Posted on 08/17/2004 2:38:57 PM PDT by unspun
By The Leader-Chicago Bureau (admin@illinoisleader.com)
CHICAGO -- Republican U.S. Senate candidate Alan Keyes has just released a statement clarifying what appeared to be a surprising position he took at a news conference yesterday.
"I think a cogent argument could be made for reparations in principle," Keyes is quoted as saying to reporters yesterday, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
The Chicago Tribune expanded:
Keyes gave a brief tutorial on Roman history and said that in regard to reparations for slavery, the U.S. should do what the Romans did: "When a city had been devastated [in the Roman empire], for a certain length of time--a generation or two--they exempted the damaged city from taxation."Keyes proposed that for a generation or two, African-Americans of slave heritage should be exempted from federal taxes--federal because slavery "was an egregious failure on the part of the federal establishment."
The response from conservatives was immediate. "Who downstate will now vote for Keyes?" wrote IllinoisLeader.com reader Randall Mead of Springfield today. "I certainly won't."
This afternoon, Keyes released the following statement, clarifying his position:
I have consistently opposed the effort to extort monetary damages from the American people. As I have argued in the past, the great sacrifices involved in the Civil War represented the requital in blood and treasure for the terrible injustices involved in slavery. In this form the so called "reparations" movement represents an insult to the historic commitment that many Americans made to the end of slavery, which included the sacrifice of their lives.I have also consistently maintained that the history of slavery, racial segregation and discrimination did real damage to black Americans, left real and persistent material wounds in need of healing.
In various ways through the generations since the end of slavery, America has tried to address this objective fact, but without real success. This was at least in part the rational for many elements of the Great Society programs of the sixties, and for the original and proper concept of affirmative action developed under Republican leadership during the Nixon years.
Unfortunately, the government-dominated approaches of the Great Society, which purported to heal and repair the legacy of historical damage, actually widened and deepened the wounds. They undermined the moral foundations of the black community and seriously corrupted the family structure and the incentives to work, savings, investment, and business ownership.
The idea I have often put forward to address this challenge involves a traditionally Republican, conservative and market-oriented approach: removing the tax burden from the black community for a generation or two in order to encourage business ownership, create jobs and support the development of strong economic foundations for working families.
This has the advantage of letting people help themselves, rather then pouring money into government bureaucracies that displace and discourage their own efforts. It takes no money from other citizens, while righting the historic imbalance that results from the truth that black slaves toiled for generations at a tax rate that was effectively 100 percent.
I have also made it clear that while I believe that the descendants of slaves would be helped by this period of tax relief, my firm goal and ultimate objective is to replace the income tax, and thereby free all Americans from this insidious form of tax slavery. It is well known that this is one of the key priorities of the Keyes campaign.
In response to Keyes' statement, conservative Jack Roeser of Family Taxpayers Network told IllinoisLeader.com, "I expect Keyes would say this is one of those interesting subjects to be talked about among people sharing ideas. Reparations is an impractical concept. Everybody in every category has been wronged in one or the other, and you cannot single one out."
Roeser continued, "Keyes is a man of ideas, and I expect he gets into discussions like this that are proper in their proper place, but that he would never vote for reparations. The problem with American politics is that people don't get into deep discussions."
© 2004 IllinoisLeader.com -- all rights reserved
______What are your thoughts concerning the issues raised in this story? Write a letter to the editor at letters@illinoisleader.com and include your name and town.
Yep, that tribe must have at least 50 members.
Sorry. I don't know any "Obama water-boys and girls".
If you're suggesting that people shouldn't criticize him for this absurd proposal, I'm afraid you're out of luck. You may have noticed that he rather stepped in it on this one.
Yes. I'm more concerned about appointing strict constructionist judges and killing jihadists than I am with whether one group of people get out from under the slave tax.
Keyes is not "hated" for being Catholic. He's not hated at all.
This goofy reparations idea has no basis in Catholic theology, in American politics, or especially in conservative thought.
