Beyond the Rhetoric
A crack in the CBC anti-business wall
By Harry C. Alford NNPA Columnist
The Congressional Black Caucus in its short history has basically been a bastion of progressive or liberal thinkers. Of the 42 members who can vote, their record collectively has been on a pro-socialistic direction. All of them are a part of the Democratic Party and will march with President Obama’s agenda regardless of what harm it will do to Black Americans. The Republican Party has one person, Senator Tim Scott (S.C.) eligible to join the CBC. But Senator Scott has refused. Two Delegates, Eleanor Holmes Norton (D.C.) and Donna Christensen (VI), are not allowed to vote.
Recently, the Small Business Entrepreneurs Council published its annual “Vote Ratings.” The ratings are based on the vote each member made on bills concerning pro-business. This year there have been 20 such bills and the scores range from 0 percent to 100 percent. I had assumed that hardly any of the CBC members would score 100 percent but there would be some with relative high percentages. By the way, Senator Tim Scott received a rating of 100 percent.
In contrast, Senator Corey Booker (N.J.) received a rating of 100 percent. The highest score received by a CBC member is Rep. Sanford Bishop (Ga.) at 67 percent. No other CBC member received a rating higher than 35 percent.
This is pretty one sided and it makes them quite predictable. We have CBC members with MBA degrees who vote anti – business.
You cannot really be a good negotiator if your decisions are going to be predictable. Your opponent has a great advantage in knowing how you are going to act. That is a big problem with Black America. A vast majority of us go in the same direction – Democrat. Hispanics and Asians on the other hand will vote on the issues, not on the party. Consequently, over the years, they traditionally get far more consideration from their elected officials. That means they receive better representation because their elected officials know they can be fired.
For the most part, our Black congresspersons are in “safe” districts and once they are elected they will stay there until something unexpected happens. Death, indictment, scandal, etc. are the things that usually replace them, not another candidate. There have been a few examples to the contrary such as when Artur Davis knocked Earl Hilliard from his Alabama House seat. From that point on, the Democratic Party went after Davis.
Black Americans should be demanding much more. We get very little for supporting someone without expecting them to work hard and bring home some results. Our neighborhoods are blighted and it seems to get worse each year. Our poverty levels are about the same as they were when the Democratic Party declared “War on Poverty” back in the early 1960’s. Our healthcare remains deplorable and our educational levels are far less than other segments of our nation’s population. Why do we take poor performance so lightly?
Until we start voting out elected officials for nonperformance there will be no effective leadership representing us.
If the CBC would become at least nonpredictable and start voting on legislation that would enhance business (jobs, health, wealth), our communities would begin changing. Imagine if our unemployment rates were just equal to the national average. Our quality of life would improve dramatically. I pray to see the day that some of the CBC would not follow the Democratic leadership on every issue whether it hurts us or not. There are some who do on a few issues but not nearly enough to make a difference. If it hurts us why do they go along with it?
They are so loyal but are disrespected. I believe it is more than a coincidence that the wealthy members of Congress are white and the poorest members are Black. How do many of our White elected officials stay decades in office and become multi-millionaires while their Black counterparts stay broke? Representing wealthy districts makes an elected official wealthy. Representing poverty keeps an elected official broke. The way out of this is to economically empower a district which will make that official economically improve also. Instead of waging a “war on poverty” we need to wage a “love affair with wealth building.” Our preachers do it and it is with our money!
There is hope. Recently, CBC member Bobby Rush (Chicago) wrote a pro-business bill. He wrote it and immediately got sponsorship from a noticeable number of Republican members along with Democrats to co-sponsor the bill. He is looking like a hero and hopefully this could start a new movement by the rest of the CBC. It is time for a positive change. Maybe, just maybe it can start on Capitol Hill and catch on throughout our great nation. Black America would change for the better.
