I'm an Independent

As a Black man living in Chicago, most people assume I’ll always vote Democrat. That assumption has never sat right with me. I lean Republican and right-of-center these days, but I’m not married to any party. If the right Democrat emerges—one focused on results over ideology—I’m open to crossing the aisle. Right now, though, it feels like the Democratic Party has drifted far from the concerns of everyday Americans.

To me, the modern Democratic Party is no longer the party of the working class or low-income families. It has become consumed with cultural debates—endless focus on LGBTQ+ inclusivity, questioning the definition of a woman, and prioritizing symbolic gestures over practical outcomes.

Look at the cities run by progressive Democrats for decades:

• Chicago, my home, struggles with crime, failing schools, and fiscal chaos under one-party rule.
• New York City now has a mayor who campaigned heavily on socialism and fare-free buses.
• San Francisco—a beautiful city I’ve always wanted to visit—now grapples with rampant homelessness, open drug markets, and a recent push for reparations that feels more performative than solvable.

These aren’t just anecdotes. They reflect a party that often seems more interested in ideological purity than in governing effectively.

That disconnect played a big role in my 2024 vote for Donald Trump. The Biden-Harris administration, in my view, spent more energy on DEI initiatives and global symbolism than on delivering concrete results for Americans—controlling inflation, securing the border, or keeping cities safe. I wanted leaders willing to govern, not just signal virtue. To me, Republicans—at least at the national level in that election—appeared more focused on measurable outcomes.

That said, Republicans are far from perfect. Here in Illinois, I voted twice for Governor Bruce Rauner… and I’m glad to never have to do that again. The point is simple: neither Republicans or Democrats has a monopoly on competence.

Looking ahead in Illinois, Governor J.B. Pritzker is running for a third term in 2026. Unlike Rauner, Pritzker has actually governed—he’s kept the state running, made decisions, and pushed his agenda through. But I disagree with much of that agenda. The recent law allowing assisted suicide is one example among many progressive policies enacted since 2019 that I find deeply troubling.

Could I vote for Pritzker if no strong alternative emerges? It’s possible, though unlikely. His ongoing public feud with President Trump might hurt him with some voters, but Illinois is deep blue—whether that feud matters will depend on turnout and whether voters prioritize competence over tribal loyalty.

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I’m also open to a credible third-party or independent candidate, even if their chances are slim in this state. At the end of the day, my vote goes to whoever I believe can best do the job—whether that’s president, governor, mayor, or state legislator.

Bottom line, I don’t owe blind loyalty to Republicans or Democrats. Expecting Black voters to automatically support Democrats just because of history or identity feels outdated and condescending. I’ll support policies and people that make sense—strong economy, safe streets, good schools, personal responsibility, and common-sense governance.

If I ever run for office myself (unlikely, but never say never), I know that it's a must to pick a formal lane. Until then, I remain an independent thinker who votes for the person, not the party.

What about you? Are you locked into one party, or do you judge candidates individually? Drop your thoughts in the comments—I’d love to hear where others stand as we head into another election year.

Creating a new Atlanta University out of many...

 Anyone who either currently attends or has attended Clark-Atlanta University, Spelman College, Morehouse School of Medicine, and Morehouse College would have something to say about this proposal to merge the schools of the Atlanta University Center into a new Atlanta University.

With the recent events of so many struggling HBCUs such as Bennett College and Paine College, the AU Center should be seriously considering ways to sustain a more cohesive institution to withstand these types of economic and financial shortfalls.

Clark College and Atlanta University merged out of necessity. Atlanta University, as a standalone graduate school, suffered declining enrollment and its budget was under exigency. Clark was the most logical choice and the school that would benefit the most from a consolidation with Atlanta University.

Fourteen years later in 2002, Morris Brown lost its accreditation due to financial aid fraud, massive debt and embezzlement of public funds. In 2009, Clark Atlanta University was forced to fire 55 faculty members in response to what was deemed a budgetary and enrollment emergency. In the past few years Morehouse College suffered declining enrollment, budget shortfalls, a Moody credit rating drop and declines in national rankings of best black colleges.