Does he have to fully support it even if they decide to leave the pro-life plank out?
Ouch.
OK, kid, three things, and then I'll let you go.
First, you owe me ten bucks (yeah, I'm in on that deal too. Call it "real financk" if you like.)
Second, BUY A F'N DICTIONARY if you INSIST on grinding that term into the ground every other post you make!
There are few things that grate against the nerves as much as having someone who can't even spell (let alone grasp "realpolitik" come along and lecture the class on it -- incessantly.
Third, and finally, when the hell did the democrats start compromising? They are skilled in the art of getting the Republicans to "compromise" (everything from abortion to the Second Amendment to "stem cell research", but I've yet to see them give anything up.
You talk a lot for a guy who can't seem to get anything right. Please stop embarrassing yourself like that.
Or, don't.
No skin off my teeth either way.
Why? Think through the first, second and third order implications. I think it at least might overall advance our agenda. And I know you have not honestly assessed the possibility.
To quote Alan Keyes
I'm glad you think so highly of Keyes
"I don't compromise on my principles."
Then you make yourself politically irrelevant. Politics is compromise. Deal with it.
Somebody's got to pay taxes,
If you are not for fighting for individual rights, including property rights, what are you doing in this party? Have you really resigned yourself to our current socialistic wealth transfer system?
I don't want to think about reparations.
THAT is readily apparent. You're all emotion, and no logic or rationality. There is no point in continuing to talk to you. Much like many leftists, you can't reason with them, so there is no point talking to them.
Bye
Not one group. One race.
Affirmative action in college admissions, and job hiring must be OK with you, then.
As long as we kill jihadists, it's perfectly OK for the federal government to exempt an entire race of people from paying taxes, forever (you KNOW it would be forever, don't you?).
Trust me. A lot of us aren't thrilled to see our fellow Freepers giving the nod to a reparations plan, either.
If you still don't know why people don't like Keyes (HINT: nothing on your list has anything to do with it whatsoever), you will never get it.
Keyes is always going to get bashed because his ideas are not exactly mainstream. He's not a moderate and he's not a liberal. He comes up with interesting ideas that make you think even if you don't immediately or eventually agree with him.
For example one time I listened to him talking about single mothers --- his solution for that problem was not necessarily to force them to put their kids in daycare and to go out and get a job because that leaves the kids with no parents when they were already down to one. But he also knows welfare doesn't work and is why so many are single mothers in the first place. His answer is a return to the family so that the mothers can be home raising their babies. Still --- I'm not sure how you can make that jump --- if they have babies with no husbands, then I'm for making them get jobs and support those kids.
For someone who thinks race pandering is just dandy, you've got a hell of a lot of nerve questioning someone else's rationality.
But what of those who will give the nod over any tax relief plan?
Ahh...
So rather than acknowledge the rational arguments that have been made, you revert to calling people that protest Keyes
1) Baby Killers
2) Liberals
3) Racists
4) Stubborn
5) Atheists
Nice.
The really good thing about Keyes announcing this tax relief plan is it changed the topic away from condemning him for being a carpetbagger. That was getting old. Probably no one called him a carpetbagger for 2 days now.
I think he'd be much better doing advocacy on his own, or if he's running in this race talking about eliminating taxes for everyone at least. I think he's very smart in most cases, but not that smart in this case. I know Keyes doesn't have mainstream ideas and perhaps that's why he came up with this slave tax thing but he should know that even when people write you off, mention one thing that may be unpopular and you suddenly get rediscovered.
Um, fifty years?
No, I don't think so.
Your forgot to use your Million Man Math calculator.
The way I calculate it, it's... [chik][chik][chik][chik][chik]...[chik][chik][chik]... ah, yes, here we go.
It's 244 years.
You see, there was this guy who was the son of an ex-slave, and he lived 122 years. 122 times 2 equals 244.
See how easy it is when you use Million Man Math? ;)
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