Excerpted Remarks by the President at Congressional Black Caucus Foundation 46th Annual Phoenix Awards Dinner
Hello, CBC! (Applause.) Thank you, Don, for the great work you are doing and that kind introduction. I want to thank the CBC Foundation, Chairman Butterfield, members of the Congressional Black Caucus, and the whole CBC family. It’s always good to be with the Conscience of Congress. [“Conscience of the Congress?” You cannot find a more corrupt or racist group in the nation, let alone Congress, than the Congressional Black Caucus. They not only view everything through the prism of race, but they appear to be corrupt and anti-America in so many different was.]
I also want to congratulate tonight’s honorees, beginning with Charlie Rangel, a founding member of the CBC, an outstanding public servant who, as we just talked about, we’ll be riding off into the sunset together. [Charlie Range, just a few examples … - In July 2008, The Washington Post reported that Rangel was soliciting donations to the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at City College of New York from corporations with business interests before his Ways and Means Committee, and was doing so using Congressional letterhead.
- The New York Times reported in July 2008 that Rangel rents four apartments at below-market rates in the Lenox Terrace complex in Harlem. It reported that Rangel paid $3,894 monthly for all four apartments in 2007. In contrast, the landlord's going rate for similar apartments in the building was as high as $8,125 monthly. Three adjacent apartments were combined to create his 2,500-square-foot home. A fourth unit is used as a campaign office, which violates city and state regulations that require rent-stabilized apartments to be used as a primary residence. Rangel received thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from one of the landlords, according to the paper.
- A September 2008 New York Post article reported that Rangel had been using a House parking garage as free storage space for his Mercedes-Benz for years, in apparent violation of Congressional rules. Under Internal Revenue Service regulations, free parking (here, worth $290 a month) is considered imputed income, and must be declared on tax returns.
- Rangel was accused of failing to report income from his rental of a beachside villa he owns in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. A three-bedroom, three-bath unit, it has rented out for as much as $1,100 per night in the busiest tourist season.
- Labor lawyer Theodore Kheel, a principal investor in the resort development company and frequent campaign contributor to Rangel, had encouraged him to purchase the villa. Rangel purchased it in 1988 for $82,750. He financed $53,737.50 of the purchase price for seven years at an interest rate of 10.5%, but was one of several early investors whose interest payments were waived in 1990.]
There’s an extra spring in my step tonight. I don't know about you guys, but I am so relieved that the whole birther thing is over. I mean, ISIL, North Korea, poverty, climate change -- none of those things weighed on my mind -- (laughter) -- like the validity of my birth certificate. And to think that with just 124 days to go, under the wire, we got that resolved. I mean, that’s a boost for me in the home stretch. In other breaking news, the world is round, not flat. Lord. [This birther issue is a problem of his own making as he initially refused to release details of his life, including his birth certificate, his multiple passports, his travel records, his school financial papers and whether he was treated as a foreign student for the purpose of a scholarship, and other writings from his time at Harvard. It is a fact that Obama’s minions have spent millions in legal fees to keep any court from examining his Hawaiian birth certificate “in situ” by a court appointed master. It is also on the record that qualified document examiners have examine what appears to be his long-form birth certificate on the White House web site and have stated it is a “questionable document.”]
Now, we know, however, that what matters most for our community is not just the symbol, not just having an African American President. It’s having a President who’s going to do his or her darndest to make the right decisions, and fight the right fights. And think about the fights that we’ve waged together these past eight years. Together, we fought our way back from the worst recession in 80 years -- (applause) -- turned an economy that was in free fall, helped our businesses create more than 15 million new jobs. We declared that health care is not a privilege for a few, but a right for everybody -- (applause) -- secured coverage for another 20 million Americans, including another three million African Americans. Our high school graduation rate is at an all-time high, including for African-American students. More African-Americans are graduating from college than ever before. [The reality is quite different. Considering that the Obama Administration is “cooking the numbers” much like any other prior administration, we can look around and see that our recovery from a near depression has been puny and historically performing. The progressive socialist democrats have nationalized one-sixth of our economy when they took over, and pretty much destroyed, healthcare while promising us that we could keep our doctors, healthcare would be more affordable, and there would be cost savings from reducing the waste, fraud, and abuse of the system. As for students, be they African-American or purple, the unionized educational systems has devolved to the lower common denominator, reduced testing standards, and once again graduated another year’s worth of functional illiterates.]
