voters.

Unless they have some plan to win strictly by minority votes... consider Harris and Warren finished.

Extreme liberalism is more repulsive to most moderate people than extreme conservatism.

This is a gift to Trump.

Klobuchar is looking better now.

Voters in the Midwest will far prefer a Minnesotan who beats up a few incompetent staff members, versus a coastal elitist who thinks you “owe” Laquisha who has seven kids and refuses to get a job.

Are both Warren and Harris on actual video saying this themselves? I hope not. The right will definitely be using that footage in 2020 whether Warren or Harris are the nominee or not.

[quote] consider Harris and Warren finished.

I never considered Harris and Warren started.

The issue is likely to be that the African-American population of the US is only 12% and 55% of them live in the South where their votes cannot overcome white Republicans. And Harris came out as opposing Beto's statement that the fence in El Paso should be taken down. Why this is her business, who knows. I'm sure she's never set foot in Texas. But this won't play well with Hispanics who are now 20% of the population and who hold the key to flipping Arizona and Texas.

If they're talking about just handing over money to people they're out of their mind. As if Congress would ever get enough votes together to do such a ludicrous thing. But if they're talking about programs to assist disadvantaged blacks in training for jobs, or finding jobs, then I'm all for that.

And I though Trump was stupid.

Even if we did give them reparations, they’d still complain. Nothing we do will ever make these people happy. I wish they’d just leave.

How about working on health care or something?

I really thought Kamala Harris had a shot at this, but no more. Warren is just Bernie in flats... an old person spouting nonsense who doesn't know when to stop.

Do the 360,222 Union Army dead get any credit in these reparations ?

Gay people have been mistreated and discriminated against for longer than I care to remember. Where's our reparations?

No R128, because the reason they were able to enlist in the Army was due to their white privilege. And the descendants of those young Union soldiers should all have to pay double reparations to make up for the white privilege that those soldiers enjoyed while being killed in action for the benefit of blacks.

Truly, folks, this way lies madness...

This way is now a dead end. I can see Warren talking all kinds of crazy because she's old and knows there's no hope for her so she's getting her stuff talked about. But I really thought Harris was smarter. I am stunned by this. It's a total wreck of her ambitions beyond Senate. What a shame.

Why don't they just hand the fucking election to Trump for a second term with this nonsense? JFC.

Put aside for a second whether this should be done and try to imagine how it could possibly work or not work.

1 Nearly all blacks in the US are part white, how much black DNA would you need to qualify?

2 Would 10% African DNA get you the same amount as someone with 80% African DNA?

3 What about black people who have willing immigrated since slavery, who have probably experienced racism but are not the descendants of slaves ?

4 What about Jamaicans and Haitians and other black people from Latin and Central America who are the decedents of slave owners but not US slave owners?

5 Would you have to get a DNA test and would the government pay for it or could any dark skin person claim to be part black and get some money?

6 Would there be a wealth test? Would Black people who have already overcome the system and gotten rich get some money?

[quote] Nearly all blacks in the US are part white, how much black DNA would you need to qualify?

1/1024th

We've already paid for our dark history with slavery. It's called affirmative action. If you haven't "reaped" the benefits of that, then too bad for you.

Republicans have preppers and now Dems have reppers

Have these women lost their gay minds!

It's beyond perplexing that Sen. Warren has gone from two-time Reagan voter to reparations advocate!

They’d just spend the money on $4,000 stereos and gold rims for their cars, gold teeth, and drugs.

No no no R136 affirmative action is no longer good enough. Equal opportunity is not good enough, NOW the demand is equal outcome.

Affirmative action isn’t good enough because they refuse to work anyway. They just want to collect money, but gold teeth, and the women pop out babies my multiple fathers. None of them have high IQs, and most are functionally illiterate. Glorified apes, basically.

oh, dear.

I heard she heart punched a baby.

They are followed around in stores because they steal anything not nailed down. So many of them are in prison because they commit 70% of all crimes. I think the women should all be forcibly sterilized after one child.

That's ignorant and untrue R141. There are many blacks who are intelligent and hard workers. The problem is that their own black community demonizes them for it.

I’ve never seen one.

Look at all the bald faced racism in this thread. Terribly sad.

