RUSH: Maxine Waters. ‘An ethics report released Monday found that Rep. Maxine Waters probably broke conflict-of-interest rules in urging federal aid for a bank where her husband had served on the board and owned hundreds of thousands of dollars in stock.’ Now, she said that she has not violated any House ethics rules, and the fact is she’s violated the biggest House ethics rule, and that is, don’t get caught. ‘Cause once you get caught, we can’t help you. So now there’s another black Congress member, black caucus member who’s under the gun ethically and I got a story coming up in 
the stack about the rift between the CBC, Congressional Black Caucus, and Obama, and how he’s really not one of them, he’s not down for the struggle, he’s not one of them. It’s an amazing piece. (interruption) Well, they’re mad that Charlie’s being thrown under the bus. They’re mad that Obama is helping to throw Charlie under the bus, like, ‘It’s time to go with dignity.’ The black caucus, if the truth be known, has never been happy with the administration when it comes to the jobs agenda. Black unemployment is skyrocketing. It’s astronomically high. And they’ve said two or three times publicly, ‘Mr. President, where’s the laser-like focus on black jobs?’
‘Pelosi (D-Calif.) echoed her stance on the Rangel matter, offering a muted response that suggested the Waters case showed that the ethics panel is doing its job of policing the House.’ Waters called a meeting for minority banks but only one was discussed, and that was her husband’s. ‘Twice in September 2008, Waters approached Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) to discuss OneUnited’s pursuit of federal assistance. According to Frank’s testimony, she acknowledged a potential conflict: ‘Sidney’s been on the board.’ Frank told the investigators that he did not want Waters involved in the OneUnited issue. ‘Stay out of it,’ he said he told her.’ But she didn’t stay out of it. She saw to it that her husband’s city got his skids greased. And here’s an editorial in the Washington Post: ‘Maxine Waters’ Questionable Ethics.’ The minority-focused bank had a mixed record of lending to minorities.
‘For all its connections to Ms. Waters and Mr. Frank, OneUnited was not necessarily the likeliest candidate for a bailout. It had a mixed record of lending to minority communities and had run afoul of regulators for buying its executives a Porsche.’ So OneUnited, a bank focused on lending to minorities, actually wasn’t. They were buying their executives Porsches, and that probably ticked off Sidney because I think Sidney owns a Mercedes dealership, or did. I think Maxine’s husband owns a Mercedes dealership. Maybe it wasn’t a Mercedes dealership, I thought it was in LA. But he owned something in the Caribbean. Meanwhile, the bank where he’s on the board is buying Porsches with federal bailout money, and Obama and Pelosi are not exactly being supportive. Who can blame ’em for being upset? I mean both Maxine Waters and Charlie Rangel have got to see this as discrimination. What have they done that’s any different from what 99% of all other Democrats have done? Barney Frank got away with destroying the housing market and then was allowed to write a piece of legislation to so-called fix it. Poof! Same thing with Chris Dodd. Well, Dodd got caught up in the Countrywide thing. He’s kind of toast. But they at least let him have a swan’s song on the financial regulatory reform bill.
But I mean you gotta figure that Maxine and Charlie Rangel are thinking, ‘What did we do that 99% of the other Democrats have not been doing all these years?’ That’s it. If you want to know — H.R. got it — if you want to know, both Maxine and Charlie endorsed Hillary. I’m not making it up and I’m not giving you something just to have fun with. This is how Obama plays the game. Brother Barack does hold grudges. Brother Barack does have a long memory. Charlie Rangel and Maxine were vocal in their support of Hillary. Waters is now saying that her husband’s bank, OneUnited, would have gotten a piece of the TARP bailout anyway, but how does she know? How does she figure that? We were told at the time that TARP money was gonna go to banks that were too big to fail. In fact, that’s why Obama is at this very moment trying to sneak through a second bank bailout to bail out community banks like OneUnited. Kid you not. We have time for a couple audio sound bites. Maxine Waters, flashback, this is who she is, 2004 in Washington, Capitol Hill Financial Services Committee hearing.
