Daily Street Sheet

By Jeffery McNeil Economics is the study of choices and the consequences of the choices one makes.  As I look back on why I became poor, I can say with great candor that I made some pretty poor decisions. I didn't save or plan for the future. Every dollar that I came across I made it a ritual to spend it at the bar. I can take the easy road and make excuses for my shortcomings however I have taken responsibility for the part I played in my failures. To say that I have failed because I am black or that my parents were poor might gain me some pity and sympathy. However this would be dishonest to those who read my articles. Opportunities were presented to me but I squandered them. As I reflect other kids came from hardships far worse than the ones I faced, applied themselves, got educated and today are making good salaries  far above the minimum wage. Although I wasn't a great student in school, I have always been a student of human nature and have always managed t...

By Jeffery McNeil Vendor They say a Conservative is actually a liberal thats been mugged while they Conservatives are liberals thatbeen screwed. While I never considered myself a Conservative but a libertarian because I argue for freedom then having someone lord over top of me telling me how tolive my life. Sometimes I'm befuddled by the angry responses I occur when I tell fringes of the Democratic Party.you don't control me !!! Its been a fascination to the point of obsession why African-Americans support liberal positions when many minorities are further to the right on many issues than than Trump supporters. According to a Pew research poll 40% of African Americans oppose marriage equality , 52% believe abortion is morally wrong and many believe in a tighter border security on illegal immigration, along with stronger law enforcement in regards to crime. Truth is many Africans are Conservative but don't know it. T here is a conservative vein that runs deeply ...

Chris Christie’s historic victory in New Jersey proves that he is the most popular candidate in America. His numbers were at Nixonian levels by winning 51% of the Hispanic vote and garnering 21% of the Black vote. Even more impressive was winning moderates and independents by over by 66% as well as 32% of registered Democrats who crossed party lines to vote for Chris Christie. Like many Democrats that supported Chris Christie, I don't agree with him on everything. However I think he’s done a good job in New Jersey. I know the Governor has baggage, New Jersey is a blue state but Democrats such as former Governors Jon Corzine and Jim McGreevey have left the state with scandals, failing schools and  huge debt . Although many point to his battles with teachers unions, many Democratic mayors such as the popular Cory Booker, Adrian Fenty and Rahm Emanuel tried to destroy the teacher’s union also. The teachers battle needed to happen. New Jersey residents pay the highest property tax...

Vince Lombardi once said, “Winning isn't everything; it’s the only thing.” Is winning really the only thing that matters? Vince Lombardi’s name was synonymous with winning; he won six football championships and the first two Super Bowls. However, he paid a human toll. Vince Lombardi suffered from depression and an assortment of digestive disorders that contributed to his premature death at fifty-seven from colon cancer. The evidence is conclusive regarding what the winner-take-all mentality does to one's health and mental state, yet many adhere to the notion that the result is the only thing that matters. Nowhere is this attitude more pervasive than in corporate America. To the results-oriented boss who is driven by the bottom line without regard for the employee’s overall wellbeing, performance is all that matters. Effort isn't enough; if you don’t produce, you are replaced. In a world where all rewards go to the winner, there is a downside. Every...

Albert Einstein said “ Insanity is doing something over repeatedly and expecting different results. “ Tea Party insanity is running amok in Washington. Republicans realize they can't win fair elections anymore so they are trying to scrap the whole democratic process. However their temper tantrums are starting to spill over to the world economy and it’s time for the president to stop playing with these people and instill fear.   As someone that considers himself more conservative than liberal I encourage him to go rogue.  This is not the Republican Party of my childhood. As a resident in New Jersey, we had moderate Northeast Republicans like Christine Todd Whitman and Tom Keane. They believed in free markets but made an attempt to understand working people. They also had respect for the institution of government and those that disagreed with their point of view. My point of contention with the President is that a man concerned with his legacy hasn't learned ho...

During the Cold War many reformers and activists traveled to Russia to observe the Utopian society called “The Workers Paradise”. Officials of the Komitet Gosudarstvenno Bezopasnosti (KGB) would tour these crusaders through the Kremlin and show them Potemkin Villages; structures that mislead others into seeing a bright appearance instead of the realities that existed. One reality was starvation; brutality and massacres that were conducted daily on a grand scale. These optimistic idealists left Russia convinced that Marxism was a model vision for humanity. A world with no struggle nor class, wealth and property was abolished and everyone was equal.  Vladimir Lenin called these crusaders for causes they weren't fully aware of “useful idiots “. During The Great Depression the world was ripe for our most vulnerable to become “useful idiots” for populist and demagogues that eloquently preached of a better tomorrow. To many capitalism seemed heartless, barbaric and cruel. As m...

Time to get a new agenda by Jeffery McNeil After attending the commemoration of “The March On Washington ” and hearing the many speeches of progressives and civil rights activists.  I didn't feel the sense of history that many others felt, I left disillusioned and depressed for those who still adhere to the Civil Rights agenda of the sixties. I express gratitude for those who opened doors for me. I just believe seeing the black and white films of Selma and Birmingham are no longer inspirational, but depressing that many still rehash the same wounds from that period. The truth is that the civil rights agenda is outdated and the poor deserve much  better than those who claim to be their advocates. If the poor want to feel liberated they need to break away from these relics of the past. The protesters today remind me of football fans that reminisce about the 1959 Detroit Lions or 60 Philadelphia Eagles trying to relive their glory years as their current team suffer...