Attorney General Eric Holder, the
IRS, and the liberal lawyers at the ACLU will brief several hundred
pastors in the African American community on how to participate in the
presidential election -- which the Congressional Black Caucus chair
expects will help President Obama's campaign.
"We will have representatives from nine denominations who actually
pastor somewhere in the neighborhood of about 10 million people, and
we're going to first of all equip them with the information they need to
know about what they can say and what they cannot say in the church
that would violate their 501c3 status with the IRS," Rep. Emanuel
Cleaver, D-Mo., told MSNBC today.
"In fact, we're going to have the IRS administrator there, we're
going to have the Attorney General Eric Holder there, we're going to
have the lawyers' organization from around the country, the ACLU -- all
giving ministers guidance about what they can and cannot do," he noted.
Cleaver said they would not tell pastors which candidate to support.
They will let them know who to regard as the bad guys, though (hint: not
Democrats). "We're going to talk about some of the draconian laws that
have cropped up around the country as a result of the 17 percent
increase in African American votes," Cleaver said, describing voter ID
laws as a form of Jim Crow-style "poll tax" on seniors and black voters.
The CBC chairman is confident that "President Obama is going to get
95 percent of the [African American] vote," and wants to keep that
turnout high. "We want to let them know that there is a theological
responsibility to participate in the political process, at least in the
Judeo-Christian tradition," he said.
Consumer confidence plunges in May
Updated: May 29, 2012 - 10:23AM
AP
NEW YORK -Americans' confidence in the economy in May had
its biggest drop in eight months as consumers fretted about slow hiring,
a big stock market drop and the global economy, says a private research
group.
The Conference Board says its Consumer Confidence Index now stands at 64.9, down from a revised 68.7 in April. It was the biggest drop since October 2011.
Economists were expecting a reading of 70, according to a FactSet poll of analysts. The current level is below February's 71.6, which is the highest level it's been in a year.
Consumer confidence is widely watched because consumer spending accounts for 70 percent of economic activity. The measure is significantly below the 90 reading that indicates a healthy economy. But the current level is well above the 40 it hit last October.
But the latest reading is expected to be well above the 40 figure reached last October and the all-time low of 25.3 in February 2009.
Unclear sailing for John F. Kerry
The Conference Board says its Consumer Confidence Index now stands at 64.9, down from a revised 68.7 in April. It was the biggest drop since October 2011.
Economists were expecting a reading of 70, according to a FactSet poll of analysts. The current level is below February's 71.6, which is the highest level it's been in a year.
Consumer confidence is widely watched because consumer spending accounts for 70 percent of economic activity. The measure is significantly below the 90 reading that indicates a healthy economy. But the current level is well above the 40 it hit last October.
But the latest reading is expected to be well above the 40 figure reached last October and the all-time low of 25.3 in February 2009.
Unclear sailing for John F. Kerry
But when the Herald called the Nantucket tax collector’s office last
week, there was no record of any bills or payments in Kerry’s name. A
spokeswoman for Kerry said the senator’s accountant had tried repeatedly
to get the tax bill from Nantucket, but couldn’t get a response. The
taxes, amounting to roughly $100, were finally paid in full last
December, according to Kerry’s office.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1061134921
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