There’s a negro woman and her litter down the street. Yard looks like shit. Her little pickaninnies run around barefoot in the front yard, which is completely unmanicured. I’m sure the little niglets all have different fathers.

Oh, here’s the dinge queen at R147, come to lecture us.

A poor-ish black lady that I worked with for 25 years was a receptionist for a very successful engineering company that is employee owned and it will leave her a millionaire, as it did me. I told her NOT to tell any of her kin folk about this and to go to my financial advisor to invest her pot o 'gold. She wanted to just cash out her stock and take a HUGE tax penalty (over half I believe). in other words she wants to become "n-rich" instead of looking at wealth building and possible legacy distributions of her choice. So a lack of trust in typically "white man's" institutions is half the key. Her money invested will grow at just the same rate as mine, it sees no color, but these are values that were instilled in me as a white man by my parents. Culturally I don't believe she was provided with this perspective. I am hoping she heed's my advice (and probably HR's advice upon her exit interview). This 'systemic failure" could be addressed with providing and encouraging guidance on money management and such and eliminate the "n-rich" concept for good! (even Martha Stewart kids about n-rich during a Comedy Central roast )

All white people should give all their money to blacks and be homeless. That’s how the Dems will win!

I live in Washington Heights (Harlem) and there are several public housing projects in the area. Most of the tenants are black, and they all live in apartments paid for by the govt. These projects all have parking lots, which if you are poor, one would think there would be no need for a parking lot. The cars in these lots are often Lexus, BMW and Mercedes, no joke. Many project residents have money for nail salons, weaves, UBER, and restaurants. They also have money for vacations. The average NYer cannot afford half the luxuries these people enjoy. Liberal policies have made these people intellectually lazy. If the funding ever stopped these people would not be able to do for themselves. They live life without accomplishments and complain that what they get isn't good enough and have an overblown sense of entitlement. Sad.

What is Elizabeth Warren always shaking her head, as if in disagreement, no matter what the topic is, and no matter what's coming out of her mouth? Her hair shaking as if she's unhinged. She just comes off as a nut.

R110's "White slavery is real - it’s called paying for everyone else..."

I agree, or "reverse slavery". It's fucking nuts.

Weren't their Obama-Phones enough?

R145, yes there are some intelligent hardworking blacks. The problem is there aren't enough of them to combat the very large population of lazy ones. The whole Jussie Smollet situation is a perfect example of the problem. His charade has basically ruined it for the next black person who IS a real victim. Until blacks collectively decide they will not adhere to victim mentality, they will never get ahead. Start teaching your kids that education is the key to success...not trying to become the next Lebron or Beyoncé.

R156 Did Stormfront close down? You appear to have lost your way in cyberspace. Try Breitbart.

Elizabeth expands the playing field

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Sen. Elizabeth Warren said Friday evening that Native Americans should be “part of the conversation” on reparations, showing a willingness to expand the debate over whether minority groups that have faced discrimination should be financially compensated by the federal government.

Warren is one of four Democratic presidential hopefuls who have said in recent days that they’re open to providing some type of reparations to African Americans who are descendants of people who were enslaved in the United States, although they’ve offered varying levels of details about how the goal would be achieved.

So far, Warren is the only one to entertain the notion of including Native Americans. “I think it’s a part of the conversation,” she said when asked whether the group should also receive some kind of relief. “I think it’s an important part of the conversation.”

I think this idea is a scam to make us all take those ancestry tests which is secretly the government collecting all of our information.

at least she's not eating her pow wow chow with a comb then making her aides clean the comb.

R140 is right on. Progressives and the Far Left are now all about "Equity." You can always hear them talk about "equity frameworks" or "looking through an equity lens." Any program that uses "Equity" as a guiding principle is already basically providing reparations.

The concept of "Equity" flat out says that equality is not the goal. Treating people equally is not good enough and no longer acceptable because it has failed the Black community. Equity policy states that The US is a White Supremacist society and that racism has infected all of our institutions. And that anything that holds a poor Black person from achieving the same as an affluent white person is racism and must be stopped. Racism no longer has to be overt or verbalized. Every bad decision by any Black person is now internalized racism and not their fault. It is the fault of white people and white institutions and demands white money to correct the problem. According to the Left, all of the issues facing society are race-based, not class-based. To even suggest it is about class is white denial and racist.

