Posted – Aug. 29, 2007 - “We are still in the state of emergency,” Louisiana Democrat William Jefferson told reporters Monday during a news conference to update us on recovery efforts in the Gulf Coast.

Jefferson and House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D- S.C.) talked about their recent visit to the region, plans for the future and the need for more federal dollars.

Clyburn led a congressional delegation to the area and met with local officials, residents and business owners. (See my Aug. 18 blog.)  His visit underscored that more needed to be done.  Clyburn said changes are needed to correct recovery efforts so Americans have confidence in their government when disaster strikes. 

He would like to see the federal matching plan for disaster relief, The Stafford Act, revisited; insurance laws changed; and the Federal Emergency Management Agency removed from the bureaucracy of the Department of Homeland Security.

Jefferson said, “The biggest fear of people down here is, ‘Will they be forgotten?’”  Those fears aren’t unfounded.  The city has lost more than 3,000 physicians, the death rate has risen 48 percent, and the loss of 220,000 homes makes it close to impossible to find affordable housing.

Jefferson looks to the “new foundation” in the Democratic majority to keep New Orleans needs on the front burner.  Listen to the Interview.

If acid-tongued rocker Ted Nugent were a rapper, every talk show in America would be beating him down by now. Check out what he had to say and comment. 

Posted Aug. 28, 2007 – Where’s the outrage? Ted Nugent  got on stage during a recent concert appearance and called for a presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), to “suck on my machine gun” as he pointed a gun at his cheering audience.

The tirade continued with more name-calling and plummeted to a reference to Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) as a “bitch.” 

 We’re all familiar with the old saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” But the incendiary language Nugent lobbed into the audience might just land into the hands of a loyal soldier willing to carry out a threat. 

 ”Obama, he’s a piece of sh**, and I told him to suck on my machine gun,” the 59-year-old rocker bellowed from the stage.

Obama has Secret Service protection because he needs it.  Nugent’s behavior was more than just a humorous expression; it amounted to a threat on the life of a U.S. senator and presidential candidate. 

Besides, who’s laughing?

What would the reaction have been if a rapper had said what this rocker did?   I doubt it would have been viewed as a joke.

This outspoken and crude behavior isn’t new for Nugent; during his musical career, he’s used his fame to promote his often hateful beliefs.  An avid supporter of the Republican Party, he opposes gay rights, is a staunch supporter of the National Rifle Association and has suggested dropping a nuclear bomb to end the war in Iraq. 

Nugent, who once said that he avoided being drafted into the Vietnam War by shunning all forms of personal hygiene for a solid month, said at the time that “I’d kill all the hippies in the foxholes … I would have killed everybody.” Keeping true to the theme, he  told an audience during a 2005 NRA convention, “Remember the Alamo! Shoot ’em – I want car-jackers dead.” 

The performer of such wholesome gems as “Kiss My Ass,” and “Wang Dang Sweet Poontang,” Nugent has proved once again that he is foul – and it’s not just in the lyrics of a song.   

Posted Aug. 27, 2007 – Another close friend and trusted confidant of the presidents is calling it quits.  Attorney General Roberta Gonzales announced today he’s stepping down just days after the president’s senior advisor Karl Rove.

Gonzales and Rove are two of the president’s closest friends in his inner circle of confidants.  

 Gonzales has weathered the storm surrounding his roll in firing of U. S. Attorneys under scrutiny.  The firings appeared to be politicaly motivated by the White House and carried out by the Justice Department.  President Bush has shown unwavering support for Gonzales staying on the job, but today announced he had reluctantly accepted his resignation.

“It’s sad that we live in a time when a talented and honorable person like Alberto Gonzales is impeded from doing important work because his good name was dragged through the mud for political reasons,” Bush said.

So why is Gonzales leaving now? 

Gonzales resignation comes as he finds himself faced with the possibility of purgery charges steaming from his testimony before Congress.   He could also hope to draw less negative attention during the Bush administration’s final months in office.  Regardless of the reason; Democrats were glad to hear the news.

Chair of the House Judiciary Committee Rep. John Conyers, (D-Mich.) said in a statement, “It is a sad day when the Attorney General of the United States resigns amid a cloud of suspicion that the system of justice has been manipulated for political purposes.”

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Chairman of the Judiciary Committee said, “The troubling evidence revealed about this massive breach is a lesson to those in the future who hold these high offices, so that law enforcement is never subverted in this way again.”

But question could still be in Gonzales’ future. Leahy said he still wants some answers.  “I hope the Attorney General’s decision will be a step toward getting to the truth about the level of political influence this White House,” he said. 

A harsher tone came from the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). “Alberto Gonzales was never the right man for this job.  He lacked independence, he lacked judgment, and he lacked the spine to say no to Karl Rove,” Reid said.

Now with Rove and Gonzales  gone, Reid said, “Congress must get to the bottom of this mess and follow the facts where they lead, into the White House.”

Read and Respond. 

Posted Aug. 18, 2007 – Just weeks away from the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Democrats left Washington and returned to the Gulf Coast to see how federal dollars are being spent in the region.

