Jan 20, 2009: Inauguration Day, Or Reparations Day?

Everyone has picked up on this audio below - Obama on the redistribution of wealth circa 2001. Transcript STACLU. True, it's socialism, as many are pointing out. However, in this interview, Obama seems to be talking about a specific remedy as regards the Civil Rights movement of the late Sixties.

That isn't just Socialism - it's fair to argue he includes reparations in that equation, as well.

If you look at the victories and failures of the civil rights movement and its litigation strategy in the court. I think where it succeeded was to invest formal rights in previously dispossessed people, so that now I would have the right to vote. I would now be able to sit at the lunch counter and order as long as I could pay for it I’d be o.k. But, the Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth, and of more basic issues such as political and economic justice in society.

 

Comments

[Fred Beloit]

The Andrew Sullivanites and high-horse riders are having a little fun of their own out west. From Little Green Footballs.
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/31703_A_Guillotine_at_the_Obama_Rally

[mark l.]

obama is bleeding out votes on church goers(at least once a week-)41% of 04 voters, and to a lesser degree the 'ocassionals'-40% of 04 voters.

his margins for military vote are also a disaster relative to kerry-18% of 04 voters.

while the above two groups may have a great deal of intersection, as 81% of the 04 vote were chruch goers, there is one section left-

the financially motivated-business vote.
Kerry won up to 50k of income, while zogby has obama winning only up to 35K.

50k or higher income was 55% of the 04 vote, and bush won it by 13pts.
(38% of 04 voters paid no taxes, which sits much closer to the 35k and under category that obam does hold an advantage with)

The marxist thing really brings the whole thing collection of the above together...

it cuts against religion, military, and economic subgroups under a simple premise. obama's policies are marxist/socialist.

McCain is going to easily push the margins bush's 04 vote total beyond 62 million.

obama has to staunch the bleeding with the above groups, and rely on the youth vote, which was 17% of 04 voters, and low income voters, 23% of 04 voters making less than 30k-consider the intersection of those two groups...he would be lucky to call it 20% of the 04 votes.

review:mccain has the religious, military, and middle class and above, roughly 75% of the vote, obama has youth voters and low income support, which at best would account for 25% of the 08 vote.

this is going to be an absolute blowout.

[jim]

His point was that the Court was ill-suited to bring about real change and that the civil rights movement celebrated its judicial victories prematurely when they ought to have been organizing communities to bring about real change. You know, like the Chamber of Commerce does to get some wealth distributed its way.

[plainslow]

Come on people. His form of Community organizing worked so well in Chicago?

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/1240036,CST-NWS-cops24.article

[Totally Heterosexual Conservative]

Beware, patriots, on day one Barry Hussein X will force your daughters to have gay abortions, after taking away your guns, and forcing you to bathe regularly.

BOO!!!!

[chris]

"this is going to be an absolute blowout.'

So true, mr. down home statistical-type analysis guy. That old man isnt going to know what hit him.

[mark l.]

Part of the reason kerry kept 04 close, was a clear cut schism in the electorate:

We went to war in Iraq to remove wmds, and upon arrival and search, there were no wmds.
fair or not: 04 became a referendum on Bush, which he still won.

This schism hit every demographic group, and helped kerry among a generally conservative country.

I don't see that litmus test forming that would provide obama with the advantage Kerry held. There is no broad message, or similar referendum on Mccain, and while there are concerns among those already decided about Palin's qualifications, the same comparison of experience between obama and mccain doesn't even come close.

a hidden question on the big 10 polls which might provide some insight, and demonstrates the starkest contrast of the two candidates, aside from the 20-25 pt advantage in regards to commander in chief question, is the broader question of experience.

Big 10 polls asked "which candidate has more experience"...mccain 72-12. He is holding a HUGE advantage of experience, even within a polling group that strongly favored dems, realtive to other more established polls.

If people are in doubt about our future, will the make a conservative choice to go with experience, or abandon all hope and go with the vagueness of 'change'?

[templar knight]

"..gay abortions.."

Wow, I'm all for that. If it's true, and you liberals say it is, that a person is born gay, then we should abort all gays before they are born. After all, they are but bits of human tissue, and not human anyway. Great idea, totallydumbass!

/sarcasm off

[Lala]

I'm happy to see US News and World picked it up

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/capital-commerce/2008/10/27/obama-theoretically-ok-for-courts-to-redistribute-wealth.html
excerpt

"This should be a Saturday Night Live sketch.

Use the court to redistribute wealth? Really?

The Warren court was not radical? Really?

Anyone could craft a theoretical justification to use the court to spread the wealth? Really?

This all strikes me as highly weird.

Well, at least no one can say this election isn't about anything. Clearly, what it's about is two different philosophies concerning the best way to structure an economy. (And more and more, I think the financial markets realize this.) Keep in mind, now, that every Obama economic adviser I can think of—Warren Buffett, Austan Goolsbee, Jason Furman, Robert Rubin, Lawrence Summers, Jared Bernstein—thinks that we need higher income and investment taxes to deal with income inequality and that tax rates would pretty much have to double before they would hurt the economy. So Obama's comments reflect a core belief system that he's apparently held for years and continues to hold.

[Jake]

"...you liberals say it is, that a person is born gay, then we should abort all gays before they are born. "

So, after a few generations, there would be no gays. Interesting in a Margaret Sanger sort of way.

[Fernando Narcos]

Fred Beloit-What exactly does winger flavored Kool-Aid taste like?

I'll bet it's really bitter.you know,like broken old white guy tears.