The city of Baltimore has been in the news lately and has been called a failing city. It is infested with rats, drugs, and garbage that is strewn everywhere. Crime and especially murder seem to be the rule of the day. Sadly the name Baltimore can be interchangeable with nearly all of our major cities, especially those that have been run by Democrats, in what seems like forever.
Why did this happen, and when did it start? The roots of this problem go back to the post WW2 period in America. In 1944 FDR signed into law a bipartisan bill designed to help GIs retuning from WW2 and avoid the despair of veterans after WW1. Educational and housing benefits are the most important for this discussion. Many retuning GIs took advantage of the no down payment low interest mortgages and combined with the building of an interstate highway system, allowed white veterans to abandon old urban areas and move almost for free into newly built homes in the suburbs, as the GI Bill of 1944 actually favored new housing. Though there were no discriminatory clauses in the legislation, administration of the GI Bill was handled much differently for African American vets, primarily because it was administered by white officials. In the New York-New Jersey suburbs approximately 70,000 loans were insured by the GI Bill, but less than 100 were for Blacks. Also with the bill called for free or subsidized education and many returning vets took advantage of this, so many, that colleges and universities were overwhelmed with applicants. Even traditional black colleges could not accept all that applied. In addition, party affiliation or at least voting tendencies changed. Prior to the Great Depression Blacks who voted or who were allowed to vote, mostly in the North, were solidly Republicans. After all, Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican president and he fought and won the Civil War and freed the slaves with the Emancipation Proclamation. Democrats, especially in the South represented the KKK and Jim Crow laws. (Interestingly many Black Studies programs neglect to mention Lincoln's party affiliation.) The severity of the Great Depression forced many voting groups to seek change and Black voters were no different. By 1936 the number of Blacks voting for either party were about equal, but since that time voting has moved strongly and steadily toward the Democrat Party. This can be reflected by mayoral elections in our major cities. Chicago has not had a Republican Mayor for 90 years, St. Louis 70 years, and Baltimore and Detroit more than 50 years. New York City has had an occasional Republican mayor and that usually has resulted in a decrease in crime and resurgence of the city.
Ironically, despite growing support by Black Americans, parts of FDR's new deal were originally meant to keep Black Americans from participating, such as Social Security and Aid to Dependent Children (ADC), originally meant to help white widows. (Social Security still discriminates against Blacks who have a shorter life span that Whites and because Social Security is a general fund, not individual savings, Blacks are actually funding Social Security for whites.) Post WW2, Blacks were allowed to participate in ADC and this is the major cause of destruction of the Black family as its rules forced the father out of the home and Uncle Sam now became baby daddy with no restrictions on how many children could be covered, although it was apparent that rules were frequently broken as how else could women produce more children without the real baby daddy being present for at least a little while.
Post WW2 also saw Black Americans being elected to Congress for the first time since the Reconstruction Era. With Whites fleeing the cities, large blocks of Blacks were left behind and so it is very reasonable to assume that more and more Blacks would get elected to office. In the 1950s Adam Clayton Powell from Harlem was one of two Black congressmen. Over the next 60-70 years a number of black men and women have been elected to Congress and the Senate, enough to form a Congressional Black Caucus. This could have been a great thing for Black Americans and our cities, but it wasn't. Many Blacks took the same road as many whites, and looked at their election as a means to make money and gain power. In fact some Black elected officials have become among the wealthiest in their congressional district, if they even live there. They have learned to build powerful political machines that make it extremely difficult if not impossible to challenge them in an election and as long as they go along with the White Democrat leadership, their position will be safe and get good committee appointments as well as money from the DNC for reelection. Scandal and serious corruption seem the most common way for then to loose an election or decide not to run. Maxine Waters, who doesn't even live in the district she represents, now heads the Banking Committee, has had numerous run-ins with the ethics committee on banking and campaign financing issues, but the Ethics committee is a joke.
