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Keyes won't back down on reparations
Chicago Sun-Times ^ | 8/19/04 | SCOTT FORNEK

Posted on 08/19/2004 5:27:04 AM PDT by kattracks

His voice rising to a yell, Republican U.S. Senate nominee Alan Keyes told a bipartisan civic group Wednesday he "will not budge" from his belief that descendants of slaves should be exempted from income taxes to help heal the wounds of past discrimination and segregation.

The former presidential candidate disdainfully brushed aside questions over whether his suggestion should apply to rich African Americans such as Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan or Oprah Winfrey.

"Do you know how many Oprah Winfreys there might have been running around in the 1930s or in the 1920s or in the 19-teens that got nowhere because the doors were shut in their face?" Keyes thundered. "If you think that because I wear a conservative label, I have forgotten that history and am not mindful of that injustice -- then I will tell you now that you are wrong."

Keyes delivered his blistering defense at a luncheon of the City Club of Chicago, scolding fellow conservatives who challenged his proposal and evoking the struggle of his African-American parents, saying they had talent and "hearts and spirit and strength and faith."

"Why didn't they get to a point where they could stand on this platform?" Keyes aked.

Vying against Democrat Barack Obama, Keyes drew heat from conservatives earlier this week when he proposed exempting descendants of slaves from income taxes for a generation or two, a view he insists "involves a traditionally Republican, conservative and market-oriented approach."

On Wednesday, Keyes ridiculed the fuss over his position, saying it is simply a tax break, something "Republicans and my conservative brethren" don't object to when applied to a "wealthy corporation."

Conservative activist Jack Roeser met with Keyes for what Roeser called "a long argument and an intense one" over the issue before the speech. A Barrington businessman, Roeser said he still is not sold on Keyes' reparations proposal, but still plans to support him anyway. "I will tell my friends that this is a good man, and we should support him."



TOPICS: Extended News; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: keyes; reparations
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To: tame

I hate to break it to you, tame, but you're no match for Michael Medved.

What are you going to do, tell him Jim doesn't want him to talk?


481 posted on 08/19/2004 1:29:05 PM PDT by DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet (Some of my best friends are white, middle-class males.)
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To: tame
You said Keyes is a ...moron...that's all. "hate" Seems right on target to me.

That does not speak well for your reading comprehension abilities.

The man is clearly a moron - a capital letter moron, judging by the way he not only coughed up this hairball, but then turned around and went to bat for it.

If observing that moronic behavior makes one a moron is tantamount to "hate", then I suggest you aim your cannons where they'd do the most good -- the land is filled with psychologists and psychologists who make those observations daily, and even get paid to do so.

What bastions of HATE those mental hospitals must be, eh?

482 posted on 08/19/2004 1:29:47 PM PDT by Don Joe (We've traded the Rule of Law for the Law of Rule.)
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To: EternalVigilance

Too many here are wrapped up in personalities instead of keeping their eye on the prize.



maybe so, but perhaps they are upset about alan supporting race-based tax cuts.

a very anti conservative position.
the personality thing can be overlooked.
the proposing of a racist tax that only applies to whites?

it's wrong EV.
and it is very likely the end of any hope alan has for $$$ from fiscal conservatives. or endorsements from them.

maybe he can get enough "pro-life ONLY folks" or R.C.s who are loyal to him by religious association... to compete.

but he can pretty much kiss the southern half of state's republican's and farmers... good bye.

get the fork.
he's cooked himself on this one.

most of the pro life FISCAL CONSERVATIVES I know in that area, are voting for Kohn now. and this means lost votes for the R's. Not good. It also impacts what small chance president bush had of taking illinois, and the surrounding states that are tossups.

Who amongst the fiscal conservatives wants to vote for a party that flamboyantly is pushing racebait tax policies on some level or another? Who amongst independents wants race based taxation?

Why in the name of heaven is this even being coutenanced by folks like you, unless YOU are operating on "personal loyalty" instead of fiscally conservative principles?

you like the guy, but do you REALLY support this wacky idea?
I think not.
I KNOW bush doesn't.
I KNOW the RNC doesn't.
Alan knows too now... if he did not before.
Do you think Alan feels really "cool" going against the party on this racist issue?

