BLACKS QUESTION DEBT DEAL

WASHINGTON - Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Emanuel Cleaver is making headlines today for remarks he made about the Debt Ceiling Deal reached to avert a US government default.

Cleaver said early reports of the new deal appeared to be “a sugar-coated Satan sandwich.”

The Missouri Democrat said the CBC hadn’t yet made a formal declaration that the group would oppose it, “but this is a shady bill.”

Cleaver took to the airwaves on Sunday to clarify his “Satan sandwich” pronouncement. His explanation on MSNBC further underscored that the huge spending cuts in the bill are inhumane:

“You have been quoted, coming out of your caucus as calling this agreement a ‘sugar-coated Satan sandwich,” MSNBC’s Chris Jansing noted Sunday. “Was that indeed your quote? Is that how you feel about this deal?”

“Very accurate quote,” Cleaver admitted. “What you see is antithetical to everything the religions of the world teach: take care of the poor, take care of the aged. Look at the phone calls I’ve gotten. They are seven-to-one in favor of a balanced deal, and also preserving Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security. And I’m concerned about this because we don’t know the details. And until we see the details, we are going to be extremely non-committed.”