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                    All in the family
               Playing the name game to win over voters

By Tenisha Renee Miller
SUN NEWS EDITOR

  It’s not a family reunion, but families will unite when it comes to politics.

  Images of fathers and sons hugged up, deceased parents and grandparents, prominent relatives, and
then Senator Barack Obama posing with voters during his presidential campaign days is seen printed on
kicker cards. And, our dear candidate just happened to be in the picture. Right time and right place, so
snap. Let’s use that!

  They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but is it worth your vote?

  A good family name, not experience, has become the ticket to political success, especially in Michigan.
The trick is to slap a well-known family name on lawn signs and TV ads and hope voters will never figure
out that you’re not the real McCoy but his baby boy (or girl).

  Rep. Lamar Lemmons, Jr. and Coleman Young reportedly played the game well in the last election. Will
it work again? Today, we have Edgar Vann II running for state rep. George Cushingberry is running for
state rep and state senate. Did you know that one is the father and one is the son? Who is running for
what? Are you confused like I am?

  Are you voting for the candidate, a familiar name, or for their father, mother, grand parents and President
Obama? If
not, why are they on campaign kicker cards?

  Generally, when you see such pictures, it is to compensate for their lack of experience. Perhaps, voters
will vote for me based on my relatives’ accomplishments. Maybe, they won’t even notice that their so-
called experience is limited to the few paid positions and odd jobs the candidate has held or that this
person works for a relative’s company. Hey, connections are good, when it comes to employment. If not
for that relative, the candidate might have been jobless and broke like so many others in Michigan.

  Then again, it may not even matter, when it comes to playing the name game.

  Detroit voters in the past have chosen candidates based on familiar names, not experience. Some had
even taken on the attitude of “good trees must produce good fruit”. They don’t think about the rotten fruit
that may be growing on that same tree.

  Judge Mablean Ephriam often says during old episodes of Divorce Court to “dig deep, before you leap.”
But, many people are either failing to use the proper tools or don’t have any, and I’m not talking about a
shovel.

  On the flip side, there are some who have earned a name for themselves but lack experience. Some link
winning a
Grammy or NBA championship to winning a vote. Undeniably both have skills. But, can those skills be
used to erase the ills that Michigan residents are facing?

   Can they reduce unemployment, foreclosures, insurance redlining, homelessness, crime, high school
dropouts,
illiteracy, blight, teen pregnancy, DTE shut offs, water and sewerage costs, school closures, slow EMS
response times, poor public transportation services, insurance co-pays, and other woes? Will those
elected with such skills sing the blues with the rest of us, while others foul out of Detroit and Michigan?

  And, when does getting paid to do certain jobs equal community service and activism? What have you
done for free, for me or for those like me?

If voters don’t look beyond the name, we will end up with the same. So, who wins, when you’re playing
the name game?
              Politically correct?
By Tenisha Renee Miller
SUN NEWS EDITOR

  What have you done for me, lately?

  Janet Jackson asked the question back in 1986 on her “Control” album. But, some Michigan voters are
asking the same question today, as they prepare to go to the polls on August 3.

  When seriously pondering the question, there is both good and bad news.

  Four years ago about this time, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that
Michigan’s unemployment rate was 6.9 percent. The bad news is that number has nearly doubled. Today,
it notes that 13.6 percent of Michigan residents are out of work. The good news, if there’s any comfort, is
that 13.6 percent of people were out of work in 2009, indicating that things haven’t gotten any worse from
last year. And, Michigan has improved one position from having the worse unemployment in the country to
being ranked second behind Nevada, who reported a historical all-time high unemployment rate of 14
percent.

  Were you a homeowner two to four years ago and now you’re renting?

  Last year, Michigan ranked eighth in the country in foreclosures with 2.61 percent or 118,302 homes.
The good news is that at least you’re not homeless.

A report conducted by the Center for Responsible Lending reported “over 200,000 Michigan families
were behind on
their mortgage payments as of June, and more than 300,000 are expected to lose their homes to
foreclosure between now and 2012.”

  Insurance redlining has been discussed for several years. In 2006, insurance companies used zip
codes and credit scores to determine rates. Today, they still use zip codes and credit scores to determine
rates. How is it that an 18-year-old driver residing in Canton can get into an accident and still pay less than
a 61-year-old driver in Detroit with a clean record? Why is the teen paying $800 a year and the older driver
$2,300? While we think about the answer, lawmakers will keep talking about the problem. All talk and no
action leads to voter dissatisfaction.

  Has your quality of life improved, since the last election? Do you have more peace of mind, when going
home? If you answered yes, is it because you’ve just completed a CCW class, and you’re strapped for the
next attack?

  The good news through all of this is that someone has a good paying job - the person that you elected
into office. Perhaps, that person can lend or spare a few dollars when DTE comes to shut off your lights
and gas. When one is delinquent, both are shut off. Or, maybe that lawmaker can gas up your vehicle to
drive Ray Ray to school five miles away, buy a bag of groceries or pay for your prescription.

  What have you done for me, lately? I hope your answer is politically correct on August 3.

COMMENTARY: Enslaved by a paycheck
By Belinda Wilkinson
SPECIAL TO THE SUN

  Are your elected officials enslaved by a paycheck, or are they truly committed to you?

   After campaigning and getting elected into one office, we find some elected officials campaigning for
another
higher paying position. This is done, while they are in the middle of their current term.

  We teach our children to finish their current task, before taking on a new one. Yet, those who are in
leadership positions are taking on the attitude, “Do what I say and not as I do.”

  For those on the School Board and Charter Commission seeking other offices, have you already given
up on our children and residents in the City of Detroit? What message are you sending out?

   If you can’t commit to us, then why should we commit to you?

  The desire for change may be an indication of your lack of value for voters’ time and efforts.

  Those who voted and campaigned for you took out time to help put you into office. In return, you’re calling
it quits. Now, you are looking for another job. Then, you want those same voters to use their time to go
back to the polls
and to vote you into a new position.

That’s crazy!

  If you can’t handle the responsibilities or are dissatisfied with the pay, then step down. Allow someone
who is truly committed to finish the job. Find another job outside of public office. Don’t try to increase your
paycheck at the expense of other hardworking voters.

  What happens, if you lose your election bid? Are you going to return to your old position?

  If so, then the workload and paycheck couldn’t have been that bad in the first place. I guess a small
check is better than no check.

  But, either way, the voters still lose.

  It does no good to have someone in the office who is a slave to the dollar and not to you.

Political