The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Spent More on Catering, Social Events than on Scholarships

The Congressional Black Caucus is a fundraising powerhouse and its foundation spends more money on social events than on providing scholarships for its constituents.

Founding members of the Congressional Black Caucus

The Congressional Black Caucus, which represents the black members of the United States Congress, has proven once again that it is hypocritical in many of its assertions. It's founding members include Charlie Rangel, Shirley Chisholm, Ron Dellums, John Conyers and Gus Hawkins. Membership is exclusive to blacks and its current chair is Barbara Lee (D-CA). I have always had an issue with the organization because of its name. What if we had a Congressional White Caucus? I have found the organization to be largely ineffective in addressing the needs of the black communities in America, or even serving as an "ear" to President Obama, who was once a member, though mainly inactive, and his predecessors. The New York Times published the results of a very damaging study about the CBC.  It seems that the organization is a fund-raising powerhouse but it has little to show for some of this money getting to the communities that need it the most.

The CBC has a roster of friends that range from corporate backs including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., AT&T, General Motors, Coca-Cola Co., Amgen, Boeing, Verizon, GlaxoSmithKline and Altria, which happens to be the largest tobacco company in the world and has been accused of deliberately targeting blacks with their products. The CBC has also managed to have strong relationships with other entities considered bottom-feeders in the black community -- rent-to-own companies, which set up shop in black communities, and charge exorbitant monthly fees for appliances, televisions, furniture and computers. They also have taken donations from Internet poker companies and beer brewers, for example. These companies, in addition to cigarette companies, are seen as detrimental to the black constituents of the CBC. I guess money talks, BS walks where the CBC is concerned.

The NY Times said that when the CBC wanted to pay off the mortgage on its foundation's 1930s redbrick headquarters on Embassy Row, it turned to its corporate buddies. The reality is that most groups in Washington D.C. would have been barred by law from accepting direct assistance for corporations. But no, not the CBC. So, how does it manage to get away with this? The CBC's political fundraising arm is subject to federal rules but it has a network of nonprofit groups and charities that have free rein on collecting unlimited scads of money from corporations and labor unions. Still, what have they done for the black communities across this country? Barbara Boxer told the NY Times that the giving has not influenced them one iota. Really? Is that why they are such an important source of knowledge and insight for our presidents?

According to the NY Times, the CBC said its nonprofit groups are intended to help disadvantaged African-Americans by providing scholarships and internships to students, researching policy and holding seminars on topics such as healthy living. But alas, the bulk of that money has been spent, not on the needs it pushes, but on elaborate conventions, golf outings for members of Congress and an annual visit to a Mississippi casino resort, in addition to keeping up with the Washington social scene.

From 2004 to 2008, the Congressional Black Caucus’s political and charitable wings took in at least $55 million in corporate and union contributions, according to an analysis by The New York Times, an impressive amount even by the standards of a Washington awash in cash. Only $1 million of that went to the caucus’s political action committee; the rest poured into the largely unregulated nonprofit network. (Data for 2009 is not available.)

In 2008, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation spent more on the caterer for its signature legislative dinner and conference — nearly $700,000 for an event one organizer called “Hollywood on the Potomac” — than it gave out in scholarships,

For all those people who believe the Congressional Black Caucus serves the needs of their black constituents should do a double-take. The group has attracted increased scrutiny on all fronts, with all eight open House ethics investigations involving caucus members, with the most famous being Charlie Rangel (D-NY) who can't seem to get his financial matters in order. He just keeps coming up with more bank and credit union accounts he failed to disclose in filings. Most of the CBC members who are under investigation, have been accused of improper ties to private businesses. You know, the ones they claim don't influence them.

What I find disturbing is that the CBC's influence is growing in the Congress because some of its members are in high-ranking positions -- Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) is the third-ranking House member. They have four House committee chairmen and 18 subcommittee heads. Charlie Rangel, with the cloud of doubt over his head, is the chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee and John Conerys Jr., whose wife has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery, is the chairman of the Judiciary Committee. It is a shame that the Congressional Black Caucus seems to have lost its way in the primary reason for its existence -- the constituents its members represent.

To read the entire NY Times article, CLICK HERE.