WATERS: During nearly a dozen hearings where, frankly, we were trying to fix something that wasn’t broke. Mr. Chairman, we do not have a crisis at Freddie Mac, and in particular at Fannie Mae, under the outstanding leadership of Mr. Frank Raines.
RUSH: And she was defending Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Here she does a great job, December 12th 2002 on an NBC show called Nachman.
WATERS: He’s still saying after all of these years that if this country had voted for Throm Sturmond (sic), we’d be a lot better off and wouldn’t have had all these problems. That’s the same statement he made back in 1948.
RUSH: She was piling on Trent Lott here for telling the joke at ‘Throm Sturmond’s’ birthday party. You heard it right, Maxine Waters, ‘If this country had voted for Throm Sturmond we’d be a lot better off –‘ that’s how she piled on the Trent Lott case.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Maxine Waters pronouncing it ‘Throm Sturmond’ December 12, 2002. Earlier that year, July 8, 2002, another committee hearing on WorldCom accounting errors.
WATERS: The analyst, Mr. Jack Grubman, from Salomon Barney Frank, with close ties to WorldCom — and, by the way, he refers to close ties and conflict of interest at Synergy — is the one who recommended WorldCom.
RUSH: So there you have it, Maxine Waters, ‘Throm Sturmond’ and ‘Salomon Barney Frank.’ I have a question, a serious question: Are there going to be any black members of Congress left after Pelosi is done investigating them?
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: One more Maxine Waters sound bite, number 21 on the sound bite roster. This is from 1995. This is Maxine Waters on her high horse over Newt Gingrich’s ethics.
WATERS: The American public does not appreciate double standards. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.
RUSH: Right.
WATERS: No one should be so big, so important, so powerful they can violate the rules of this House and the laws of this country without suffering the consequences. Newt may be Speaker. However, he, too, must account for any and all wrongdoing.
RUSH: Right. Right. Just like Trent Lott did for ‘Throm Sturmond’ and the financial firm ‘Salomon Barney Frank.’ And now Maxine Waters is the gander. Newt’s the goose, Maxine’s the gander, and Nancy Pelosi and Obama are throwing her overboard along with Charlie Rangel. Now, here’s the story. This is from the Washington Post. It’s Chris Cillizza and I don’t know if this is published or on the blog, I’m not sure which, but it doesn’t matter. ‘Obama vs. the Congressional Black Caucus? — President Obama’s relationship with members of the Congressional Black Caucus is being tested over a series of high-profile incidents, the latest of which is the ethics investigation into New York Democratic Rep. Charlie Rangel. On Friday, Obama told CBS News that he believed it was time for Rangel to end his carer ‘with dignity’, adding: ‘I think Charlie Rangel served a very long time and served his constituents very well, but these allegations are very troubling.’ A Politico story quoted a person close to Rangel saying that the congressman ‘doesn’t give a damn about what the president thinks about this.’ And New York Gov. David Paterson, who is black and whose father came up in New York politics with Rangel, seemed to offer a thinly veiled criticism of Obama in a radio interview over the weekend. Paterson said he was ‘especially surprised when people from our own community’ jump to conclusions before all the facts have been aired ‘because we’ve been the greatest victim of it for centuries.”
Now, remember, the White House tried to tell Paterson not to run for reelection. It’s not just Maxine Waters and Charlie Rangel. Obama told Paterson to take a hike. Paterson didn’t take a hike. Before that it was Carl McCall. Bill Clinton and Andrew Cuomo told Carl McCall to take a hike. And then who was it down in Georgia? They told Maynard Jackson to go fly a kite. ‘According to sources familiar with the CBC, Obama’s comments were seen as an unnecessary piling-on of Rangel … Another member of the CBC — Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) — will also face a congressional trial on ethics allegations this fall. ‘The CBC has a very protective attitude toward CBC members who face ethics troubles,’ said Alabama Democratic Rep. Artur Davis, who is black.’ Yep. I’d say so. They got their hands full. They circle the wagons around fellow members. Hey, let’s not forget Harold Ford. Obama and the Democrats told Harold Ford to go pound sand when he was thinking running for the Senate in New York. They want Gillibrand to stay there because she’s a rubber stamp for Chuck-U Schumer.
