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Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) members on Wednesday criticized the Obama administration for not doing enough to help African-Americans through the bleak economy. Soon after withholding their votes on a wide-ranging financial services bill, 10 CBC members said they are pressuring the White House to do more. The House Financial Services Committee voted 31-27 in favor of the bill, but the lawmakers’ boycott came on a major financial measure the administration wants to see Congress pass this month. “We have not been forceful enough in our efforts to protect the most vulnerable of our population,” said Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), who...

WASHINGTON -- The rift over economic policy between the Obama administration and the Congressional Black Caucus appeared to widen on Wednesday, when a meeting between several lawmakers and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel ended without an agreement and the lawmakers refused to attend a morning committee vote to overhaul financial rules. The group's effort to block a vote on the financial regulations could have derailed a major White House priority. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D., Mass.) narrowly managed to pass the bill without the panel's 10 Congressional Black Caucus members. Mr. Frank said he spoke...

When I heard this on the radio on the drive home the first thing I thought was, I’ll bet they’re democrats (socialist) and huge Obama supporters. Walter Kendall Myers, 72, aided by his wife Gwendolyn Myers, 71, used his Top Secret security clearance to pass on classified information to the Cuban government and at one point met with Cuban leader Fidel Castro, according to court documents. The two were charged with conspiracy to act as illegal agents of the Cuban government and to communicate classified information to Cuba, the Justice Department said. They were also charged with wire fraud and...

First there was a resolution to take a privilege away from a member of Congress due to his corrupt behavior: House Members Wednesday will have to cast a recorded vote on whether it is acceptable for Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-NY) to evade federal taxes for over a decade, and yet pay none of the penalties and interest charges that the IRS piles on the average American taxpayer for far less serious offenses. House Republican Conference Secretary John Carter (R-TX) this morning is introducing a Privileged Resolution calling for Rangel to be removed as Chairman of the committee...

Obama Addresses Hitler Reference on Health Debate at Black Caucus Conference Obama's remarks about Nazi leader Adolf Hitler referred to signs some people have waved outside of often testy town hall meetings around the country this summer where lawmakers discussed changing health care. Saturday, September 26, 2009 President Obama delivers his remarks at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Annual Phoenix Awards dinner. WASHINGTON -- President Obama on Saturday resumed his push to overhaul the health care system, telling a Congressional Black Caucus conference that there comes a time when "the cup of endurance runs over." "We have been waiting for...

Have you seen this article For the Black Caucus, New Power and an Urgency in Using It? Seems to me like that's exactly what the WaPo came dangerously close to admitting to.

WASHINGTON -- Reparation for the legacy of slavery and peonage may not come in the form of a check, but it must come, speakers said Friday at a forum sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation....Others said the apology for slavery that the House passed last year and the Senate passed this year were good first steps, and singled out U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., who was on Friday's panel, for authoring the House resolution... [snip]

Is there a civil war brewing in the Democratic Party? Two of President Obama's most supportive Caucuses sent the POTUS threatening letters today. Upset with the word that the President was backing away from the Obamacare Public option, both The Congressional Black Caucus and the Progressive Caucus both sent the President letters saying the "backing away" better be nothing but a false rumor. Oh and they don't a place holding, in name only public option, the word they use is robust. There are also reports of a compromise plan in the Senate where the public option would be triggered if...

The Congressional Black Caucus has joined other liberal Democrats and left wing groups by launching their own attacks against fellow Democrats who have expressed concern over the cost of Obama's national health care proposal. From the Politico The Congressional Black Caucus is blasting away at Blue Dog Democrats and other fiscal conservatives in their own party for making "spurious" claims about the high cost of the House health reform plan, POLITICO has learned. The issue isn't about race, aides tell me. It's about the CBC, which represents some of the most progressive members in the House, wanting to have a...

On Monday, President Barack Obama signed into law the nation’s strongest ever anti-smoking law. The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act will ban flavored forms of tobacco — with the exception of menthol-flavored cigarettes. Now, some observers are asking whether the Congressional Black Caucus’s close ties to the cigarette industry may have played a role in the menthol exemption. Menthol-flavored cigarettes are by far the most popular form of flavored tobacco in the United States. Menthol cigarettes account for some 30 percent of the U.S. cigarette market and are preferred by almost 75 percent of black smokers.

Note: The following text is a quote: Attorney General Holder’s Remarks for the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice and Congressional Black Caucus Symposium “Rethinking Federal Sentencing Policy 25th Anniversary of the Sentencing Reform Act” Washington, D.C. Wednesday, June 24, 2009 Congressman Conyers, thank you for your kind introduction. It is my pleasure to join this esteemed group of federal judges, academics, sentencing practitioners, advocates, and Members of Congress. The Congressional Black Caucus and Harvard Law School’s Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice deserve enormous credit for hosting this important and timely event. The CBC has...

