Why the Black Caucus is becoming relevant again

If President Obama cannot afford open displays of anger, let Maxine Waters do the job. If the Tea Party can fight, so can we

To its credit, the Obama administration fought in meaningful ways for health care reform and to repair broken public education. They believed that, in doing so, those reforms would help those who had been most negatively impacted by the most devastating economy downturn in modern times. They believed that if they were able to do the right thing for all Americans then black America would benefit too.

Today, African-Americans are disproportionately among the long-term unemployed. Sending our kids to college now takes a back seat to saving the house and putting food on the table. Going to the doctor for routine preventive medical services is no longer an option when we’re trying to stave off bankruptcy. If America has a cold, black America has pneumonia. And unfortunately, there is no specific and concerted effort to do anything about it. There is no black agenda. Not now, not since Dr. King was alive. Not from this Congress, not from this White House.

The reality is the Oval Office isn’t where hope and change happens. But what no one calculated, including the CBC, is that an obstructionist Congress would spend more energy trying to regain power than putting America back to work, that political agendas would come before economic healing. No one, not even President Obama and his studied advisors, believed for a moment that the Tea Party would be willing to roll our economy off a cliff than see the wealthiest Americans pay a narrow dime in taxes.

Read more…