Together, we’ve begun to work on reforming our criminal justice system -- reducing the federal prison population, ending the use of solitary confinement for juveniles, banning the box for federal employers, reinvigorating the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, pushing to make sure police and communities are working together to make sure that our streets are safe and that our law is applied equally. We’re giving opportunities for kids so that they don't get in the criminal justice system in the first place. [Yes, Obama certainly did reform the criminal justice system. His Administration demonized police officers to the point where they are reluctant to rigorously enforce the law in the inner cities while crime runs rampant, shootings, knifings, and murders are increasingly commonplace. It is known as the “Ferguson Effect” and it put every law-abiding American, and especially African-Americans, at risk while letting even more criminals escape the justice system to “even up” the numbers. Calling for more stringent gun laws to disarm law-abiding citizens who need self-protection while not enforcing the current weapons laws on the books. Now, you don’t even have the right to ask a job applicant if they has a criminal background until after they are hired – and only if it affects their job performance.]
And just this week, we learned that last year, across every race and age group in America, incomes rose and poverty fell. Folks’ typical household incomes rose by about $2,800 -- which is the fastest growth rate on record. Lifted 3.5 million people out of poverty, including one million children -- the largest one-year drop in almost 50 years. [This adjustment is called inflation and the policy wonks that compute these numbers are beholden to the government agency for which they work.]
By so many measures, our country is stronger and more prosperous than it was eight years ago. And none of it’s been quick, none of it's been easy. None of it has come without a fight. And so much of our work remains unfinished. But then we knew that we would not solve all of our challenges in one year, or one term, or even one presidency, not even in one lifetime -- because we understand better than anybody that this is the story of America, that the project of America is never finished. It is constantly a work in progress. And what has always made us unique is our capacity to change -- our conviction that change doesn’t come from some ruler, but it comes from the bottom up, from us; from the actions we take, whether it's women seeking the right to vote, or a young John Lewis leading a mighty march in Selma. We do our part to slowly, steadily, make our union a little bit more perfect. We know that. And that’s what we’ve done these past eight years. And now that's what we have to keep on doing. You may have heard Hillary’s opponent in this election say that there’s never been a worse time to be a black person. I mean, he missed that whole civics lesson about slavery and Jim Crow and (applause) -- but we've got a museum for him to visit. (Applause.) So he can tune in. We will educate him. (Applause.) [Anyone who has read the history of America knows, for a certainty, that is was the democrats who brought us slavery, segregation, the Jim Crow laws, and who ripped-off the African-Americans in the inner cities by diverting billions into the pockets of the special interests and their corrupt political friends. Although they tell us that the GOP and Donald Trump are associated with racism, the truth is that the progressive socialist democrats have always blamed their opposition for their own illegal and immoral behaviors. That African-Americans keep falling for their tricks, especially after they destroyed the nuclear black family and erased much of the Black Church’s dictates on immorality. Unbelievable that the Blacks don’t open their eyes and realize that it is the progressive socialist democrats who have now sold them out – their communities, their jobs, and their social safety net – to the new underclass, illegal aliens.]
