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OP-ED: Refocusing America’s Pursuit of Perfection

NNPA NEWSWIRE — While our legislative wins were impressive and unprecedented, the pundits remained focused on the noise and name calling. They bought into the dire predictions that the voters would turn Democrats out in droves. I was often asked, “What would it take to get beyond the acrimony?” My answer was always the same, “a definitive election, one in which massive numbers of Americans would step outside their comfort zones.”
The post OP-ED: Refocusing America’s Pursuit of Perfection first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Published

2 years ago

November 28, 2022

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By Congressman James E. Clyburn

In his January 20, 2022, Inaugural Address, President Joe Biden called on us to, “look ahead in our uniquely American way – restless, bold, optimistic – and set our sights on the nation we know we can be, and we must be. But many Americans were looking back to the unprecedented and tumultuous attempted insurrection of January 6th. Backward looking is not normal for a democracy – especially one like ours that is always in “pursuit of a more perfect union.” But you won’t find perfection by looking backwards. President Abraham Lincoln reportedly once said, “I walk slowly, but I never walk backwards.”

President Lincoln led this country through an earlier period of internal turmoil, when there was no certainty that America would emerge intact. I believe President Biden faces similar challenges today. In addition to the political challenge that faced our country as he took office, our country was struggling to reduce the toll of Covid-19, restore our place on the world stage, reform community policing, keep our communities safe, combat climate change, and the list goes on and on and on.

President Biden took a page from President Lincoln’s methodical approach to move us forward. Within the first six weeks of his administration, President Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan. That law made Covid-19 vaccinations available, stabilized families, unshuttered businesses, reopened schools, and got people back to work. He followed that historic legislation with another historic bill, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that is investing $1.2 trillion in roads and bridges, clean air and water, ports and rail, electric vehicles and making high-speed internet accessible and affordability to every resident and business.

During our lively debate over the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, competing interests within our party were threatening that agenda and our continued pursuit of a more perfect union. I urged members to step outside their comfort zones and find common ground. We were able to subsequently craft the bill that President Biden signed into law.

President Biden’s poll numbers dipped dramatically as the pandemic lingered. But Democrats entered the 2022 election cycle comfortable with his approach and confident in our agenda. We continued to focus on the future and passed much-needed legislation: the CHIPS & Science Act to keep skilled technical and manufacturing jobs in the U.S; the PACT Act to provide health care and resources for military heroes who had been subjected to toxic burn pits and Agent Orange, and the Safer Communities Act to combat gun violence and provide more law enforcement officers in rural communities.

We also passed the Inflation Reduction Act. While it was the largest investment ever to combat climate change, it also authorized Medicare to negotiate for lower drug prices and capped the cost of insulin at $35 for seniors starting January 1, 2023. President Biden and Congressional Democrats were putting the best interest of the American people over the politics of the moment, and the voters knew it.

While our legislative wins were impressive and unprecedented, the pundits remained focused on the noise and name calling. They bought into the dire predictions that the voters would turn Democrats out in droves. I was often asked, “What would it take to get beyond the acrimony?” My answer was always the same, “a definitive election, one in which massive numbers of Americans would step outside their comfort zones.”

That is what happened on November 8^th. Many Republicans and Independents who are not usually comfortable voting for Democrats did so in record numbers. The election results seem to have changed the narrative from one of looking backward to one that is forward focused.

After a better-than-expected midterm election cycle during his first term, President Lincoln responded to a Michigan Senator and frequent critic from his own party, Zachariah Chandler, by saying, “I am very glad the elections this autumn have gone favorably, and that I have not, by native depravity, or under evil influences, done anything bad enough to prevent the good result. I hope to ‘stand firm’ enough to not go backward, and yet not go forward fast enough to wreck the country’s cause.”

Forward momentum is the only way to overcome the pull of the past and break the ties of those wanting a return to divisive and dangerous times. I believe President Biden has proven that he too will “stand firm enough to not go backward.”