Equity policies have taken over Liberal towns, school districts, universities, arts organizations and non-profits. How often do you now hear the terms equity, inclusion and diversity? These principles form the basis for housing and school policies. The whole concept of "Affordable Housing" is rooted in "equity." Affordable Housing policies aren't actually about creating affordable housing. It is about racial integration, which is why the focus is usually on subsidized units in new buildings and moving poor Blacks into white neighborhoods. Building houses for blacks in black neighborhoods is racist. (But whites moving into black neighborhoods is also racist...so it gets confusing.) To Progressives, racial segregation is the big evil that has caused all of the problems. The fact that whites were able to flee to the suburbs and take their money and power is what has destroyed inner city black lives. But this is a losing strategy to win the Presidency (or even most statewide races.) This won't even get you elected mayor in Chicago. You are just not going to get a majority of Americans to put up with this bullshit. Democrats will lose Asians and Latinos and moderate whites.

If the Republicans would run Charlie Baker for President, the Democrats would have no chance.

White people will be the minority soon. All of this arguing is pointless.

[quote] Sen. Elizabeth Warren said Friday evening that Native Americans should be “part of the conversation” on reparations.

Can't we wait and have this "conversation" on reparations AFTER the 2020 election? Let's talk about jobs, wages and health care for now, and save all of this other stuff until after we have a Democrat in the White House. Is Warren really so stupid that she thinks having a national conversation about reparations is a winning strategy for 2020?

I am a gay liberal but will NOT support any Democrat who espouses reparations. I work too hard and pay too much in taxes. I will support anyone who wants to give a TRUE middle class tax cut, because this is what will strengthen the economy. Reparations will be used against the Democrats and is just plain irresponsible to give false hope to people.

[quote]Is Warren really so stupid that she thinks having a national conversation about reparations is a winning strategy for 2020?

She's not in this to win. She's not stupid - she understands she won't win the nomination and she won't be President. This is her last, best chance to get publicity for the issues dearest to her. It isn't helpful to the party's interests, but she probably has decided it is worth it anyway. She may think it is noble, I think it is selfish.

This is the issue nearest and dearest to her heart? What a loon the Pocahontas is.

R19 is being funny but has a point. Millions of Gay men have been horribly abused, shamed, ridiculed for a good part of their lives.

Next Warren will say she is black and award herself a big haul, lying sack of shit. She truly is the kid hating latent Lezzie mean asses second grade teacher. And what an annoying voice.

Kamala has proven to be fame who're material. Loves the limelight and the shitty People magaxine lifestyle.

R161 interesting about the affordable housing thing, because it is now "a thing" in an upcoming mayoral race where I live and the solutions are few but there seems to be the equity implications that you alluded to that are mystifying. There also appear to be a shrouding of code words that translate into " build us new houses and fix up our older ones, but we don't want gentrification ( whites moving in) AND we want you to set aside affordable units in the modern glass skyscrapers that we can afford to rent, as well"

How about instead of giving them reparations, we put them back on the slave ships and send them back to Africa where their ancestors came from?

Since it was the British that brought them to this country, why don't they make them pay reparations.

How about grabbing less taxes from everyone, instead of grabbing taxes from some to redistribute to others? Shouldn't we be focused on the economy? Are we trillions of dollars in debt?

R170 there was a BBC documentary about how slaveowners who were British received reparations from the British government when their slaves were liberated in British colonies.

R149 = don’t you lecture us about our racism, we’ll be as racist as we want to be.

[quote]How about grabbing less taxes from everyone, instead of grabbing taxes from some to redistribute to others? Shouldn't we be focused on the economy? Are we trillions of dollars in debt?

How about we stop grabbing taxes from the poor and middle class to pay for a plutocracy in which the plutocrats pay no taxes?

I may or may not agree with them depending on what exactly they mean by reparations, but I would still vote for either one over any of the men.

Cut and paste the following into every thread bashing Democrats:

This is noise. Right wing Trumptards are going to do everything they can between now and the primaries to pit liberals against each other. They will bash every single Democratic candidate they can to sow discord. They want us to eat our own. They want us to hate all the candidates so we stay home or vote 3rd party in the general election. Do not let them do this to us. Ignore them. Trump must go. Vote Democrat in the general at all costs. Regardless of where you live. Regardless of how hopeless it seems. Regardless of whether or not the candidate is ideologically pure (none of them ever will be). Trump must go. Trump must go. Trump must go.