These issues did not arise without cause. After the Civil Rights Act of 1968, schools became increasingly desegregated and this in turn made for more competition for the historically black colleges. With the Atlanta University Center schools operating independently, they make themselves increasingly more vulnerable.

The Atlanta University Center, with the right guidance, planning and strategy (not to mention sizable funding) could become the largest most prestigious black college in the country. If they could forego hubris, ego and status in order to look to the future, they could become a new Atlanta University that stands shoulder to shoulder with other city named schools such as New York University, Boston University and University of Chicago.

It would be the Howard University of the South. It's time for the antiquated, some would even say sexist and old-fashioned structure of all male and all female collegiate learning environments to end. This is not to dismiss the great legacy and work these schools have done, but to honor them by charting a new sustainable course where the legacy of these institutions can thrive.

Take the University System of Georgia’s recent mergers and consolidations, for example. The USG has aggressively moved to consolidate several of its state college and universities of recent years. Over the past six years, the USG has merged or consolidated 20 of their public colleges and universities in an effort to streamline and restructure its system of schools as a cost saving measure.

I like the Atlanta University name better than my own comical name ClarSpelHouse University of Atlanta. 😛

Taxed to death in Illinois

[VIDEO] The general manager of our local FOX affiliate Dennis Welsh has aired his latest editorial. Shared over on Marathon Pundit Wednesday. The main subject the abundance of local governments in this state.
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BTW, it has been a while since this blog really covered what's been going on in my home state of Illinois. Even with an election coming up.

Anyway, Welsh talks about high taxes especially property taxes. Why are taxes high in this state? Well Welsh blames the roughly 7,000 units of local governments. He especially notes school districts that only contain one school, mosquito abatement districts, or I suppose an egregious example two governments to run a city or maintain the same roads.

I wonder if these units of gov't include townships. I'm not a suburbanite so I don't entirely understand what they do, however, I do recognize that Chicago has townships. Look at your property tax bill if you live in Chicago it will have the township that covers your property. Although since Chicago is such a large city with a strong government there is no need for townships.

On the other hand I know that there are some suburban municipalities that also are coterminous with a township such as Oak Park. Oak Park is a relatively wealthy or if you will middle class western suburb adjacent to Chicago and they have a city government and a township. A severe case of redundancy I think.

Also I didn't know this the people up in Evanston, Illinois opted in a binding referendum to effectively abolish their township government. Probably for many that's surprising because for many Evanston is viewed as a liberal suburb - Ruberry I think has referred to that city as "Portlandia East". They bought into this idea of essentially consolidation.

For the purposes of this video however, Welsh mentions Dupage County - a typically Republican county to the west of Cook County - as a model for governmental consolidation. What if Cook County one of the more populous counties in the nation followed suit and at least found ways to eliminate the need for township governments and perhaps consolidate those other units of governments that exist in the county.

Besides, I remember finding a Cook County Highway Marker near a school in my neighborhood. So if the county has a vested interest in highways why do townships such as Thornton Township in the south suburbs have a highway commissioner?

Another good editorial by Walsh, here's an earlier one railing about high taxes. Especially as the debate over the county pop tax began to fire up until it was repealed late last year.

VIDEO: One simple solution to brutal Illinois tax hikes

[VIDEO] At the expense of being accused of copyright infringement I just had to upload this editorial by the General Manager of our local FOX affiliate Dennis Welsh. With that in mind what you see above isn't owned by me, merely uploaded - unlisted - to my YouTube account. It is for educational purposes and for the sake of history that must be preserved.

Here's the pension language in the Illinois constitution contained in section 5 of article XIII. What's been put in bold were emphasized in the video above.

SECTION 5. PENSION AND RETIREMENT RIGHTS

Membership in any pension or retirement system of the State, any unit of local government or school district, or any agency or instrumentality thereof, shall be an enforceable contractual relationship, the benefits of which shall not be diminished or impaired.

(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

In 2008, this state had the opportunity to vote in favor of a state constitutional convention and it could've address this pension language. Unfortunately voters in Illinois voted against a convention because many arguments against this involved pensions.