With the House and Senate as closely divided as they are, progress will require that both sides step outside of their comfort zones and continue our pursuit of “a more perfect union.” The extent of our commitment and success will be determined by the American people at the time – and in the places – they usually render their decisions, at the ballot boxes.

The post OP-ED: Refocusing America’s Pursuit of Perfection first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

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Recently Approved Budget Plan Favors Wealthy, Slashes Aid to Low-Income Americans

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — The most significant benefits would flow to the highest earners while millions of low-income families face cuts

Published

5 days ago

March 21, 2025

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown

BlackPressUSA.com Senior National Correspondent

The new budget framework approved by Congress may result in sweeping changes to the federal safety net and tax code. The most significant benefits would flow to the highest earners while millions of low-income families face cuts. A new analysis from Yale University’s Budget Lab shows the proposals in the House’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Resolution would lead to a drop in after-tax-and-transfer income for the poorest households while significantly boosting revenue for the wealthiest Americans. Last month, Congress passed its Concurrent Budget Resolution for Fiscal Year 2025 (H. Con. Res. 14), setting revenue and spending targets for the next decade. The resolution outlines $1.5 trillion in gross spending cuts and $4.5 trillion in tax reductions between FY2025 and FY2034, along with $500 billion in unspecified deficit reduction.

Congressional Committees have now been instructed to identify policy changes that align with these goals. Three of the most impactful committees—Agriculture, Energy and Commerce, and Ways and Means—have been tasked with proposing major changes. The Agriculture Committee is charged with finding $230 billion in savings, likely through changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps. Energy and Commerce must deliver $880 billion in savings, likely through Medicaid reductions. Meanwhile, the Ways and Means Committee must craft tax changes totaling no more than $4.5 trillion in new deficits, most likely through extending provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Although the resolution does not specify precise changes, reports suggest lawmakers are eyeing steep cuts to SNAP and Medicaid benefits while seeking to make permanent tax provisions that primarily benefit high-income individuals and corporations.

To examine the potential real-world impact, Yale’s Budget Lab modeled four policy changes that align with the resolution’s goals:

A 30 percent across-the-board cut in SNAP funding.
A 15 percent cut in Medicaid funding.
Permanent extension of the individual and estate tax cuts from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
Permanent extension of business tax provisions including 100% bonus depreciation, expense of R&D, and relaxed limits on interest deductions.

Yale researchers determined that the combined effect of these policies would reduce the after-tax-and-transfer income of the bottom 20 percent of earners by 5 percent in the calendar year 2026. Households in the middle would see a modest 0.6 percent gain. However, the top five percent of earners would experience a 3 percent increase in their after-tax-and-transfer income.

Moreover, the analysis concluded that more than 100 percent of the net fiscal benefit from these changes would go to households in the top 20 percent of the income distribution. This happens because lower-income groups would lose more in government benefits than they would gain from any tax cuts. At the same time, high-income households would enjoy significant tax reductions with little or no loss in benefits.

“These results indicate a shift in resources away from low-income tax units toward those with higher incomes,” the Budget Lab report states. “In particular, making the TCJA provisions permanent for high earners while reducing spending on SNAP and Medicaid leads to a regressive overall effect.” The report notes that policymakers have floated a range of options to reduce SNAP and Medicaid outlays, such as lowering per-beneficiary benefits or tightening eligibility rules. While the Budget Lab did not assess each proposal individually, the modeling assumes legislation consistent with the resolution’s instructions. “The burden of deficit reduction would fall largely on those least able to bear it,” the report concluded.

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A Threat to Pre-emptive Pardons

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — it was a possibility that the preemptive pardons would not happen because of the complicated nature of that never-before-enacted process.