Could you imagine Democrats rushing to his rescue if Rush Limbaugh needed a bailout? Even if he was a black man (Alan Keyes), or Asian (Michelle Malkin), or Hispanic (Linda Chavez)? Would a conservative minority broadcaster get a helping hand from Democrats if his or her station were failing? How naive do you have to be to say "sure, they would." Democrats seek financial rescue of minority-owned broadcastersBy Silla Brush Posted: 05/19/09 High-ranking House Democrats are urging the Treasury Department to prop up minority-owned broadcasters suffering from a lack of capital and lost advertising revenue amid the economic slump. House...

In the recent past, this column has looked in some detail at ACORN Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. This corrupt organization which is a favorite of Democrats has spread its web of deceit and graft far into the depths of congress. ACORN’s most solid backers lay within the Congressional Black Caucus. This group of people in congress is exclusively black and democrat and they have a specific agenda. Keeping the black community poor and dependent on government while they publically state they are out to change people’s lives for the better. Better if you define that as creating...

"This is the beginning of a new day! In my household [Fidel] is known as the ultimate survivor." Fidel himself, in a letter in the state-run Granma newspaper, saluted "this legislative group. The aura of Martin Luther King is accompanying them." To others of us who honor King, there is a barely surviving black Cuban disciple of King (and Mohandas Gandhi) whom the caucus visitors did not meet because he has been in a Castro brothers' cage for many years and was off-limits to them. He is Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet, and he is among those designated by Amnesty International...

Last week, seven members of the Congressional Black Caucus...returned from a visit to Cuba where they met with the dictators of Cuba, Fidel and Raul Castro. They were quite impressed with Fidel Castro...

Key members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) who visited Cuba called their meeting with dictator Fidel Castro “exhilarating,” “very informative,” and “the opportunity of a lifetime.” CBC Chairwoman Barbara Lee (D-Calif) praised Castro as “an extraordinarily warm person. He rose to greet me, kissed my hand and offered me the very chair he had been sitting in when we first entered the room. This is not the behavior of a mass murderer. Clearly Castro has been maligned by his right-wing critics.” Representative Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) compared his conversation with Castro to “talking with an old friend. The story of...

The Congressional Black Caucus delegation that visited Havana last week was naive not to notice -- or disingenuous not to acknowledge -- that Cuba is hardly the paradise of racial harmony and equality it pretends to be. Still, that's no reason for the United States to continue the illogical, ineffective, hard-line policies that have produced an unbroken 47-year record of failure. President Obama's action yesterday -- he eased some restrictions on travel, gifts and remittances, but only for Cuban Americans -- is barely a start. He should go so far as to actually base our Cuba policy on reality. After...

Dear Dina Titus, As you probably know, a group of eleven congressmen belonging to the” black caucus” visited Cuba recently. Three of them were able to speak personally to the dictator and his brother, one of them, Barbara Lee of Ca. expressed admiration for the hideous despot and his brother; other clowns belonging to this group did the same. Not one of these clowns uttered a word about the Cuban dissidents, many of them black and many suffering undeserved prison; just for thinking differently to the dictatorship. I am very sickened and upset to see these people wasting time and...

The same old Communists, with the same old communist agenda, but a new friendlier face called "progress," now control the US government. The time has come to name names! Think I'm kidding? Connect the obvious dots! (snip) Still Wondering... Why today's Democrats seem more like communists than classic liberals? Today's Democrat Party is controlled by the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the official legislative arm of the Democratic Socialists of America.

Six members of the Congressional Black Caucus traveled to Cuba last week and were delighted with their reception. They met with Raúl Castro for four hours (including dinner). Three lucky members of the delegation were even entertained by Fidel at his home. As the Miami Herald reported, the representatives found Castro to be “very engaging, very energetic . . . very talkative.” Imagine. The dictator known for his five-hour speeches. Who could have guessed? Rep. Laura Richardson (D., Calif.) was impressed that Castro knew her name and her district. “He looked right into my eyes,” she gushed, “and he said,...

Cuba's atrocious record on race was somehow overlooked by the Congressional Black Caucus. Last week the Stalinist regime that jailed and tortured the longest suffering black political prisoner in modern history (Eusebio Penalver) rolled out the red carpet for 6 smitten members of the CBC. All of these U.S. legislators met with "President" Raul Castro while a lucky three secured back-stage passes to meet Fidel himself. Not since Ann Margaret's reaction to Conrad Birdie's kiss has anything been recorded to match these U.S. legislators' reaction to these meetings. "He looked directly into my eyes!" gasped Rep. Laura Richardson (D-Ca.) "and...

