Thread: Obama establishes 'Promise Zones'

Obama establishes 'Promise Zones'

By Los Angeles Times January 8, 2014 12:23 pm

The White House on Wednesday will designate a swath of Los Angeles a "Promise Zone," a move intended to marshal millions of dollars in federal resources for pockets of poverty under a signature program of the Obama administration.

Marking the 50th anniversary of President Johnson's launch of the War on Poverty, the White House will name five communities across the country to be targeted. L.A.'s Promise Zone stretches through Pico-Union, Westlake, Koreatown, East Hollywood and Hollywood, what Mayor Eric Garcetti called some of the "toughest, challenged areas" in the city.

Federal money would be used to help improve education, housing and public safety. The designation gives selected cities preferential status for federal grants. Garcetti said he expected L.A. to get tens of millions of dollars. The most the city could receive is about $500 million over 10 years, according to the mayor's office.

"This will make a material difference," Garcetti said in an interview.

Garcetti will travel to the White House and meet with President Obama on the initiative Thursday.

The federal grants would come from numerous agencies, including the departments of Education, Agriculture, Justice, and Housing and Urban Development.

Garcetti said a "wraparound" approach of federal aid could help alleviate poverty. "For decades, we've put programs in silos, which might move the dial a little bit here on education, a little bit here on health, but never all together, and I think this is our best shot."

The White House said Los Angeles' funding would go toward increasing affordable housing, investing in public transit lines and bike lanes, and giving people more access to career and technical training opportunities through a partnership with the Los Angeles Community College District.

Money also would go to the L.A. Unified School District and the nonprofit Youth Policy Institute to increase the number of support services at schools. The institute has received $32 million to provide tutoring, mentoring, staff support, and after- and before-school care to 20 schools.

The city wants to use the federal grants to increase the number of schools in the program to 45, said Dixon Slingerland, executive director of the institute.

"L.A. never gets the big-picture signature presidential initiatives," Slingerland said. "People on the East Coast don't think we have our act together, don't think we can work together, think that we're too spread out.

"We've really begun to sort of change that narrative."

The four other areas being targeted are San Antonio, Philadelphia, southeastern Kentucky and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. The designation lasts for 10 years.

The plan to ultimately team with 20 of the hardest-hit towns in the U.S. was introduced by Obama during his 2013 State of the Union address.
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http://www.gopusa.com/news/2014/01/0.../?subscriber=1

These are also known as Barry Zone's; individual Cities are called Obamavilles

http://www.alipac.us/f9/obamanomics-...1/#post1389397

Unemployment Rate Doublethink

January 13, 2014 by Bob Livingston

War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength, the unemployment rate dropped to 6.7 percent so more people are working, the recovery is full bore.
It’s all doublethink. It’s the new normal. Call it cognitive dissonance.
Only a piddling 74,000 jobs were added to the workforce in December. That falls far short of even enough to keep up with population growth. Yet the Bureau of Labor Statistics says unemployment fell three-tenths of 1 percent.
BLS unemployment numbers are as phony as President Barack Obama’s birth narrative. For every job added, five people left the workforce. There are now 92 million Americans of working age outside the workforce.
But we are recovery aren’t we? After all, look at the stock market. More cognitive dissonance.
The stock market is also phony. It’s propped up by funny money: the $85 billion pumped into the banks every month.
There is no recovery. There are no jobs. There is only doublethink.

http://personalliberty.com/2014/01/1...e-doublethink/

Obama’s ‘Promise Zones’ Picked For Their Strategic Value To Democratic Party

January 9, 2014 by Ben Bullard

President Barack Obama designated five areas Thursday as Economic Promise Zones: three in cities, one in rural Kentucky and one on the Choctaw Nation in Oklahoma – and nearly all of them offer Democrats stronger political inroads with resistant local voters.
Obama described the ‘Zones as places where kids would, with the Federal government’s help, have the same opportunities to realize the American Dream as kids in more affluent parts of the country.
“They’re neighborhoods where we will help local efforts to meet one National goal: that a child’s course in life should be not by the ZIP code she’s born in, but by the strength of her work ethic and the scope of her dreams,” the President said.
The cities selected for the first zones are Los Angeles, Philadelphia and San Antonio, while the Kentucky zone covers a multicounty region in the southeastern Highlands area. Obama said the program will be expanded to 20 locations Nationwide during the next three years.
“And each of these communities is designing from the bottom up – not the top down – what it is they think they need, and we’re working with them to make that happen,” he said. “And each of these communities is prepared to do what it takes to change the odds for their kids.”
The president said the idea was born from his own experience as a community organizer on Chicago’s South Side and on the work of people like Geoffrey Canada, who formed the Harlem Children’s Zone.
As Breitbart observed Thursday, most of the five announced locations have “interesting connections” that suggest their selection wasn’t arbitrary, nor solely based on the President’s altruistic desire to end poverty:

