By Michael Arceneaux

For the millionth time, racist old people in positions of power: If you don’t want your bigotry to be made into big headlines all over Al Gore’s Internet, go back to journaling. Not that many in the Grand Old Party maintain such modesty, but in the case of Nevada Assemblyman Jim Wheeler (pictured), it’s a lesson he’d best learn to keep in his back pocket for future reference. On Monday, a YouTube video surfaced, featuring Wheeler telling a gathering of Republicans that’d he vote to allow slavery if that is what his constituents wanted of him.
Speaking before members of the Storey County Republican Party at a meeting in August, Wheeler explained: If that’s what they wanted, I’d have to hold my nose, I’d have to bite my tongue, and they’d probably have to hold a gun to my head, but yeah, if that’s what the citizens of the, if that’s what the constituency wants that elected me, that’s what they elected me for. That’s what a republic is about. You elected a person for your district to do your wants and wishes, not the wants and wishes of a special interest, not his own wants and wishes, yours.
In reaction, his Republican peers wasted no time in sprinting away from him. In a statement, Gov. Brian Sandoval said: “Assemblyman Wheeler’s comments are deeply offensive and have no place in our society. He should retract his remarks and apologize.”
U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., called Wheeler’s comments “insensitive and wrong.” And Senate Minority Leader Michael Roberson, R-Henderson, noted via Twitter that Wheeler’s comments are “outrageous, they are embarrassing and they are just plain sad.” Roberson added, “It’s time for Jim Wheeler to find a new line of work.”
You see, it’s okay for the GOP to treat Blacks as second-class citizens in the Reconstruction era realness that is a national effort to disenfranchise minority voters, but don’t you dare mention “slavery.”
Wheeler, the freshman lawmaker, has since released his own statement: The media is having a good time with a clearly facetious statement I made in a town hall meeting earlier this year. They’re attempting to spin an extreme example I used about supporting my constituents to accuse me of being racist. Anybody that knows me knows that’s absurd, and anyone that views the comments in context understands that the whole point of the example is that racism of any kind is something that I find completely unacceptable. During the meeting, I was asked how I would vote if I believed one way on an issue, and my constituents believed the opposite. I stated the truth that I believe, which is that in a Representative Republic, I’m hired by the people to represent their views. I used an over-the-top example of something that I absolutely do not agree with, and even mentioned that to get me to vote for such a thing, my constituents would literally have to hold a gun to my head. In reality, that isn’t the case at all. If my constituents wanted to do something as outlandish as bring back an abhorrent system, then I simply couldn’t represent them anymore. They would remove me from office, or I’d have to resign.
So he’s not the problem, our ability not to discern a “facetious” statement is. Here is the problem with Wheeler’s point of view. Even if I’m silly enough to believe his remarks were made in jest, I’m not dumb enough to think he couldn’t have thought of a better example to illustrate his point. A point that’s flawed in theory anyway.
Your constituents may have elected you based on a common share of views, but they also elected you to act in their best interest. So if you can speak about the virtues of the Republic for which you purportedly represent, you ought to know that a vote for slavery is not in the best interest of anyone besides a scant amount of racists who long for a time that’s long over in 2013.
Might you lose for hypothetically not aligning yourself with the bring-slavery-stance back? Perhaps, but you would have certainly done a better job at being an elective representative.
Wheeler isn’t the only person who legislates with this perspective. Many of his GOP brethren do too, enabling the fringe elements of the party versus being audacious enough to declare how asinine and antiquated many of their positions are.
It explains much of the current mess playing in Washington. Wheeler may be an utter fool for making his slavery comments, but there are bigger fools to fry when it comes to this dumb way of governing.

Michael Arceneaux is a Houston-bred, Howard-educated writer. You can read more of his work on his site, The Cynical Ones. Follow him on Twitter: @youngsinick

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The NAACP released the following statements calling for the confirmation of Congressman Melvin “Mel” Watt to lead the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).

From NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous:
“Congressman Mel Watt is a champion of champions who will hold banks accountable and will move our country forward,” stated NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous. “In a time when we are stuck in too many ways, Congressman Watt will work to ensure all families have access to the dream that defines our country. He is poised to be a strong and fearless voice for struggling homeowners crippled by the recession and a force against predatory lenders who prey on Black and brown communities. We are confident he can make change for families who need real change.”

From Lorraine C. Miller, Interim NAACP President and CEO:
“Congressman Mel Watt is a fierce advocate for homeowners,” stated interim NAACP President and CEO Lorraine C. Miller, who served as the 35th Clerk of the House of Representatives. “I have known Congressman Watt and observed his effectiveness on the House Financial Services Committee for over a decade. I am confident that he is the right person for this critical position. He was among the first to speak against the predatory lending crisis that led to the collapse of the housing market and massive loss of wealth, particularly in communities of color. We urge the Senate to confirm his nomination as his leadership and vision are needed to ensure that homeownership is accessible and affordable for all Americans.”

Hilary O. Shelton, NAACP Washington Bureau Director and Sr. VP of Policy and Advocacy:
“The NAACP strongly supports the nomination of Congressman Mel Watt to serve as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. With 40 years overall experience in housing and finance, Congressman Watt has spent the last 20 years of his career as a stalwart supporter of civil rights, human rights and economic justice in the U.S. Congress,” stated Hilary O. Shelton, NAACP Washington Bureau Director and Senior Vice President of Policy and Advocacy. “Congressman Watt has served admirably on the House Financial Services Committee and on the House Judiciary Committee. As chair of the Congressional Black Caucus in 2005 and 2006, he led the effort to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act. Congressman Watt is a thoughtful and gifted lawmaker, who is eminently qualified to lead the Federal Housing Finance Agency.”

On May 1, 2013, President Barack Obama nominated Congressman Mel Watt of North Carolina to serve as Director of the FHFA. The NAACP fully supports the president’s nomination of Congressman Watt to serve as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

From Newsmax.com

The New York state attorney general is investigating Macy’s Inc. and Barneys New York Inc. after complaints from Black customers who were stopped by police after making luxury purchases, the New York Daily News reported on Tuesday.
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has set Friday as the deadline for the stores to turn over information about their policies for detaining and questioning customers based on race, according to the Daily News, which quoted letters sent to Barneys Chief Executive Mark Lee and Macy’s Chief Stores Officer Peter Sachse.
Lee is meeting on Tuesday with Reverend Al Sharpton at the Harlem headquarters of his civil rights group, National Action Network, to discuss claims of racial profiling by two Barneys customers.
“Attorney General Schneiderman is committed to ensuring that all New York residents are afforded equal protection under the law,” Kristen Clarke, who heads the attorney general’s civil rights bureau, wrote to Lee and Sachse.
“The alleged repeated behavior of your employees raises troubling questions about your company’s commitment to that ideal,” the letters said.
Schneiderman’s office, Macy’s and Barneys were not immediately available for comment.
Barneys and the New York City Police Department were named in a lawsuit filed by a Queens man detained by police in April for two hours after buying a $349 Ferragamo belt, and then released without being charged. Another Barneys shopper said she was surrounded by four undercover police officers in February after leaving with a $2,500 Celine handbag she had purchased.
Two Macy’s shoppers have made similar complaints, including actor Rob Brown of HBO’s “Treme,” who said he was handcuffed and held for an hour after purchasing a $1,350 gold Movado watch for his mother, the Daily News said.
The fourth “shop and frisk” complaint was filed by Art Palmer, 56, an exercise trainer from Brooklyn. He said he was surrounded by police who demanded to see identification in April after he used his credit card to buy $320 worth of Polo shirts and ties, the Daily News reported.
In 2005, Macy’s paid $600,000 to settle similar allegations that many of the chain’s New York stores had targeted Blacks and Latinos for particular scrutiny of theft, according to the New York Attorney General’s office.
Grand larceny has risen 31.6 percent over the past two years in the New York Police Department’s Midtown North precinct, which includes Macy’s flagship store in Herald Square. It is up nearly 4 percent in the Upper East Side’s 19th precinct, which includes Barneys New York.

