Allen West

Allen West Threatens To Quit Congressional Black Caucus Over Attacks On GOP, While Attacking Dems

Eric Kleefeld | August 31, 2011, 3:49PM

Rep. Allen West (R-FL)

Rep. Allen West (R-FL), the hard-line conservative Tea Partier who is currently the only Republican member of the Congressional Black Caucus, is now saying that he might quit the group -- if they don't condemn remarks made by fellow member Rep. André Carson (D-IN) attacking Republicans.

"Some of these folks in Congress right now would love to see us as second-class citizens," Carson told a CBC event in Miami. "Some of them in Congress right now with this Tea Party movement would love to see you and me -- hanging on a tree."

This has West -- who has made no small amount of racially inflammatory remarks about Democrats and African-American voters -- calling for the CBC to denounce Carson, who holds a leadership position as CBC whip.

"It is unconscionable when a fellow CBC Member, Congressman Andre Carson, comes to South Florida and claims that some in the Tea Party would love to see black Americans 'hanging on a tree,'" West wrote Wednesday in a letter to CBC chair Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), which he also released to the media. "It is appalling to hear another CBC colleague, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, say 'The Tea Party can go straight to hell.'

"As Chairman of the CBC, I believe it is incumbent on you to both condemn these types of hate-filled comments, and to disassociate the Congressional Black Caucus from these types of remarks. Otherwise, I will have to seriously reconsider my membership within the organization."

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Maxine Waters

Maxine Waters Tells Constituents: 'The Tea Party Can Go Straight To Hell' (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | August 22, 2011, 12:07PM

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) had some tough words for Tea Partiers, at a constituent event in the Los Angeles area on Saturday.

The local ABC station reports that Waters, plus fellow area Democratic Reps. Karen Bass and Laura Richardson, held a town hall event in Inglewood, where over a thousand attendees asked tough questions about unemployment and the economy.

Answering the crowd, Waters promised to fight the Republicans in Washington. "I'm not afraid of anybody. This is a tough game -- you can't be intimidated, you can't be frightened," said Waters. "As far as I'm concerned -- the Tea Party can go straight to Hell."

In response, the crowd offered up a round of applause.

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Allen West

Waters: Allen West's Comments 'So Odd' -- And I'm Helping His Brother (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | August 18, 2011, 6:25PM

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) has been firing back at Rep. Allen West (R-FL), who named her as an example of how the Democratic Party has created what he called a "21-century plantation" over black voters, with appointed African-American leaders to act as "overseers" -- the men who committed the day-to-day atrocities of ruling over slaves in the antebellum South.

"I think it's so odd," said Waters, in one such appearance on Hardball, shaking her head. "No, I think that's odd, and it doesn't make good sense. And I don't think that it even deserves a response.

Waters then dished out a response: "Did I tell you his brother was here today?"

She explained to Matthews that West, who is originally from Atlanta, has a brother who went to the Congressional Black Caucus's jobs fair and town hall event in that city.

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