And what did they find?

House Majority Whip James Clyburn, (D. S.C.) who led the delegations that included House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), told folks, “We’ve met with your principals and teachers, your doctors and hospital administrators, your insurance reps and bank board members, your business leaders, community leaders and civic leaders, your mayor and your governor… and we have a new list.”

That new list includes request for more federal funding for small businesses and to reform and cut bureaucracy.

I’m not surprised.  I was there just days before they arrived, and the progress in some communities is nonexistent.  Some people who haven’t visited the region want to place all the blame on the federal government, but that’s too easy. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin now in his second term blames delays on the state’s recovery plan.   

Nagin told BET last month that the Road Home Program is a flop. “It was supposed to administer a grant program that would allow citizens to get a grant of up to $150,000,” to supplement their home insurance, he said. 

But this isn’t happening for most folks.   Some people weren’t able to get back to apply; others were put through extensive identification and home ownership mazes that often led to insufficient proof to honor their claim. 

But the biggest hurdle has been the program itself.  “It’s spent a lot of money in administrative costs. It has taken our citizens through a very embarrassing and insulting process,” Nagin said. But, “at the end of the day…, you probably won’t get enough money to repair your home.”

Now money is running out.

Clyburn, the son of a Baptist minister, quoted the Bible to bring his point home. “It says in the book of James, when your brother or sister comes to you hungry and naked, it’s not enough to tell them to go in peace,” he said. “You have to clothe them and feed them. But we’re here today to tell you that we are not done because you are not done.”

The Dems want to continue their commitment to the Gulf region’s rebuilding with funding for housing, insurance, infrastructure, healthcare and education under the banner of “New Direction for the Gulf Coast.”    They won’t get a lot of opposition from their Republican counterparts, because the storm was non-partisan. 

Embattled Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.), who represents New Orleans, was one of the 15 in the delegation.  His constituents could benefit the most from the half-dozen bills the Dems are sponsoring to help the region.

“So many committed members gives our people renewed hope that the Congress will not forget - and that the Congress will partner with us for the long term to see our recovery through,” Jefferson said.
 

Posted Aug. 14, 2007 – The departure of Karl Rove from the White House is the best news many Black lawmakers say they’ve heard in a long time. 

“Karl Rove is moving on down the road,” President Bush announced Monday just before departing for his ranch in Crawford, Texas, and it didn’t take long for the cheers to start echoing through the Black community.

“Karl Rove was an architect of a political strategy that has left the country more divided, the special interests more powerful, and the American people more shut out from their government than any time in memory,” Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill,) said Monday.

Maryland Democratic Congressman Elijah Cumming’s had a similar reaction. “On the heels of the announced resignation of Karl Rove, I am hopeful for the future of our country,” said the former head of the Congressional Black Caucus. “Mr. Rove has been a major influence on what have often been negative, polarizing, impulsive and disparaging policy decisions by the Bush administration.”

Many of those American people “shut out” by Rove where Black folks.  He’s credited as the driving force behind the charge to disfranchise Black voters in two presidential elections.   He was also the gatekeeper during BET News’ repeated unsuccessful attempts to interview the president.  After the umpteenth request, a White House aid finally told me that Rove would never approve it.    

The president said Monday that he’s “been talking to Karl for a while about his desire to spend more time with Darby and Andrew.  This is a family that has made enormous sacrifices, not only for our beloved state of Texas, but for a country we both love.”

In their 34-year friendship, Bush has kept Rove by his side.  Rove served him in his political campaigns and while Bush was governor of Texas before joining the president’s team as deputy chief of staff and senior adviser.

As most Washington insiders know, when someone steps down to spend more time with his/her family, it’s the code word for getting “fired” or being “asked to resign.”  But Rove said he’s been thinking about leaving since last summer. “It always seemed there was a better time to leave somewhere out there in the future.  But now is the time,” he said.

Democrats felt the brunt of policies and strategies masterminded by Rove when the Republicans controlled the House and the Senate.  Armed with only a high school diploma, Rove may have outsmarted some of the best political minds in Washington.  A self-proclaimed history buff, his role in the Bush legacy will be analyzed by scholars for years to come.

The president’s chief of staff, John Bolton, isn’t letting on if Rove will be replaced – so we’ll just have to wait and see. You can bet that Black lawmakers in particular will be paying close attention to who might step into Rove’s shoes.

Have you been to New Orleans since Katrina?  If so, share what you’ve seen.  Read and respond.

Posted Aug. 13, 2007 –New Orleans’ lower Ninth Ward is longing for the folks who called it home to return.  This weekend, I toured the desolate neighborhood and witnessed firsthand the lack of progress two long years after the storm.

The Links, Incorporated, an international organization of African American women, of which I’m a member, came to see the only health-care facility up and operating in the community.  The Lower Ninth Ward Health Clinic is housed in one of the few residences that have been renovated.

The clinic is the brainchild of two nurses, Alice Craft-Kerney, founder Program Director Patricia Berryhill, both of whom have deep roots in the community. The clinic is supported by donations to Common Ground, a non-profit foundation.     

