A Horse Head In the Presidents Bed

Remember the scene from the Godfather when movie producer Jack Wolz woke up with the severed head of his prized racehorse in the bed with him? Tom Hagen - Don Vito Corleone's adoptive son, was sent to make Jack Woltz an offer he couldn't refuse. Substitute President Obama for Jack Wolz, John Bohner for Tom Hagen, Mitch McConnell for Don Vito Corleone and the American People for the prize racehorse and you have a modern-day remake of The Godfather.

Tucked away in the massive tax bill Obama is trying to pass in the last days of the current session of Congress -- before a new Republican majority takes over the U.S. House of Representatives -- are several affordable-housing incentives critical to the Gulf Coast and in particular New Orleans. But while Obama has conceded to Republicans by agreeing to extend tax cuts for the wealthy if they agree to, among other things, extend emergency unemployment benefits, there is no word on whether the final bill will include the critical affordable housing incentives written into earlier versions.

Among its myriad tax code provisions, the bill under debate, S. 3793, proposes to extend a low-income housing tax credit exchange program for a year, reauthorize a New Markets Tax Credit program and fund a National Housing Trust Fund meant to pay for affordable rental housing in all states with a shortage, including Louisiana. Introduced by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) in September, the bill has fallen victim to partisan haggling. It still must be passed by the House and the Senate.

Most critically to New Orleans, the bill includes a two-year extension of the placed-in-service date for projects being financed with Gulf Opportunity Zone tax credits created after Hurricane Katrina. Without the extension of the current placed-in-service deadline of Dec. 31, Louisiana stands to lose at least 1,770 units and $398 million in total investment dollars for projects that will not forward without more time, according to Louisiana Housing Finance Agency documents. Another 3,230 units across 66 complexes are in jeopardy across the other Gulf Coast states.

Among the developers relying on the credits to finance post-Katrina housing projects are those building mixed-income communities on the site of the former B.W. Cooper and Lafitte public housing developments. At Lafitte, where 220 units are nearly complete, the failure to pass an extension could cost 430 still-unbuilt units financed through deals that rely on the tax credits and have not yet closed, according to the finance authority. For B.W. Cooper, the end of the tax credit program could kill the 410-unit project completely because none of its financing has closed and construction hasn't started. Project developer KBK Enterprises did not return several calls made over the past week requesting comment. In September, company Chief Financial Officer Mike McCroskey told The Times-Picayune that the company was "at the mercy of the federal government."

Without the extension, Lafitte developers Providence Community Housing and Enterprise Community Partners, will have to come up with a way to replace the revenue projected to come from the GO Zone tax credits. Reached Tuesday, a spokeswoman for Providence reaffirmed the company's commitment to completing the 650-unit project, with or without the credits.

The President didn't cave or capitulate, he did what he had to do in order to free the hostages. The question I have is how and why did the Democrats allow the GOP to take us hostage? Democrats had control of the government for 2 years and didn't do a damn thing. President Obama has not only had to fight the GOP and the white wing media, but he's also had to fight members of his own damn party time and time again.

After a two-hour floor debate, the House passed the DREAM Act along mostly partisan lines, 216 to 198, with 38 Democrats voting against the bill and 8 Republicans supporting it.

It's too late for democratic theatrics It's too late to take a stand and draw a line in the sand. This is what happens when the Professional Left is suppressed. The blame can't be placed entirely on democrats and media, The White House did their part too.

The press secretary dismissed the “professional left” in terms very similar to those used by their opponents on the ideological right, saying, “They will be satisfied when we have Canadian health care and we’ve eliminated the Pentagon. That’s not reality.”

Of those who complain that Obama caved to centrists on issues such as health care reform, Gibbs said: “They wouldn’t be satisfied if Dennis Kucinich was president.”

The White House, constantly under fire from expected enemies on the right, has been frustrated by nightly attacks on cable news shows catering to the left, where Obama and top lieutenants like Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel have been excoriated for abandoning the public option in health care reform; for not moving faster to close the prison at Guantánamo Bay; and for failing, so far, to end the ban on gays serving openly in the military.

