Anderson@Large

State of the Union and Black Joblessnes

President Barack Obama will deliver his second State of the Union address tonight at 9 pm ET.

In a video emailed to his political supporters, Obama gave a preview of what he will say:

I'm focused on making sure the economy is working for everybody, for the entire American family.

When all is said and done, will Obama give a second thought to chronic black joblessness? African Americans are, after all, his most loyal supporters.

The Center for American Progress reports:

African Americans saw few economic gains during the last business cycle, with stagnant or declining homeownership and wages, high unemployment rates, and low employment rates even as the economy grew.

I agree with the Center that disparate problems require targeted solutions:

First, policymakers need to pay continued attention to the weak labor market to ensure there is a rising tide that can lift all boats. Second, policies intended to create more jobs need to include provisions that particularly target communities of color. Third, policymakers need to put in place policies that go beyond the immediate need for job creation for everybody to help erase differences in economic security and opportunity by race and ethnicity.

Read more: The State of Communities of Color in the U.S. Economy

House Republicans Get Down to Business

Today the House will vote on repeal of the health care law, H.R. 2, "Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act."

Majority Leader Eric Cantor said House Republicans “can't accept the status quo”:

The reality is, the ObamaCare bill did not lower costs. It will cost small business people money. It will, in many cases, preclude the hiring of people. And if you're in a situation where that's not the case and don't accept that, then you are certainly assuming that more people are going to fall into a government controlled health care system which is going to add to the debt, which obviously is something that we are very focused on trying to reduce.

Meanwhile, Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer told reporters Democrats have yet to sell the public on the law:

Apparently none of us did a good enough job because public opinion is divided, and they are unsure of whether this legislation is going to be positive for them and their families.

Indeed, Democrats have not moved the needle. A new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey found 50 percent of Americans support repeal of health care reform.

A Quinnipiac poll shows voters by 48 - 43 percent want Congress to repeal ObamaCare. Fifty-one percent of voters disapprove of the way President Obama is handling health care.

Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said:

The Republicans pushing repeal of the health care law have more American people on their side. They may not have the votes in the Senate, but they have many on Main Street. While President Obama's poll rating has improved in recent weeks, the coalition against his health care plan remains and is quite similar to the one that existed when his numbers were at their nadir.

The health care debate do-over will give Americans a second opinion.

One Lone Lunatic and the Looney Left

In the wake of the assassination attempt on Rep. Gabrielle Gibbons, some on the left have taken aim at Sarah Palin and the Tea Party movement.

It is sad that anyone would try to exploit the acts of this lunatic.

With no evidence, Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik said Jared Loughner may have been motivated by “the vitriolic rhetoric that we hear day in and day out from people in the radio business and some people in the TV business.”

Dupnik has since toned down his political rhetoric.

He noted that Loughner “targeted the congresswoman specifically; there's considerable evidence to substantiate that.” Three days later, no one knows what motivated him:

While you can't prove what the motive was in this case, I think we know that people who have troubled personalities are being subjected to the anger and emotion that is being created in this country, and I think we need to at least look into our hearts and souls and think about it.

The standard of acceptable political speech must not be measured by what might set off a mentally ill individual. Anything, including an actress, can incite political violence.

As Jon Stewart observed:

Many are reflecting and grieving and trying to figure things out. But it's definitely true that others are working feverishly to find the tidbit or two that will exonerate their side from blame or implicate the other. And watching this is as predictable as it is dispiriting.

Stewart continued:

We live in a complex ecosystem of influence and motivations and I wouldn't blame our political rhetoric any more than I would blame heavy metal music for Columbine.

[...]

You cannot outsmart crazy. You don't know what a troubled mind will get caught on. Crazy always seems to find a way. It always has.

The looney left is not troubled by the absence of evidence of motivation or double standards. In their worldview, the absence of evidence is evidence that Loughner was politically motivated. In their desire to demonize Sarah Palin, the term “target” has become the new n-word.

Never mind that terms like targeting, cross hairs and bull's eye are part of the lexicon of every political campaign, pundit and blogger.

Many on the left applauded when a film director placed former President George W. Bush in an assassin's cross hairs.

While I abhor guns and violence, the attempts to make political hay out of a national tragedy are deeply troubling.

Tragedy in Tucson

The attempted assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, the killing of six innocent victims and the wounding of 14 people defy comprehension. Words cannot convey my reaction to the horrific events that unfolded in Tucson this weekend.

President Barack Obama calls for a national moment of silence TODAY at 11:00 am EST:

I call on Americans to observe a moment of silence to honor the innocent victims of the senseless tragedy in Tucson, Arizona, including those still fighting for their lives.

It will be a time for us to come together as a nation in prayer or reflection, keeping the victims and their families closely at heart.