Does it make YOU feel cool to support him on this policy?
Do YOU support it too?

Would you think a communist was a conservative, as long as he was against abortions?

Don't you think it would be more principled for Alan to drop this racist tax break for blacks idea?


483 posted on 08/19/2004 1:30:44 PM PDT by Robert_Paulson2 (the madridification of our election is now officially underway.)
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To: tame; Antoninus; Don Joe
I understand people's gut reactions against this proposal...I really do. It is bound to rub a lot of people the wrong way.

But what I don't understand is why so many conservatives simply refuse to see the benefits of what would amount to a HUGE tax cut. Yes, it is "unfair." Life is unfair. The tax code is deeply unfair. Matter of fact, I think that just about any tax break that someone else gets that I don't is unfair.

This mentality is nearly universal. It is what the Democrats so successfully tap into every time they accuse Bush and the Republicans of "squeezing the middle class" to give a tax break to the rich.

If your sole standard for supporting a tax break is "fairness," then how can you support any tax breaks at all???

484 posted on 08/19/2004 1:30:49 PM PDT by cicero's_son
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To: tame; nopardons
But don't tell me what I can post.

LMAO!

When "telling you what you can post" boils down to chiding you for YOU telling ME what I CANNOT post, well, hey, you just won the Golden Troll award for Hypocrite of the Day!

485 posted on 08/19/2004 1:31:11 PM PDT by Don Joe (We've traded the Rule of Law for the Law of Rule.)
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To: DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet
...blues guitars...the whole thing...

"...I went down to the crossroads...tried to hitch a ride...yeah, I went down to the cross roads...tried to hitch a ride...nobody seemed to know me...everybody passed my hyyyyyyyyye..."

See? :o)

486 posted on 08/19/2004 1:31:26 PM PDT by tame (Are you willing to do for the truth what leftists are willing to do for a lie?)
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To: tame

LOL - okey dokey.


487 posted on 08/19/2004 1:31:56 PM PDT by DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet (Some of my best friends are white, middle-class males.)
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To: tame

LOL - okey dokey.


488 posted on 08/19/2004 1:31:58 PM PDT by DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet (Some of my best friends are white, middle-class males.)
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To: DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet
Michael Medved just called him psychotic.

According to the trolls here, that means that Medved "hates" him.

It's getting terribly deep in here lately. A guy could strike it rich selling hip-waders and shovels. LOL!

489 posted on 08/19/2004 1:32:25 PM PDT by Don Joe (We've traded the Rule of Law for the Law of Rule.)
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To: Don Joe

I am a big fan of Medved's. I knew he wasn't a Keyester by any means, but this is brutal...


490 posted on 08/19/2004 1:32:52 PM PDT by DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet (Some of my best friends are white, middle-class males.)
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To: tame
Medved=RINO.

I've never gotten that impression. I think it's more likely that Medved hasn't had time to think it through, or possibly doesn't even have a clear picture of what was proposed and is just having a knee-jerk reaction to the word "reparations".

Not saying he would LIKE it even then - I'm not sure I do - I'm just saying that such an outraged reaction is usually a first reaction...probalby he needs to hear some of the rational behind it to have a calmer take on it.

491 posted on 08/19/2004 1:34:50 PM PDT by WillRain
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To: DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet
(Just reporting what Medved thinks.)

Just like Keyes, Michael isn't always right. We're supposed to be big boys and girls in this party, able to debate the issues intelligently so I don't worry that Medved disagrees with Keyes. I disagree with Keyes on the this issue, but I would still vote for him in a heartbeat over Obama the marxist. And I bet Medved would too.
492 posted on 08/19/2004 1:34:55 PM PDT by Antoninus (Abortion; Euthanasia; Fetal Stem Cell Research; Human Cloning; Homo Marriage - NON-NEGOTIABLE ISSUES)
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To: Don Joe
When "telling you what you can post" boils down to chiding you for YOU telling ME what I CANNOT post, well, hey, you just won the Golden Troll award for Hypocrite of the Day!

