Soon Mfume, with the caucus’s blessing, was attacking Clinton’s efforts to mollify conservative Democrats in the Senate and complaining about the lack of minority staffers in his inner circle. The caucus even rebuffed an invitation from Clinton to break bread at the White House. Instead this last bastion of liberalism sent him,’60s style, a list of “nonnegotiable” demands for more money for the poor and the cities.
The caucus’s high profile comes at a precarious time for the president. The budget package barely slipped through the Senate last week, thanks to a tie-breaking vote by Vice President Al Gore; a more liberal version squeaked through the House by only six votes in May. The vote on the final package, probably in late July, will be very close, and the caucus’s 37 Democratic members in the House could make the difference. “We can’t afford to have the caucus against us,” says a top White House aide. “We won’t have votes to spare.”
In fact, the caucus isn’t quite the monolith it seemed to be in the aftermath of the Guinier debacle. One well-connected member describes the factions to colleagues with a series of tongue-in-cheek names. There are, he says, a half dozen “Malcolms” who reject all compromise in the manner of Malcolm X. Mfume plays this role when he has to. And there are an equal number of “Angelas,” sisters to the “Malcolms,” on the model of onetime radical Angela Davis. Rep. Maxine Waters of California, well known for her heated rhetoric, is the caucus members’ nominee in this category. But there are also a few “Jeff Davises,” a mocking reference to the president of the Confederacy, mainly from newly created and often rural districts in the South. They are quite sensitive to their rural constituents, many of whom are white, and looking for deals to make with conservative Democrats. Probably the largest group is composed of “Gone with the Winds,” dealmakers like Rep. John Lewis of Georgia who believe the caucus’s single-minded focus on race is counterproductive. “I don’t major in caucus,” Lewis tartly declares. His main goal: helping the first Democratic president in a dozen years pass his economic program.
The amateur sociologist might have added a fifth group: “Adam Clayton Powells,” senior members from big cities who are poised to become the new committee barons of the House. They aren’t just in the leadership; increasingly, they are the leadership. Lewis, for instance, is a deputy whip. Ron Dellums of Oakland, Calif., is already chairman of the Armed Services Committee. They are, by now, old hands at wheeling and dealing.
Clinton’s aim will be to divide and conquer: to beat racial politics with the lure of power and money. He does not need to give the caucus everything it wants; he just needs to give certain members the tax breaks and local projects that will allow them to claim victory back home.
The caucus is demanding a great deal: about $35 billion worth of extra spending and tax breaks the Senate refused to support. The caucus may be the only place on Capitol Hill where entitlements are still spoken of with reverence: “I’d like to see a Great Society,” says Mfume, “and if there’s proper oversight, it’ll succeed.” The caucus’s “nonnegotiable” requests include: $7 billion in extra food-stamp spending; hold Medicare cuts to $50 billion (the Senate approved $60 billion) and restore money for a variety of education, healthcare, training and summer-jobs programs.
B‘You get what you need’:b At the same time, some members of the Black Caucus may be willing to declare victory in the form of programs that have a New Democrat ring: tax cuts designed to promote individual initiative and responsibility. Mfume, among others, is focusing on restoring the full scope of the earned-income tax credit for the working poor, cut more than a third by the Senate. The caucus also wants some $5 billion worth of tax credits for new “empowerment zones” that would promote business investment in cities-a provision that was dropped entirely by the Senate. President Clinton has signaled his interest in fighting for both. " It’s like that rock song," says Rep. Craig Washing-ton of Houston, recalling a Rolling Stones anthem. “‘You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometime, you just might find, you get what you need’.”
Washington is emblematic of the split personality of the caucus: the Malcolms and the dealmakers. With his spectacles and bow tie, he talks with an edge of populist anger and looks like a country lawyer. “The people with money had a party in the ’80s,” he says. “Now they’re telling us to sacrifice for the next generation. But I’m talking about food and shoes for this generation.” Washington, however, is no stranger to the country club. As he walked down the hallway outside his office, he was approached by a lobbyist who invited him for a round of golf. Smiling affably, Washington swung an imaginary golf club, with practiced ease.
title: " Malcolms And Dealmakers" ShowToc: true date: “2023-01-01” author: “Scott Watson”
Soon Mfume, with the caucus’s blessing, was attacking Clinton’s efforts to mollify conservative Democrats in the Senate and complaining about the lack of minority staffers in his inner circle. The caucus even rebuffed an invitation from Clinton to break bread at the White House. Instead this last bastion of liberalism sent him,’60s style, a list of “nonnegotiable” demands for more money for the poor and the cities.