I want a President who takes a strong stand and fights for it, not one who is a mediator with hostage-takers. I had a feeling we were heading down this road when the media made candidate Obama renounce, repudiate and reject his pastor Reverend Jeremiah Wright. IMHO that was his first mistake because it set the tone for Eric Holder's Americans are cowards walk back, Henry Louis Gates the police acted stupidly beer summit, and the Shirley Sherrod firing.

I was depressed yesterday, but I woke up to the realization the President had a horse head placed in his bed. He was made an offer he couldn't refuse. I'm not going to write President Obama off, I'm going to continue to support him, help him fight and have his back so they can't put any more horse heads in his bed.

OMG! OMG! Redeye's Front Page Blogspot has arrived!

Redeye's Frontpage is the Blog I'm Feeling Today at the Field Negro. Go over there and look to the right sidebar, there lot's of other neat stuff there too. Since my Field Negro Behavior is is partially responsible for my getting kicked off the front page of Left in Alabama I am particularly honored and indeed humbled. Welcome Field Negro readers and fans. This is why I blog.

Last stop on my way back up to the attic.. (0.00 / 0)
OP, you refer to them as "The traditional African American power brokers" we refer to them as Field Slaves/Negroes. I agree, Davis isn't "beholden to them", but should be, because without the "traditional African American power brokers" as you call them Artur Davis wouldn't be in the House. .

Grouped like dregs at the bottom of the Caucus barrel are five members whose conduct reveals them as tools for parties outside the Black community: Albert Wynn (MD) 55%, Artur Davis (AL) 40%, David Scott (GA) 35%, Sanford Bishop (GA) 32.5%, and Harold Ford Jr. (TN) 32.5.

In your culture House Slaves/Negroes would be called turncoats (Benedict Arnold).

In your culture Field Negroes would be called patriots (Patrick Henry).

Now before anyone gets offended by the terms Slaves, Negro, Field or House, its about the BEHAVIOR not the person. For example

Field Negro BEHAVIOR is;

(JULIUS H. HOLLIS) FOUNDER AND CEO OF THE ALLIANCE FOR DIGITAL EQUALITY.THIS BROTHER COULD HAVE STAYED IN PRIVATE INDUSTRY AND JUST WATCH HIS MONEY PILE UP. INSTEAD, HE STARTED THIS NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION TO HELP POOR PEOPLE AND PEOPLE OF COLOR GET EQUAL ACCESS TO TECHNOLOGY. NOW THAT'S FN BEHAVIOR. http://www.alliancefordigitalequality.org/about.php



*FN=Field Negro
House Negro BEHAVIOR is;

VOTING AGAINST THIS HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM BILL WHEN 27% OF YOUR CONSTITUENTS LIVE BELOW THE POVERTY LEVEL IS HN BEHAVIOR.

*HN=House Negro


On my way back to the attic now for real....



The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dreams shall never die.~Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D. MA)

Redeye's Interesting Reads and Rants for Interesting Times

This is not the Effing Hope and Change I worked for, donated to and voted for. How many @#!% jobs did the Bush tax cut for the rich create? ZERO. ZILCH. NADA. So why the heck is Bush, I mean Obama extending them for two more years? Are we not supposed to notice the Bush tax cuts are extended for two years, but unemployment insurance is only extended for 13 months? Former President Bill Clinton tried to tell us the Obama story was a fairy tail..of course the media we have twisted it into him playing the @#$ race card taking the focus off of the substance of his remarks.

During a December taping with PBS's Charlie Rose, a frustrated Clinton called Obama "a roll of the dice," as aides tried to end the interview. Then, in New Hampshire, he argued angrily that the story of Obama's principled position on the Iraq War was a "fairy tale," a charge few reporters bought. Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, the top-ranking African-American in Congress and officially neutral, found Clinton's tone insulting and said so publicly.

I don't feel sorry for President Obama, I feel sorry for the American people.