Obeying the Democrat leadership has led to puzzling support for issues that are in fact opposite of what would be best for their black constituencies. Immigration stands out of course. Why would any Black representative support unbridled illegal immigration? Since many immigrants will work off the books and for lower wages, they represent serious competition for young Blacks, trying to enter the work force at the lowest level for the first time. Instead the Black and Democrat leadership push welfare and dependency instead of jobs. Giving welfare, social security, free education, and Medicaid to illegal aliens and even legal immigrants only hurts the poor including many Black Americans. One would think that Black politicians would be the strongest supporters to keep illegals out or have them rounded up and deported, but they are not as they obey and follow the white Democrat leadership, well funded by George Soros and his Open Borders Society. The Black Congressional Caucus also follows the Democrat Party leadership in opposing school vouchers, that would allow bright Black students to go to private schools, rather than failing inner city schools. When Obama eliminated school vouchers, several girls who were in his daughters' classes at Sidwell Friends, considered one of the best private schools in the area, had to return to their failing public schools. They give the Teachers' Unions , a major source of power and money, preference over their own constituents. Corruption is not limited to black politicians, they probably learned these schemes from white politicians, but it isn't as obvious to those living in the wealthy white suburbs that are not lacking for thriving public schools and services. Though Baltimore receives $1.8 billion for education and spends $16,000 per student, fourth highest in the country, the money doesn't reflect quality of education. Instead through patronage and friendship, over a thousand people are each paid more than a $100k per year as consultants, contractors and administrators. Proficiency in English and math is so dismal that only one student was proficient in math and none in English, yet there is a 70% graduation rate due to social promotion. Six students were murdered at one high school. Lacking education, Baltimore's students wind up in prison and on welfare as they do not have the necessary skills to get a job. To compensate Black students for providing them with failing educational institutions, affirmative action was created in the 1970s, but even with affirmative action and special preadmission tutoring, college studies can be difficult for many Black Students.
Sadly, corruption among Black politicians is a real problem. William Jefferson, former New Orleans congressman, was flagging down military vehicles, that were rescuing those stranded by Hurricane Katrina, in order to rescue his furniture and belongings. He was later found with $90k in literally cold cash in his freezer and convicted of accepting and soliciting bribes. Adam Clayton Powell, so long a standard for Black politicians, eventually put his mistress, who was living in Bimini on his payroll, though she never worked or spent a day in Washington, DC. Charles Rangel, who replace Powell and due to longevity became head of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, that formulates tax policy, was found to have neglected to pay his own taxes on income derived from rental property in Puerto Rico. I find it very interesting that large sums of money have been voted on to rehabilitate our cities, but very little or nothing gets done and the money just seems to disappear. In NYC, $850,000,000 handled by Mayor deBalsio's wife is unaccounted for and this is only the tip of the iceberg. (HUD under Obama and Julian Castro lost $5 billion that has yet to be accounted for and HRC's state department misplaced $6 billion.) Almost $2 billion of tax payer money has been given to Baltimore with no improvement and no accountability. Two hundred million was earmarked for the environment, what ever that means. Baltimore has become even more filthy, rat, crime, and drug infested, and filled with abandoned houses and garbage. A group of volunteers in a twelve hour period removed 12 tons of garbage. This begs the question, why couldn't the residents do that. If it is black on black crime or whether corrupt politicians getting wealthier on the backs of their constituents, Black lives don't seem to matter as much in Baltimore and many big cities. They only matter when a cop shoots a young Black man. It's hard to blame young Blacks who are frustrated, having been let down by the people who are supposed to be their advocates.
This now brings us to Elijah Cummings who has been in Congress forever and represents the most squalid areas of Baltimore. Through longevity, he now heads the powerful House Oversight Committee and like many congressmen has become very wealthy. He is also corrupt. His wife, Maya Rockeymoore, has set up a charity, Center for Global Policy Solutions that sits in he same office as her for profit consulting firm, Global Policy Solutions, LLC and even uses the same phone number and almost the same name. The charity has garnered at least $6.5 million in donations from corporations and self interest groups that have had business before her husband's Oversight Committee such as Google, JP Morgan, and Prudential. In addition, her for profit was paid $250K in consulting fees from the charity, and that is illegal. and violates tax law (Maybe she learned this little trick from the Clintons, who use the Clinton Foundation as their own private charity on a much grander scale.) Meanwhile while Cummings is getting richer, his district is getting poorer.
What I call the Baltimore Syndrome is infecting many of our great cities, that are failing their citizenry in favor of corrupt politicians and their benefactors. Whether he can turn things around in the face of so much corruption, President Trump deserves a chance. I wouldn't bet against him.
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