R176 I get that but also then tell DEM hopefuls to stop raising shit issues liked reparations as national discussion topics for 2020 elections. It will draw NO ONE and is not a "win at all cost" strategy. Tone deaf is the word I'm looking for.

If you think whites are racist about blacks you should go and hang out with Arabs or East Asians. JFC they don't even try to hide it!

[quote] Right wing Trumptards are going to do everything they can between now and the primaries to pit liberals against each other. They will bash every single Democratic candidate they can to sow discord.

Yes, there are some right-wing and racist trolls on this thread. But the trolls didn't force Warren and Harris to open their mouths and say they support reparations. When Fox News or Breitbart tries to force candidates like Warren and Harris to talk about reparations, their response should be "Racism is still very much alive and well. But reparations are not a priority for me. I intend to create opportunities for African-Americans by investing in jobs and education. Let me tell you about my plan to create jobs and increase wages ..." For Warren to not only happily talk about reparations but volunteer that we should "expand the conversation" to include reparations for Native Americans, too, is political stupidity. And you don't have to be a Trump troll to realize that.

[quote] This is her last, best chance to get publicity for the issues dearest to her. It isn't helpful to the party's interests, but she probably has decided it is worth it anyway.

The problem with Warren using her campaign to have a "conversation" about her own pet issues, especially this early in the campaign season, is that she is setting the agenda for the entire Democratic field. Now, every other candidate is going to be asked where they stand on reparations, forcing them to go on the record and turning this into a big issue, pitting Democrats against Democrats. Thanks a lot, Liz.

Elizabeth, you are old enough to have promised:

"40 acres and a mule"

But William T. Sherman beat you to it.

[quote]Right wing Trumptards are going to do everything they can between now and the primaries to pit liberals against each other. They will bash every single Democratic candidate they can to sow discord. They want us to eat our own. They want us to hate all the candidates so we stay home or vote 3rd party in the general election. Do not let them do this to us. Ignore them.

Or relax and have a debate, you maybe make yourself crazy otherwise. A candidate does need to be selected. That requires debate, usually pretty feisty debate. It will involve criticism, from loopy to legitimate. That's the process. You can't just hide behind Russians and political operatives every time you're confronted with something that frightens you. It may be news to you but Beto's height or Kamala's rocking style are not actually a good basis upon which to actually make that choice.

[quote]Vote Democrat in the general at all costs.

Yes. 100%. But don't be afraid of a contest. It makes a better outcome.

R182 time to ditch "trust the system" techniques. There no longer is subtlety or nuanced dialogue to critically discern in this sound bite reality we live in.

R179 has it right. Kamala and Elizabeth may not realize it, but they're flaming out spectacularly now. Those who are this out of touch with what most of America are willing to tolerate in a Presidential candidate shouldn't even be part of the "conversation" anymore.

OK, R183, but unhinged paranoia isn't really a viable technique either.

I agree, it doesn't matter if Harris and Warren don't win the nomination. The right is STILL going to relentlessly use this to show how "unhinged" the Democratic party is no matter who the nominee is.

Hunty R186 all of the current dems are unhinged. They better find an unemotional, un cuntish, un triggered, person who does not lie, does not talk about using illegal substances, is not shady and doesn't talk trash about people. Nix to the current dozen losers. Please, no Bernie or Hills either.

No need to put quotes around unhinged.

[quote]Shouldn't we be focused on the economy? Are we trillions of dollars in debt?

Yes, but unfortunately Democrats would rather talk about SJW nonsense and race-baiting shit.

R180, I agree. Kamala can share that blame.

Idiots.

R168, same thing has been happening in NYC.

There was a story on NY1 yesterday, complaining about the Whole Foods and other companies pushing out local small businesses. But before Whole Foods came, it was racist that these companies were only located in wealthy white neighborhoods and why did people have to travel to get access to nice stores.

Nothing is ever good enough.

Liberals always seem to want to “have a conversation” about stupid shit... while ignoring issues that most voters care about.

I will have my gay reparations paid in frat boy ass. Where do I go to collect?

She's annoying - won't be getting my vote.

