Do Politicians Really Want to Help Baltimore Residents or Win the War of Words?

Do politicians really care about economically distressed communities, or are they more concerned about who will “win” the war of words?

After Rep. Elijah Cummings criticized conditions at the southern border, which he apparently wasn’t as concerned about when Barack Obama was president, President Donald Trump said the city of Baltimore was more dangerous.

Rep. Cummings represents parts of Baltimore, including most of the majority black areas of Baltimore County.

The president called the city a “disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess,” and liberals lost their collective mind, even though some residents can attest to this description.

Residents constantly call the city to remove trash, no one shows up for months. Rats & roaches are a problem in almost every home. Illegal immigrants at the border live in better conditions than Americans in West Baltimore. This is @RepCummings district.

More to come… pic.twitter.com/rso3yxWh5f

— Kimberly Klacik (@kimKBaltimore) July 26, 2019

President Trump has taken action to help distressed areas like Baltimore. Rep. Cummings voted against the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which included an “Opportunity Zones” provision to provide tax incentives to encourage investment in economically distressed areas around the country.

After President Trump signed the tax bill into law, he created the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council.

When Trump tells the Truth about Baltimore he is called a racist.

Well… here it from the Baltimore residents themselves.

Truth is not racist. Yall need to stop and actually fix this crap.

Rt @kimKBaltimore pic.twitter.com/NYHdiMtoi0

— Brandon Tatum (@TheOfficerTatum) July 27, 2019

Star Parker, a free-market conservative, and founder and president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education, supports the president’s efforts to help distressed communities. She wrote:

There are 31 million people living in areas of high economic distress, now designated as “opportunity zones.” The average poverty rate in these zones is 28.7 percent. The average household income is 40 percent below the national average, and 36.5 percent of prime-age adults are not working. Fifty-six percent of these 31 million are non-white minorities.

The president’s new opportunity zone initiative, providing tax incentives to direct investment capital into these neighborhoods, aims to change realities with the same passion that the president spoke against socialism for the rest of the country in his State of the Union address.

In attendance when President Trump signed the executive order establishing the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council was Black Enterprise magazine founder Robert Johnson, who said he thinks the economy is doing great, and it’s particularly reaching populations that heretofore had very bad problems in terms of jobs and employments and the opportunities that come with employment.”

Johnson also gave the president credit for “moving the economy in a positive direction that’s benefiting a large amount of Americans.”