‘Some CBC members believe the organization ‘should observe some code of silence’ when it comes to ethics charges against their membership,’ and Obama is breaking the code by going out there and suggesting that Charlie has served, past tense, with dignity, and it’s time to move on. Eighty years old, he got away with a lot for a long time now, and it’s time to retire and enjoy it all: Four rent-controlled apartments, a condo in the Dominican he’s not paying taxes on. Charlie, go enjoy it all. You’ve earned it. Obama didn’t stand up for Burris, either. Remember Roland Burris from Illinois? Obama dumped him overboard, the Democrats didn’t want Roland Burris. That’s why I say are there going to be any black members left in Congress after Pelosi and Obama get through investigating them all? And don’t think they’re not thinking it. Pretty soon the CBC’s going to change its name to Congressional Black Caucasians instead of Congressional Black Caucus ’cause there aren’t going to be any of them left.
‘While the Rangel back-and-forth dominated the headlines over the weekend, it is only the latest example of the CBC and the Obama Administration not seeing entirely eye to eye of late.’ Again this is Chris Cillizza in the Washington Post. ‘To wit: CBC members made no secret of their unhappiness with the firing (and attempted re-hiring) of Agriculture Department employee Shirley Sherrod over allegedly racist remarks that, upon further inspection, appeared anything but. In an interview with Essence magazine, CBC Chairwoman Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) said the Obama Administration ‘didn’t wait like we did, didn’t do their due diligence, and reacted to an unfortunate right-wing attack on a great woman.” That’s right. Obama fired Shirley Sherrod on the word of Andrew Breitbart, and the CBC is not happy. Can you believe that? Can you believe Andrew Breitbart puts a video post up there and the White House: ‘Oh, my God, get rid of the woman.’ It’s not hunky-dory there.
‘Florida Rep. Alcee Hastings (D) told the St. Petersburg Times that he was ‘a little bit put out by the mixed signals that are coming from the White House’ regarding the Senate candidacy of Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-Fla.).’ Kendrick Meek is a black Democrat going for the Senate seat in Florida and it appears that the Obama regime is prepared to back Charlie Crist. It appears that way. The White House is trying to say, ‘No, no, no, we’re staying out of this.’ But Crist has called ’em up and what makes this funny is Crist just weeks ago was trying to convince all the Republicans how conservative he was. Now he’s trying to get the White House endorsement for his Senate run against Marco Rubio, and Alcee Hastings, who knows a thing or two about crime from both sides of it, from the commission side and the judging side, Alcee Hastings, ‘I don’t like what they’re doing to my boy Kendrick,’ and Kendrick Meek is meek. You don’t hear about him. He’s minding his own business out there; he’s been very dutiful; he’s followed all the rules. Well, he endorsed Hillary, too. I mean, if you dig deep here, and you don’t really have to dig too deep, you’ll find out that a lot of the CBC members under investigation and being thrown overboard, voted, endorsed, campaigned for Hillary Rodman Clinton.
Alvin Greene, this guy in South Carolina, I mean the voters might have thought it was Al Green, the gospel singer, but still he got 60 some odd percent of the vote. And the Democrats everywhere, from Dick Harpootlian all the way up to the White House were trying to throw this guy overboard. Meanwhile, we’re supposedly the racists here on this side of the aisle. And before it’s all said and done, as I said the CBC is not going to be the Congressional Black Caucus. It’s going to be the Congressional Caucasian Caucus, the CCC. And we’re still not through with the Chris Cillizza piece. ‘Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), a former CBC chairman, told the New York Times over the weekend that ‘much of the House is in a wait-and-see mode to see how helpful the president will be,’ adding. ‘He has to come into these districts with the same gusto and the same sense of hope that he came into the election with,” meaning is he gonna campaign for CBC members.
