Virginia’s racist gerrymander. More tariffs for dummies?
Virginia’s racist gerrymander
Virginia’s current congressional map has no majority black districts. However, two are majority-minority. District 3 is 39 percent white, 43 percent black and 8 percent Hispanic. District 4 is 42 percent white, 41 percent black and 10 percent Hispanic. Both the representatives are black democrats, Bobby Scott in the 3rd and Jennifer McClellan in the 4th. The proposed gerrymander to shift the state’s congressional representation from 6 democrats and 5 republicans to 10 democrats and one republican would dilute the minority majorities in both districts. Now in District 3 the white population would rise to 45.1 and the black population would fall to 41 percent. In District 4 the white population would go to 50.7 percent and the black percent would fall to 39 percent.
Do you think Virginia’s white democrats wanted to get rid of the two black representatives and used the excuse of getting rid of the republicans to do it? Just asking. So if like the southern states, the purpose of the gerrymander is to reduce black voting power, Virginia is no different from Tennessee, Louisiana or Alabama. So in the deep south when republicans do it they are called racists. When the democrats do it, they are called – democrats. Strange since it has the same effect and impact on black voters.
So Virginia can have a new slogan: Virginia is for racists
Our trade representative hates trade
Earlier I reported that Jamieson Greer the U.S. Trade Representative has launched “investigations” into dozens of countries under a separate authority – Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 – in order to conjure up some more tariffs. Well the justification for the investigations is about the dumbest reason I have seen – and that is saying something. It something called “structural excess capacity.” That is, any country that produces “excess capacity” displaces existing U.S. domestic production or prevents investment and expansion in U.S. manufacturing production. So says Mr. Greer. But isn’t that the reason you trade in the first place. You produce those items in which you have a comparative advantage and trade them for goods that you don’t. Don’t America’s farmers produce way more corn, barley, soybeans and other stuff than they could possibly consume? Why? So they can sell it.
Mr. Greer says this is bad and should not go unpunished. Mr. Greer also says that a country shouldn’t have unused factories and that nations producing less than 80% of what their factories could potentially make are likely “structural excess capacity” offenders. Well the Wall Street Journal points out that the US is then an offender with a domestic capacity utilization of only 75.2 percent. The administration actually pointed to Norway’s high seafood exports as evidence that the country produces more fish than it needs making it a prime candidate for Trump’s tariffs. Good grief. Doesn’t Norway have a comparative advantage in growing fish? This basically means that all countries that export anything are subject to Trump’s new tariffs, including everything exported by the US. Apparently Trump wants only the US to have “excess capacity” and none other. Only in the US is “excess capacity” good. Those farmers can’t eat all those soybeans, can they? Greer’s job is to figure out a way that Trump can get more tariffs and keep them, even if he looks stupid doing so. Apparently, he is going to test every trade stature for the one that can pass legal scrutiny. But actually, the task can be made much simpler – just follow the Constitution and have the congress enact the laws to make it so. Until then, Mr. Greer will be the president’s hit man and look stupid doing so. Tariffs for dummies, anyone?
haroldblackphd.com 
We truly are a nation of fools. We seem to work hard at it.
I don’t get the gerrrymandering schemes. It seems that the Supremes would have something to say about any design whose reasoning has a racial bias, but here we are. How about we lay it out in a contiguous fashion until we have the allocation of representatives without any bias other than geographical adjacency? How foolish of me to even suggest it.
You see it other places as well, such as county design. Take a look at Fulton County, GA. The shape of the county looks like an ostrich, with a small head (N Fulton) and long neck (GA Hwy 400) connecting to a fat torso (The city of Atlanta). This allows money from a growing tech sector to flow down to a corrupt and poorly run city and county government with no ability to impact it. Truly pathetic. There needs to be a constitutional amendment to allow for a 160th county and the reformation of Milton County.
A tariffs is a tax, and a tax creates less of its target. It also disrupts the normal flow of trade. I fear how bad a democrat administration would be, but considering this crew a better option is becoming harder to defend.
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I had not thought of how county (or state) lines were initially decided. Usually geography determined the shape. When were the county lines drawn in Georgia? Surely it could not have been political gerrymandering back in the day – or could it?
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Actually it was not – it was during the great depression as a support to two failing counties – one of which was the old Milton County.
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We truly are a nation of fools. We seem to work hard at it.
I don’t get the gerrrymandering schemes. It seems that the Supremes would have something to say about any design whose reasoning has a racial bias, but here we are. How about we lay it out in a contiguous fashion until we have the allocation of representatives without any bias other than geographical adjacency? How foolish of me to even suggest it.
You see it other places as well, such as county design. Take a look at Fulton County, GA. The shape of the county looks like an ostrich, with a small head (N Fulton) and long neck (GA Hwy 400) connecting to a fat torso (The city of Atlanta). This allows money from a growing tech sector to flow down to a corrupt and poorly run city and county government with no ability to impact it. Truly pathetic. There needs to be a constitutional amendment to allow for a 160th county and the reformation of Milton County.
A tariffs is a tax, and a tax creates less of its target. It also disrupts the normal flow of trade. I fear how bad a democrat administration would be, but considering this crew a better option is becoming harder to defend.
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The perspective on Virginia is interesting. But it competes with someone who is a Republican appointee to the Fed Election Comm, by Geo. Bush …
Best spelling I can give is : Hans Mckovsky, who went on CBS Sunday Morning to say if Blacks want to win elections , they’d best affiliate with the Republican Party.
Sounds like an assault in self- determination. And is no different as a Republican stand , than any Democrat stand. The Plantation continues..
What you are saying about VA is in line with farmer podcasts, the trade and tariff stuff have made farmers less a fan of Trump. But they always have to throw in derogatory statements about Democrats…
This is Trump’s economy. And Trump is depending on farmers to be farmers, be dummies about tariffs..
As usual the policies of our country run in many levels…
..”After ( Greer’s) military service, Robert Lighthizer hired Greer at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in 2012. Greer worked in trade law for the firm and later for Kirkland & Ellis…..
Lighthizer, ..
[ who planned Trump policy and appointees]..
who did not want to serve in the position again, endorsed Greer as the United States trade representative. Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, supported the decision…” Wikipedia ..
Is Kushner a Congressionally appointed or elected official? How is it that the official son in law makes trade decisions?
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Kurshner is also Trump’s chief negotiator.
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I can see why Pat’s comments repeat.
The last comment of mine and your response didn’t show up in the blog- least on my phone.
But I like your comment. The mystery of legally defending 2 sides of an issue – no moral stand on either.
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