Obama Defends Self Against Black Critics

(AP)  President Barack Obama on Monday rebutted critics who say he isn't showing enough compassion toward black America, citing his health care effort as one example he says "will be hugely important" for blacks.

Obama said another example is the billions of dollars in aid to states included in the economic stimulus bill, money that was used to save thousands of teachers, firefighters and police officers from losing their jobs. He said many of those workers are black.

"So this notion, somehow, that because there wasn't a transformation overnight that we've been neglectful is just simply, factually not accurate," Obama said in an Oval Office interview with April Ryan of American Urban Radio Networks.

But the president acknowledged there are limits to what a president can do for any class of people.

"The only thing I cannot do is, by law, I cannot pass laws that say 'I'm just helping black folks.' I'm the president of the entire United States," Obama said, giving his standard answer to questions about the economic and other disparities facing blacks.

"What I can do is make sure that I am passing laws that help all people, particularly those who are most vulnerable and most in need," he said. "That in turn is going to help lift up the African-American community."

Black members of Congress have begun pressing their demands that the nation's first African-American president do more for minorities hard hit by the recession, noting the billions of dollars spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and to prop up big banks and large corporations.

Nationally, unemployment stands at 10 percent while 15.6 percent of blacks are jobless.

Obama said the grumbling was justified because the U.S. has just begun to emerge from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. At the same time, he said polls show overwhelming support among blacks for what his administration is trying to do.

The president said the health care bill the Senate is expected to pass this week will help the one in five blacks who don't have health insurance - almost double the general population - by making coverage more affordable.

"This will be hugely important for the African-American community," he said, also citing increased spending on education.

Asked to comment on the state of black America, Obama paraphrased author Charles Dickens when he said it continues to be the best of times and the worst of times. Still, he said he was optimistic about the future.

"But it's going to take work. It was never going to be done just because we elected me," he said.

[MiikiMike]

http://miikimike.blogtownhall.com/2009/11/13/constitutional_protections_for_terrorists,_known_enemies_of_the_us,_illegal_immigrants.thtml

President Obama is sworn under oath to protect the lawful rights of U.S. citizens and not 911 Terrorists and criminal illegal immigrants at the expense of the Constitutional rights of any law abiding U.S. citizen.

Over the years agents and officials of government are in egregious violation of the law, of the U.S. and California Constitutional rights of truly law abiding U.S. born Black men, women, and/or their siblings.

http://miikimike.blogtownhall.com/2009/11/01/im_a_us_born_inner-city_black_male_who_with_good_reason_does_not_have_praise_for_president_obama!.thtml

http://againstallodds.blogtownhall.com/2009/12/21/if_you_succeed_inner-city_black_man,_woman,_or_child.thtml

....so on the flip side of the coin, when government violates the lawful rights of law abiding U.S. born Black men, women, and/or their siblings, there is no price to pay?

.......thanks to misfits such as no good President Barack "the Magic Negro" Obama and/or other misfit elected Black leaders affiliated with the Democratic Party, those responsible escape with impunity.....

Those who have faced the music, or those who have been a witness to other law abiding Black people egregiously violated by the atrocities of government know this is true.....

.......all while President Barack Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder and/or other misfit elected Black leaders, lawyers, etc., remain silent, or condemn and blanket the inner-city Black men, male, as being irresponsible, dead beat, you name it.....

....without a thread of evidence to prove that this is so!!!!

......and furthermore these individuals know, that more so than the rank and file......


........it is our own elected Black leadership, and/or a misguided Black middleclass, who are......

......liars, irresponsible, dead beat, hypocrites, treasonous, unfit for elected office, sleazy, cut-throat, pimping the Black community for their own self efficacy, you name it.

.........there are many Black people who do not have praise for President Barack Obama.

[pnut134]

fedup37 I think your story is false as there is no way for a credit company to know what color you are. If they did they would be breaking at least 3 laws that I know of.

[iirishamerican]

I am a so called minority also. Irishamerican, where can I sign up for my reparations, you know, special treatment, we want our own month, holidays, Irishamerican college fund, at least some education about us in public schools, jobs that I'am not qualified for. If not your being racist. wah wah wah let me cry my eyes out. does that sound familiar? so sick of it!

[ToolMangler1]

You can't get yours until I get mine as a descendant of Native Americans. You will have to get in line.

[iirishamerican]

WE ARE AMERICANS and that should be all that someone needs to know. We have the same goals in mind, fighting, working hard, for the same cause.

[iirishamerican]

Why does somebody need to be black to make it ok to help them? Suddenly the billions of $ spent to try and save and create teachers, firefighters, and police jobs is great because there are blacks involved. let me guess nobody would give a S*** otherwise. = means = not lets help more because there are black people involved. I'm Irish and my ancestors were treated like dirt from the same brits that were driving the slave ships. raped, inslaved, executed, stole our land, wrongly imprisoned, tried to breed us out, beaten and run down like dogs for hundreds of years and it wasn't even the fellow Irish that sold us out. I am still awaiting my reperation or payback, special treatment whatver you want to call it, how about even a mention. all I hear is white this white that, you know what I have white skin and didn't have anything to do with the mistreatment of blacks so everytime I here someone classify all whites in one group it pisses me of. couldn't I then start crying racist and prejudist? So shut the F up and quit crying and quit with the special treatment, I here racism almost everday and it ain't coming from people with white skin.