Only fools should feel sorry for Obama as he prepares for a Republican-led House and weakened Democratic control of the Senate. This is Obama’s “comfort zone,” where he can continue to woo Republicans to join his grand center-right coalition. The only people Obama has no tolerance for are liberalish Democrats, who will emerge relatively stronger in the new Congress thanks to the decimation of Obama’s Republican-Lite friends in conservative Democratic ranks. By freezing federal wages, Obama signals that he has no philosophical problems with the GOP’s general aims.

To say I am disappointed in President Obama for compromising with the gop gangsters is an understatement. Like his Harvard buddy Artur Davis, he has ripped his drawers with me.

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Barack Obama said over and over that he was running to "put an end to the Bush-McCain philosophy." Campaigning in Colorado just days before the election, Obama clearly stated his opposition to Bush-era economic policies and ridiculed the idea that "we should give more and more to millionaires and billionaires and hope that it trickles down on everybody else. It’s a philosophy that gives tax breaks to wealthy CEOs and to corporations that ship jobs overseas while hundreds of thousands of jobs are disappearing here at home."

After months of breathless speculation 7th district Congress Critter elect Terri Sewell names Nichole Francis Reynolds as her Chief of Staff. I haven't been able to find out much information about Ms. Reynolds but I do know she is a native of Loraine Ohio, she is the former COS for OH-13 Congress Critter Betty Sutton and is a member of the populist caucus.

2008 Representative Sutton supported the interests of the Business-Industry Political Action Committee 10 percent in 2008.

2008 Representative Sutton supported the interests of the The Alliance for Worker Freedom 0 percent in 2008.

2008 Representative Sutton supported the interests of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce 61 percent in 2008.

2008 Representative Sutton supported the interests of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce - Lifetime 58 percent during their legislative career up until 2008.

2007-2008 Based on a point system, with points assigned for actions in support of or in opposition to American Forest and Paper Association's position, Representative Sutton received a rating of 33 percent.

2007-2008 Representative Sutton supported the interests of the Associated General Contractors of America 71 percent in 2007-2008.

2007-2008 Representative Sutton supported the interests of the International Warehouse Logistics Association 10 percent in 2007-2008.

2007-2008 Representative Sutton supported the interests of the National Association of Manufacturers 20 percent in 2007-2008.

2007-2008 In 2007-2008 National Federation of Independent Business gave Representative Sutton a rating of 56 in its 110th (2007-2008) Pre-Election Congressional Report.

2007-2008 Based on a point system, with points assigned for actions in support of or in opposition to National Restaurant Association's position, Representative Sutton received a rating of 40.

2007-2008 Based on a point system, with points assigned for actions in support of or in opposition to National Retail Federation's position, Representative Sutton received a rating of 20 percent.

2007-2008 Representative Sutton supported the interests of the National Small Business Association 69 percent in 2007-2008.

2007-2008 Representative Sutton supported the interests of the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association 70 percent in 2007-2008.

2007-2008 Representative Sutton supported the interests of the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors-National Association 70 percent in 2007-2008.

2007 Representative Sutton supported the interests of the Business-Industry Political Action Committee 0 percent in 2007.

2007 Representative Sutton supported the interests of the Consumer Alliance for Energy Security 0 percent in 2007.

2007 Representative Sutton supported the interests of the The Alliance for Worker Freedom 0 percent in 2007.

2007 Representative Sutton supported the interests of the The National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association 0 percent in 2007.

2007 Representative Sutton supported the interests of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce 55 percent in 2007.

1999-2000 Representative Sutton supported the interests of the Ohio National Federation of Independent Business 25 percent in 1999-2000.

1995-1996 Representative Sutton supported the interests of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce 43 percent in 1995-1996.

This coupled with the fact Reynolds was the District Director for former DINO Congress Critter Harold Ford, Jr. doesn't bode well for the voters in the 7th district. And couldn't Sewell have found a qualified individual from her district/state as her COS? Terri Sewell said she wasn't going to be a rubber stamp for President Obama, well here is her chance. She can vote HELL to the NO on the extension of the Bush tax cuts since he doesn't expect rubber stamp fealty in exchange for his endorsement.

Redeye Reads and Rants over and out.... to be continued when I can type without cussing.

