Alan Keyes on Reparations (AK contextualizes his comments)

The Illinois Leader ^ | 8-17-2004 | Chicago Bureau

[Scenic Sounds]

I'm still trying to understand why this piece should make me say, "Oh, okay. Nevermind."

LOL. Well, I know that earlier some folks were saying that this wasn't a racial thing, but just a tax exemption for descendants of slaves. Here, at least, Keyes makes it more clear that this proposal is about "removing the tax burden from the black community for a generation or two. . . ."

I'm glad he clarified that.

I can't wait to see what he's cooking up for tomorrow. ;-)

[Robert_Paulson2]

It is too late to spin the ball, after it hits out of bounds...

keyes just nailed his chances to the coffin of race baiting.

[NYCVirago]

I don't defend it. I say he's talking it up and he's very, very worth living with. I also don't say it's a matter of guilt, for Keyes, but empowerment.

You sure sound like you're defending it to me. And what, exactly, is the empowerment here -- empowerment to cause greater divisions between white and black in this country? Empowerment to discriminate on the basis of race?Empowerment to have middle-class white people pay the tax burden for black millionaires?

[Truthsearcher]

Actually as a conservative I support tax cuts for anybody, even when it's not me.

I supported the tax cuts for the highest income bracket, even though I wasn't in that bracket.

But furthermore, read what I write in #40. This can actually be used as part of a long term strategy to reduce taxes for everyone and get African-Americans to vote for the Republican party.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

I'm glad he clarified that.

LOL - yeah, me too!

[Howlin]

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Alan Keyes has just released a statement clarifying...

There you have it. Again.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

LOL (The Greatest Orator on Earth™ seems to have an extraordinarily difficult time making himself understood - have you noticed that?)

[Truthsearcher]

Actually he's perfectly understandable, but of course not to people who don't want to understand him. Kinda like how the likes of Chris Matthews can't understand John O'Oneil.

[Catspaw]

The latest transcript posted is of a show/story at 12:30 p.m. Eastern. It'll probably be a couple more hours until it's up.

I'm waiting with bated breath.

[NYCVirago]

But furthermore, read what I write in #40. This can actually be used as part of a long term strategy to reduce taxes for everyone and get African-Americans to vote for the Republican party.

No, it won't. All it will do is make Obama look reasonable and moderate to swing voters. And race-based discrimination is not something a conservative should ever support.

[sharktrager]

If Keyes got what he proposes here, and what he wants, this is the chain of events we would see:

1) Descendants of slaves stop paying income tax for 2 generations (at least 40 years)

2) In the interim, the income tax is repealed

3) The federal government is now FORCED to pay cash reparations to those in step 1, because they now are receiving no value from those reparations, and the government has now agreed they are owed something

There is no way this is a positive step toward abolishing the income tax.

[NYCVirago]

Tax relieft is fundamentally different from giving people money, because tax relief encourages people to work harder (you can't get tax relief unless you have income that can be taxed), while giving people money encourages them to not work.

And what does race-based tax relief encourage? A race war?

[Robert_Paulson2]

yeah... right....
clinton would have loved to given us all tax cuts, but we just couldn't afford it as a nation, so we had to settle for "targetted tax cuts" for working class families.

imagine the howling protests around here if clintong would have proposed outright "targetted tax cuts" for the blacks.

but alan suggests it... and it is just fine...
rofl.

[Graybeard58]

not Kenyan-Hawaiians, such as Barack Obama

Kenya is in eastern Africa and Hawaii is in the U.S. Why isn't he an African/American?

[Robert_Paulson2]

The whole reparations thing, seems racist to me.
Is he playing the race card?

[Amish with an attitude]

"the U.S. should do what the Romans did:"

So should the United States also go belly up as a civilization?

That's what the Romans did.

[Truthsearcher]

But don't you get it? The whole point of this is to use racial equality argument to get tax relief for everyone and turn the argument on the Dems. First get the tax relief for one group, then after a while point out how unfair it is only one group gets it, and you're faced with eitehr raising taxes for the group that gets it, or give the same relief to everyone.

And the Dems will be stuck with holding the position of wanting to raise it for the one group that historically are most blindly loyal to them, and whose defection would be disasterous for them. So they either lose the black vote in large chunks, or be forced to agree to the tax relief.

[somemoreequalthanothers]

I speak some Keyes, but I am struggling a little with this one......

[unspun]

Kenya is in eastern Africa and Hawaii is in the U.S. Why isn't he an African/American?

If you look at it, you'll see I didn't proclaim him otherwise. I did however draw a distincition between someone who is of the culture of those who descended from American slaves and a wealthy elitist chap who does not.

[unspun]

This is one issue of many. Go ahead and stick with the present batch of GOP Senators, if you like. I appreciate someone who has his own spine.