Here is video of Congresswoman Barbara Lee talking about the Congressional Black Caucus' recent trip to Cuba to meet with Fidel and Raul Castro. They came back singing the praises of Cuba and are recommending President Obama move forward with possibly lifting the 50-year old embargo on Cuba and normalizing relations with them. Of course, they did not even attempt to meet with anyone outside the Castro cabal to determine what kind of human rights abuses persist in the Castro dictatorship. . . . . (Watch Video)

While the leftist American press kept public attention focused upon Obama's International Apology Hajj, working around the clock to put a positive spin on Obama's failed Throw America Under the Bus Tour abroad, another important and equally dastardly trip was taking place below the average American's radar... (snip) The Founders told us how to deal with such internal threats to freedom and liberty... What are we waiting for?

HAVANA -- A "very healthy, very energetic" Fidel Castro asked visiting Congressional Black Caucus members what Cuba could do to help President Barack Obama improve bilateral relations during his first meeting with U.S. officials since falling ill in 2006. Caucus leader Rep. Barbara Lee, a Democrat from California, said the ailing former Cuban president talked for nearly two hours with her and two other delegation members on Tuesday in a meeting seen as signaling Cuba's willingness to discuss better relations with the United States. "We believe it is time to open dialogue and discussion with Cuba," Lee told a news...

Former Cuban President Fidel Castro has held a meeting with three members of the US House of Representatives. The event was his first known meeting with US officials since he underwent emergency intestinal surgery in 2006. Castro has not been seen in public since he was taken ill, and ceded power to his brother Raul last year. Analysts say the meeting indicates an increased willingness on the part of Cubans and Americans to resolve tensions between the two countries. A seven-strong team of congressional Democrats is currently in Cuba, looking into ways to improve US-Cuban relations, but only three of...

WASHINGTON -- Anh "Joseph" Cao beat long odds when he defeated Rep. William Jefferson to win a seat in Congress. His bid to join the Congressional Black Caucus might be even more difficult. -snip-Since its founding in 1971 by 13 black members of Congress, the caucus has never had a member who was not African-American. And the caucus has had only one Republican member -- Gary Franks, a former representative from Connecticut -- and that ended in acrimony. Another former black Republican in Congress, J.C. Watts of Oklahoma, chose not to join the caucus.-snip-"If the purpose of the caucus is...

Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, was announced as chairwoman-elect of the Congressional Black Caucus at a Capitol Hill news conference Wednesday. She takes the 42-member caucus' reins as its power seems ascendant. Members will lead the House Judiciary, Homeland Security and Ways and Means committees in the 111th Congress; another, Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., will be the majority whip; and all of them will work in tandem with the nation's first black president, Barack Obama, of whom Lee was an early and ardent supporter. "We have many, many challenges, but those challenges do present historic opportunities," she said Wednesday. "When you...

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Is the Congressional Black Caucus still "The Conscious of the Congress?" If American voters were to visit the caucus' Web site, they would learn that what black lawmakers are not saying is far more crucial to their interests than what they have said. The Aug. 20 caucus comments on the death of Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones notwithstanding, much is lacking. There are no official statements on America's financial crisis. Visitors are not directed to a post-convention agenda. In fact, when inquiring minds want to know what, precisely, the caucus has been up to during the 110th Congress, and how effective...

How Democrat Thieves Looted Fannie Mae and Freddie MacSeptember 18, 2008 BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: The McCain camp is accusing Obama of cheering on this discord on Wall Street, cheering on the financial mess, trying to actually make it worse, trying to make people feel more upset -- of course, what's hard to understand about that? They want you suffering; they want you in panic; they want you hurting, ladies and gentlemen. That's the nature of liberalism. And they asked Obama, "What do you think about the AIG bailout?" He didn't have a word to say? He had nothing to say...

One of the oddest stories I have come across about Obama, found on page 160 of David Mendell's Obama: From Promise to Power: But what truly struck [Jeremiah] Wright from that [September 2002] meeting was Obama's astonishment over the [Congressional] black caucus event in Washington. It opened Wright's eyes once again to just how innocent and idealistic Obama could be about the world of politics. The conference was nothing like what Obama had envisoned, but it was exactly the way Wright, a former adviser to Chicago's only black mayor, Harold Washington, recalled it. "He had gone down there to get...