‘Sources familiar with the relationship between Obama and the CBC point to three major causes of tension: a generational divide, a lack of relationships and pure politics.’ Well, now, this generational divide, you know what that means. He ain’t down for the struggle. He does not have slave blood. He does not have any cotton in his past. He’s a ‘Magic Negro.’ He is exactly what David Ehrenstein said he was in the LA Times. Generational divide. He couldn’t find Selma on a map even after they took him there. Never been beat upside the head while crossing the bridge in Selma, nobody ever turned a fire hose on him. In fact, the way was paved for brother Barack. So that’s the generational divide, lack of relationships, meaning, he doesn’t hang with them. He hangs with the homeys, but not with these guys. He’s not hanging with these guys. These guys are over in the hood. Barack is up in the White House eating the Kobe beef, CBC doing barbecue. There is no relationship friendship. And then there’s pure politics.
Now, this Chris Cillizza, ‘Taking the generation factor first, there is clearly a divide even within the CBC between older African American politicians who tended to put race front and center in their campaigns and a younger group — of which Davis, Obama, Meek and former Rep. Harold Ford Jr. (D-Calif.) are a part — that tends to de-emphasize race in the context of their campaigns.’ Deemphasize, Obama, deemphasize race? Ha-ha. Not true. ‘Don’t forget that Obama directly challenged the African American political chain of command when he ran and lost — badly — to Rep. Bobby Rush in a 2000 Democratic primary for Illinois’ 1st district.’ Now, the political thing here is this. ‘What’s less clear than the ‘why’ behind the tensions between Obama and the CBC is the ‘what now?’ One party strategist familiar with the CBC painted the following doomsday scenario: ‘You have a bunch of ‘Front Liners and Blue Dogs — predominantly white members — calling for Rangel and Waters to step down, and the CBC digs in and defends them and goes after [Obama] and the party for not adequately defending them. This causes big drop in enthusiasm among African Americans for Democrats (coupled with bitterness with the Sherrod incident), and they stay home.” They’re not gonna stay home. Stay home for who?
‘It’s not clear, however, whether dissatisfaction toward Obama within the CBC means broader dissatisfaction within the black community. Each member has a political base, but there are real questions in the minds of some party strategists whether the collected political power of the CBC can sway black voters nationwide in any meaningful way.’ There isn’t going to be any political power before Pelosi gets finished. I’m trying to help you guys in the CBC. I know you don’t think I’m on our side but I’m going to tell you, you see it, you may not want to admit it but they’re gunning for you. Charlie Rangel, Ways and Means, bye-bye, William Jefferson, Democrat Louisiana? All he did, 90 grand in the freezer, big deal, that’s nothing compared to what Rostenkowski used to do, and he hung around until the old folks wanted him gone. But the House didn’t kick him out. Maxine Waters, some chump change through her husband’s bank. I mean, for crying out loud, Chuck Schumer was allowed to take down a bank and he’s still there.
Pelosi and Obama offering no words of support, no words of encouragement. Now Pelosi’s out there doing the okey-dokey trying to bamboozle the CBC, trying to hoodwink ’em while Obama’s out there saying that the Republicans are trying to do the bamboozling. The bamboozling is being done by Pelosi. To paraphrase Reverend Wright, ’cause he was right here: ‘Obama ain’t never been called a Negro.’ But the CBC guys have been. Well, in their lives they have been. Obama in his life hasn’t been. I mean we’re paraphrasing Reverend Wright. This is a serious, serious thing here. When you have the Washington Post writing about this, and when you have various members of the powerful political operative media debating what the outcome of this is going to be, it falls upon me to put at all in perspective. It’s very simple. When Pelosi is finished there won’t be a Congressional Black Caucus. It’s going to be the Congressional Caucasian Caucus, and that’s it on the Democrat side.