One of the main priorities in the 2014 election for Democrats is unseating Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), so Southeastern Kentucky, where the voters are heavily GOP, is a target which may allow Democrats to make some inroads.
San Antonio’s targeted district is the home of Democratic Congressman Joaquin Castro, the twin brother of San Antonio mayor Julian Castro who is marked as a future star for the Party. That district, according to the Cook Partisan Voting Index, is only scoring a D+3, so Joaquin Castro could be in trouble.
Although Philadelphia is a Democratic stronghold, there are three suburbs nearby where GOP incumbents may be replaced by Democratic opponents: the Sixth and Eighth, which are both R+1, and the Seventh which is a tossup.
Oklahoma’s Second District is one of the five Promise Zones, and it includes the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. Obama has been trying to reach out to the Choctaw nation for some time; Deborah Powell, Native American Development Specialist for the Housing Authority of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, was a guest in Michelle Obama’s box for Obama’s 2010 State of the Union Address.

The “Promise Zone” program will be administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and will dangle tax incentives and grants in front of the selected communities in order to create a dependence partnership between local government, businesses and agencies and the Federal government “to create jobs, leverage private investment, increase economic activity, expand educational opportunities, and improve public safety.”

The UPI contributed to this report.

Filed Under: Liberty News, Staff Reports

http://personalliberty.com/2014/01/0...ocratic-party/

“Promise Zones” Promise to Grow More Government, Deepen Dependency, Elect More Democrats

Posted by Rodney Lee Conover on Jan 10, 2014 in Politics, Public Employee Unions


What is Rand Paul thinking? If you haven’t heard of the President’s “Promise Zones,” initiative – you will soon. Some Republicans are saying nice things about it – but don’t be fooled. It’s another boondoggle of Federal spending which sends your tax dollars to those who have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt they cannot be trusted with money – and don’t have a clue how to help people out of poverty. No doubt they did a lot to put them there in the first place.

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President Obama has launched what is sure to be the first of many programs aimed directly at taking back the House of Representatives in the 2014 elections under his new second-term strategy of conquering; “income inequality” in America. Let’s forget for a moment how much income inequality the President’s policies over the past five years has caused and focus on this bogus “Promise Zone” plan, because it’s pretty darn easy to see it for what it is: A giant Federal giveaway to States and cities to grow more government, hire more government employees, grow public unions, increase welfare and most importantly, grow Democrat voter rolls nationwide.

Obama announced he was designating the “first” promise zones in poverty-stricken neighborhoods in Los Angeles, Philadelphia and San Antonio as well as swaths of southeastern Kentucky’s coal country and the Choctaw (say that fast one time, Mr. President) Nation of Oklahoma. Kentucky, you say? Yes, this is where Rand Paul and the Republicans come in, for you see this is a gigantic Federal money-grab, as is most of Barack Obama’s initiatives (the Stimulus, ObamaCare, etc.) and you know even Republicans can’t wait to get their hands on that.

In fact, the big announcement to establish these new “promise zones”… wait. I have to stop.

You’re not supposed to let the flag touch the ground.. sir.

C’mon. “Promise” Zones? Don’t you just love that coming from Barack Obama? More like; “If you like your poverty-stricken, crime-filled, hopeless, dirty, pathetic neighborhood – you can keep it. Period.” A “promise” from Barack Obama is like getting a wedding vow from President Clinton.

It’s like “Hope” … we “hope” when we spend more it will cause us to get out of debt, even though that’s never worked ever in the history of the world.. but we “hope” that this time the same behavior will cause different results. We “promise” this time it will.. I’d shoot myself, but ammo is so hard to come by these days. But I digress..