Now with an income tax hike, sales tax in Chicago, and even a potential property tax increase for Chicago schools are mostly for pensions. As one of the people in the video above states less money for the students, for roads, or for police most of that money is going for public employees' - yes I'm including teachers in that - retirement!

To this I say what a shame! We've gotten ourselves in this mess and it's hard to get out because these government employees want their generous pensions. Taxes are going up because we can't afford them and it seems they will continue to go up as long as they use Illinois' constitution framework to fight any attempt to reform this system. It needs reform for sure!

The American Dream

I honestly don't know whether or not this should be viewed as sad or otherwise...

Do women make better US Senators?

I missed this. So MSNBC's Rachel Maddow believes that women make better senators. Or women govern the best. I wonder what evidence she uses to support this.

I'm not taking a position one way or another but surely it seems to make a sweeping assertion that couldn't be backed up...or could it?

The argument made by this article at twitchy is that well Maddow may have her own preference for what makes a better woman Senator. Must she only be a liberal/progressive Democrat? Instapundit and others seemed to want to prove that point...Sarah Palin for US Senate anyone?

I vaguely recall during her doomed presidential campaign over a decade ago our former Senator Carol Moseley Braun attempted to make a point that a woman would make a better president. Although in my humble opinion I'm not so sure that she would've made a good example of that.

What do you think?

Daily Princetonian: Many people shouldn't go to college

Found this over at Instapundit with the quote: "So you've heard it from me, you've heard it from Barack Obama, and now it's the Daily Princetonian"

I'm assuming that the Daily Princetonian is a student newspaper and this column was written by a religion major. So therefore was it a matter of time before a college student or college newspaper write such an opinion. Some of the arguments here make sense:

Policymakers and university administrators have admirably worked to expand access to college over the past several decades. In terms of enrollment rates, their efforts have been successful — matriculation increased by thirty seven percent between 2000 and 2010. So, the good news is that we’re getting young adults on campus. But we are profoundly failing them as a country after that; America’s graduation rate sits at an abysmal 53 percent, including community colleges. This disparity betrays a critical disconnect, one not discussed often enough — that a large swath of those lured to college should never have attended.

Seemingly insurmountable odds work against the typical young American. A college graduate today has to contend with an average of nearly $30,000 in student loan debt. The overall jobless rate for those between sixteen and twenty four is fifteen percent, more than double the national average. That said, the reality is that a large number of college students have no business being at four year universities.

American culture aggressively pushes the college experience and dismisses skeptics as snobs. Master plumbers, for example, make roughly between $50,000 — approximately the national average — and $80,000 a year. So why is it considered so wrong to encourage people to pursue the profession, or another like it, instead of a college degree? One path all but ensures a life in the middle class; for far too many, the other only guarantees crushing debt and no degree.

Therefore those who are in college now, probably weren't ready or qualified for college. This is something you'd really have to want in the first place, expectation or no expectation. And you can't expect everyone else to take care of it for you, if you have no skin in the game anyway.

Of course skin in the game for me would mean cash money, if one is lucky no loans at all! Perhaps some grants and scholarships, but nothing would beat a part-time job while you're in school. Especially if you can't afford to go on your own.

Ward Room: Why Chicago Will Never Be Ready for Reform

Chicago will never be ready for reform. Wow! It could be a huge disappointment, but not necessarily a surprise. Many have tried for years, but I'm a strong believe in never say never. Perhaps reform will come in a much slower form! Although that's not what Edward McClelland argues here.

Wall Street Journal: The Heartland Tax Rebellion

I really wish we could consider this in Illinois. Up until it was time to enact our state's 1970 constitution this state had no income taxes. Last year we raised income taxes while it was important for the sake of this state's fiscal health to do so, I've seen some pieces that suggest that it wasn't even enough. On saving grace to income taxes in this state is that it's a flat tax but there are those who want to change that to progressive taxation.

This op/ed explores the tax regimes of other states around the nation:

Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin is starting to feel surrounded. On her state's southern border, Texas has no income tax. Now two of its other neighbors, Missouri and Kansas, are considering plans to cut and eventually abolish their income taxes. "Oklahoma doesn't want to end up an income-tax sandwich," she quips.

