"This year’s capitulation to corporate power was an even greater retreat from the CBC’s legacy than the debacle of April, 2005."
In the most dramatic example of growing subservience to corporate influence, two-thirds of voting Caucus members backed the telecommunications industry's COPE bill, the Communications, Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement Act of 2006, which will turn the Internet into a toll road and strip cities of the ability to prevent cable companies from redlining poor and minority neighborhoods. This year's capitulation to corporate power was an even greater retreat from the CBC's legacy than the debacle of April, 2005, when 15 Black legislators, comprising 37.5 percent of the Caucus, voted with Republicans on key issues - ten of them for the infamous bankruptcy bill, tailor-made for the finance industry at the expense of the working poor and struggling middle classes.
The Washington-based CBC Monitor, a watchdog group created in 2005, is the first organization whose core mission is to make Black legislators accountable on issues vital to the interests of their Black constituents. The Monitor's September 2006 Report Card, its third, rates Caucus members on the basis of ten key votes. The latest scorecard showed mixed results, compared to the grades allotted in September, 2005 and February, 2006, largely because congresspersons were graded on a larger number of key votes than in the less then eventful second half of legislative 2005, and because absenteeism is more prevalent in an election year.
Members lost five points from a possible perfect score of 100 for missing any of ten key votes, and ten points if they voted against Black interests.
The number of "Honor Society" members (scoring 90 - 100%) averages 23 for all three Report Cards, which means that just over half of the voting CBC members can be counted on to do the right thing, most of the time - a far cry from the near unanimous progressive stance of Black Caucuses before the turn of the 21st Century.
"Just over half of the voting CBC members can be counted on to do the right thing, most of the time."
At the bottom of the class are five members whose average score for the three grading periods signals that they are hardcore corporatist sellouts - "Derelicts" (below 60%). These shameless frauds on the Black electorate are: Artur Davis (AL), averaging 50%; David Scott (GA), 46.6%; Sanford Bishop (GA), 41.6%; William Jefferson (LA), 58.3%; and Harold Ford, Jr. (TN), at just over 31%.
Harold Ford, Jr., the man who wants to be a U.S. senator from Tennessee, holds himself out as a "model" for young African American politicians everywhere, and is constantly praised by corporatists in both parties, is the most anti-Black, pro-Republican member of the CBC. Ford has never scored above 60%, and is the only member to rate the "Derelict" label in all three grading periods.
William Jefferson, the second most rightwing member of the Caucus, managed to score 100% in the CBC Monitor's February, 2006 Report Card, but then plummeted to a 35% grade in September - an indication that the threat of indictment on corruption charges has made him a worse representative of his shrunken New Orleans district-in-exile.
"Chicago's Bobby Rush and Mississippi's Bennie Thompson were the fallen angels of the latest CBC Monitor Report Card."
Aside from the catastrophic Caucus collapse on the telecom industry's COPE bill, during the first half of 2006 twelve Black lawmakers revealed themselves as less than dependable stewards of their constituents' interests, to downright sellouts to corporate power, by voting with Republicans on key legislation. Beginning with the most egregious offenders, they are: Harold Ford (TN), William Jefferson (LA), Sanford Bishop (GA), Bennie Thompson (MS), Albert Wynn (MD), Edolphus Towns (NY), Gregory Meeks (NY), Artur Davis (AL), William Clay (MO), Bennie Thompson (MS), G.K. Butterfield (NC), and Bobby Rush (IL).
Chicago's Bobby Rush and Mississippi's Bennie Thompson were the fallen angels of the latest CBC Monitor Report Card grading period. Both dipped to "Underachiever" status (70%, a "C") after earning "Bs" ("Consensus") and, in Thompson's case, an "A" in previous Report Cards.
The surprise grade went to Georgia's David Scott, an "F" and "D" scorer in the first two Report Cards who was dubbed "The Worst Black Congressperson" in the March 31, 2005, issue of The Black Commentator. Scott rated a "B" in the latest period, putting him in the "Consensus" category for the first time. The suburban Atlanta lawmaker this year faced a Democratic primary election challenge from former state legislator Donzella James, who later filed a suit charging that Diebold voting machines manipulated the results.
