You Got The Power, Inc.
Program Outline
Aug 4,, 2010
Topic of discussion: Black Caucus Sacrificial Lambs?
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The chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) blames the media for overhyping the fallout over Rep. Maxine Waters's ethics trial
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Rep. Waters rejected a deal with the House ethics committee and said she would go before a public trial
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It should be noted that the ethical charges against Rep. Waters aren't matters of criminal wrongdoing. They could only lead to a reprimand.
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She is the second CBC member, Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) being the other, who faces an ethics trial before November
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Rep. Rangel have reported his Dominican Republic property taxes the same way back to Clinton days! So why now?
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Once an accusation is made are you’re guilty until proven otherwise?
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Is the Congressional Black Caucus being racially profiled?
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Many may see the actions against Waters and Rangel simply as the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) doing its job
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The OCE receives information of congressional wrongdoing, investigates, and refers those cases where "probable cause" is found to the House Ethics Committee for formal proceedings and charges
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An interesting data point to consider is a disproportionate number of the active OCE investigations focus on members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC)
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According to Dr. Ronald Walters, "it is curious ... that in over 30 of the probes the new Office of Congressional Ethics was considering, the only active investigations were on black Congresspersons"
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What is interesting is how the allegations of ethics violations brought against white congressional members such as: Reps.,
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Pete Visclosky (D-IN), Alan Mollohan (D-W.VA), Jim Moran (D-VA), Eric Cantor (R-VA), or Jane Harmon (D-CA)
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have been disposed of differently with the case against Sam Graves (R-MO) being thrown out
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Right may be right, but wrong appears to be questionable
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The same discretion being used by the OCE to actively investigate members of the CBC and not actively investigate white members of congress is playing itself out through out the entire judicial system
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Is their something rotten in the CBC? Not at all
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Some members of the CBC may have been involved in questionable behavior like their white counterparts but the OCE has used its discretion to dispose of the cases of the white members differently
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The battle for equality continues
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The race-based attack of Mrs. Shirley Sherrod, attacking voter education/registration programs such as ACORN, cartoons depicting the president as a monkey, terrorist, or Hitler are all tied to discrediting and disenfranchising the African-American voter.
