By Michelle Malkin
December 3, 2009
Well, well, well.
The Congressional Black Caucus is trying to shake down the White House — and taxpayers — by holding a Democrat financial regulation “reform” bill hostage until Team Obama stuffs it with taxpayer goodies for a minority-owned radio station and other minority-owned businesses.
Photo [right]: Percy Sutton and Malcolm X, 1963.
The story is here and here. In brief:
A clash between the Obama administration and the Congressional Black Caucus intensified Wednesday, illustrating how lawmakers’ unease about the economy has the potential to derail White House priorities. Ten black lawmakers refused to appear at a House committee vote on financial regulations Wednesday, a move that nearly allowed Republicans to kill a major Democratic bill. The move was the culmination of weeks of tension, including a testy meeting two weeks ago that included Rep. Maxine Waters (D., Calif.), Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. In the meeting, Ms. Waters berated the administration for not doing enough to help minority-owned businesses, mentioning specifically a New York broadcaster that couldn’t get a loan reworked.
Less than two weeks after the meeting, the company, Inner City Broadcasting Corp., said Goldman Sachs Group Inc. agreed to restructure the loan. The exchange about the company, which to some administration officials sounded like a bid to have the government intervene in a corporate matter, heightened distrust on both sides, people familiar with the matter say. Caucus members at the meeting stressed they weren’t asking White House officials to do anything improper, people familiar with the matter said. It is unclear whether any government official played a role in having the loan reworked.
Of course, Goldman Sachs! Earning its “Government Sachs” nickname once again. Victor Davis Hanson notes: “Rarely has a single scandal summed up nearly all the current pathologies of the corrupt Washington scene, combining insider bailouts, revolving-door influence peddling, racial-identity politics, subsidies for failing institutions that have a proven record of partisan Democratic politics, and Democratic efforts to reward wealthy friends under the guise of social justice.” See also: Culture of Corruption.
The article continues here.