Well, the fix is in

According to an article published in The Gadsden Times by Associated Press reporter Phillip Rawls Gov. George C. Wallace's son-in-law, former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Mark Kennedy, will most likely be the person tapped to lead the rebuilding of the Alabama Democratic Party after the disastrous election Nov. 2.

Oh really now? And just what does Rawls use as the basis for his assumptions? Check this out;

Kennedy said he is talking with party members about possibly succeeding Chairman Joe Turnham if he goes through with plans to step down in the new year.

"I'm encouraged by their interest in supporting me as chairman," he said in an interview.

Uh exactly WHO are the party members he is talking with? Let me guess...it's the cats and other critters over at Left in Alabama who just so happen are pushing Mark Kennedy as the next leader of the Alabama Democratic Party.

I don't think Kennedy would be any sort of a reform leader for the party. At best, he might be a competent transition leader to the more youthful, more urban and suburban, more organized party we'd like to see. And get ready for some difficult PR because the national headlines are sure to be, "Alabama Democrats elect George Wallace's son-in-law to head party."

I'm not as concerned about Kennedy's relationship by marriage to former Governor George Wallace as I am his connection to former 7th district Alabama Congress Critter Artur Davis. Un huh.

Let's take a stroll down memory lane and go back to the controversy surrounding the annual Selma Jubilee Bridge Crossing. Peggy Kennedy Wallace was invited by 7th district Congressman (and then democratic Gubernatorial candidate) Artur Davis to introduce Attorney General Eric Holder during the event, and Artur Davis tried to force organizers to rescind an invitation to the second most hated black man in Alabama besides Joe Reed Reverend Jeremiah Wright to speak at the event. Remember?

I've tried to give Congressman Artur Davis the benefit of the doubt. Really I have. I let it go when he defended The Azalea Trail Maids being the only representative in Inaugural Parade. I let it go when he said he was resigning as a member of the House Judiciary Committee so he would have more time to run for Governor. But THIS time he has ripped his drawers and shown me his natural born ebony donkey.

Alabama Congressman Blast Wright Invite to Selma Memorial

WASHINGTON (AP) - Alabama Democratic Rep. Artur Davis today criticized organizers of a planned commemoration of the Selma civil rights march for inviting former Chicago pastor the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

Davis said in a letter to organizers that the pastor's divisive rhetoric is inconsistent with the theme of the event and President Obama's message of unity. Obama left Wright's Chicago church last year.

The National Voting Rights Museum and Institute hosts the memorial march each year.

Officials with the museum did not immediately return phone messages Friday afternoon.

Davis also argued that Wright's presence - particularly any speaking role - could drive away other prominent invitees.

What divisive rhetoric Artur? What prominent invitees will Wright drive away? Who are you to criticize the organizers of the event? Who are you speaking for?

Organizers, please tell Artur where to go and how to get there. Please.

So why am I not surprised the fix is in for Artur Davis to be the defacto leader of the Alabama Democratic Party?

Why, indeed, "is Artur Davis even involved in this" unless it is another "windsock" political issue he is using to get right wing, conservative votes in Alabama? I see nothing at all Progressive about that sort of thing and I deplore "Windsock Politicians." Davis, is now lining up with the kind of "swift boating" Republicans and faux "patriots", who raised such a hue and cry over their SELECTED comments by Wright (and not the full text of his sermon) during the Presidential campaign. That does NOT sit well with me. It is now my opinion that Davis used his position on the House Judiciary Committee, and his seeming defense of our former Governor, Don Siegelman, simply as a means of getting the attention of a large bloc of Alabama voters, a.k.a "Siegelman Supporters". He initially got my attention that way. Sorry, Davis Supporters, but I can't go along with you on this one.

Why am I not surprised the Alabama Democratic Party is interested in Kennedy who is adopting republican talking points and spin?

He said Wednesday the national Democratic Party did a poor job communicating with voters about what was happening in Washington, particularly with a health care plan that even Kennedy said he had trouble understanding. That made Alabama voters fearful and angry, and they took it out on Alabama Democrats, he said.

To rebuild, he said the Alabama Democratic Party must do a better job of communicating with voters, must connect more with young people by developing college Democratic clubs, and must embrace higher ethical standards in government.

