It’s time for Obama to fight, Waters says

August 19, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

Claims African-Americans unhappy with president

Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES

As far as Rep. Maxine Waters is concerned, it is time for President Barack Obama to get tough with Republicans and put together proposals that help the poor and especially the hard-hit African-American community.

Speaking at a job fair in Atlanta on Thursday, the fiery California Democrat said there was rising unhappiness in the African-American community with the nation’s first black president.

“There is a growing frustration in this country and in minority communities because the unemployment rates are so high,” Waters said in televised remarks. She went on to cite home foreclosures and the increasing wealth gap between blacks and whites for “creating frustration and yes, some anger” in the black community, which wants to see Obama take on his opponents.

“The president is going to have to fight, and he is going to have to fight hard,’ she said.

Referring to the recent battle with Republicans over raising the debt ceiling, a fight that many liberals see as having been won by the conservative GOP, Waters called on the president and her fellow Democrats not to be intimidated and “you cannot back down.”

“We were basically held up in raising the debt ceiling, until they got all of those budget cuts they demanded,” Waters said. “We didn’t raise any revenue and they didn’t close any tax loopholes. I believe the Democratic Party and the president of the United States should not have backed down. We should have made them walk the plank.”

Waters and the rest of the Congressional Black Caucus have organized a series of job fairs around the country, designed to bring attention to the difficulties faced by the African- American community.