Tag Archives: Congressional Black Caucus

Two Mislabeled Caucuses

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On Wednesday, Townhall reported that Mayra Flores (R-TX) was prevented from joining the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC). Also, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) was prevented from joining the Congressional Black Caucus last year. According to their ethnicity, both of these Congressmen should have been members of their respective caucuses.

The article reports:

According to those familiar with the situation, Flores requested to join CHC in early October and was rejected shortly thereafter. Flores is not only first Mexican-born woman to serve in Congress, but she also represents a district along the U.S.-Mexico border that is overwhelmingly Latino. CHC used to have Republicans members but they went on to create the Congressional Hispanic Conference as their own version of the CHC in the 2000s.

The CHC’s website websites states the Caucus “addresses national and international issues and crafts policies that impact the Hispanic community. The function of the Caucus is to serve as a forum for the Hispanic Members of Congress to coalesce around a collective legislative agenda.”

The website does not state in its “About” section that only Democrats can join the organization.

“As the first Mexican-born Congresswoman to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, I thought joining the Congressional Hispanic Caucus would be a constructive way to build bridges and work in a bipartisan manner on behalf of our constituents. I was wrong. This denial once again proves a bias towards conservative Latinas that don’t fit their narrative or ideology,” Flores told Townhall.

Why bother to have a Congressional Hispanic Caucus or a Congressional Black Caucus if you are not willing to have everyone from those communities who have been elected to Congress participate?

Is An “Ism” Always Responsible For A Loss?

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Am I the only one tired of hearing some ‘ism’ blamed for the loss of an election or the loss of a position? Well, it happened again today.

The Washington Free Beacon reported today that Representative Barbara Lee will be replaced as Democratic caucus head by Representative Hakeem Jeffries from New York.

The article reports:

Rep. Barbara Lee (D., Calif.) on Wednesday attributed her loss in the Democratic caucus chair race to ageism and sexism, saying she “absolutely” believes she lost because of discrimination.

Earlier in the morning, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.) defeated Lee, a fellow Congressional Black Caucus member, with a vote of 123-113. The Democratic Caucus chair is the fifth most powerful position in House Democratic leadership.

Huffington Post reporter Matt Fuller asked Lee, 72, after the loss whether she believed “ageism or sexism played a part in this race.”

“Well, I think you heard and saw what took place. So I absolutely think that’s the case,” Lee said.

…Jeffries appeared on MSNBC’s “Meet the Press Daily” on Monday, where he told fill-in host Katy Tur that he has “nothing but respect for Barbara Lee” but he believed he was in a better position to “help the caucus maintain its message, discipline, the operational unity, get things done on behalf of the American people.”

Tur asked about some of the Democratic leaders, including Lee, being older and whether Jeffries believed there needed to be somebody younger in a leadership position.

“I made clear I’m not running against anyone,” Jeffries said. “I am running for the House leadership position.”

Jeffries has been in office since 2013 and Lee, since 1998.

It’s nice to see someone other than Republicans being accused of ‘isms.’

It Only Matters When It Can Be Weaponized

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The political left loves to scream that President Trump has a bad attitude toward women or that Judge Kavanaugh was guilty of sexual assault and should therefore be disqualified as a judge, but how good are they at policing their own. If last night’s election results are any indication, not very good.

Fox News posted an article today reminding us that four of the Democrat candidates who won their elections last night are facing sexual misconduct controversies.

The article reports:

House Reps. Keith Ellison, Tony Cárdenas and Bobby Scott, and Sen. Bob Menendez, all came out victorious on Tuesday, despite being accused of misconduct.

Their election raises questions whether the Democratic Party, which went all-out to stop now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in the face of assault claims and stressed the importance of believing women’s allegations, is selectively tapping into the #MeToo movement.

I guess #MeToo only matters if you are a Republican.