This is all fake news. You can thank Boris or some Deplorable for this. Let try to improve our critical thinking skills.

r195 this story has been all over the media. Please enlighten us as to how the New York Times is "fake news."

Who really truly believes reparations would have a long term ,meaningful benefit. Some would use it wisely. The majority would be spent on new cars, big TVs, drugs, and booze. In three years things would be right back where they are now....if not sooner.

Joy Reid had a long interview with Kamala today. Then her all-black panel pretty much ripped Kamala to shreds. Looks like she isn't popular with black men and black women aren't crazy about her - which means she's not going anywhere.

I missed it R198, what did they say?

There is another reparations thread, I posted there earlier about researching to see what the black community feels about the reparation situation, was surprised about how many do not care for Kamala.

The two guys (from The Root and Rolling Stone) said her record as a prosecutor and California AG is anti-progressive: she locked people up, disproportionately men of color, wanted to rent out prisoners for slave labor, stick parents of truant kids (most of whom are very poor kids from single mother homes) in jail. A prosecutor in California was recently murdered and she was trying to claim he was a friend of hers, such a loss to her. Bullshit. He had attacked her for her anti-progressive record.

The two women (from The Beat and MoveOn) were less critical but agreed she has issues because of her record and how POC seemed to be targetted by her. They also said she was going to have a hard time getting support from black men.

They didn't even mention the issues which will rile progressives: she's been a corporate Democrat right up till now and let Steven Mnuchin off the hook when she should have put him in jail. Mnuchin gave her a campaign donation.

Very interesting R200, thank you.

I feel we can learn everything we would need to know about how reparations would work out from studying the trajectory of lottery winners in the five years following a win - it's very rare they don't end up back at the point they started at.

This is noise. Right wing Trumptards are going to do everything they can between now and the primaries to pit liberals against each other. They will bash every single Democratic candidate they can to sow discord. They want us to eat our own. They want us to hate all the candidates so we stay home or vote 3rd party in the general election. Do not let them do this to us. Ignore them. Trump must go. Vote Democrat in the general at all costs. Regardless of where you live. Regardless of how hopeless it seems. Regardless of whether or not the candidate is ideologically pure (none of them ever will be). Trump must go. Trump must go. Trump must go.

[quote]This is noise. Right wing Trumptards are going to do everything they can between now and the primaries to pit liberals against each other.

Idiot, Warren and Harris did this TO THEMSELVES. There was no Republican or Russian behind the curtain practicing mind control on them that made them utter such ridiculous statements. They said something stupid, they have to take the heat.

^^Exactly. They don't realize how out of touch they are, how their stance on this issue is going to be seen as unfavorable to everyone outside of their echo chamber. They don't have the political savvy to realize it when, because they've been in politics so long, they should. It's only February 2019 and they've both already stumbled. Such idiocy.

WTF have we been doing the last 50 years! Affirmative action, EOE, workplace diversity. Enough already. Act equal, be equal, earn your way.

R206 again. Stop playing victim.

r197. AND they will still be crying and complaining.

Russians stole Kamala's fork so she had to use a comb !

That was Amy's fork.

They've just done better at hiding the truth about Kamala's fork.

I want to see Elizabeth snatch Kamal's wig at the first debate.

Warren doubled down on her support for Reparations during her CNN Town Hall tonight. But otherwise, I thought she was impressive.

Do you ever think they say things because they don't want to win?

Why doesn’t the media ask Trump what he thinks about reparations? Reparations is going to alienate and divide Democratic voters. Who started even bringing this up?

Maybe the Dem candidates don't want to win because they are rich and enjoy Trump's tax breaks and they aren't really going to bring in single payer health care.

They'll just blow it all on Newports and Air Jordans.

What R161 said.

[quote] Who really truly believes reparations would have a long term ,meaningful benefit. Some would use it wisely. The majority would be spent on new cars, big TVs, drugs, and booze. In three years things would be right back where they are now....if not sooner.

White supremacist stereotypes are always the answer. Perhaps Warren should run on that, like Trump.

Is the white supremacist racism expressed here supposed to prove that live in a post racial country, where the racial discrimination of the past has been eradicated?

None of the candidates have endorsed cash payments and reparations proponents have many different ideas about what reparations would look like, including community investment, investment in education and cash payouts.

Apparently when gays address gay rights; the answer should be:

What about Mexicans?

What about women?