Published

5 days ago

March 21, 2025

Oakland Post

By April Ryan

President Trump is working to undo the traditional presidential pardon powers by questioning the Biden administration’s pre-emptive pardons issued just days before January 20, 2025. President Trump is seeking retribution against the January 6th House Select Committee. The Trump Justice Department has been tasked to find loopholes to overturn the pardons that could lead to legal battles for the Republican and Democratic nine-member committee. Legal scholars and those closely familiar with the pardon process worked with the Biden administration to ensure the preemptive pardons would stand against any retaliatory knocks from the incoming Trump administration. A source close to the Biden administration’s pardons said, in January 2025, “I think pardons are all valid. The power is unreviewable by the courts.”

However, today that same source had a different statement on the nuances of the new Trump pardon attack. That attack places questions about Biden’s use of an autopen for the pardons. The Trump argument is that Biden did not know who was pardoned as he did not sign the documents. Instead, the pardons were allegedly signed by an autopen. The same source close to the pardon issue said this week, “unless he [Trump] can prove Biden didn’t know what was being done in his name. All of this is in uncharted territory. “ Meanwhile, an autopen is used to make automatic or remote signatures. It has been used for decades by public figures and celebrities.

Months before the Biden pardon announcement, those in the Biden White House Counsel’s Office, staff, and the Justice Department were conferring tirelessly around the clock on who to pardon and how. The concern for the preemptive pardons was how to make them irrevocable in an unprecedented process. At one point in the lead-up to the preemptive pardon releases, it was a possibility that the preemptive pardons would not happen because of the complicated nature of that never-before-enacted process. President Trump began the threat of an investigation for the January 6th Select Committee during the Hill proceedings. Trump has threatened members with investigation or jail.

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Reaction to The Education EO

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Meanwhile, the new Education EO jeopardizes funding for students seeking a higher education. Duncan states, PellGrants are in jeopardy after servicing “6.5 million people” giving them a chance to go to college.

Published

5 days ago

March 21, 2025

Oakland Post

By April Ryan

There are plenty of negative reactions to President Donald Trump’s latest Executive Order abolishing the Department of Education. As Democrats call yesterday’s action performative, it would take an act of Congress for the Education Department to close permanently. “This blatantly unconstitutional executive order is just another piece of evidence that Trump has absolutely no respect for the Constitution,” said Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) who is the ranking member on the House Financial Services Committee. “By dismantling ED, President Trump is implementing his own philosophy on education, which can be summed up in his own words, ‘I love the poorly educated.’ I am adamantly opposed to this reckless action, said Rep. Bobby Scott who is the most senior Democrat on the House Education and Workforce Committee.

Morgan State University President Dr. David Wilson chimed in saying “I’m deeply concerned about efforts to shift federal oversight in education back to the states, particularly regarding equity, justice, and fairness. History has shown us what happens when states are left unchecked—Black and poor children are too often denied access to the high-quality education they deserve. In 1979 then President Jimmy Carter signed a law creating the Department of Education. Arne Duncan, former Obama Education Secretary, reminds us that both Democratic and Republican presidents have kept education a non-political issue until now. However, Duncan stressed Republican presidents have contributed greatly to moving education forward in this country.

During a CNN interview this week Duncan said during the Civil War President Abraham “Lincoln created the land grant system” for colleges like Tennessee State University. “President Ford brought in IDEA.” And “Nixon signed Pell Grants into law.” In 2001, the No Child Left Behind Act was signed into law by President George W. Bush which increased federal oversight of schools through standardized testing. Meanwhile, the new Education EO jeopardizes funding for students seeking higher education. Duncan states, PellGrants are in jeopardy after servicing “6.5 million people” giving them a chance to go to college. Wilson details, “that 40 percent of all college students rely on Pell Grants and student loans.”

Rep. Alma Adams (D-NC) says this Trump action “impacts students pursuing higher education and threatens 26 million students across the country, taking billions away from their educational futures. Meanwhile, During the president’s speech in the East Room of the White House Thursday, Trump criticized Baltimore City, and its math test scores with critical words. Governor West Moore, who is opposed to the EO action, said about dismantling the Department of Education, “Leadership means lifting people up, not punching them down.”