WATCH:
President's Powerful Comments
on Trayvon Martin case:


" IF I HAD A SON,
HE'D LOOK LIKE TRAYVON "

WATCH:

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- For the first time since the controversy erupted on the national scene, President Barack Obama weighed in on the killing of Trayvon Martin, calling it a tragedy, urging cooperation among law enforcement and declaring that "some soul searching" was needed throughout the country.

"If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon," Obama said, underscoring how the issue affected him on a personal, and not just a political or legal, level. "I think [Trayvon's parents] are right to expect that all of us as Americans are going to take this with the seriousness it deserves, and we are going to get to the bottom of exactly what happened."

The statement by Obama came after he introduced Dartmouth President Jim Kim to be the next head of the World Bank during an appearance in the Rose Garden. He took only one question before heading back into the West Wing -- signaling that both he and his press handlers were feeling pressure, coming from black activists and others, to make a public comment on the Martin case.

Obama was careful not to get too far ahead of events. He said he was wary of "impairing" an ongoing legal process but praised the fact that federal, state and local law enforcement are now working together on Martin's death.

"Obviously, this is a tragedy," he said. "I can only imagine what these parents are going through, and when I think about this, I think about my own kids, and I think every parent in America should be able to understand why it is absolutely imperative that we investigate every aspect of this and everybody aspect of this, and that everybody pulls together -- federal, state and local -- to figure out exactly how this tragedy happened."

He went on.

"I think all of us have to do some soul searching to figure out how does something like this happen," said Obama. "And that means we examine the laws and the context for what happened, as well as the specifics of the incident."

The latter point may, in the end, be the most politically consequential. George Zimmerman, the man who shot Martin in late February, has avoided arrest by evoking the Stand Your Ground law in Florida, which allows individuals broad latitude to claim self defense in wielding a firearm. Florida is one of 21 states with such laws, which have since come under intense scrutiny even by previous supports. Prior to that law being passed in Florida there were 13 "justified" killings in the state each year. Since then, there have been 36.

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Time for Republican voters to
WAKE UP !

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GOP Unveils Plan to Cut Medicare,

Medicaid, Food Stamps and More !

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Paul Ryan, the Republican chairman of the House Budget Committee, unveiled his latest plan to slash spending Tuesday, returning to his controversial proposal to cut Medicare in part by privatizing the system that provides health care to the elderly.

His budget plan -- which Congress will not enact, but which offers an election-year blueprint for the GOP to tout as evidence of fiscal responsibility -- would set just two income tax rates of 10 percent and 25 percent and a corporate rate of 25 percent, while eliminating many deductions and loopholes. Ryan promised the tax reforms would be "revenue neutral."

But the flash point is likely to be the Wisconsin lawmaker's proposal to begin offering retirees the option of switching to a privatized Medicare system in which beneficiaries receive "premium support" from the government permitting them to buy insurance on the open market. Democrats hammered that proposal last year as ending Medicare as we know it. Ryan cast it as saving the program and controlling costs through competition.

"We propose to save and strengthen Medicare by taking the power away from bureaucrats," said Ryan as he rolled out his proposal Tuesday on Capitol Hill. "We believe competition and choice should be the way forward."

Ryan's budget would cut Medicare by $205 billion compared to President Barack Obama's budget, according to the documents he handed out.

Democrats pounced.

"A Republican budget to end Medicare is a Republican budget to end Medicare, no matter what you call it," said Eddie Vale, a spokesman with the Democrat-aligned Protect Your Care. "Paul Ryan can claim a tweak here or a tweak there from his last budget that ended Medicare. He can try to latch onto a new co-sponsor. But no window dressing can change the fact that, at its heart, his budget is a plan to end Medicare by ending the way the program has worked successfully for decades and throwing seniors out onto the mercy of the private insurance companies."

Also likely to generate opposition are plans to to dramatically cut other safety net programs, including food stamps and Medicaid, both of which would be converted to block grant programs that would be run at the discretion of individual states. Medicaid would lose $770 billion compared to Obama's budget, according to Ryan's documents. (read rest of article)

The GOP MUST Be Stopped...

GET FIRED UP !!!

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Get Fired Up !

We at B4B had taken a bit of an hiatus during this GOP primary 'silly season' to get re-energized and now we're back. Although all of the Republican candidates are absolutely horrible (as you know) and seem totally unelectable, we must all be mindful of the absolute fact that if we don't get fired up from coast to coast...one of these Republi-clowns could become the next president simply due to our own complacency. That's what happened in the 2008 midterm elections in which the Dems received the biggest beatdown in modern day history resulting in us losing the House and many Governorships. We can't make that mistake this next election in November. So Get Fired Up.....tell your friends to Get Fired Up too ! The time is Now to Fight as if our lives depended upon it.....because it does ! By the way our site's new web address is Blacks4Barack.net. Please tell all your friends to visit our site to sign up for our instant emails. Remember, Be Inspired...Be Informed...Be Involved !!! And Thank You for all that you do.
(Greg Jones)

It's Warrior Time !
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