What about the Chinese?

What about every other group?

Since that is the answer that gays are handing out. We shouldn't mind having it handed back to us. The problem being its not actually an answer at all. It is deflection. Does the fact that Chinese Americans face racial discrimination mean that gay rights shouldn't be addressed or that gays to have the right to petition the government for action. No of course it doesn't.

Democrats cannot win without the black vote. And black voters are not going to continue to support a party that neglects them and takes them for granted.

The US government does need to right the wrongs that it did to black Americans. And no the Affirmative Action programs that benefited more white women that black people did not right the wrongs. The entitlement programs that for decades excluded blacks did not right that wrong.

Does any of this mean that other groups don't have their own bone to pic with the government. No and everyone has the right to petition the government. None of the other groups mentioned have identical plights and none of them are identical to blacks.

We spend 700 billion dollars a yr on the military. We can afford to invest in American communities.

Liberals are going to have to move past their own closeted white supremacist racism and take action. We can't continue to expect voters to show up and vote just to continue to get the shitty end of the stick. The black unemployment rate is consistently double the white employment rate. We've got to make some changes in this country.

Reparations?? Good LORD what are they talking about!?

R219, I am sure most of the blacks who vote find this whole line of reasoning insulting. Most are doing just fine and have been for many decades, no thanks to politicians.

[quote] [R219], I am sure most of the blacks who vote find this whole line of reasoning insulting. Most are doing just fine and have been for many decades, no thanks to politicians.

According to the responses above no community is "doing fine." To which reasons are you referring? The righting of past wrongs? Forty percent of the country can't afford to cover a $400 emergency. The legacies of slavery and legalized segregation + deeply entrenched modern institutional racism have created a permanent underclass among Black Americans. Which is not to say that many have not persevered and created success. Many have. Most don't live in poverty. However, the black poverty rate is still double that of Whites. The black unemployment rate is consistently double the white unemployment rate. Former slaves were promised 40 acres and mule. A promise that was never made good. Instead Blacks got Jim Crow Segregation, share cropping ( a new form of slavery) and voter oppression. Instead they received a 100 yrs of institutional racism. Post civil rights era , some pre civil rights policies continued, including redlining and employment discrimination, both of which are still prevalent. When a nation enslaves a race of people and then works so diligently to maintain an un-leveled playing field in the decades afterward. Those wrong need to be righted. We're talking about well documented government policies. Socialism helped build this nation's middle class. Blacks were mostly denied access to those programs. Post civil rights era, after this country had a thriving white middle class; black were told to pull themselves up by their boot straps, as favorite white supremacist refrain. But the truth is socialism played a huge role in creating the white middle class. The article that I posted goes into much greater detail. You should actually read it. Most people don't know enough about American History and specifically Black American History to speak intelligently about this. All most hear is somebody is going to get free stuff and they don't deserve it. We spend 2 billion on reparations for Japanese internment victims and their descendants (signed in to law by Ronald Reagan). Yet we've done nothing for the descendants of slaves and in many cases we have the records that trace directly back to slaves and their owners.

None of this means that there are not other groups that don't have their own unique and legitimate grievances. Those groups should also petition the government or other appropriate entities for some sort of redress. We spend 700 billion dollars a yr on the military. We can afford to do better, by communities wrong by the United States government.

The Democratic Party is going to have to do better by Black Americans. We constantly talk about the disaffected white working class and how we need to focus on their pain. The national media and politicians have focused on that for sometime now. We accept the fact that the Democratic Party has ignored the white working class and we fantasize about wooing them back. Mind you many of those people left the party in the 1980s and have not voted Democratic since. We aren't allowed to talk about what we're going to do for the black people who never left. We assume that they will continue to vote for Democrats, not to actually gain anything but instead to keep from losing the civil rights gains of the 1960s. Which means we haven't made much progress since the 1960s and at this rate we never will. But we will expect black voters to just vote for Democrats just to protect the status quo. Which = a black unemployment rate that is consistently double the white rate, a black poverty rate that is double that of whites, pervasive institutional racism (including redlining, employment discrimination and voter suppression). Things are going to have to change. And if we repeatedly call for a national conversation regarding the trials and tribulations of the white working class. Why is that same conversation regarding black people (who face the same issues as whites + many more) off limits?

the poc troll is back.