The CBC Monitor graded Black congresspersons on their votes on ten pieces of legislation:
The COPE Act
Bobby Rush was the key player in the worst debacle in Congressional Black Caucus history: the defection of two-thirds of the CBC to the corporate/Republican side of the aisle in the battle over the future of Internet and cable services. The Chicago congressman, whose community organization has received a $1 million grant from AT&T, co-sponsored the telecom industry's stealth bid to charge premium prices for Internet accessibility and bar cities from mandating cable availability to minority and poor neighborhoods. Rush's betrayal opened the flood gates of opportunism in the Caucus. Twenty-six other members joined him, including the entire Chicago and New York Black congressional delegations. Were it not for their votes on the COPE Act, eleven CBC members who earned 90% grades would have had perfect scores.
It is easier to name the stalwart progressives in the CBC who voted against the telecom giants than to list the shameful number that kowtowed to corporate power. The courageous 13 members that bucked the telecoms are: Emanuel Cleaver (MO), John Conyers (MI), Chaka Fattah (PA), Carolyn Kilpatrick (MI), Barbara Lee (CA), John Lewis (GA), Cynthia McKinney (GA), Juanita Millender-McDonald (CA), Gwen Moore (WI), Donald Payne (NJ), Bobby Scott (VA), Maxine Waters (CA), and Diane Watson (CA).
All the "nay" votes, with the exception of the overall B+ average New Jersey Congressman Donald Payne, are consistent CBC Monitor "Honor Society" members.
The Black telecom supporters had plenty of company. A majority of Democrats (106) voted to gut the public's rights to Internet and cable service equality.
Two Estate Tax Bills
A total of seven members voted for at least one of two bills that would have extended or made permanent the GOP's efforts to abolish the Estate Tax, and thus strengthen and extend the oligarchy of wealth that dominates American society. Those members are: William Clay (MO), Edolphus Towns (NY), Bobby Rush (IL), Sanford Bishop (GA), Albert Wynn (MD), William Jefferson (LA), and Harold Ford (TN).
Only 43 Democrats voted for the Republican measure to make abolition of the Estate Tax permanent.
American-Made Energy and Good Jobs Act
This misnamed boondoggle for the energy giants got support from five Black congressmen: Sanford Bishop (GA), Artur Davis (AL), Al Green (TX), William Jefferson (LA), Bennie Thompson (MS). Even the perpetual "Derelict" Harold Ford wouldn't touch this legislation, hatched in the boardrooms of Big Oil.
The bought-off five were among only 27 Democrats to vote with Republicans on this bill.
"Harold Ford (TN) and the shaky North Carolina Congressman G.K. Butterfield debased themselves to stoop to the power of their credit card and banking masters."
Credit Rating Agency Duopoly Relief Act
As if the finance industry is in need of "relief," super-"Derelict" Harold Ford (TN) and the shaky North Carolina Congressman G.K. Butterfield debased themselves to stoop to the power of their credit card and banking masters. Butterfield, an "Underachiever" on the CBC Report Card who won his first full term in 2004, seems destined for smallness.
Just 29 other Democrats joined Ford and Butterfield in their slavish legislative behavior.
Legislative Line Item Veto Act
George Bush wants the power to pick and choose which parts of any given piece of legislation he will sign, to more efficiently loot the treasury for his corporate patrons while starving the public sector. Bush found two Black allies in the CBC: Representatives Albert Wynn (MD) and, as usual, Harold Ford (TN).
Thirty-three other Democrats also kissed Bush's ring.
Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control
Alone among the CBC, but joined by 35 non-Black Democrats, Harold Ford (TN) supported the House Republicans' draconian immigration and catch-all police-state repression bill - a measure even the White House could not stomach. With this vote, Ford stepped beyond the pale of civilized African American discourse, and into an infamy of his own making.
Pension Protection Act
The outcome of this bill was the most difficult for the CBC Monitor to judge. The Caucus split almost evenly " 17 "yea" and 19 "nay," with 4 members not voting " on a measure that would put the responsibility on workers to protect their own pension rights. Among the "yea" voters were sterling progressives John Conyers (MI) and Carolyn Cheeks-Kilpatrick (MI), Detroit lawmakers whose union constituents are not left totally alone in this power play with corporate pension slashers, like the rest of us.
