Columnist and erstwhile presidential candidate Pat Buchanan
opines that the President is on a collision course with the most loyal elements of his political base. The reason is the precarious position blacks find themselves in as the economy constricts. Buchanan writes:
Black America’s situation, though tough today, seems certain to get tougher. Why?
First, black Americans held a significant share of the subprime mortgages that went sour when housing prices went south, and are thus over-represented among those who lost homes.
Second, black Americans, with a higher rate of poverty, depend more on the entitlement and social programs that Obama cannot avoid hoisting onto the chopping block in any “balanced” plan for dealing with the deficit-debt crisis.
Third, African-Americans are over-represented among the 22 million who work for local, state and federal governments. And while government workers came out best in terms of job security and salary hikes in the stimulus days of 2009 and 2010, in the austerity days of 2011, they are getting their fair share of pink slips. It is almost a truism: Whenever Middle America goes into recession, Black America flirts with depression.
Consider the U.S. Postal Service, with 600,000 employees, running a deficit of $8.5 billion and facing layoffs of 120,000. According to William Burrus, ex-president of the Postal Workers Union, 21 percent of all postal employees are black. When the cuts come, minorities will take a big hit.
This helps explain a sociological fact that mystifies many conservatives (and some liberals) but shouldn't - the fealty of black Americans to the Democrat party. Buchanan explains:
That African-Americans favor a powerful federal government is understandable. After all, it was the federal government that crushed the Confederacy, freed the slaves, sent troops to integrate the South, enacted the civil rights laws, imposed affirmative action on companies and colleges, and created the Great Society that provided trillions in wealth transfers and welfare benefits and employs a share of the black population that is nearly twice its representation in the labor force.
This all goes a long way to explain why so many blacks are so hostile to tea party conservatism and loyal to Democrats who are defenders and promoters of big government. Conservatives want to reduce the size of government which will only put more blacks out of work and diminish the benefits they receive from taxpayers.
At any rate, Mr. Obama is between a rock and a hard place. According to Buchanan:
If he proposes new taxes, Tea Party Republicans fix bayonets. If he proposes downsizing the government and cutting and capping social programs, his most loyal constituents rise up against him.
Maybe what President Obama should do is what's best for the long term health of the nation as a whole, not what's best for the short-term benefit of a part of it. Of course, that won't save him from the impending collision with his base.