By The Associated Press

WASHINGTON  — The fight over renewing the nation’s farm bill has centered on cuts to the $80 billion-a-year food stamp program. But there could be unintended consequences if no agreement is reached: higher milk prices.
Members of the House and Senate are scheduled to begin long-awaited negotiations on the five-year, roughly $500 billion bill this week. If they don’t finish it, dairy supports could expire at the end of the year and send the price of a gallon of milk skyward.
There could be political ramifications, too. The House and Senate are far apart on the sensitive issue of how much money to cut from food stamps, and lawmakers are hoping to resolve that debate before election-year politics set in.
Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat who is one of the negotiators on the bill, says the legislation could also be a rare opportunity for the two chambers to show they can get along.
“In the middle of the chaos of the last month comes opportunity,” Klobuchar says of the farm legislation. “This will really be a test of the House of whether they are willing to work with us.”
The farm bill, which sets policy for farm subsidies, the food stamps and other rural development projects, has moved slowly through Congress in the last two years as lawmakers have focused on higher-profile priorities, like budget negotiations, health care and immigration legislation.
But farm-state lawmakers are appealing to their colleagues to harken back to more bipartisan times and do something Congress hasn’t done very much lately — pass a major piece of legislation.
Even President Barack Obama, who has been largely silent on the farm bill as it has wound through Congress, said as the government reopened earlier this month that the farm bill “would make a huge difference in our economy right now.”
“What are we waiting for?” Obama said. “Let’s get this done.”
The main challenge in getting the bill done will be the differences on food stamps, officially called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. The House has passed legislation to cut around $4 billion annually, or around 5 percent, including changes in eligibility and work requirements. The Senate has proposed a cut of around a tenth of that amount, and Senate Democrats and President Obama have strongly opposed any major changes to the program.
The cost of SNAP has more than doubled over the last five years as the economy struggled, and Republicans say it should be more focused on the neediest people. Democrats say it is working as it should, providing food to those in need when times are tough.
“I think there are very different world views clashing on food stamps and those are always more difficult to resolve,” says Roger Johnson, president of the National Farmers Union.
Johnson says coming together on the farm issues, while there are differences, will be easier because the mostly farm-state lawmakers negotiating the bill have common goals.
Passing a farm bill could help farm-state lawmakers in both parties in next year’s elections, though some Republicans are wary of debating domestic food aid in campaign season. Republican House leaders put the bill on hold during the 2012 election year.
One way to pass the bill quickly could be to wrap it into budget negotiations that will be going on at the same time. The farm bill is expected to save tens of billions of dollars through food stamp cuts and eliminating some subsidy programs, and “that savings has become more key as we go into budget negotiations,” Klobuchar said.
If that doesn’t work, lawmakers could extend current law, as they did at the end of last year when the dairy threat loomed. But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has said he wants to finish the bill and won’t support another extension.
One of the reasons the bill’s progress has moved slowly is that most of farm country is enjoying a good agricultural economy, and farmers have not clamored for changes in policy. But with deadlines looming, many say they need more government certainty to make planting decisions. Most of the current law expired in September, though effects largely won’t be felt until next year when the dairy supports expire.
If Congress allows those supports to expire, 1930s and 1940s-era farm law would kick in, as much as quadrupling the price that the government pays to purchase dairy products. If the government paid that high a price, many processors would sell to the government instead of commercial markets, decreasing commercial supply and thus also raising prices for shoppers at grocery stores.
Some farmers are feeling the effects of the expired bill already. An early blizzard in South Dakota earlier this month killed thousands of cattle, and a federal disaster program that could have helped cover losses has expired.
Rep. Kristi Noem, R-S.D., also a negotiator on the conference committee, says her constituents aren’t concerned with the differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill, but they just want to see a bill pass.
“Maybe the biggest question is can we put together a bill that can pass on the House and Senate floor,” she said.