For some, it is a time to pump up the volume and pin the blame on Sarah Palin.

In an e-blast, CREDO Action wrote:

Sarah Palin has a special responsibility and opportunity in the wake of the attempted assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. For it was Sarah Palin and Sarah Palin alone who earlier put the crosshairs of a gun on Rep. Giffords. And so far, Palin's response has been Facebook prayers for the victims and an official denial that her widely distributed map involved gun sights at all. This is obscene duplicity at best.

Let us be clear. We do not know why the shooter targeted Rep. Giffords. Sarah Palin did not arm him or pull the trigger. We do not know if the shooter admired, loathed or ignored Sarah Palin. We will eventually know, and that will be a different accounting.

Since you don't know, here's an idea: Hold your fire until the facts are known.

House Under New Management

As expected, Ohio Rep. John Boehner was elected speaker of the House.

In his opening remarks, Speaker Boehner said:

Let us now move forward humble in our demeanor, steady in our principles, and dedicated to proving worthy of the trust and confidence that has been placed in us. If we brace ourselves to do our duty, and to do what we say we are going to do, there is no telling what together we can accomplish for the good of this great and honorable nation. More than a country, America is an idea, and it is our job to pass on to our posterity the blessings bestowed to us.

I wish you all the very best. Welcome to the people's House. Welcome to the 112th Congress.

I am sure Democrats and late night comedians were disappointed that Boehner did not break down and cry as he delivered his remarks.

Against all odds, a former small business owner who grew up with 11 siblings in a two-bedroom house and one bathroom is in control. Boehner should tell Democrats and assorted haters:

It's my party, and I'll cry if I want to
Cry if I want to, cry if I want to
You would cry too if it happened to you

Opening Arguments

I am in DC for opening day of the 112th Congress. House Republicans will live stream the opening session, including the swearing-in ceremony, on Facebook beginning at 12:00 pm ET.

At approximately 1:40 pm, Rep. Nancy Pelosi will hand over the gavel to House Speaker-elect John Boehner.

House Republicans are getting off to a quick start. They have posted online a bill to repeal President Obama's signature legislative accomplishment, health care reform. The House will vote on the “Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act” on Jan. 12.

Also today, a coalition of state lawmakers will open a new front in the war to “eliminate all economic attractions and incentives that continue to lure illegal aliens across America’s unsecured borders.”

State Legislators for Legal Immigration will unveil model legislation to “halt the misapplication of the 14th Amendment.” They propose to deny automatic citizenship to American-born children of illegal immigrants. The concern is that birthright citizenship is an incentive for foreign nationals to flout the rule of law in the hope that their anchor babies will give them a foothold on legal residency.

SLLI founder Pennsylvania state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe is spearheading the national initiative. He will be joined by legislators from across the country and constitutional scholars, including Kansas Secretary of State-elect Kris Kobach, who helped draft Arizona SB 1070.

The press conference will be held at 9:30 am at the National Press Club, but advocates for illegal immigrants have already sent out talking points.

The yet-to-be-unveiled proposal is called “unworkable and divisive.” They say, presumably with a straight face, that “if enacted, they would place huge burdens on American citizens and create a giant new bureaucracy.”

Hello. Hola. Illegal alien mothers and their anchor babies already place an unfair burden on American citizens.The Federation for American Immigration Reform estimates that 363,000 anchor babies are born yearly in the U.S., costing American taxpayers billions of dollars annually.

For more info, visit State Legislators for Legal Immigration.

UPDATE: Rep. Steve King, incoming chairman of the House Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement Committee, has introduced a bill, H.R. 140, which would amend section 301 of the Immigration and Nationality Act and end birthright citizenship.

Welcome to the Tea Party Congress

I am not a fan of Howard Fineman, but he is spot-on in noting the Tea Party Congress is in session:

The new, more Republican Congress won’t arrive in town until next month, but the Tea Party Era unofficially began on the Hill Thursday night.

Republican leaders in Congress, blindsided by grassroots fury over the tax cut deal they made with President Obama, are now scrambling to show their allegiance to the anti-federal, anti-debt movement.

The GOP brass, led by Senate party leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), did so tonight by eagerly backing the successful efforts of Tea Party favorites to block debate on a $1.1 trillion “omnibus” spending bill that would fund the entire federal government until next October -- but which contained billions of dollars in “earmarks” Republicans, including McConnell, once stoutly defended.

The omnibus bill also contained the spending priorities of the Obama administration and the soon-to-be-ended Democratic-controlled Congress.

Fineman added:

But Reid announced Thursday night that he didn't have the votes he needed to block the maneuver or ensure debate after the reading of the bill. The reason, he said, is that nine Republicans who initially promised to support him had changed their minds.

Game, set, match Tea Party.

After being demonized as racist and “un-American,” tea partiers are now in charge.