To Fix Baltimore, Free Citizens from One Party Rule. End Enslavement to Failed Democrat Policies

Big taxes, big spending, big union and left wing ideology doesn't work for Baltimore and other big cities. Things won't change for the better until citizens see the light!

The minute the mess in Baltimore became a national story the usual suspects on the left emerged to spout yet another version of the recycled talking points they use to make excuses and point fingers in the wake of such sad events.

One protester screamed that there was a "black genocide" being waged by the police. Yet the average number of blacks killed by police every year is less than 100. Three times that number of non-blacks are killed by cops. Every year roughly 7,000 blacks are murdered by other blacks. Among the dead are dozens of black children gunned down in Chicago every year. When these facts are brought to the attention of the screaming protester she accused the reporter of trying to confuse the issue and went on screaming about racism.

Notice that when protesters should "racism" they exempt themselves from considering any other cause or effect. How convenient!

Yes, institutional, widespread, systemic racism is said to be the reason for this "black genocide." But Baltimore is a majority black city. The Mayor, Police Commissioner, Prosecutor and most of the City Council are black. Blacks make up nearly 50% of the police force. Of the six officers charge in the death of Freddie Gray, three are black:

Clockwise from top left, the six Baltimore Police officers who were charged Friday in the death of Freddie Gray: Officer Caesar Goodson; Lt. Brian Rice; Sgt. Alicia White; Officer Garrett Miller; Officer William Porter; and Officer Edward Nero. CreditThe Baltimore Police Department

Not Enough Spending? Please!

Obama is one who never lets a crisis go to waste and Baltimore is no exception. When asked about the problem last week he went into the usual litany putting some of the blame on the cops but did mention the chronic problems of inner city blacks. Of course his solution is more spending:

OBAMA: we're going to have to think about what can we do -- the rest of us -- to make sure that we're providing early education to these kids; to make sure that we're reforming our criminal justice system so it’s not just a pipeline from schools to prisons; so that we're not rendering men in these communities unemployable because of a felony record for a nonviolent drug offense; that we're making investments so that they can get the training they need to find jobs. That's hard. That requires more than just the occasional news report or task force. And there’s a bunch of my agenda that would make a difference right now in that.

Now, I’m under no illusion that out of this Congress we're going to get massive investments in urban communities, and so we’ll try to find areas where we can make a difference around school reform and around job training, and around some investments in infrastructure in these communities trying to attract new businesses in.

Obama can't help but get a partisan dig in at Congress. As far as new "investments" go, we've seen it all before and it hasn't worked. Michelle Malkin in a column titled "Been There, Spent That" reminds us:

In 2009, Obama and the Democrats rammed the $840 billion stimulus package through Capitol Hill under the guise of immediate job creation and economic recovery. An estimated $64 billion went to public-school districts; another nearly $50 billion went for other education spending.

This included $13 billion for low-income school kids; $4.1 billion for Head Start and child-care services; $650 million for educational technology; $200 million for working college students; and $70 million for homeless children.

Last week, economists from the St. Louis Federal Reserve surveyed more than 6,700 education-stimulus recipients and concluded that for every $1 million of stimulus grants to a district, a measly 1.5 jobs were created. “Moreover, all of this increase came in the form of nonteaching staff,” the report found.

Malkin goes on to describe billions in other related spending that was supposed to help communities like Baltimore. But most of the money disappeared down the big government/big union rat hole. Is it any wonder some black inner city residents think Obama is a failure?

Obama Opposes School Choice

When it comes to education spending Baltimore is second highest for spending per pupil in the country. Nearly $18,000 per pupil, per year. And the schools still fail to educate the children. Instead they are a breeding ground for the drug and gang culture that Obama correctly cites as a major reason for Baltimore's failure.

Obama talks about school reform but opposes school vouchers and choice, the one reform that has shown to give children the best chance to thrive. But Obama continues to toe the line dictated by the powerful teacher's unions which block so many of the reforms and choice that would bring real change to inner city education.

Baltimore won't see any real change until the voters of that city admit that the Democrat big government, big spending, big union system which has been their model for the past 50 years has failed and is replaced by a true two party system where new ideas are given a fair chance. But as long as the mob continues to scream "racism" no real dialogue can occur. Residents in inner cities across the country face the same problem. When is enough enough and when will they be ready for real change?