[watervliet]

GOOD FOR YOU MR. PRESIDENT!!!! I VOTED FOR YOU ONCE AND I WILL VOTE FOR YOU AGAIN. MY FAMILY USED TO BE A REPUBLICAN...

[NowBeWithThat]

Oh, NOW y'all are speaking up?

Before it was Obama is our man in the White House and so on, and now it's 'he's not doing enough for black people.' Listen up.

**Mr. Obama is not a Christian in the born again sense, he's a Christian Socialist. Big difference. He goes to great lengths to distance himself from evangelicals. You fell for that 'Obama on his knees praying' public relations campaign poster.

He was praying nobody would catch him smoking a pack of Camels.

**Mr. Obama supports abortion, the number 1 killer of black babies. Ask yourself why every other social group is growing, but the black population remains unchanged at 12%.

**Mr. Obama ran as a white man, that's why he trotted out his white grandmother and made an issue of his caucasian roots.

**Mr. Obama has never been for black people and if you're expecting those 40 acres and a mule under this administration, don't hold your breath.

Look, I love black people but we can't depend on Pres. Obama or any man to save us. We have to start taking care of our children, building wealth within our own communities and trusting God for a change.

[hologram5]

These people that are chiding him have just as many opportunites as the rest of us and need to realize this. Work hard, get an education, quit selling crack on the street corner and maybe you won't get put in jail.

[cidaia]

I'm not sure they do...opportunities are linked to education, including the teaching of ethics and of values.

I think we need to stop fez-clad instigators...er, teachers (or is that "teachers") from putting the history of the Civil Rights Movement at the centerpiece of the classroom. It isn't "their" classroom, but a public institution, and it isn't theirs to hijack and use as a political platform or recruiting ground.

We need to have the kids be taught the core skills they actually need to be literate and competitive in college or in the workplace.

If anyone is to blame for high unemployment rates, it's the guy who is too busy teaching the kids all about how much they're gonna have when the reparations are won, to have any time left over to teach them anything real. The kids are betrayed, but it's by someone with the same skin color as their own.

[fedup37]

I'm tired of hearing people say "they have the SAME opportunites as the rest of us". O.k. so we have education (mostly public with not nearly enough textbooks to give to Each student, work hard o.k. but how do you advance when for one reason or another you do not fit that LOOK that our great society has associated with successful? You can get a nose job or weave going down your back but somethings can't be changed. When my daughter turned 18 the first thing we did was a credit check and know what we found a score of 675 so I in turned asked numberous people of different races (parents and others of the same age as my daughter)and all of the black kids had lower scores, so I ask you, same opportunites as who? Yes,the opportunity may be some what similar,education, good job and so further but is it the same standard?

[Constitionalist]

"Black members of Congress have begun pressing their demands that the nation's first African-American president do more for minorities hard hit by the recession, noting the billions of dollars spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan"

As I recall a disproportionate number of servicemembers are black. Thus the wars are providing increased pay to the black community because of the pay bump known as 'hazard pay'. But of course these are the people who have the will and courage to do something to earn a paycheck. The ones whining are those who just want to get paid more for sitting on their arse, smoking dope, shooting each other, and popping out more welfare babies.

[rockcutr]

I do not doubt that there are many things which could be done by the President to aliveate the pains of the black community. History will show there has never been a specific race taken under the wing of government. Even if the gov was mostly white as it is still to this day. The things which seem to be wanted is an immediate change from white dominated america to black dominated america. As a whole when it comes to welfare programs, blacks have had their fair share. When it comes to equal opportunity, blacks have rose to the top. The complainers wish to take a mile when given an inch. Make your own way is the american way. Yet those who wish to continue with overpopulation and abandonment of parental duties, there should be no compensation. We cannot send the Mexicans back home because they actually do the work the blacks whites reds and yellows would not do. There are more lazy white folks than any group of folks in this country who collect cash for doing nothing. Some are deserving, health issues, disabilities, these are colorless. When it comes to screaming bloody murder, well blacks kill more blacks than any other group. Now there is a stat which encourages compensation from the government. I do not agree that the auto bailout was worthy, nor the bailout of wallstreet. These were economic issues where we all were lead falsly down the too large to fail trail. The healthcare overhaul is doing no citizen any good. It shall cost us all more than your property taxes and little to no value to the great majority of people. In comparison few folks actually rise above the amount which they have put in with insurance. Take car insurance for instance. A lifetime of paying in, with a clean no wreck history. This builds no equity. A total waste of money we had very little of in the first place. The same shall be so with this new legislation. The answer to all who complain....there is the boarder, leave if you think it could be better somewhere else. Hmmm, the grass may be greener on the other side of the hill but, ya still gotta mow the lawn. Unless of course you don't know how. Maybe a bunch of screaming will convince a college to provide graduate studies in Lawnmowing.