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Remember the friendly words of cooperation and bipartisanship offered by Republican lawmakers on the Hill in the wake of President Obama's inauguration?Well, you can forget them. It seems the Republicans have.
How else can you explain the fact that not one House Republican -- ZERO -- managed to vote in support of the president's $819 billion plan to pull this country out of fiscal ruin? ...
Leaving A Family Legacy
Will & Jada Smith have no problems with their children following in their footsteps in Hollywood.
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Willow & Jaden have both been cast into their father's movies.
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Phillippi Sparks' son might not have carried on the family football tradition of the NFL cornerback. But his daughter found success in another field.
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Jordin Sparks, the winner of the sixth season of American Idol and sang the "National Anthem" for the Super Bowl XLII, which made he dad very proud.
Mark Mainz, FOX / AP
Actor Alan Thicke passed on his good looks to his son, but not the acting gene.
Michael Buckner, Getty Images
While Grammy Award winning singer Robin Thicke does acting on occasion, he actually carries on the legacy of his singer mother Gloria Loring, who co-wrote the theme songs to "Diff'rent Strokes" and "The Facts of Life" with his father.
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A name as cool asCuba Gooding has to be passed down through generations. The elder Cuba Gooding, the lead singer of the soul group The Main Ingredient, has passed on his legacy of entertaining to his two sons.
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In Cuba Gooding, Jr. movie "Radio," there is a scene where he is listening to The Main Ingredient. He's pictured here with his brother Omar.
Gregg DeGuire, WireImage
Basil Patterson a labor lawyer and longtime political leader in New York and Harlem passed the torch to his son, the 55th Governor of New York.
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Before becoming Governor, David Patterson represented the same Harlem district in the State Senate that his father did.
Spencer Platt, Getty Images
Obama hasn't had a chance to get his chair in the Oval Office warm yet, and Republicans are already playing silly games. I can understand how many, if not a huge majority of, Republicans would vote against the package. Its recipe for spending runs opposite of the GOP mantra of smaller government.
But is it possible that none of them was bright enough to look past political ideology and see that the country is crumbling financially? Growing unemployment, shrinking real estate values and tight credit are just the start of our problems. As the great philosopher Fred Sanford once said, we aren't over the hill, we are down in the valley.
Only time will tell if the stimulus package will ultimately work. And valid questions can be asked of it. Will the tax cuts portion help middle-income Americans? Is $819 billion enough to reverse the tide?
One thing is certain. We can't afford to sit on our hands. Exactly what comprehensive program have Republicans offered in contrast? Don't let the silence scare you.
It is this silly retreat to partisan politics that is likely the reason Republicans are in the position they currently enjoy -- a minority party in both the House and Senate and locked out of the White House for at least four more years.
Nice going GOP. Keep it up.
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Paul Shepard blogs the Democrat side of politics for Black Voices. He has been a journalist for 16 years: on the national urban/minority affairs beat for The Cleveland Plain Dealer and for AP in Washington, D.C. He now runs his own public affairs firm, Shepard Strategic Communications.
Comments: (24)
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By: Jennings on 2/09/2009 6:05PM
Your're right the Republicans don't have any power.The Democrats are in control of the US government.The Republicans could'nt be bipartisan if they wanted to be.It is up to the Democrats to do what ever they want to do the party in power is the only one who can be bipartisan.What does a powerless party have to offer?I believe Obama and the Democrats are afraid to do anything and they want more Republicans to go along with them so they will have someone to blame.They can't blame Bush for what they do now.If they would borrow ten trillion,that would realy put us on the road to prosperity.I would'nt just mess around with 8 or 9 billion.
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By: William Prince on 2/09/2009 10:22PM
Some remain blind and def to what has transpired. The fat cats on Wall Street got a windfall before Bush left office. What are they doing with it? They are giving themselves big bonuses and sitting on the rest. This trickle down nonesense does not put people to work in the immediate future and will only benefit the few in the short term. Lets put the as many of the unemployed back to work as soon as possible so they can start paying back into the system. Lets focus on the small local businesses and manufacturers first and encourage them to participate in the global economy. As a tax payer this is my position. Let the top corporate guys get rewarded with private capital, not government bailout money that the average working Joe need to help him or her get back on track. Taxpayer money and private capital should be used and viewed differently. I dont see how any Republican who has lost their Job can stomach what their party is doing to them in their current time of need. They dont give a damn about the little guy and they are getting worse buy the minute.
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By: jonathan on 2/12/2009 11:12PM
You should be worried that Obama is passing a stimulus bill that will make his Presidency fail
the Republicans would pass a bill that didnt have so much pork in it and then President Obama would be a hero I fear that this bill will pass the way it is and the economy will get worse The Republicans that didnt vote for it will be heroes instead and Obama will have spent 300 times more than the Iraq war for nothing no money for social security and no tax revenue to fill the coffers and all becuase he let nancy pelosi and harry reed write his first and most important bill
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By: Jimmie Floyd on 3/04/2009 10:49AM
The Republican party benefitted in the past from Black people ideas and money, they used a system of knowledge to work against the very people that gave strenght to their party. Now it is a racially devided organization full of wealthy bigots that still live in the past. They promote wealthy Blacks and prop them up like manikins,
JC Watts is a perfect example. He never disagrees with any Republican policy.If we Black people start to regain our economic power in America, by envesting our money into Black owned financial institutions and buisnesses. We will see the Republican party change overnight. Too many Black churches have committed their institutions to the past Bush administration loan policies, and a many of them are held hostage to the Republican party.A lot of Black Clergymen remained silent during the Presidentual run of Obama, some even encouraged their members not to vote for him.The Republican party runs off of money. To all the Rappers and Entertainers, the Black buisness community and the Black people, start envesting your money in your community and banks regardless of what you think ,and lets create an economic power last seen in the days of the depression. Blacks worked and thrived in small towns during the depression, because the most money was in the Black communities, White people did not allow us to use it in their communities so it stock pilled. Thats why the new Republican party allowed hate mongers to destroy hundreds of profitable Black towns in the early 1900's.Rosewood is only one story.We have Billionairs and countless millionairs. Lets put our resourses together and the Republican party will gain respect from us , and be forced to chane their ideas.
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