President Obama’s big proclamation – “to bolster private investment in economically distressed communities throughout the country” as was met with enthusiasm from some Republicans including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Rand Paul, both of Kentucky, who attended his White House announcement. But back to Rand later – listen to this:
“This should be a challenge that unites us all,” Obama added. “I don’t care if the ideas are Democrats or Republican. I do care that they work.”

Wow – whoever thinks Barack Obama at this point knows what works when it comes to creating jobs, getting the economy going, increasing growth or reducing poverty – raise your hand. Then slap yourself in the face with it, because that statement is classic Obama, and pure horse hockey.

When is this country going to realize that these programs have nothing to do with the economy, growth, poverty or anything else positive? Need more proof than just the past five years? Okay, let’s look at just one area to see exactly how this is going to pan out. Let’s look at Los Angeles:

According to the LA Times, federal money from the “Promise Zone” promise would be used to help improve education, housing and public safety. The designation gives preferential status for federal grants to go toward increasing affordable housing, public transit lines, bike lanes, and technical training through the LA Community College District. (Mayor Gil) Garcetti said he expected L.A. to get tens of millions of dollars and could receive $500 million over 10 years.

Will somebody read that again and tell me where the “bolstering private investment in economically distressed communities” part is? Because all I see is federal grants from all kinds of federal agencies going to all kinds of existing city and state government.

There’s nothing wrong with bike lanes and technical training, but none of it will lift these neighborhoods out of poverty and it only serves to grow city and state government. End of story, when the money runs out – the poverty will still be there and so will the new government employees, their desks, their pensions and any lives that did get touched got touched by Obama’s great goodness and so don’t you just have to vote for Democrats now?

It’s maddening.

Look – I got a booger!

Mayor Garcetti said in what I can only describe as “what the hell does that mean?” – that he believes this all-encompassing “wraparound” approach of federal aid could help alleviate poverty. Garcetti: “For decades, we’ve put programs in silos, which might move the dial a little bit here on education, a little bit here on health, but never all together, and I think this is our best shot.” What? The place is bankrupt. The city, the state.

Corrupt, bankrupt, to hell in a handbasket.

President Obama says the federal government will invest direct technical support as the communities try to revitalize languishing neighborhoods. Folks, they don’t know how. They don’t have technical support. These are the folks that ruined these cities in the first place! The problem is not money, it’s liberals. It’s Democrat policies.

But, here we are – Republicans jumping on the bandwagon, because Obama outsmarted them again by including Kentucky – where Rand Paul (who has been a thorn in his side, let’s be honest) and the Republican Minority Leader sure could use $500 million, don’t ‘ya think? But wait! Before you start screaming “There’s more – this time Barack has changed” – don’t count on it pal.

I’m just like Reagan, aren’t I? C’mon, a little, right?

Obama is also asking Congress to pass tax breaks for companies that establish businesses or hire workers in the promise zone areas, part of the program that his peeps say is “critical to the initiative working.” Oooh… sounds very Jack Kemp-ish. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan (who I bet knew who Kemp was) said; “These promise zones will work without the tax credits, but no, they won’t work to full capacity.”

This is pure Obama genius. Not only does he suck the Republicans in with free Federal money for their most impoverished areas, but he uses a Reagan-era Kemp idea (“enterprise zones” for you youngsters – Google it) to pretend he actually want tax credits for business and hiring! Does anyone remember who is the leader of the Senate? Does anyone think tax credits of any sort will be brought up for even a debate, much less a vote? Does anyone have problems making new short-term memories, because here’s what USA TODAY reported that has me wondering:

McConnell suggested Thursday that Congress consider tax incentives for promise zones in a potential deal to extend the lapse unemployment insurance. McConnell and Paul are also sponsoring broader legislation to establish “Economic Freedom Zones,” which would allow struggling areas to cut taxes to spur development. “Promise zones are something we could build on with far more comprehensive approaches,” McConnell said.

Paul said Obama’s motives are good, but the program should put more emphasis on tax cuts than on government grants. He said “dramatic” reductions of taxes across the board would enable communities to keep more of their own money and invest in themselves. Way to go guys.

There will be the federal giveaways (spending + growing government), but the tax credits will not be forthcoming. Count on it, Obama will get his Promise Zones and Harry Reid will stop the tax credits. Way to go guys.

The only people left in the ghetto are the ones being paid to stay there.

– Rodney Lee Conover

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Rodney Lee Conover is running for Congress in California’s 8th District:

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