Press Release - Open Letter to the Congressional Black Caucus

Open letter to the Congressional Black Caucus Chairs Lee and Cleaver, and members of the Caucus:
 
The President's Tax Cuts are a Repudiation of our 96% Vote for Him
 
The Black community voted overwhelmingly for President Obama in 2008 (96%) and overwhelmingly for the Democratic Party in 2010 (90%). Our vote was not a mandate to provide huge tax cuts to the Billionaires Club that pays an effective tax rate that is less than that paid by the typical worker.  We are heartened by the report that Speaker Pelosi will refuse to allow the House to vote on the President's surrender to the Republican Party's Billionaires Club.

We strongly oppose any tax cuts for those earning over one million dollars and would prefer that there be no tax cuts for those earning over $250,000.  Secondly, we strongly oppose any changes from the Clinton era on estate taxes except for raising the exception to $3.5 million. But, the rate should be at 55%. In particular, for super large estates of $50 million or more, the rate should be 55%.

These two provisions alone could generate hundreds of billions of dollars necessary to support education, healthcare and a wide variety of other key needs. It could also be used, in part, to encourage job creation. Revenue from a fair tax system could create a multibillion dollar Small Business Development Fund that could develop a million or more new jobs. This is especially important since the Black unemployment is almost twice the white rate and our real unemployment rate, including discouraged and part-time workers, exceeds 30% in most of the nation. And, it is far worse for our young people.

We urge the most progressive Caucus in America, the Congressional Black Caucus, to stand firm for those who supported the President when he needed them and who are the backbone of the Democratic Party.

 
Opportunity for the President to Finally Help Forty Million Black Americans

 
During the Healthcare debate, the President gave away billions of dollars to secure votes from the Republican senators in Maine. Similarly, we urge the 42 members of the Black Caucus to demand that the President demonstrate his concerns about the plight of Black unemployment and small business development by using his executive powers immediately.

The President could issue an Executive Order that requires that all federal departments and agencies provide a comprehensive report on their $700 billion in annual contracts awarded over the last two years by race, ethnicity and gender. This will demonstrate that less than one percent of contracts were awarded to Black businesses and far less to small Black businesses. It will also provide a basis for an Executive Order to require the setting of goals by race, ethnicity and gender, as is presently the case for disabled veterans (goal of 3%).

Similarly, the President could immediately issue an Executive Order requiring all departments to immediately gather data on contracts of large federal contracts (one million dollars or more in federal contracts) by race, ethnicity and gender.

Forty million Black Americans and almost two million small Black businesses depend on you, your vision and leadership. We know you will not disappoint us. We have confidence that you will provide the leadership and the vision for a President who has lost his moral compass.
 
"If there is no struggle, there is no progress.  Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation are men who want crops without plowing the ground.  They want rain without thunder and lightning.  They want the ocean without the awful roar of its waters.  Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will."---------------------------------Fredrick Douglass