The article includes the names of the candidates and the charges:

Ellison, the deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), was one of the highest-profile candidates who won the election. He became the state attorney general in Minnesota despite allegations of domestic violence.

Karen Monahan, the Democrat’s former girlfriend, alleged that he once dragged her off a bed while shouting profanities and sent multiple abusive text messages. She also published a 2017 medical document that identified Ellison as the abuser who caused “emotional and physical abuse.”

…Cárdenas, a California Democrat, meanwhile, easily cruised to victory in the state’s 29th Congressional District, receiving nearly 80 percent of the vote, while being the subject of a lawsuit claiming he drugged and sexually assaulted a 16-year-old teenager in 2007.

A Los Angeles Superior Court ruled that “a reasonable and meritorious basis” existed for the case to proceed and Cárdenas was publicly identified as the accused person. He denied the accusations.

…Old allegations of misconduct also came back to haunt Menendez, the incumbent New Jersey senator, who won the closer-than-expected race as well.

Republican candidate Bob Hugin revived salacious allegations that Menendez had sex with underage prostitutes during past trips to the Dominican Republic.

…Virginia Democrat Bobby Scott won Virginia’s 3rd Congressional District thanks to nobody challenging him, even after he was accused of sexual misconduct in 2017.

A former Congressional Black Caucus Foundation fellow. M. Reese Everson, claimed that the congressman sexually harassed her in 2013, and that she was fired and blacklisted from further work on Capitol Hill after she refused his advances.

One standard for me, and one standard for thee.

Finally Some Common Sense

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If I didn’t know the source of this, I wouldn’t believe it. It looks as if common sense has finally made a visit to some members of Congress.

Townhall.com posted at article today about some recent comments by Representative Elijah Cummings (D-MD).

The article reports:

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) rejects his colleague John Lewis‘ (D-GA) assertion that Donald Trump is not a legitimate president. Lewis led the inauguration boycott last month that left about 70 seats empty at his swearing in ceremony. 

Cummings has repeatedly suggested that is the wrong attitude – not to mention unproductive.

“I think we have to work with him,” Cummings said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “I’ve got people who — you know, I keep telling people, this is our president. He’s going to be our president for the next four years. I’ve got people in my community who are suffering from cancer. They need treatment. I’ve got people who need jobs, and I’ve got to work with this president, but at the same time, there’s nobody that has been tougher on this president than I have been,” Cummings said.

Wow! I would go a step further. If you honestly feel that President Trump is doing something that is destructive to America, oppose him with everything you have. Otherwise, support  him fully.

Hopefully there will be a meeting soon between President Trump and Congressman Cummings and possibly a meeting between President Trump and the Congressional Black Caucus. A lot of the problems in the black community are also problems in the white community. It would be a beg step forward if all of us could work on solving the problems in both communities!

 

Removing Common Sense From The Small Business Loan Department

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Yesterday Investor’s Business Daily posted an article about a new regulation on small business lending. Before leaving office, President Obama is attempting to recreate the mortgage bubble that led to the crash of 2008. This time the crash will be created in the area of commercial loans to small businesses.

The article reports:

The White House complains minority-owned firms don’t have the same access to credit as others. But the result of this new political scrutiny is easy to see: Commercial lenders will be pressured to lower standards, leading to riskier lending and higher defaults (see: mortgage bust, ’08).

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has carved out a new executive-level position: “assistant director of small-business lending markets,” which will lead an unprecedented collection of race-based data about loans to “minority-owned businesses.”

Meanwhile, CFPB Director of Fair Lending Patrice Ficklin said the bureau is starting its first fair-lending-focused exams of business lenders. Specifically, regulators will look at “small-business loan underwriting criteria” to see if it has a discriminatory “disparate impact” on minority business owners applying for credit. Marketplace lending will also be under the microscope.