The Clinton Campaign today announced the endorsement of Texas Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee and named her a National Campaign Co-Chair and Gulf States Regional Co-Chair. "I am pleased today to endorse Hillary Rodham Clinton for President," Jackson Lee said. "Senator Clinton has a great love for America and has a deep understanding of the issues that face our nation. I look forward to having a strategic role in the campaign and helping this dedicated public servant become the next President of the United States." Jackson Lee is in her seventh term in Congress, and is Co-Chair of the Congressional Children's...

Botswana: Senator Jefferson Graces Nchindo Charge SheetMmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone) 10 January 2008 Posted to the web 10 January 2008 Tshireletso Motlogelwa The embattled United States Senator, William Jefferson has turned up in the charge sheet brought by the prosecution against former Debswana chief executive, Louis Nchindo and other senior members of the company. Jefferson, who late last year was served with a 95 page long indictment by the US department of justice on a wide range of criminal charges relating to his various trips to Africa, visited Botswana a few years ago on two occasions. Late last year, the media...

<p>Haiti's government, while controlled by President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his party, spent $7.3 million between 1997 and 2002 lobbying the U.S. government as more than 80 percent of the country was impoverished.</p> <p>During this time, U.S. funding to Haiti — a typical measure of lobbying success — declined, and its economy foundered, fueling his opposition's successful effort to depose Mr. Aristide last week for the second time in 15 years.</p>

I Was Kidnaped"--Aristide "I was kidnaped by U.S. Marines and forced to leave Haiti," Jean-Bertrand Aristide told Congresswoman Maxine Waters in a phone call Monday morning from the Central African Republic. "I did not resign." Photo: President Aristide lofting flag during bicentennial celebration. Waters said that Aristide told her that the U.S. "completed the coup and forced him out of office." Speaking to Amy Goodman on Democracy Now, Waters said that Aristide sounded angry and outraged about what had happened. "He said he and his wife were surrounded by military personnel and not allowed to make calls. ‘It's like being...

Meeting Assembled By Conyers Mulls Seeking Bush's Impeachment Over Iraq Thu Mar 13 2003 10:30:03 ET House Judiciary ranking member John Conyers (D-Mich.) assembled more than two-dozen prominent liberal attorneys and legal scholars on Tuesday to mull over articles of impeachment drafted against President Bush by activists seeking to block military action against Saddam Hussein. ROLL CALL is reporting on Thursday. MORE The two-hour session, which featured former attorney general-turned-activist Ramsey Clark, took place in the downtown office of a prominent Washington tort lawyer. Participants said Conyers, who hosted the meeting, was the only Member of Congress to attend. 'We...

The Legislative Black Caucus is a force at the General Assembly. It is a steady and sometimes effective advocate for causes, such as raising the minimum wage and funding historically black colleges, that at times face long odds. It can be a powerful voting bloc, particularly in the state House. Its members hold leadership positions on important legislative committees. But this week, the caucus has faced more questions about its nonprofit foundation than about votes or legislative work. The foundation collects donations from politicians, political committees and corporations to pay for college scholarships and an annual dinner and education conference....

IN THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN community, discussion, debate and uneasiness continue over how much the tide of new immigration impacts job opportunities. T. Willard Fair, president of the Greater Miami Urban League, criticized Senate Democrats for supporting the immigration bill while ignoring the concerns of African-Americans shut out of restaurant and other low-paying jobs because of immigrant labor. For that he was labeled a tool of right-wing anti-immigrant conservatives. The Congressional Black Caucus, which is on record as supporting access to citizenship, job training and fair wages for immigrants, is now finally getting around to forming a task force to address some...

RUSH: Here's what happened last night on the immigration bill, as written up by the AP and then I will give you the correct analysis of this. "A fragile compromise that would legalize millions of unlawful immigrants risks coming unraveled after the Senate voted early Thursday to place a five-year limit on a program meant to provide American employers with 200,000 temporary foreign workers annually. The 49-48 vote came two weeks after the Senate, also by a one-vote margin, rejected the same amendment by Senator Dorgan. The North Dakota Democrat says immigrants take many jobs Americans could fill." Now, why...

U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee vowed Saturday to stop Gov. Rick Perry's attempt to place Texas Southern University under conservatorship in the wake of the latest financial problems at the 11,000-student institution. Jackson Lee said she wants the U.S. Department of Education to intervene, alleging that conservatorship would be a strict violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, imposing "undue burdens on black students." The governor announced plans April 13 to appoint a conservator to control spending. The individual selected would also have the ability to fire and hire any employee, and to change the administrative...

