Congressional Black Caucus Seething at Obama

More stories are leaking out confirming that hatred of Barack Obama is at astronomical levels among members of the Congressional Black Caucus. Indeed, one knowledgeable source said that the CBC regards Obama as worse than Bush, because he has betrayed them.

The level of tension was reflected in a number of published stories surrounding Thursday's meeting at the White House between Obama and the CBC. Politico led with a story on "Tension between CBC, Obama" in advance of the meeting, featuring John Conyers charging that the White House is "not listening" to black lawmakers, and Alcee Hastings saying "there's not enough attention to poor people." Politico notes that among the triggers for CBC anger are the extraordinarily high unemployment among blacks, the targeting of Charlie Rangel, the White House trying to push David Paterson out of the New York gubernatorial race, and the article points out that CBC anger is particularly aimed at Rahm Emanuel and Valerie Jarrett — with the latter having had a confrontation with Keith Ellison telling him to support Iraq and Afghan wars.

"Conyers has been in Congress longer than Barack Obama could spell," Politico quotes a black strategist, described as close to both the White House and Congress, warning. "If he's making a complaint, it's a shot across the bow, and you might want to pay attention to that."

In Politico, following the White House meeting where the major emphasis appears to have been on jobs, Charlie Rangel is quoted as saying that the White House is making "a big mistake" by focusing on health care rather than jobs. "To be mild, we need direction from the President," Rangel cautioned. He said the voters he meets back in New York ask him about jobs, not health care. "What am I supposed to tell them?" he asked.

The Washington Post notes that no one coming out of yesterday's meeting would publicly criticize Obama. But older CBC members recall getting frequent calls from Bill Clinton when he was President, contrasting this with Obama's neglect of CBC members. In fact, Donald Payne says he "can't remember" if Obama has ever called him.