Robin Barclay, a member of  the Links, donated more than a half-million dollars in hospital equipment to the facility.  “When I saw what these two women were doing, I just wanted to help; they’re running a class-act operation down here,” she told me.

This week will be a hot spot for visits to the clinic.  I ran into Hill staffers on Saturday who were prepping for a congressional delegation of 15, led by House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.)

The Dems are touring the Gulf Region for three days to assess the impact of legislation they passed in the 110th Congress.  They may be disappointed with what they find. 
 
The number of trailers is just an outward sign of how slow the progress has been.  Blue tarps cover damaged roofs that wind and water can still penetrate; the local’s call them “FEMA roofs.” 

 Trailers sit in front of homes with old water line marks, and doors and windows are missing or boarded up.  Most lots where homes once stood are vacant with grass more than two feet high. 

Shopping centers look like ghost towns and are a clear sign that life is far from normal for the families trying to rebuild their homes and live in such deplorable conditions.

Today will be the first day of school for some 600 students in the Ninth Ward when Rev. Martin Luther King Elementary opens.  The school has been refurbished following eight months of renovations.

 The stage wall in the cafeteria that doubles as an auditorium has a large black-and-white mural of King.  Doris Hicks , who has been principal at the school for 13 years, said she the school’s roof was all you could see after the storm.  “The only thing that wasn’t damaged at all was the picture of Martin Luther King,” she told me.

New Orleans city councilwoman Cynthia Willard Lewis (D), who represents the Ninth Ward, pleaded from the stage as King peered at her from the portrait on the wall,  “Please tell the story – the work had not been done yet.”

Do you think Obama can win the nomination?  

Read and respond.

Aug. 7, 2007 – In a poll released today, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is falling further behind his chief rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) for the Democratic presidential nomination.

  What’s going on? 

The poll taken by USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds Clinton’s lead over the Illinois senator has risen 8 percent in the last three weeks.  Clinton is now 22 percentage points ahead with 48 percent of likely Democratic voters thinking she is the better choice.
Obama has been getting some flack from pundits since he remarking in the last Democratic debate that he would speak with leaders who are known enemy’s of the United States. But I don’t think that’s the only reason for his falling numbers. 

Let’s face it; his numbers were rising as he became better known. Now folks are deciding if he’s the candidate for them.  It’s early in the race, and poll numbers will continue to go up and down whenever candidates say something compelling or stumble.  

The latest numbers should be a wake-up call for Obama’s team.  He’s out there, and he’s got to start running without the “rock-star” status and the mystique that surrounded him when he first stepped onto the national scene.

Clinton also realized that he’s the man to beat, and she’s being more forceful against her opponents, including Obama.  Now we’ll have to see how Obama will fight back. 

Mark Penn, Clinton’s chief strategist, told USA Today, “People are seeing her as the one ready to be president.” 

Obama’s spokesman, Bill Burton, said, “National polls may go up and down before people actually start voting, but their irrelevance will not.” 

Both candidates are heading to Las Vegas this week to speak at the convention of the National Association of Black Journalists.  I’ll be there and along with my colleagues to hear what they have to say.  

I’ll keep you posted.

Posted August 2, 2007 – Freshman congressman Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) found himself on an early morning flight with the Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters heading home  to see first hand the tragic collapse of highway 35 W that crosses the Mississippi River.  

Last night when Ellison learned of the rush hour disaster he went to the House floor and informed his colleagues; “Madame Speaker, I rise tonight with a heavy heart over the news of the collapse of the 35 W bridge spanning the Mississippi River in my home town of Minneapolis earlier this evening.  I have spoken with Mayor [R.T.] Rybak regarding this tragic situation and have pledged to work with him in every way possible to recover from this disaster.”

Today Ellison along with Transportation Committee Chair James Oberstar (D-Minn.)introduced legislation to provide immediate relief funding.  The legislation is cosponsored by the entire Minnesota delegation.

While inspectors work to determine the cause of the collapse the ripple effect will be tantamount.  This bridge carries more then 150 thousand cars a day and re-routing the traffic will be the greatest challenge facing the metropolitan area. 

Ellison and Peters met with state and federal officials for a briefing today and toured the site. This will be one of Ellison first priorities in his first year of Congress.  As the newest member of Minnesota’s  delegation he and colleagues will be tasked with bringing home federal dollars to get the job done. 

It’s too early to predict just what will be needed or the complete price tag. But Mayor Rybak has a message on his Website saying, “I am directing every available City resource to guarantee that our emergency response teams work to ensure that nearby infrastructure, streets and bridges are safe. We will also work with our state and federal partners to complete a full and thorough investigation into the cause off this disaster.”
The bill asked for $250 million in funding to avoid delays and begin the recovery and rebuilding process.  Ellison and Oberstar expect the measure to be passed by unanimous consent in the U.S. House today and in the Senate.

 ”I am so very proud of all of the hard work that is being done on the ground in Minneapolis by the mayor, our first responders, and average Minnesotans who all have exhibited incredible determination and courage in the face of a disaster of this magnitude,” Ellison said.