The CBC Monitor deducted ten points from the "yea" voters, but without prejudice. We salute the plurality of CBC members who stood on the principle that companies must pay retiring workers what they promised. They are:
Corrine Brown (FL), Elijah Cummings (MD), Danny Davis (IL), Chaka Fattah (PA), Al Green (TX), Alcee Hastings (FL), Jesse Jackson (IL), Sheila Jackson-Lee (TX), Eddie Bernice Johnson (TX), Stephanie Tubbs-Jones (OH), Barbara Lee (CA), Juanita Millender-McDonald (CA), Gwen Moore (WI), Major Owens (NY), Charles Rangel (NY), Robert Scott (VA), Maxine Waters (CA), Diane Watson (CA), Mel Watt (NC).
United States-Oman Free Trade Agreement
Although colored by anti-Arab sentiment, the Oman Free Trade Agreement was also a test of African American support for the disastrous corporate machinations that have de-industrialized the United States and made Black workers the greatest domestic victims of the "free" flow of capital abroad. Only two Black Caucus members sided with Bush and his corporate cronies: New York's Gregory Meeks and the hapless William Jefferson, of New Orleans. Twenty other Democrats also voted with Republicans.
Voting Rights Act Extension
This one was a no-brainer. Not a single Democrat voted against the bill, and very few Republicans. The CBC Monitor considers this vote a gift of ten points to Black Caucus members " and one of the reasons overall Report Card scores were higher in September, 2006, than in previous grading periods.
"Obama has shown himself to be no shining light of progressivism."
Barack Obama
This star has lost its luster. As the only Black member of the U.S. Senate, Obama has shown himself to be no shining light of progressivism. His overall grade is 70% ("Underachiever"), based on his votes for confirmation of Bush nominees and, last year, for the Republican's so-called "Tort Reform" bill, that protected corporations from class action suits in state courts.
Failure to Vote
In the spirit of making Black lawmakers accountable for their conduct on Capitol Hill, the CBC Monitor deducts five points from each member's score for missing a vote, for any reason. This penalty resulted in the failure of progressive lawmakers like Chaka Fattah (PA), Maxine Waters (CA), Diane Watson (CA), John Lewis (GA), Donald Payne (NJ), and Cynthia McKinney (GA) to achieve perfect scores, and also dropped Major Owens (NY) and Julia Carson (IN) out of the "Honor Roll."
The point-penalty for missed votes is under review by the CBC Monitor. We especially welcome a dialogue on the rule with the people who are being tested: members of the Black Caucus.
Summation
Unlike the Black America public, which by any scientific measure is as progressive as ever, the Congressional Black Caucus has over the past few years lost its political cohesion. Significant numbers of members have succumbed to corporate blandishments and pressures, and a hardcore handful are now willing and dependable servants of the rich.
"The gap between Black politicians and the Black masses, widens."
It is easy to lay responsibility for the last two years of the Caucus's failure to live up to its motto, "The conscience of the Congress," at the feet of outgoing chairman Mel Watt (NC). Although Watt casts his own vote correctly in most cases, he has abdicated CBC leadership to chief House Democrat Nancy Pelosi, and in the process trashed the independence of the Caucus and collaborated in Pelosi's vendetta against courageous, outgoing CBC member Cynthia McKinney and anyone else who bucks the white Democratic message: Black folks, keep a low profile, so that racist whites won't vote their skin in November, 2006.
However, it's not all poor Mel Watt's fault. Forces much larger than he and Pelosi are at work. This year's catastrophic collapse of the Black Caucus under the relentless offensive of the telecom industry " dramatically eclipsing the defection of ten members to the finance industry, a year earlier " shows that the Right's strategy of subverting Black Democrats is working. The gap between Black politicians and the Black masses, widens. The "legacy" that the CBC this year vowed to continue, is rhetorical garbage in the mouths of an ever-growing number of right-leaning members.
We at the CBC Monitor will continue to name names, tally votes, and offer our analysis, with full confidence that the Black public will ultimately clean its own house.
Leutisha Stills of the CBC Monitor can be contacted at [email protected]