The move is a result of a letter written by 84 House Democrats and 19 Senate Democrats (comprised mostly of Congressional Black Caucus members) to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Cordray asking him to require all lending institutions to disclose the race of small-business owners who apply for loans and the outcome of loan applications. The supposed outcome of this is to remove ‘barriers to small-business creation.’ The actual outcome of this will be that risky loans will be required and banks and institutions that make small business loans will begin to lose money and threaten the economic health of the nation.

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren has asked Director Cordray to collect the data to make it easier to enforce fail lending laws. Again, we are going to be divided according to race rather than encouraged to work together.

Statistically African-American business owners are more likely to default on business loans. Banks and commercial lenders have to consider that when they make loans. This sort of interference with free market economics can only hurt the economy–not help it. I am against denying anyone a loan because of their race, but I am also against giving someone a loan because of their race. There can be some flexibility in granting these loans, but there also has to be some common sense in protecting the lenders and the people who finance the loans.

The article concludes:

Yet as with mortgages, the assumption is that underwriting standards are racist and must be made more flexible, risks be damned. Since business loans default at higher rates than mortgages, another government-sponsored financial crisis won’t be far behind.

Hold on to your hat.

Confusing Justice With Politics

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Investor’s Business Daily posted an article today showing the timeline of the arrest and trial of George Zimmerman. I haven’t written a lot about the George Zimmerman case because I think it is being hyped and used as a racial wedge issue.

However, the timeline in the article is revealing:

Feb. 26, 2012: Zimmerman shoots Martin, claiming self-defense; later released after police questioning.

March 12: Sanford, Fla., police chief insists there’s not enough evidence to charge Zimmerman, but turns investigation over to the state attorney’s office for review after protests from civil-rights groups.

March 20: Attorney General Holder launches investigation of police handling of case. U.S. prosecutors meet with Martin’s parents and the Rev. Al Sharpton.

March 22: Al Sharpton holds rally, yelling: “We came for permanent justice. Arrest Zimmerman now!”

March 22: Florida Gov. Rick Scott puts Corey on case; Corey decides not to let grand jury review evidence.

March 23: In White House press conference, President Obama expresses sympathy for Martin parents: “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.” He adds, “It’s absolutely imperative we investigate every aspect of this.”

March 24: New Black Panthers offer $10,000 bounty for “capture” of Zimmerman, threaten his family.

April 2: Holder meets Congressional Black Caucus, Sharpton and other black ministers in White House, pledges “swift action” in the Zimmerman case.

April 11: Holder speaks alongside Sharpton at his National Action Network convention in New York, where he threatens to charge authorities in Florida with “civil rights crime.” Zimmerman is taken into custody.

The shooting happened in late February. The media didn’t really care about this and the police chief saw no reason to press charges. If you read between the lines of the timeline, you can see the pressure brought to bear to turn this case into a media circus.

The article also cites some interesting omissions in the April 11 arrest affidavit. Although the affidavit included the fact that that Martin’s mother identified the voice on the 911 tape screaming for help as her son, it left out the fact that Martin’s father said that the voice was not his son. It also left out the fact that several people identified the voice screaming for help as George Zimmerman. Medical information about injuries to George Zimmerman was left out as well as evidence of grass stains on his back.

The article further reports:

But it conveniently failed to mention a toxicology report finding traces of marijuana in Martin’s blood and urine — which would have corroborated Zimmerman’s remark to a 911 dispatcher that Martin acted like he was “on drugs.” Police had trained Zimmerman to spot non-residents acting suspiciously in his townhouse complex, which had been the target of a rash of break-ins.

The lead detective in the case, Chris Serino, said he felt pressure to charge Zimmerman with murder, even though he said there was no evidence to support it.

I have no idea why the Obama Administration would choose to make such a big deal out of this case. All they have succeeded in doing is dividing Americans against each other along racial lines. Nothing constructive will come from the publicity given this case or of the threats made by racial activists of riots if they are not satisfied with the verdict.

Hopefully, those seeking to use this case for their own political purposes will not be successful.

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