07 Apr 2011 Project 21’s Martin: Obama Should Be in D.C.

As negotiations to pass a budget that will cover the rest of the fiscal year continue to sputter, President Obama hit the road yesterday to campaign outside of Philadelphia for his experimental alternative energy agenda and — in an even more controversial move — partied with racial agitator Al Sharpton at the latter’s political convention in New York City.

To his credit, Obama did make a three-minute call to Speaker Boehner — but that did little to avert an expected government slowdown at midnight on Saturday.

Project 21 member Kevin Martin takes umbrage with the commander-in-chief for not focusing on the budget crisis here in D.C. — a crisis Kevin lays at Obama’s feet.  Kevin says:

President Obama’s address to Al Sharpton’s National Action Network convention shows that Obama is once again seeking to engage the black community.  In doing so, I hope he remembers that black America is already bearing the brunt of his radical policies and massive spending.

While most blacks have remained loyal to Obama in general and want to see him succeed, few can deny we are worse off than when he first entered the White House.  The black unemployment rate is over 15 percent — close to double the national average — and too many black homes are still either in foreclosure or underwater.  There remains a general sense of hopelessness when looking to the future.

Like many, I feel it is more important for this President to remain in Washington D.C. to work with congressional leaders.  Before going to what were little more than a political rallies, he should have secured a budget for the rest of the fiscal year to prevent a possible federal government slowdown.  Obama’s work in the nation’s capital should take precedence over being at Sharpton’s side or tilting at windmills.  This demand is particularly salient when Obama’s supporters point out that a slowdown would hurt the poor and minorities most.  Instead, however, Obama went to New York City and Philadelphia rather than to Capitol Hill.