“The most important thing is not where we are today. It’s where we are going tomorrow,” he said.

Uh, I didn't hear Mark Kennedy out there communicating to voters about what was happening in Washington regarding the health care plan, as a matter of fact, I've heard more about/from Mark Kennedy in the past few weeks than I have in years. Alabama voters let fear racist temptations control them, that's what they took out on Alabama Democrats. Rebuilding the party by developing college Democratic clubs and embracing higher ethical standards in government??? Oh, OK. Snark And it's kind of hard to communicate with voters when effective, liberal/ progressive voices are suppressed, minimized and marginalized in favor of republican lite voice out of fear of offending the white, I mean right wing.

Why am I not surprised the neo liberals are spewing republican talking points like this;

Alabama Democratic losses were among the worst in the nation. There was no coherent message other than the need to preserve their own power -- witness all the arguments we saw here about the need to hold the Legislature because (cue the scary music) "you don't want Republicans to control the reapportionment process." That may be a compelling argument to a political insider, but the average voter cares a lot more about what you're doing with your political power and the Democratic message there was essentially *crickets*. There was not even a token response to the Republicans "they've been in charge for 136 years and what have they done?" argument -- it seemed like the Dems in charge totally forgot that voters do care about what you're doing, especially after 8 years of gridlock in a Democratic controlled Legislature.

Uh, democrats did need to hold the Legislature because(cue the scary music) we don't want Republicans to control the reapportionment process! Strike that poor and black folks don't want republicans controlling the reapportionment process. Poor/black folks don't want the republicans controlling their destiny.

I had a tinfoil moment this morning, thinking about this
After the next Census in 2010, the Legislature will have to redraw Congressional districts to reflect changes in population.

I could see this being the early start of a long term effort to influence the makeup of Congress by controlling how the districts are drawn. The GOP did this in Texas but couldn't wait till the 2010 census.

Is this going on in other states - political prosecutions to systematically purge Democrats from statehouses, so that the district maps look very different in 2012?

Just sayin

I wonder what part of you don't bring Kumbya to a gunfight don't the Alabama Democratic Party elite understand?

Democrats must be unapologetic and, indeed, fiercely combative in their pursuit of what is right for the American people. Anything less, particularly in light of the undeniable history of scorn demonstrated by Republic officeholders toward the interests of individual Americans over the past seven years, is pathetic and inexcusable.

Sorry but I just don't hear this coming from Artur, I mean Mark Kennedy.

You get the Batsh#t crazy you vote for

Only in America is bad behavior rewarded. The republicans blocked the extension of unemployment insurance and the middle class tax cuts then got the heck out Dodge quicker than a New York Minute.

I agree with Booman, there should be NO Christmas for the U.S. Senate

I think there should be no Christmas for Republicans. This morning the GOP voted against extending tax cuts to the middle class and then they voted against extending tax cuts to everyone who earns less than a million dollars a year. To be more accurate, they voted against cloture on those two amendments, meaning that the Senate was unable to hold an up or down vote on extending the tax cuts. We can expect them to repeat this trick on almost everything remaining on the Senate's agenda.

I wonder what part of tax cuts usually lead to higher unemployment don't they understand?

The legacy of trickle down economics.
More wealth for the rich, fewer jobs for the rest of America.

Senator Al Franken (D. MN) calls out the big fat hypocrites for the Scrooges they are.

Franken asserts that if the Republicans cared about “mom and pop” operations, they would have supported the Small Business Jobs Act as well as the Hire Act to find jobs for the unemployed. But the Republicans scare tactic is to rally concern among their base for “small businesses” (using spin and technicality) when the businesses they are really protecting are the likes of Bechtel, 1/5 largest company in the US, or the Koch brothers $100 billion company or the Wall Street high flyer's, etc., etc., etc.

No yelling. No name calling. Just the truth.

Watch Alan Grayson (Balls, he haz dem) expose Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Sarah Palin, Bill O'Reilly, Newt Gingrich and George W. Bush as crooks who want a FAILED tax policy that only benefits themselves.

It's time to sharpen your pitchforks.