By Clarence McKee
It’s really a shame how the once credible Congressional
Black Caucus (CBC) has degenerated into being a puppet of the Democratic Party
and its interests — not those of its black constituents.
The most recent example is the CBC’s totally dishonest
comments on the Trump administration. It’s Dec. 19 press
release, stated in part:
"Black people have lost a lot since President Trump
was sworn into office. The list of regressive and racist policies proposed by
Donald Trump’s administration is long and sad. To add insult to injury . . . he
has never championed a single policy or program for black people."
What an outright lie!
The CBC is being dishonest with its own black
constituents.
Here are the facts:
On unemployment, the Trump economy has reduced the black
unemployment rate to record lows averaging 5.4 percent over
the past four months.
As to black women, the CBC obviously missed The Wall
Street Journal September 20 editorial stating
that the greatest employment gains for full-time year-round workers in 2018
were among minority female-led households including a 4.2 percentage point
increase among blacks. And, the poverty rate among female households declined
2.7 percentage points for blacks.
I guess the CBC would consider that a loss for blacks.
A Dec. 16, 2019, White House Fact
Sheet outlined several accomplishments of the president's economic
policies. These include the addition of more than seven million jobs; annual
nominal wages growing by 3% last year for the first time in a decade; and, wage
growth being higher for lower-income workers compared to higher-income workers,
workers compared to managers and black Americans compared to white Americans.
The CBC would have us believe that none of these
statistics benefit blacks.
As the saying goes, "a rising tide lifts all
boats."
I guess to the CBC, this doesn’t apply to blacks.
The liberal-leaning Brookings Institution, in an
October Report,
"Black Household Income is Rising Across the United States," found
otherwise.
It should be required reading for the CBC.
Among the report's findings was that among the top five
U.S. metropolitan areas with the largest black populations, there were
significant increases in median black household incomes in the five-year period
2013-2018.
In the New York metro area, the increase was 14.6
percent, Atlanta 20.8 percent, Chicago 11.3 percent, Dallas 12.2 percent and
Washington D.C. 7.1 percent.
The report also notes that the metro areas in the West
and South recorded the largest statistically increases in black median
household incomes.
What accounts for these positive changes?
The report said that one likely factor is
"employment opportunity" and stated that there was a "positive,
significant association between the change in black employment rates and black
median household incomes across the metro areas from 2013 to 2018."
The CBC would have you believe that these increases in
income and the decrease in unemployment of blacks is because Trump
"inherited" Obama’s economy.
What a joke!
There is no way the economic gains we have seen since the
president came into office would have occurred with the Obama and the
Democrats' tax, spend and regulate philosophy of government. The success
we are experiencing is because of the president’s — not Obama’s — policies.
Trump’s tax
cuts continue to bring tax relief to American small businesses,
thereby boosting disposable income for most households. His actions reducing
the scope and cost of federal
regulations have been an essential ingredient in the increase in
new jobs, rising wages, and low unemployment.
I guess the CBC would call these policies "racist
and regressive" and of no benefit to black Americans.
As to the CBC’s allegation that the president
"never" championed a "single policy or program for black
people," it's obviously unaware that the president’s 2020
budget request devoted significant resources to school choice
programs to benefit low-income children trapped in failing inner city schools.
Do they think vouchers and school choice for poor
students are "regressive and racist?"
I assume that the CBC would also consider the president’s
championing of the First
Step Act and criminal justice reform to reduce sentences of
thousands of prisoners and expand job training programs to decrease recidivism
to be "regressive and racist" even though 91.3
percent of prisoners with reduced sentences were black.
Let’s not forget the president’s support and advocacy
of Opportunity
Zones to incentivize investment in low-income communities or
increasing federal funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities
(HBCU) by more than $100
million over the last two years, a 17% increase since 2017.
Does the CBC consider these efforts to be
"regressive and racist" and of no benefit to black people?
Barack Obama may have been the first president sharing
the same skin color as his fellow black Americans and members of the CBC,
however, it's Donald Trump whose economic and social policies benefit black
Americans.
Clarence V. McKee is president of McKee
Communications, Inc., a government, political, and media relations consulting
firm in Florida. He held several positions in the Reagan administration as well
as in the Reagan presidential campaigns. He is a former co-owner of WTVT-TV in
Tampa and former president of the Florida Association of Broadcasters.
