GOP House Candidate On Civil Rights: ‘We Need To Get Our Federal Government Out Of The Way’

[jefferson_dem]

GOP House Candidate On Civil Rights: ‘We Need To Get Our Federal Government Out Of The Way’

OH-16 GOP nominee Jim Renacci

Fireworks occurred during a town hall in Canton, OH, last night when Rep. John Boccieri (D-OH) unexpectedly showed up at his Republican opponent’s public event. Challenger Jim Renacci and Boccieri sparred for about 70 minutes in an unofficial first debate. And ThinkProgress was in attendance.

During the event, an African-American constituent named Robert Thompson asked Renacci what he would do on the issue of civil rights. Renacci’s response: local control. He called civil rights “local issues” and said the solution is “to get our federal government out of the way” because “it’s not the federal government’s job”:

ROBERT THOMPSON: What is your position in regards to addressing those concerns. And again, I’m concerned about the civil rights and the diversity of your campaign in terms of why anybody of color should be in support of you as a congressman.

RENACCI: <...> A lot of the problems you’re talking about are local issues. And I’m also a firm believer that the federal government and our Constitution was based on freedom, and was based on the freedoms that our number one goal of our military is freedom. We need to get our federal government out of the way and we need to allow our local governments to become more involved in many of the issues you’re talking about. I don’t believe these are federal issues to come down. I believe the federal government’s number one goal is to protect our freedoms. So the answer to your question is I believe a lot of things need to come back to the local level, and I believe things like you’re talking about do need to go back to the local level. And they need to be looked at in the cities. I was a mayor of my community. I think those are important ways of looking at all that. It’s not the federal government’s job

Thompson astutely responded by pointing out that, “but for the federal government, we wouldn’t have had civil rights. … It took the federal government to come in and say ‘you can’t discriminate for housing, you can’t discriminate for jobs, you can’t discriminate for education.’” Local governments, Thompson concluded, “are the ones that were holding us back.”

<SNIP>

http://thinkprogress.org/2010/09/08/renacci-civil-rights/

[Roland99]

1. This quote is beyond rich >>>>

"I don’t believe these are federal issues to come down. I believe the federal government’s number one goal is to protect our freedoms."


Uh...where's the head spinning smiley?? :rofl:

[liberal N proud]

2. The republicans would have only one function of the federal government

WAR!

:nuke:

[prolesunited]

3. And keeping gays from getting married

and women from getting abortions.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

5. Don't forget guns....

Lovin' them some guns. Unmarried lesbians with AK-47's. The way the good lord intended.

[Kweli4Real]

4. So, I Guess the Protection of Civil Rights ...

is not about protecting freedom?

[theothersnippywshrub]

6. How very Republican. And Palinesque also too. n/t

[Bitwit1234]

7. Tsk tsk tsk so the state and counties should run the country

the more republicans you hear from the more you find out how damn stupid they are.