Leadership:

Is there a perfect answer? Probably not. But what bothers me is that people stubbornly stick to their solution, even in the face of overwhelming evidence that it’s not working.

For example, Detroit, whose mayor has been indicted on felony charges, hasn’t elected a Republican mayor since 1961. Buffalo has been even more stubborn. It started putting a Democrat in office back in 1954, and it hasn’t stopped since. Unfortunately, those two cities may be alone at the top of the poverty rate list, but they’re not alone in their love for Democrats. Cincinnati, Ohio (third on the poverty rate list), hasn’t had a Republican mayor since 1984. Cleveland, Ohio (fourth on the list), has been led by a Democrat since 1989. St. Louis, Missouri (sixth), hasn’t had a Republican since 1949, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (eighth), since 1908, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (ninth), since 1952 and Newark, New Jersey (10th), since 1907. The only two cities in the top 10 that I didn’t mention (Miami, Florida, and El Paso, Texas) haven’t had Republicans in office either — just Democrats, independents or nonpartisans.

Over the past 50 years, the eight cities listed above have had Republican leadership for a combined 36 years. The rest of the time — a combined 364 years — they’ve been led by Democrats. Five of the 10 cities with the highest poverty rates (Detroit, Buffalo, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Philadelphia and Newark) have had a Democratic stranglehold since at least 1961: more than 45 years. Two of the cities (Milwaukee and Newark) have been electing Democrats since the first Model T rolled off the assembly line in 1908. Two cities, 100 years, all Democrats…

If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, the asylums in those cities must be as full as the soup kitchens…

“Detroit, remember, was going to be the ‘Model City’ of Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society, the shining example of what the ‘fairness’ of the welfare state can produce. Billions of dollars later, Detroit instead has become the model of everything that can go wrong when you hook people on the idea of something for nothing – a once-middle class city of nearly 2 million that is now a poverty-stricken city of less than 900,000.”

• A “living wage” ordinance, far above the federal minimum wage, for all public employees and private contractors.
• A school system that spends significantly more per pupil than the national average.
• A powerful school employee union that militantly defends the exceptional pay, benefits and job security it has won for its members.
• A powerful government employee union that does the same for its members.
• A tax system that aggressively redistributes income from businesses and the wealthy to the poor and to government bureaucracies.

Would this be a shining city on a hill, exciting the admiration of all? We don’t have to guess, because there is such a city – Detroit

Detroit has been dubbed “the most liberal city in America” and each of these “progressive” policies is alive and well there. How have they worked out? In 1950, Detroit was the wealthiest city in America on a per capita income basis. Today, the Census Bureau reports that it is the nation’s 2nd poorest major city, just “edging out” Cleveland.

Could it be pure coincidence that the decline occurred over the same period in which union power, the city government bureaucracy, taxes and business regulations all multiplied? While correlation is not causation, it is striking that the decline in per capita income is exactly what classical economists predict would occur when wage controls are imposed and taxes are increased.

…A similar pattern has played out in public education. It is now conventional wisdom among the political class that higher pay for teachers and increased spending per student lead to improvements in teacher quality and student performance. Again, correlation is not causation, but Detroit Public Schools strongly suggests that this theory must be rejected. It has chronically underperformed state averages, yet reforms are vehemently opposed by the system’s powerful school employee union.

At the same time that union, the Detroit Federation of Teachers, has won rich salary and benefits packages for its members. Median compensation for a DPS teacher is $76,000 and Detroit spends the third highest amount of money per student among 76 large cities nationwide. Statewide, Detroit’s spending per pupil is in the 91st percentile and DPS teachers are paid at the 96th percentile. For all that, by almost any measure Detroit schools have for decades failed their students: test scores, safety, drop out rates, etc. For example, Detroit’s public school students perform at the 3rd percentile in the state – that is, they are in the lowest 3 percent, and the district is in its second state takeover in a decade.

The fact of the matter is, high school drop out rates for these cities are staggering! Detroit- 78%, Cleveland -56%, Memphis 51.5%, Philadelphia 44.5%, St. Louis 50%, Milwaukee 55%, Buffalo 54%.

Money does not appear to be the real issue, either. As with Detroit, the Democratic governments and unions have been able to drum up financial support year after year, without showing any result in improvement of education. So what is the problem?

I think perhaps the Acorn worker said it best. Why would you want to educate them? Could it be that if the masses remain uneducated they will then continue to support failed systems. Us (the democrats) against “The Man” (the republicans). The truth is, in these cities, “The Man” is the Democratic party and the Democratic unions. The Democrats are not your friend. The Democrats are nothing more than a corrupt matrix of left wing causes, most of which are not at all what they pretend to be. All this talk of social justice is BS. The Democrats are WORKING FOR THEMSELVES, not the people the portend to help. This is evident and obvious. You only have to look around you to see that.

If you want to change the result, you must change the input. Stop electing these corrupt, self serving cock roaches into office. DEMAND SATISFACTORY RESULTS. Why do you continually limit your choice to one party? Why would you do something so foolish? People fought hard to give you CHOICE. Use it! Pay attention and arm yourself with facts. If you do not get the results you want, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! If you don’t like the results you are getting from your schools, either change them or enroll your kids in schools that actually work. Take responsibility to have the life you want instead of the one being provided for you by “The Man”. 

Unions are no better. What started out as a good idea so many years ago, has, too, been morphed into nothing but organized corruption.

This is not to say that by changing the party in charge your life will be better. Changing the quality and character of those in charge will, though. Consider the person and their background, along with their friends, when choosing whom to vote for. If you don’t see any one worth voting for, go find them. Change starts with you. Change does not trickle down. CHANGE TRICKLES UP!

People need to wake up. Advocate FOR YOURSELF! Do not allow others to advocate for you. Change your culture and you will change your life. Why are children allow to perpetuate the cycle by wallowing in hip hop and rap music? Why is cool to be uneducated? Why are drugs and crime permitted and condoned as a way of life? Only those who are impacted by this can answer this question. Slavery has not been abolished – it is self imposed by all who allow these conditions to exist.