No doubt he would rather have won last May's Democratic primary for mayor of Philadelphia, but U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah is getting a new assignment that could give him a big voice in the future of hundreds of cities.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) named Fattah chairman of the new, bipartisan Congressional Urban Caucus. First order of business: recruit members. Since it's a brand new endeavor, Fattah should have plenty of leeway in setting the direction for the group.
"The nation really has no urban agenda, no focus on the challenges and opportunities facing cities," Fattah said. He said he will recruit members from congressional districts in the nation's largest metropolitan areas, including suburban representatives.
"The only way to think about the American city going forward is to think about the regions around the city, not just the core," Fattah said.
Comments (5)
Can anyone take this guy seriously after he said that Nutter wasn't black enough, and that the bug was a conservative plot by the Bush Administration? I'll wager that scant few who shake and move at the federal level are.
Posted by Anonymous | November 15, 2007 3:31 AM
Posted on November 15, 2007 03:31
The nation had an urban agenda. Where did the money go? HOPE, all that HUD funding, seems like Philly got quite a bit of it, yet the city is still in crisis, strewn with vacant lots, blighted properties, and underperforming federal block grant funded agencies.
We really need a Clinton Democrat to head up the Urban Caucus, someone who takes a bipartisan approach and can compromise with those of an opposing view to you tax, I spend. True or not, that's the perception of Fattah in Congress.
Posted by Anonymous | November 15, 2007 3:34 AM
Posted on November 15, 2007 03:34
Memo to Fattah and Harold Jackson: Street's long term executive assistant Connie Little asked Shamsud-din Ali for money, and he went and got it from street level drug dealers, triggering the "racially motivated" FBI investigation that resulted in numerous, I've lost count, convictions of Street's closest allies and fundraisers.
Street can't win an election because he's disenfranchised according to the Jackson/Fattah crowd.
And John Lewis, Mustafa Ali, and Jerome Whitaker can't get jobs. Oh, wait. They all had jobs.
The old saw is not describing reality anymore. Street is responsible for what he knew, and what he didn't know.
So is Fattah. That's why both of them are poor choices to attempt to continue to serve Philly.
Jackson, (and Sylvester) just have to go apologize for other naughty men who should be good after all the efforts of the great society, but aren't.
Posted by Anonymous | November 15, 2007 3:46 AM
Posted on November 15, 2007 03:46
Anything led by Fattah will be nothing but smoke and mirrors. I guess Pelosi wants the effort to fail?
Posted by PhillyDeservesBetter | November 15, 2007 9:17 AM
Posted on November 15, 2007 09:17
Fattah is an imbecile a total figment of his imagination.
Posted by Anonymous | November 15, 2007 7:36 PM
Posted on November 15, 2007 19:36