THE GANTT REP0RT, by Lucius Gantt
The so-called Congressional “Progressives” should be commended for standing up and speaking out about legislation that they prefer.
However, in my mind, I think the proposed multi-trillions they want to finance their legislative desire are akin to Martin Luther King Junior, good but dead!
I’ll tell you why.
In a partisan, divided and obstructionist Congress, individual members and groups of Congress persons never really get everything they want at the end of the governmental day.
In the best pieces of legislation, everybody will be a little happy and a little sad. Progressives, moderates, conservatives and liberals will all get a proverbial slice, but no one gets to go home with the whole apple.
Trust me, the magic number that news networks anticipate will not be the lowest or the highest, the amount of debt spending will be somewhere in the middle.
Everyday, some progressive member of Congress goes on TV or radio and says, “We are united in our fight for abortion rights, free community college, free pre-kindergarten schooling, climate change initiatives and so on.
They say they will not vote for a single public infrastructure bill if it is not attached to, or followed by, a personal infrastructure bill that is acceptable to a small group of mostly white progressive women.
I wonder if every group would or could take that stance.
Hmmm?
Why hasn’t the Progressive Caucus talked about legislation that Black Americans and Black members of Congress support like voting rights protections, police reform or humane treatment for immigrants of color? How can progressives let voting rights and police reforms die a quick death?
When you look at the current Congress in a different way, perhaps some of the female Congressional members of the Democratic Party are merely Dixiecrats with dresses!
I don’t know any member of the Progressive Caucus that could win any election without the support and votes of Black Americans.
To brothers and sisters in the hood, Philippic progressive talk is like a dull knife that’s just not cutting. They’re talking loud and saying nothing!
Instead of saying, “It’s our way or no highway!,” it seems to me so-called Progressives should unite and form a coalition with other Congressional minority groups to generate even more political strength.
Think about it. In what election, in what year and at what time has a progressive political candidate won a national or statewide election?
Well, that won’t happen in Hollywood or Dollywood!
The white females in the Progressive Caucus today think they are the Big Cats in the federal bureaucracy, but they are not the kind of big cats that thrive in the political jungle, that hunt their food and protect their children and elders. Progressive Cats are “zoo cats” that can only get what they need from the political zookeeper. They want to talk House and Senate members into voting for legislation instead of joining, or forming, a legislative army of Blacks [and] whites
Lucius is a contributing columnist to NNPA newspapers around the nation, and the author of “Beast Too: Dead Man Writing,” available on Amazon.com and from bookstores everywhere.