The caucus’s high profile comes at a precarious time for the president. The budget package barely slipped through the Senate last week, thanks to a tie-breaking vote by Vice President Al Gore; a more liberal version squeaked through the House by only six votes in May. The vote on the final package, probably in late July, will be very close, and the caucus’s 37 Democratic members in the House could make the difference. “We can’t afford to have the caucus against us,” says a top White House aide. “We won’t have votes to spare.”
In fact, the caucus isn’t quite the monolith it seemed to be in the aftermath of the Guinier debacle. One well-connected member describes the factions to colleagues with a series of tongue-in-cheek names. There are, he says, a half dozen “Malcolms” who reject all compromise in the manner of Malcolm X. Mfume plays this role when he has to. And there are an equal number of “Angelas,” sisters to the “Malcolms,” on the model of onetime radical Angela Davis. Rep. Maxine Waters of California, well known for her heated rhetoric, is the caucus members’ nominee in this category. But there are also a few “Jeff Davises,” a mocking reference to the president of the Confederacy, mainly from newly created and often rural districts in the South. They are quite sensitive to their rural constituents, many of whom are white, and looking for deals to make with conservative Democrats. Probably the largest group is composed of “Gone with the Winds,” dealmakers like Rep. John Lewis of Georgia who believe the caucus’s single-minded focus on race is counterproductive. “I don’t major in caucus,” Lewis tartly declares. His main goal: helping the first Democratic president in a dozen years pass his economic program.
The amateur sociologist might have added a fifth group: “Adam Clayton Powells,” senior members from big cities who are poised to become the new committee barons of the House. They aren’t just in the leadership; increasingly, they are the leadership. Lewis, for instance, is a deputy whip. Ron Dellums of Oakland, Calif., is already chairman of the Armed Services Committee. They are, by now, old hands at wheeling and dealing.
Clinton’s aim will be to divide and conquer: to beat racial politics with the lure of power and money. He does not need to give the caucus everything it wants; he just needs to give certain members the tax breaks and local projects that will allow them to claim victory back home.
The caucus is demanding a great deal: about $35 billion worth of extra spending and tax breaks the Senate refused to support. The caucus may be the only place on Capitol Hill where entitlements are still spoken of with reverence: “I’d like to see a Great Society,” says Mfume, “and if there’s proper oversight, it’ll succeed.” The caucus’s “nonnegotiable” requests include: $7 billion in extra food-stamp spending; hold Medicare cuts to $50 billion (the Senate approved $60 billion) and restore money for a variety of education, healthcare, training and summer-jobs programs.
B‘You get what you need’:b At the same time, some members of the Black Caucus may be willing to declare victory in the form of programs that have a New Democrat ring: tax cuts designed to promote individual initiative and responsibility. Mfume, among others, is focusing on restoring the full scope of the earned-income tax credit for the working poor, cut more than a third by the Senate. The caucus also wants some $5 billion worth of tax credits for new “empowerment zones” that would promote business investment in cities-a provision that was dropped entirely by the Senate. President Clinton has signaled his interest in fighting for both. " It’s like that rock song," says Rep. Craig Washing-ton of Houston, recalling a Rolling Stones anthem. “‘You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometime, you just might find, you get what you need’.”
Washington is emblematic of the split personality of the caucus: the Malcolms and the dealmakers. With his spectacles and bow tie, he talks with an edge of populist anger and looks like a country lawyer. “The people with money had a party in the ’80s,” he says. “Now they’re telling us to sacrifice for the next generation. But I’m talking about food and shoes for this generation.” Washington, however, is no stranger to the country club. As he walked down the hallway outside his office, he was approached by a lobbyist who invited him for a round of golf. Smiling affably, Washington swung an imaginary golf club, with practiced ease.