Fox News Channel is announcing today that it has cut a deal with the Congressional Black Caucus Institute to sponsor two debates, one with Democrats and another with Republicans in the 2008 presidential race.

In the topsy-turvy world of CNN, Tom Tancredo's call to end racially-exclusive congressional caucuses might make him a . . . racist. A racist taking a page from Strom Thurmond's segregationist playbook, to boot. As reported here, in the wake of a Dem congressman who represents a 60% black district being excluded from the congressional Black Caucus because he's white, Tancredo today said: "It is utterly hypocritical for Congress to extol the virtues of a colorblind society while officially sanctioning caucuses that are based solely on race . . . If we are serious about achieving the goal of...

Black Caucus: Whites Not Allowed By: Josephine Hearn January 22, 2007 08:33 PM EST Freshman Rep. Stephen I. Cohen, D-Tenn., is not joining the Congressional Black Caucus after several current and former members made it clear that a white lawmaker was not welcome. "I think they're real happy I'm not going to join," said Cohen, who succeeded Rep. Harold Ford, D-Tenn., in a majority-black Memphis district. "It's their caucus and they do things their way. You don't force your way in. You need to be invited." Cohen said he became convinced that joining the caucus would be "a social faux...

The Congressional Black Caucus is planning to press Democratic leaders to reinstate Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) to the Ways and Means Committee, raising the thorny question of how leaders will handle the fate of Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va.), who has also come under ethical scrutiny. If incoming Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and fellow leaders decide to keep Jefferson off Ways and Means, they could open themselves to charges of following a double standard by allowing Mollohan to become chairman of an Appropriations subcommittee, as he is now poised to do. Top Democrats are dealing with questions regarding what to do...

Conyers, who is also black, said he "found no trace of racism during the investigation." He urged his colleagues to remove Hastings from the bench. He said, "[Hastings] is unfit to serveThe scuttlebutt circulating in Washington, DC is that Florida Rep. Alcee Hastings may become the next chairman of the House of Representative's Intelligence Committee. The Congressional Black Caucus has been pressuring the new House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to appoint blacks to key leadership positions and Hastings may benefit from the pressure on the radical left Pelosi. Besides Pelosi isn't too happy with the ranking committee member, Rep. Jane Harman....

Gubernatorial candidate and professional wiseacre Kinky Friedman was accused Wednesday of making another racially offensive remark _ this time in a year-old interview in which he said sexual predators should be thrown in prison and forced to "listen to a Negro talking to himself." The independent candidate already was under fire for referring to Hurricane Katrina evacuees in Texas "crackheads and thugs." ... The Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the Houston Chronicle have reported on an interview with Friedman that aired on CNBC last year in which the country singer and comedian was asked what to do with sexual predators. "Throw...

AUSTIN - Kinky Friedman has thrived on brash commentary, outlandish attire and crude humor. But some critics say the independent candidate for governor has gone too far with his comments about African-Americans. Friedman, in a video clip that some of his opponents began circulating Tuesday, calls Negro a “charming word” and uses it in an explanation of what he would do to sexual predators if elected governor of Texas in November. “Throw them in prison and throw away the key and make them listen to a Negro talking to himself,” Friedman said in the TV interview, which CNBC broadcast late...

If you have any extra time, perhaps you might want to call members of the Black Caucus and give your support to William Jefferson(D-LA). Perhaps you might want to express your outrage. Maxine Waters needs to lead them in storming Nancy Pelosi's office. Perhaps there could be a really fun food fight. Keep in mind that nothing has happened to Patrick Kennedy. ================================================================================ African American Members of the 109th United States Congress The Honorable G.K. Butterfield North Carolina, 1st District U.S. House of Representatives 413 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C.  20515 Ph: 202-225-3101 The Honorable Sanford D. Bishop, Jr....

New Orleans--Many believed it would be only a matter of time that race would be wedging the Congress William “Bill” Jefferson affair. The caucus chairman, Rep. Melvin Watt of North Carolina, told reporters that some black voters might ask why action was sought against "a black member of Congress" when there was neither precedent nor rule for it. Meaning? Reverse Racism. Just like in the O.J. Simpson case and the many affairs preceding and following. Give us a break. The absolute worse thing in the world is for Congressman Jefferson or anyone in his place to be playing the race...

RACE CARD in Jefferson case! Democratic leaders have decided to force Rep. William Jefferson off the Ways and Means Committee. The Congressional Black Caucus is accusing Pelosi & Co. of a racially-motivated double standard because Al Mollohan is still on the Appropriations committee. Rep. Mel Watt (D-N.C.) warns that this is "about to blow up in their face"! READ MORE