After
the August jobs report came in showing the economy flatlining
(at least for a month) on new jobs, President Obama�s jobs
plan is coming right on time. Lazy
@ss Congress is back at work, after a summer of political
gamesmanship, and we will now see if all the �big talk�
will turn into action. Or will it be more of the ideological
bickering that led to gridlock this past year, and whining
by the Democrats that the President is not fighting hard
enough?
I
want to see if the mighty-mouthed Congressional Black Caucus
(CBC) is going to continue to get punked and their butts
kicked by the Tea Partiers, or if they are going to stand
up for their constituents� interests in the same way the
Tea Party throws down for theirs. It is one thing to call
for a trillion dollar jobs package; it�s another thing to
pass one. Will the President to put the �bully� back into
the bully pulpit? What is Congress putting up�besides some
more rhetoric? Is the gamesmanship going to continue?
Everybody
appears to be emboldened during this period of employment
desperation. It�s opened the door for the noise and noisemakers
to create the some illusions and delusions for which ideologues
have become known. Republicans think government can�t save
us and new taxes will bury us. The Democrats think government,
namely the President, can make industry create work for
a segment that has been discriminated against forever. I�ll
be curious to find out how many people were hired from the
CBC job fairs around the country. Or was it another �smoke
and mirrors� engagement to make politicians look good? Industry
will always show up. They don�t always hire. It was a demonstration
in showing the level of frustration out there. It was great
theatre, and it pandered to a most desperate base, black
people.
But
as one curtain comes down, and another one comes up, does
everybody know its cues? I�m sure the Republicans know theirs.
They continue to frustrate the process, as Boehner showed
in not deferring to the President�s wish to speak to Congress
a day earlier. They continue to tap his chest and knock
the chip off his shoulder. And certainly less sophisticated
players would be in a fight by now; I know I would. But
it�s the same strategy he used to get elected President.
The
President loses control in an all out fight and it reduces
the political landscape to �politics as usual,� which is
what the Republicans want. They want him to use old tactics
to fight this politic of obstructionism and gamesmanship.
What are the Democrats in Congress doing to deflect that?
What is the CBC doing to deflect the obstructionism, other
than becoming a part of the rhetorical gamesmanship? We�ll
see.
Those
Democrats in the schoolyard yelling �fight, fight, fight,�
were quiet as church mice in the debt ceiling debate, but
got brave during the summer vacation. Now that they�re back
in school, they�re the ones calling for the President to
fight harder. It seems they are quicker to push somebody
else into a fight than fight themselves. Let�s see if they
can get a trillion jobs package through Congress, even if
the President doesn�t propose it. You bad! Go ahead, DO
something. Besides talk.
This
is going to be an interesting session of Congress, if the
Democrats really know how to fight. Yeah, we�ll be watching
the President squabble, but will it be 218 against 218,
or will it be 1 against 435? Are the members of the CBC
just looking to push the President into a fight, or are
they willing to push the Democrats in Congress to fight?
We�ll see where the rhetoric meets the road, very soon.
BlackCommentator.com
Columnist,
Dr. Anthony Asadullah Samad, is a national columnist, managing
director of the
Urban Issues Forum
and author of
Saving The Race: Empowerment Through Wisdom. His Website is AnthonySamad.com. Click
here
to contact Dr. Samad.
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