By Michael Leahy - Washington Post Staff Writer
A year ago members of the Congressional Black Caucus openly wept at Barack Obamas inauguration. Slowly that euphoria has given way to frustration that his administration has not done more for black America. Questions about how to elect him have been replaced by questions about how to prod him.
For many it is the surprise of a political lifetime that they find themselves wrestling with such quandaries. Alternately puzzled and disgruntled CBC members say key people in the Obama administration have taken them for granted in the belief that black members of Congress have no stomach for a fight with the countrys first black president.
We concluded they were just kind of listening to us and that then they would go back to their offices and conclude that we would do nothing Emanuel Cleaver II (D-Mo.) the vice chairman of the CBC said of one dispute. Because they had concluded theres a black president in the White House and that to some degree the Black Caucus you know was constrained in expressing its desires. After a while we said Hey we see whats going on and its nothing.
On Thursday CBC members participated in a rare one-hour policy meeting with Obama at the White House to discuss their concerns most notably their disappointment over a jobs bill that they regard as largely a package of tax breaks for employers noticeably bereft of job-training programs new infrastructure projects and summer employment opportunities for youth. Such issues are vital to the CBC many of whose members represent districts with high levels of unemployment.
In interviews with aides and members afterward Obama was described as receptive to their message even though he did not make any large-scale commitments. He said he knew what unemployment looks like in my own neighborhood in Chicago recounted Cleaver who stressed that he was speaking only for himself. He said he wanted to do things as quickly as possible.
There was no contention at all said Rep. Gregory W. Meeks (D-N.Y.). The president is very clearly focused on jobs and job creation.
A White House official issued a statement that ignored any tensions with CBC members and stressed the administrations goals: President Obama is working to develop inclusive policies whether in health care education or the economy that will have a broad impact on the American people and Thursdays meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus was a productive effort toward reaching that goal.
Not withstanding Thursdays kind words the CBCs list of complaints with the White House runs from policy to personal. Despite the caucuss entreaties the administration has not provided targeted help to black communities and other struggling areas suffering from disproportionately high unemployment members complain. Many caucus members say they feel largely ignored by key White House advisers. Their communication with Obama himself is minimal to nonexistent.
Lifting boats
Several CBC members and aides talk derisively of an oft-quoted Obama phrase: that a rising tide for America will lift all boats. They see it as rhetoric intended to justify why the administration has not focused on their communities at a time when unemployment among African Americans has climbed to 16.5 percent. I cant pass laws that say Im just helping black folks Obama told the American Urban Radio Networks. Im the president of the United States. What I can do is make sure Im passing laws that help people particularly those who are most vulnerable.
Many in the 42-member all-Democratic CBC passionately disagree. African Americans and Latinos bear the brunt of this economic recession said Maxine Waters (Calif.). We must not shy away from targeted public policy that seeks to address the specific and unique issues facing minority communities.
If Obama hears Waterss point it is from a distance. Friends of hers say she has had no phone calls from the president and no consistent contact with other administration officials despite her position as a subcommittee chairman and a key player on the House Financial Services Committee. Before Thursdays meeting neither she nor the CBC as a group had met with the president to discuss the jobs bill.
Several prominent caucus members have expressed doubts about the interest of administration officials in African American issues referring to figures including Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and senior adviser David Axelrod. They havent had much involvement with minority communities in their careers said Rep. Donald M. Payne (N.J.). Theyve been in suites and boardrooms.
The most important discussions between CBC members and administration officials have been prompted by the threat of political crises.
Such was the case in November when 10 caucus members on the House Financial Services Committee threatened a boycott of an administration-backed financial regulatory reform bill. They wanted additional support for jobless Americans who faced the possibility of losing their homes.
Geithner Emanuel and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) sat down with the restive CBC members at the Rayburn House Office Building.
The late-afternoon meeting was already tense when Geithner pondered a question about when small banks and emerging African American finance firms might have a chance to participate as key players in a government program. Geithner said that he was always going to want to provide contracts to qualified people according to witnesses to the exchange including Cleaver.
Another person at the meeting -- who spoke on the condition of anonymity -- disputed Cleavers recollection saying that Geithner indicated only that participating small banks had to meet viability standards. The source acknowledged that Geithners remark set off some disagreement with a CBC member pointedly telling him that no one had suggested loosening standards to accommodate minority-operated banks.
Since their meeting with Geithner and a subsequent boycott of a committee vote on the financial regulatory bill CBC members have won some accommodations. The bill now includes $3 billion for low-interest loans to unemployed homeowners in danger of foreclosures and $1 billion for neighborhood stabilization programs. I think the administration needed a very clear signal that were not messing around here said Rep. Keith Ellison (Minn.).
Seeking clout
For older CBC members many of whom remember receiving calls from inveterate gabber and advice-seeker Bill Clinton during his presidency Obamas more distant style has involved adjustments. Asked whether he has received a call from the president since his inauguration Payne looked up at his office ceiling and answered slowly: I cant remember.
Members point to the CBCs four committee chairmanships and 18 subcommittee chairmanships as proof of its clout in the House. But several members said they have few African American contacts with substantial sway in the White House. Some caucus members talk wistfully of the last Democratic administration where the late commerce secretary Ron Brown could relay CBC concerns to Clinton. We knew Ron had the presidents ear and he had status Payne said.
White House officials are quick to dispute the notion that there are no African Americans under Obama who have influence. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Mona Sutphen points to Melody Barnes the head of the White House Domestic Policy Council and senior White House adviser Valerie Jarrett as African Americans with special access to the president.
Rep. James E. Clyburn (S.C.) an Obama loyalist whom the White House asked to speak to The Washington Post for this article said he is very comfortable with Jarrett. He voices no complaints about the administrations strategies for dealing with high unemployment among African Americans noting how the stimulus package has benefited parts of South Carolina.
Caucus member generally take pains to distinguish their misgivings about some of the presidents top advisers from their personal commitment to Obama. Cleaver views the prospect of Obamas 2012 reelection campaign as a referendum on the nations comfort level with an African American at the helm. Hes got to succeed Cleaver said emotion putting a catch in his voice.
But Cleaver Payne and other CBC members acknowledge the paradox they face. How can you express criticism of the administration without eventually confronting the man at the top?
Some say that any public airing of their disagreements with Obama runs the risk of politically damaging the president and ultimately slowing the advancement of other African Americans. Hes ours. He has to be more careful because he is the first black ever to be president said Rep. Diane Watson (Calif.). . . . I want to help him to protect him.
Others argue that the president has spent too much time trying to appease Republicans. His detractors and political opponents want to try to cast him in the role of being some sort of partisan for African American issues Ellison said. I think what he needs to do is just accept the fact that his detractors would say he couldnt swim if he walked on water. . . . So why break your neck trying to please them?
In the wake of a recent report in the New York Times that raised questions about CBC fundraising practices and the decision by Rep. Charles B. Rangel (N.Y.) to give up his House Ways and Means chairmanship amid an ethics scandal CBC members worry whether the administration will be willing to risk political capital on their behalf.
Obama has a 91 percent approval rating among African Americans according to the latest Gallup poll. But Clyburn cautions the administration against becoming complacent about that support. Depressed African American voter turnout would be something no White House politico could do anything about in the next election.
Cleaver routinely hears the voices of the desperate in his district. Ive had people at home tell me I thought the president was going to do this and that he said. But the votes of his African American constituents are solid he insists. Disappointment doesnt equal disassociation he said.
