read the unofficial blog on the CBC CREW of 42!
The 5 BIGGEST LOW POINTS for the CBC of the 111th CONGRESS. When the New York Times via Eric Lipton remember this? attempts to turn being a "fund-raising powerhouse" (on the front page on a Sunday...) into a negative you know it probably has been an interesting two years. All in all, the CBC didn't do too badly over two years and that will be outlined in the next post. But let's confront the bad news first... The 5 Biggest Low Points for the Congressional Black Caucus during the 111th Congress...
read the unofficial blog on the CBC CREW of 42!
The 5 BIGGEST LOW POINTS of the 111th CONGRESS. When the New York Times via Eric Lipton remember this? attempts to turn being a "fund-raising powerhouse" (on the front page on a Sunday...) into a negative you know it probably has been an interesting two years. All in all, the CBC didn't do too badly over two years and that will be outlined in the next post. But let's confront the bad news first... The 5 Biggest Low Points for the Congressional Black Caucus during the 111th Congress...
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01. CBC Talks Jobs, White House Talks Something Else... From December of 2009 on, the CBC, led by Reps, Emanuel Cleaver and Chair Barbara Lee began to write, cajole, hold press conferences, show up at Mitch McConnell's office and generally beg and plead for attention regarding summer jobs for youth and 16% unemployment among blacks. After Thanksgiving of 2009, I clearly remember members of all shades coming back from the holiday and telling me what the biggest concern their constituents had was: JOBS. From the summer of 2009 to March of 2010 the White House was focused on one thing and one thing only: Health care. Health care and only health care. Since this was a major achievement for the party, the CBC and the White House that wasn't all bad. But ask yourself, what did the Democrats lose the House over? What issue continues to plague the country and subsequently, the Democratic party? When the CBC met with President Obama on jobs in March, the President told them of his long term employment strategy. That included job trained focused on a work force moving away from manufacturing. Anyone see evidence of that in policy?
02. The Censure of Charlie Rangel. Rep. Charles B. Rangel of New York, who came to Congress in 1971, reached the top of power to become one of the most powerful members of Congress at the start of the 111th Congress. This coincided with the historic presidency of the first African American to lead the U.S. Rangel is easily the most powerful black person to serve in the institution out of the 114 blacks who have been elected to Congress. That the most powerful of member of the CBC was stripped of the Chair of the one of the most powerful committees, Ways and Means, in March 2010 was enough to define disaster. For Rangel to later go on to become only the 23rd House member to be censured and the first in Congress in 27 years was quietly devastating. The episode will more than likely symbolize the closing of the door on the most powerful chapter of power for the CBC which began the day Barack Obama took the oath on January 20, 2009.
03. DC Voting Rights Blown Up. Exactly what reason is Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton here if not to work on and win voting rights for residents of the District of Columbia? In April 2010, DC voting rights went from being scheduled for debate on the floor of the House to being pulled off the floor in the space of two weeks. Why? Because, Del. Norton had a hissy fit with the National Rifle Association over something that, let's face it, would have made no difference one way or the other regarding gun crime in the Washington DC or the number of guns deaths. With President Obama not uttering a single word on the topic for two years and a GOP House taking control on Jan. 5, 2011, the window on this subject could be closed for another 15 to 20 years and this missed opportunity can only be viewed as a two-fisted blunder.
- Ethics Investigations. The National Legal and Policy Center never looked so good. At one point in 2009, all eight open ethics investigations conducted by either the Office of Congressional Ethics or the House Ethics Committee were focused on a black member of Congress. Most would be exonerated. The exonerated included Reps. Carolyn Kilpatrick, Yvette Clarke, Don Payne and Bennie Thompson among others. Incredibly in the eyes of his colleagues who have known him to be ethically particular, Rep. Mel Watt was named in a preliminary investigation by the Office of Congressional Ethics. Watt was soon exonerated. Since anyone can file an ethics complaint and two of the most powerful members of the CBC, Rangel and Waters, were implicated, it's difficult to believe those factors were completely unrelated particularly at a time when black lawmakers were taking control of four full committees and 16 subcommittees at the start of 2009. Regardless, the time and resources wasted on investigations -- most of which came up empty -- is staggering.
05. The Tax Deal. "When you think about it we paid a high price. A much higher price than we should have paid. There is gonna come a point in time when the chickens are going to come home to roost." — Rep. Elijah Cummings on the tax deal. The passing of the Obama/GOP "tax deal" symbolized two things simultaneously both of which are bad news for the Congressional Black Caucus, 24 of whom were against it: 1. That President Obama has completely given up on real, fundamental change in Washington, and 2. That the concerns of the poor middle class are likely to be marginalized in favor of "compromise," and bipartisanship. How did we get a 13 trillion dollar debt? Giving a tax cut to everyone, as we did in 2001 and operating two unfunded wars. Pres. Obama just continued the same policy. President Obama can no longer blame President Bush for the fiscal situation as he now enacts the same policies. As the President pointed out unemployment insurance and other benefits for low income people in the tax bill he forgot to mention that those same people will pay the price within 90 days as the new Congress begins cutting social programs. The nadir of this low point will come into full view during the 2011 budget debate.
read the unofficial blog on the CBC CREW of 42!