Wrong. For demonstration of who the hypocrite is, please see posts #386 and #392 :o) Or...let's just get along and agree that Keyes goofed on the reparations thing.

493 posted on 08/19/2004 1:34:59 PM PDT by tame (Are you willing to do for the truth what leftists are willing to do for a lie?)
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To: tame

So you oppose the tax cut for descendents of slaves?


494 posted on 08/19/2004 1:36:01 PM PDT by cicero's_son
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To: DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet

What's Medved's number and how long is he on?


495 posted on 08/19/2004 1:36:10 PM PDT by WillRain
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To: cicero's_son
Just about any and every tax break is "selective." The entire tax code is selective, and it always will be unless we can get to an across the board flat tax regime. I'm not holding my breath for that.

Don't play those spin games.

I did not say "selective", I said:

You're damn straight I'll oppose any selective tax break, if it's based on a bigotry-basis.

Want to offer a selective tax break based on skin color, sexual practices, gender, or national origin?

Then count me in as being OPPOSED to it.

You just strawmanned me, bigtime. You owe me an apology. I'll start taking you seriously again after I receive it.

Until then, you're trolling me, twisting MY words to make them say what YOU want to attack. And that's just plain dirty pool.

I can't believe that "conservatives" are calling for race-based tax freedom.

What next? Homosexual-housing credits? Hey, if it saves just ONE vote...

496 posted on 08/19/2004 1:36:29 PM PDT by Don Joe (We've traded the Rule of Law for the Law of Rule.)
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To: DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet

It's like a train wreck.
It is terrible, but folks just cannot stop looking at the twisted steel.

this is a twisted idea from a seriously questionable supposedly conservative candidate. race based tax cuts are ok with freepers? Is it anything goes, as long as the guy says he is pro life and kicks bush and his supporters in the groin with the "baby killer" approach to republican leadership?

Would these folks vote for lenin... if lenin promised to stop all abortions in the USA? Or mao tse tung?

I was always taught that redistribution of wealth, was marxist and that doing so according to race, was racist and unacceptable as conservative fiscal policy for a nation.

Gee was I stupid.
Guess we better start reading up on marxism, and other luminary works that detail the glories of racist tax policies.

mind boggling.
medved is right.


497 posted on 08/19/2004 1:36:35 PM PDT by Robert_Paulson2 (the madridification of our election is now officially underway.)
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To: Antoninus
I never said he doesn't really mean it. He probably realizes that the chances of it ever happening are very, very slim. So he uses it as a rhetorical wedge and as an entree into the contest for the Black vote. Personally, I see nothing wrong with the tactic even though I disagree with the idea.

Well I have a lot of problems with the tactic, and with candidates who say one thing and do another. But rather than argue with the Keyes crowd I'll just say that I no longer care what principle Dr. Keyes trashes, what whopper he tells, what level of pandering he stoops to. I still think that he's going to get his head handed to him in November, but on the off chance he wins then I admit that he certainly won't be any worse than the rest of the crowd that infests the Senate these days.

498 posted on 08/19/2004 1:36:41 PM PDT by Non-Sequitur (Jefferson Davis - the first 'selected, not elected' president.)
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To: cicero's_son
Someone else on this thread just made another great point in support of his proposal: if it gets African Americans thinking in terms of personal economic empowerment and tax reductions, the Democrats wouldn't win another national election in our lifetimes.

Actually this is the exact opposite of what we need. More people being taken off the tax-slave rolls. Once there off, what are the odds they are going to oppose tax increases on the rest of us.
The biggest problem with this proposal is that an even smaller percentage of people will be paying a greater proportion of the income taxes, increasing the pressure to raise the rates even higher.
499 posted on 08/19/2004 1:36:55 PM PDT by sharkhawk (I want to go to St. Somewhere)
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To: WillRain

He'll be on until 3:00PST...I'll post the number as soon as I hear it. (I think the last part is 1776)


500 posted on 08/19/2004 1:38:21 PM PDT by DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet (Some of my best friends are white, middle-class males.)
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