8:04 p.m. Senate side, U.S. Capitol. No deal. No deal. No deal. Rep. Charlie Rangel does not want to make a deal. On the House side, in the basement, members of the full House Ethics Committee continue to meet. Judging from the grumpy looks on the faces it’s been a loooong evening. But still no deal. Apparently Rep. Rangel’s crack counsel, counsel costing him hundreds of thousands of dollars, was pushing for all charges to be dropped. Talk about a trip through fantasy world. Did they really think the Republicans on the investigative committee or the full committee would actually agree to that?
…on the issue of black farmers. Yesterday, National Black Farmers Assoc. President John Boyd had a meeting with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Reid told Boyd that the money for the black farmers settlement was moved from the War supplemental package to H.R. 5297, the Small Business Lending Act. That bill is being voted on in the Senate today. The Republicans, led by Sebator Mitch McConnell are threatening to block the legislation. Yesterday, during an interview with George Wilson of WHUR, John Boyd said “the President needs to get down here,” and push the issue. So far silence from the White House. No statements issued from Gibbs. No use of the bully pulpit. The White House continues to go out of its way to bend backwards to appear as if it is not giving any special attention to black issues.
CHARLIE RANGEL NOT TO SPEAK? At today’s Ethics Committee “trial” organizational meeting, Rep. Charlie Rangel has not yet decided to ask for any speaking time. The session, which is set to begin at 1 p.m. in the Capitol complex, could end up being a weird overly proceedural moment in this sago. No one really knows but it is expected to go on for 90 minutes.
$59 billion here, $59 billion there...
Keeps on funding...
148 Democrats voted FOR spending more money on combat operations to fund two wars. 102 Democrats voted AGAINST spending more cash on war combat operations for two wars.
ANOTHER $59 BILLION SPENT. Once again, where are the Blue Dogs now to remind everyone of how fiscally irresponsible we are spending $59 billion on two wars that have been going on, with little purpose, for quite some time now? Most of the members of the CBC bailed on this. Reasons are obvious; we can’t spend $1.2 billion on the black farmers settlement — which is paid for — but we can find $59 billion for the war supplemental? No one could find $1 million for summer jobs… but another $59 billion spent on two wars is fine. So fourth and so on.
Included in the NO votes were 30 members of the Congressional Black Caucus: Corrine Brown, Lacy Clay, 
Emanuel Cleaver, Yvette Clarke, John Conyers, Elijah Cummings, Danny Davis, Donna Edwards, Marcia Fudge, Chaka Fattah, Alcee Hastings, Jesse Jackson, Keith Ellison, Sheila Jackson Lee, Eddie Bernice Johnson, Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, Barbara Lee, John Lewis, Hank Johnson, Greg Meeks, Gwen Moore, Don Payne, Charlie Rangel, Bobby Rush, Laura Richardson, Bobby Scott, Bennie Thompson, Ed Towns, Maxine Waters and Mel Watt.
Members of the Congressional Black Caucus who votes FOR war funding: Al Green, Sanford Bishop, GK Butterfield, Jim Clyburn, Artur Davis and David Scott.
House set to pass disparity bill... From 1:100 to 1:18
S. 1789 SET TO PASS HOUSE TODAY. Today should be the day the House passes legislation to close the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine. Back on March 17, the Senate passed their version of Rep. Bobby Scott’s legislation on the House side that would have made the crack/powder penalties equal. Of course, there is no good reason anyone an come up with as to why the penalty is not equal. Sen. Dick Durbin was somehow able to get Sens. Tom Coburn, Orrin Hatch and Jeff Sessions to agree to closing the disparity from 1:100 to 1:18. If the 1:18 agreement should be approved by the House today and signed into law by President Obama soon after. S. 1789, the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, would be the first major change in the crack cocaine/powder cocaine sentencing laws in 27 years.
Rep. Bobby Scott
PLAYMAKERS: REP. SCOTT + SEN. DURBIN. The two people who made this happen are Rep. Bobby Scott and Sen. Dick Durbin. The change is 24 years in the making… and in the waiting. Color of Change and other groups are already out there hootin’ n hollarin’ that a 1:18 change is not enough and that the disparity should be closed completely and the sentencing disparity eliminated. Really? No kidding? The thing to pay attention to is that this is the first major change in 27 years. Think of all the people who were tossed in jail (on a five year mandatory) over the last 27 years because they happned to be carrying crack cocaine instead of powder cocaine.
Rep. Charlie Rangel
Rep. Maxine Waters
RANGEL AND WATERS ON THE SAME DAY? Don’t look now, but if the ethics situation regarding Rep. Charlie Rangel are not dealt with today, we could have a situation where the cases of Reps. Charlie Rangel and Maxine Waters could “hit the fan” on the same day. That day would be Thursday. The Ethics Committee has an uncanny habit of announcing big things the day before a break or a holiday week. If they were to announce their decision on Rep. Maxine Waters on Thursday or Friday the CBC would find itself confronting the PR disaster of two of its most prolific members facing serious ethics accusations at the same time. Even more crazy is that both are from districts that are in huge media markets which would ensure plenty of attention — even for what is really an “inside the beltway” story.
Rep. Charlie Rangel spoke again to reporters before the House voted for the final timeon Tuesday afternoon. Rangel stopped to speak with reporters three times on Tuesday. During this discussion, he defines his ethics situation as a “nightmare…”
CHARLIE RANGEL. It’s 5:30 pm and we continue to wait regarding the news of a deal on Rep. Charlie Rangel’s ethics situation. The deadline for this thing is Thursday when Ethics has its “trial” as Rangel describes it… Apparently Rangel is unwilling to admit wrongdoing and the Ethics Committee is unwilling to issue a final report. So, even after two years on and it goes. Now, Rep. Rangel is talking less and less and saying he can’t comment much. With that we know something must be coming soon… Rangel is not the type of guy who will remain quiet for very long. In this video, journalists Deirdre Walsh from CNN and Susan Crabtree from The Hill ask Rep. Rangel a few questions as he departs a forum on Haiti.
Reps. Rangel and Lee
LEE SAYS DON’T RUSH ON RANGEL. Though they have not put out a release on black farmers, which is amazing really, CBC Chair Barbara Lee put out a statement regarding the ethics investigation involving Rep. Charlie Rangel. There are rumors of a deal as we countdown to a “trial” of Rangel on Thursday. This happened after House Ethics kicked this unending two year saga into yet another phase.
Lee Statement on Congressman Rangel • Monday, July 26, 2010 • FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE • WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, released the following statement today on Congressman Charles B. Rangel of New York:
“All Americans are entitled to a fair and due process, and that right extends to Congressman Rangel as well.
“Any rush to judgment to short-circuit the ongoing review of Congressman Rangel by the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct will do a disservice to the well established processes of the House of Representatives. “Attempts by Republicans and Democrats to presume guilt before the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct completes its review of the facts, which are only known to them and Congressman Rangel, violates the core American principle of the presumption of innocence.
“There is a well-established, bipartisan congressional ethics process in place and that process must be respected. “Congressman Rangel continues to be an important voice in the House of Representatives on a host of critical issues confronting our nation – from health care to creating jobs, and he deserves to be treated fairly.”
TEA PARTY CAUCUS PRESSER. Quite obviously it wasn’t a coincidence that, at last week’s Tea Party Caucus rally, almost every speaker who wasn’t a member of Congress was either black or Latino. You never saw so many minorities at a Tea Party event. Tea Party supporters were out to prove that they aren’t racist. The rationale seems to be: If we have all this blacks and Latinos up here supporting us, then there is no way there could be racism within the ranks of the Tea Party right?