He says we got nothing left to lose, so we might as well support somebody who has fought against civil rights, and fought against equality, and who has shown no regard for working people for most of his life. Well, we do have challenges, but we're not stupid. (Applause.) We know the progress we’ve made, despite the forces of opposition, despite the forces of discrimination, despite the politics of backlash. And we intend to keep fighting against those forces. [These forces are straw men; meant to divert African-Americans from the truth. The truth is that Obama is not black, nor is he an African-American. He is bi-racial and prefers to vacation in the lily-white playgrounds of the rich and famous. Poverty, give me a break. Obama had a great childhood in Hawaii; mostly as a dope-smoking, shroom-consuming slacker.]
When governors refuse to expand Medicaid, that hits the folks most in need, we'll fight. When folks block an increase to the minimum wage or refuse to expand paid family leave or won’t guarantee equal pay for equal work, that hurts the pocketbooks of every family, and African-American families -- we will fight. (Applause.) [What fight – fight your way to the bottom? Expand a Medicaid system that is going broke to serve illegal aliens? Raise the minimum wage to force employers to cut workers and deny entry level jobs to teenagers and young adults based on a lie. The average entry level job is not supposed to be occupied by a unionized adult with four children. Obama’s economic policies will cripple African-Americans, not help them. Already we see full-time jobs being split into two jobs to avoid paying benefits that businesses cannot afford. The trouble with progressive socialist democrats is that they want you to have your fair share of the misery they create, and hope you will not riot when other people’s money runs out like it did in Greece, France, and elsewhere where socialism is a failure.]
When we’re not investing in the schools that our kids deserve; when one group of Americans is treated differently under the law, when there are those who somehow think it's wrong to make sure that folks have access to affordable housing, or unwilling to do what it takes to make sure our veterans get the benefits that they’ve earned, or aren't helping to sign folks up for health insurance -- we will not stop our march for justice. We will not stop pushing for the security and prosperity of all people. That doesn’t stop with my presidency. We're just getting started. (Applause.) [What a joke! Investing in schools? Obama has had eight years and the unionized school system is still a bottomless black hole sucking money into unfunded pension liabilities and building fancy schools in upscale districts. Affordable housing is a joke as more and more impoverished areas are “gentrified” by the developers who have politicians on speed dial. Veterans – well, you saw what they did in eight years and they are still cooking the books. Heaven forbid the progressive socialist democrats use vouchers to allow students to get a decent education or veterans to get emergent healthcare. Talk about as plantation, the unions believe they own the students and their funding. And, about that equality under the law thing – why is it that illegal aliens are treated like super-citizens with many of their felonies simply forgiven or ignored?]
And when people -- when across this country, in 2016, there are those who are still trying to deny people the right to vote, we've got to push back twice as hard. Right now, in multiple states, Republicans are actively and openly trying to prevent people from voting. Adding new barriers to registration. Cutting early voting. Closing polling places in predominantly minority communities. Refusing to send out absentee ballots. Kicking people off the rolls, often incorrectly. [The progressive socialist democrats are all about corruption and stealing elections. Anything that allows illegal votes or manipulation of the vote count is forefront in their so-called civil rights agenda. You have the right to one vote, and if it takes a photo-id to enforce your rights, so be it. About that early voting: how many votes will be hidden by unionized employees to sway an election? Discovered at the last minute to shift election results. Folks, we are not getting a fair count and it is by design.]
This should be a national scandal. We were supposed to have already won that fight. (Applause.) We're the only advanced democracy in the world that is actively discouraging people from voting. It's a shame. [Yes, it is a national scandal, and it is the progressive socialist democrats that are responsible for the mess. Remember, it was Obama’s Department of Justice that refused to prosecute voter intimidation by the New Black Panthers although it was captured on video and there were sworn complaints.]
Then they try to justify it by telling folks that voter fraud is rampant. Between 2000 and 2012, there were 10 cases of voter impersonation nationwide. Ten. People don't get up and say, I'm going to impersonate somebody and go vote. (Applause.) They don't do that. [This is a lie that can be disproven in almost every major precinct in the nation.]