On Monday she announced her new tax plan, which calls for lowering the state income-tax rate to 3.5% next year from 5.25%, and an ambition to phase out the income tax over 10 years. "We're going to have the most pro-growth tax system in the region," she says.

She's going to have competition. In Kansas, Republican Governor Sam Brownback is also proposing to cut income taxes this year to 4.9% from 6.45%, offset by a slight increase in the sales tax rate and a broadening of the tax base. He also wants a 10-year phase out. In Missouri, a voter initiative that is expected to qualify for the November ballot would abolish the income tax and shift toward greater reliance on sales taxes.

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley wants to abolish her state's corporate income tax. And in the Midwest, Congressman Mike Pence, who is the front-runner to be the next Republican nominee for Governor, is exploring a plan to reform Indiana's income tax with much lower rates. That policy coupled with the passage last week of a right-to-work law would help Indiana attract more jobs and investment.

That's not all: Idaho, Maine, Nebraska, New Jersey and Ohio are debating income-tax cuts this year.

But it is Oklahoma that may have the best chance in the near term at income-tax abolition. The energy state is rich with oil and gas revenues that have produced a budget surplus and one of the lowest unemployment rates, at 6.1%. Alaska was the last state to abolish its income tax, in 1980, and it used energy production levies to replace the revenue. Ms. Fallin trimmed Oklahoma's income-tax rate last year to 5.25% from 5.5%.

Although having chided North Dakota for wanting to abolish their property taxes, that state is noted for the revenues received from their oil & gas revenues. In this op/ed they insist that they must reconsider the long-term solution of abolishing their income taxes instead of the property taxes.

BTW, for those of you who are concerned about cuts to programs that we take for granted - such as education, police, or even welfare - here's an answer:

The experience of states like Florida, New Hampshire, Tennessee and Texas also refutes the dire forecasts that eliminating income taxes will cause savage cuts in schools, public safety and programs for the poor. These states still fund more than adequate public services and their schools are generally no worse than in high-income tax states like California, New Jersey and New York.

They have also recorded faster revenue growth to pay for government services over the past two decades than states with income taxes. That's because growth in the economy from attracting jobs and capital has meant greater tax collections.

The tax burden isn't the only factor that determines investment flows and growth. But it is a major signal about how a state treats business, investment and risk-taking. States like New York, California, Illinois and Maryland that have high and rising tax rates also tend to be those that have growing welfare states, heavy regulation, dominant public unions, and budgets that are subject to boom and bust because they rely so heavily on a relatively few rich taxpayers.

Florida is especially noted because it was one state that fell victim to the housing bust. But as you see above it's hailed as an example of how a state has weathered this current recession and shows that taxes aren't relevant to economic growth!

Artur Davis should have supported Alabama's voter ID laws

This was an issue in Georgia while I was in school at Morehouse. There were complaints such as how can those without automobiles be able to get an ID so that they can vote. I also here that ID people could come to homes. There were plenty of arguments back and forth in favor or against such a law. Also it seems opposition would stem from the fact that such a law was not only economic, but that such a law would also affect people of a certain ethnicity.

Artur Davis was a Congressman from Alabama and he ran for Governor last year in the Democratic primary and lost. He's currently retired from politics but offers his thoughts on voter IDs. In fact he wants us to know that as a politician he wasn't in favor of voter ID laws!

The truth is that the most aggressive contemporary voter suppression in the African American community, at least in Alabama, is the wholesale manufacture of ballots, at the polls and absentee, in parts of the Black Belt.

Voting the names of the dead, and the nonexistent, and the too-mentally-impaired to function, cancels out the votes of citizens who are exercising their rights -- that's suppression by any light. If you doubt it exists, I don't; I've heard the peddlers of these ballots brag about it, I've been asked to provide the funds for it, and I am confident it has changed at least a few close local election results.

There is no question that a voter ID law, in order to pass legal muster and in order to be just, must have certain characteristics. It should contain exceptions for the elderly or disabled who may not drive, and as a consequence lack the most conventional ID, a driver's license. There should also be a process for non-drivers to obtain a photo ID, and the process has to be cost-free, for the simple reason that even a nominal financial impediment to voting looks and feels too much like a poll tax.

