The Congressional Black Caucus is in a bind. The high unemployment number in the black community, currently at about 17 percent, is forcing the CBC to make a choice: Be more vocal in their criticism of President Obama, giving ammunition to the Tea Party, or stay silent and support the President and see their constituents continue to suffer. From the Miami Herald:
As the debate over jobs turns into the latest political tug-of-war, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri walks a careful but candid line.
As chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, he has been at odds with President Barack Obama over his administration's response to the soaring unemployment rate in the African-American community.
Nearing 17 percent, joblessness among blacks is at a three-decade high and almost twice the size of the overall unemployment rate. The black caucus wants the president to do more.
But the group's efforts are freighted with political sensitivities, given Obama's unique role as the first African-American occupant of the White House and the sometimes untethered animosity that his election has triggered.
"If (former President) Bill Clinton had been in the White House and had failed to address this problem, we probably would be marching on the White House," Cleaver said. "There is a less-volatile reaction in the CBC because nobody wants to do anything that would empower the people who hate the president."
Most folks don't hate the President personally. They don't support his policies because they are choking the economy. Zero job growth in August. People are hungry for jobs and income. Sadly, the CBC looks like they care more about President Obama's image than their constituents incomes. There's more:
As a former two-term mayor of Kansas City, the 66-year-old Cleaver knows something about the minefield of special interest politics. He also is a Methodist minister who still occasionally takes to the pulpit on Sundays when he is home.
In Congress since 2003, he has friends on both sides of the aisle and started the "Civility Caucus" several years ago to combat the deterioration of political etiquette in the House. It has nine members.
"He is a not a fire breather, that's not his style, and I don't think he is, or for that matter, the caucus is genuinely angry at Obama," said David Bositis, an expert on voting rights and black politics at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. "I think they know that Obama is doing everything he can."
Cleaver is a lifelong Democrat who prizes political loyalty, and the black unemployment dilemma has put him and the group he leads in the awkward position of criticizing the policies of a president they admire, but not the president himself.
"It's not personal," Cleaver said. "They're attacking his policies, or lack thereof, with regard to this gigantic unemployment problem among African-Americans. If we can't criticize a black president, then it's all over.
White House spokesman Kevin Lewis said that Obama shares the caucus's concerns and has pushed for programs to address them. He said that the unemployment insurance extension in the president's jobs bill, which caucus members have applauded, would help 1.4 million African-Americans, and his proposed payroll tax cut would help 20 million.
Lewis said Obama, who belonged to the caucus when he was a senator, has a good relationship with the group and will speak at its annual dinner next week.
Criticizing Obama's policies means criticizing Obama, Something the CBC is very reluctant to do. They should be angry about the High unemployment rate. Even Barbara Lee said it was unacceptable. Again, people want jobs more than unemployment benefits because those benefits just don't go far enough to cover monthly expenses. The Congressional Black Caucus will have to make a choice: Either be loyal to Obama and the Democrat Party, or their constituents who keep sending them back to Washington. They way things are going, they can't do both. Lastly, could the reason that Obama has done so little for the black community is because he feels he doesn't have to work for their votes?
Background Reading:
Miami Herald: Black caucus head treads line between criticizing, supporting Obama
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