Meanwhile, some of the same folks who are trying to keep you from voting turn a blind eye when hundreds of thousands of people are killed by guns. (Applause.) Imposing voter ID restrictions so that a gun license can get you on the ballot, but a student ID can’t -- apparently more afraid of a ballot than a bullet -- no, our work is not done. (Applause.) [Again, Obama is a liar. Most gun deaths happen in the inner cities governed by progressive socialist democrats under strict gun control laws. The President’s home town of Chicago runs red with the blood of African-Americans and he has done little or nothing to stop it in eight years. He best buddies, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, is so afraid of upsetting the African-American democrat vote that he says nothing as the police draw back from strict policing in the Black neighborhoods.]
In fact, if you want to give Michelle and me a good sendoff -- and that was a beautiful video -- but don’t just watch us walk off into the sunset, now. Get people registered to vote. (Applause.) If you care about our legacy, realize everything we stand for is at stake. All the progress we've made is at stake in this election. (Applause.) My name may not be on the ballot, but our progress is on the ballot. (Applause.) Tolerance is on the ballot. Democracy is on the ballot. (Applause.) Justice is on the ballot. Good schools are on the ballot. (Applause.) Ending mass incarceration -- that's on the ballot right now! (Applause.) [Yes, you lying douchebag, your legacy is on the line. You are destined to go down as the worst president in history. Worse than Jimmy Carter, the father of Islamo-fascism in Iran. Worse than Bill Clinton who was so busy soiling the Oval Office that he ignored North Korea going nuclear. And you, you moron, made a nuclear Iran a possibility and gave billions of dollars to an enemy of the United States who was actively killing American soldiers in Iraq, Iran, and fomenting terrorism worldwide.]
And there is one candidate who will advance those things. And there’s another candidate whose defining principle, the central theme of his candidacy is opposition to all that we've done. [If there is any reason to vote for Donald Trump, it is to deny Hillary Clinton a chance to continue Barack Obama’s legacy of failure. Failure in leadership. Failure in policy, both foreign and domestic. And, above all, failure to praise America, Americans, and to unite this unprecedented nation into a better future.]
There’s no such thing as a vote that doesn’t matter. It all matters. And after we have achieved historic turnout in 2008 and 2012, especially in the African-American community, I will consider it a personal insult, an insult to my legacy, if this community lets down its guard and fails to activate itself in this election. (Applause.) You want to give me a good sendoff? Go vote. (Applause.) And I’m going to be working as hard as I can these next seven weeks to make sure folks do. (Applause.) Hope is on the ballot. And fear is on the ballot, too. Hope is on the ballot, and fear is on the ballot, too. [Yes, there is hope on the ballot. Hope that Donald Trump will bring the hope and change that Barack Obama promised when he first took office. And, sadly, would up like the broken promise that healthcare would be affordable and you can keep your doctor. So many lies, so many broken promises. It is not time to wake up. All of you African-Americans, you voted Black and it set you back. Do you really think Hillary Clinton, who fakes the Southern Preacher accent and cadence when speaking to a Black audience gives a rat’s ass for her nation or its people. Perhaps if she did, she wouldn’t have sold out her office to our enemies for thirty pieces of silver – made payable to the Clinton Foundation.]
That’s why I am still fired up. That’s why I’m still ready to go. (Applause.) And if you are, too, if you’re ready to continue this journey that we started, then join me. Register folks to vote. Get them to the polls. Keep marching. Keep fighting. Keep organizing. If we rise to this moment, if we understand this isn't the endpoint, this is the beginning, we're just getting going, we're just getting moving -- then I have never been more optimistic that our best days are still ahead. [You can bet Barack Obama’s best days are ahead as he becomes a billionaire and continues to golf while Americans are dying, here and abroad.]
Thank you for this incredible journey, CBC. God bless you. (Applause.) God bless this country that we love. We love you. (Applause.) To read the President’s remarks in full and in context, they can be found at: Remarks by the President at Congressional Black Caucus Foundation 46th Annual Phoenix Awards Dinner | whitehouse.gov |