It is my understanding that the Alabama statute contains each of these exceptions and a few others, including a provision for on-site polling officials to waive the requirement if they attest that they know the voter.

The fact that a law that is unlikely to impede a single good faith voter -- and that only gives voting the same elements of security as writing a check at the store, or obtaining a library card -- is controversial does say much about the raw feelings in our current politics. The ugliest, hardest forms of disfranchisement were practiced in our lifetimes, and its still conventional rhetoric in black political circles to say those times are on the way back. Witness a last-minute automated call to black voters in the 2010 general election by state Sen. Hank Sanders, an ingenious lawyer and a skillful legislator who knew better, but who also knew the attack would resonate.

Politics trump the need to find ways to ensure clean elections apparently. Shenanigans may always ensue when it comes to politics!

Via Instapundit!

The Black Middle Class Exodus from Detroit - By Henry Payne - The Corner - National Review Online

The Black Middle Class Exodus from Detroit - By Henry Payne - The Corner - National Review Online

I do like to blog about Detroit. Anyway, I'm sure many of you would reject this piece from the National Review. It is decidely conservative in many respect. And they do harp on the issues of fatherless children. Not that I disagree with mentioning that, however, I do wonder if for many people that issues just goes through one ear and out of the other.

What is certainly something that should catch people's ear is the fact that for whatever reason the Black middle-class is leaving the city of the Detroit for more suburban or Southeastern locales.

“This is the Motor City and this is what we do,” announced Eminem in this year’s iconic Super Bowl ad boasting that Detroit was back. That boast rings hollow this week after 2010 census figures revealed Detroit’s population is now just 713,000 — a breathtaking 25 percent decline from a decade ago.

This is the Motor City and this is what Democratic urban policy does.

Press reports lazily wrote the figure off to the “crumbling industrial base of the Midwest” (New York Times) and a victim of “the auto industry’s slump” (Associated Press). Sure Michigan as a whole was the only state to lose population due to car trouble and a hostile, anti-business union culture. But if Detroit is a victim of the Not-as-Big Three, how come the census found that all three counties bordering Detroit — all hammered by auto job layoffs — have increased in population?

What is driving down Detroit’s numbers is a black middle class in full retreat to the suburbs — fleeing the high-crime, high-illiteracy dysfunction that two generations of fatherless inner-city homes have bred. Detroit is America’s poster child for disastrous federal welfare policies that have gutted the black family and made inner cities everywhere unlivable.

Tuesday’s timely A1 USA Today story, “Black populations fall in major cities,” tells the tale. “The black population is declining in a growing number of major cities, fueled by distinct trends,” reports the paper. “Blacks — many in the middle or upper-middle class — (are) leaving cities for the suburbs.”

READ THIS EDITORIAL: Jeff Engelhardt advocates forgiveness, not death penalty

One of the issues that have been debated and passed out of the Illinois General Assembly is the abolition of the death penalty. I found this editorial over at the Capitol Fax today. Rich Miller reports that our Democratic Gov. Quinn is taking his time on whether to veto or approve this legislation. There are some who don't like that and there are those like Rich who support what Quinn is doing in mulling this legislation's fate. Miller further states that the Governor was himself a supporter of the death penalty.

I'm not going to take a position on whether or not this death penalty should be abolished. I just want you to read the editorial. This issue is personal to Engelhardt:

On April 17, 2009, three members of my family were murdered.


My father, grandmother and 18-year-old sister were all stabbed to death in their own home. My mother was in critical condition and my older sister was left with her baby girl and the horrifying sights of what happened to her family.

I was feeling helpless, six hours away at Southern Illinois University.

It didn't take long for the assistant state's attorney to tell me they wanted to pursue the death penalty for the man accused of committing the terrible crime.

As the citizens of Illinois await the governor's decision on the death penalty, it has given me another opportunity to contemplate what I would want done in my situation.

Go read the whole thing!

Obamacare: Another Washington scam

Now we look at the possible fallout from this newly signed into law, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. That bill was signed today.

This article is from The Union Leader:

Obama's reform will not reduce the federal deficit. Much of the bill's taxation begins in 2011, but its biggest spending doesn't start until 2014. The 10-year score appears to reduce the deficit, but only because of this sleight of hand. Once all the spending kicks in, the spending exceeds the revenue. A portion called the "doc fix" was removed from the bill and is to be passed separately. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that with the "doc fix," health care reform will add $59 billion to the deficit in the next decade. It's more if Congress doesn't reduce Medicare spending.

The Associated Press reported last week that the bill won't lower health insurance premiums, as Obama promised. It simply subsidizes them.

You might not be able to keep your current insurer or doctor, as Obama promised. The bill taxes insurance plans the government deems too generous, discouraging them. And a study reported on the New England Journal of Medicine Web site showed that 46 percent of physicians surveyed said they would be more likely to quit medicine or retire early if the bill passed.

The American people are about to discover that they were sold a fiscally responsible reform but got instead yet another underfunded entitlement program that speeds the nation's slide into insolvency.

Via Newsalert!

Should we cut gov't spending now?

A NY Times editorial:

Americans should be anxious, for reasons including the huge deficit. But the cold economic truth is this: At a time of high unemployment and fragile growth, the last thing the government should do is to slash spending. That will only drive the economy into deeper trouble.

None of this means that the politicians — from either party — are off the hook. They will soon need to make hard decisions about how to reduce the deficit. But more posturing and sniping is not going to make the economy better or solve the deficit problem. President Obama has called on the Republicans to join a bipartisan commission to help make those tough decisions, but they have been resistant to the proposal. 

I have to question that. How does gov't spending help the economy? How does slashing gov't spending?

Here's the justification:

Here is an unpopular but undeniable fact of life: When private sector demand is weak, the federal government must serve as the spender of last resort. Otherwise, collapsing demand sets in motion a negative, self-reinforcing spiral in which lack of demand — for goods, services and new employees — leads to ever deepening economic weakness.

That is why when the banks and the economy began to crumble in 2008, President Bush responded with a $700 billion bank bailout and a $168 billion stimulus package. When Mr. Obama took office, the banks were still shaky and the economy was still plunging— as measured by real-life indicators like jobs, consumer spending, credit availability, home equity, retirement savings and business confidence. The new administration made the sound decision to continue the bailout and pushed a $787 billion stimulus through Congress, with very little Republican help.

The stimulus package slowed job losses and helped spur activity — in the third quarter of 2009, the economy grew at an annual rate of 2.2 percent, and the initial fourth-quarter reading was 5.7 percent, a rebound few thought possible a year ago.

Still, without a jobs revival to boost consumer spending and tax revenues — and with the states facing immense budget shortfalls — the economy is unlikely to do anything other than limp along, at best, once the effects of the stimulus fade this year.

I think this editorial is worth a good read, if you're interested.

State's Attorney wrongly takes on student journalist

Hmmm, there was trouble I thought last year when she was on the cable access TV program Public Affairs she said that no one should buy guns and that we're safer without them. She was mentioned in a recent article regarding an Illinois Supreme Court ruling about having guns in your car. She really doesn't trust people with guns.

Today she turns her attention to Northwestern University journalism students:

The story involves Anthony McKinney, who has been in prison for more than 30 years for gunning down a security guard.

McKinney wants his freedom, arguing he's innocent, based on evidence gathered by journalism students at the Medill Innocence Project at Northwestern University.

Alvarez wants all the students' notes and materials, as well as their class grades, to see if they skewed their reporting for better grades.

Her prosecutors also allege the students paid for witness statements, an allegation the young journalists firmly deny.

But Alvarez is guilty of trying to do an end run around a key right for reporters.

In Illinois, there's the Illinois Reporter's Privilege Act. Because of the act, a prosecutor must jump through several high hoops before a judge will allow access to a reporter's source materials.

She a Latina woman who was the first to be elected Cook County States Attorney. She had two things going for her if no one was really impressed by her background as a prosecutor for the Cook County State's Attorney. She was a woman and a Latino. That works for a lot of people especially if they want to see more Latinos or women in offices like these.

Unfortunately one wonders if she just realized the powers of her office and is a little to eager to use them.

Via CapFax morning shorts.