Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) recently put pen to paper and authored a rather interesting opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal titled, “Diversity and the Myth of White Privilege.” In the insightful piece, Webb wrote “America still owes a debt to its black citizens, but government programs to help all ‘people of color’ are unfair. They should end.”
Webb: “The time has come to cease the false arguments and allow every American the benefit of a fair chance at the future.” (Jim Webb, “Diversity And The Myth Of White Privilege,” The Wall Street Journal, 7/22/10)
Webb: “Where should we go from here? Beyond our continuing obligation to assist those African-Americans still in need, government-directed diversity programs should end.” (Jim Webb, “Diversity And The Myth Of White Privilege,” The Wall Street Journal, 7/22/10)
Webb: “Our government should be in the business of enabling opportunity for all, not in picking winners. It can do so by ensuring that artificial distinctions such as race do not determine outcomes.” (Jim Webb, “Diversity And The Myth Of White Privilege,” The Wall Street Journal, 7/22/10)
Webb’s missive, not surprisingly, received a strong rebuke from the Virginia State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Seems they are quite upset with Webb, to say the least, that a “Life Member” of the VA-NAACP would actually write such blasphemy.
While Webb and the NAACP duke it out a bit, there is something much more important going on here that’s worthy of discussion. Webb’s article in the Journal was at best a contradiction of his own record from a few days prior, or at worst a cognitive decision to deceive.
One week before his article appeared in the Journal, Webb voted in favor of the Wall Street reform bill that was designed to implement a whole new level of bureaucratic red tape to monitor the finance sector at the request of the Obama Administration and Congressional Democrats.
Financial Regulatory Overhaul – Conference Report. “Adoption of the conference report on the bill that would overhaul the regulation of the financial services industry. The measure would create new regulatory mechanisms to assess risks posed by very large financial institutions and facilitate the orderly dissolution of failing firms that pose a threat to the economy. It would create a new federal agency to oversee consumer financial products, bring the derivatives market under significant federal regulation for the first time and give company shareholders and regulators greater say on executive pay packages. The costs would be offset by terminating the Trouble Asset Relief Program and increasing deposit insurance premiums paid by some banks.” (H.R. 4173, CQ Vote #208: Adopted (thus cleared for the president) 60-39: D 55-1; R 3-38; I 2-0; 7/15/10, Webb voted Yea)
In case you missed it, Carrie Budoff Brown over at Politico reported that the new “law grants the federal government broad new powers to compel financial firms to hire more women and minorities.”
“Deep Inside The Massive Overhaul Bill, Congress Gives The Federal Government Authority To Terminate Contracts With Any Financial Firm That Fails To Ensure The ‘Fair Inclusion’ Of Women And Minorities, Forcing Every Kind Of Company From A Wall Street Giant To A Mom-And-Pop Law Office To Account For The Composition Of Its Work Force.” (Carrie Budoff Brown, “Feds Demand Diversity On Wall Street,” Politico, 7/28/10)
“At Its Core, The Section Establishes At Least 20 New Offices Of Minority And Women Inclusion Across The Treasury Department, Federal Reserve, Securities And Exchange Commission And Other Finance-Related Agencies.” (Carrie Budoff Brown, “Feds Demand Diversity On Wall Street,” Politico, 7/28/10)
“It Orders The Directors Of These Offices To Develop Standards That ‘Ensure, To The Maximum Extent Possible, The Fair Inclusion And Utilization Of Minorities, Women, And Minority-Owned And Women-Owned Businesses In All Business And Activities Of The Agency At All Levels, Including In Procurement, Insurance, And All Types Of Contracts.’” (Carrie Budoff Brown, “Feds Demand Diversity On Wall Street,” Politico, 7/28/10)
“This Applies To ‘Services Of Any Kind,’ Including Investment Firms, Mortgage Banking Firms, Asset Management Firms, Brokers, Dealers, Underwriters, Accountants, Consultants And Law Firms, The Legislation States.” (Carrie Budoff Brown, “Feds Demand Diversity On Wall Street,” Politico, 7/28/10)
“Every Contractor And Subcontractor Must Now Certify That Their Workforces Reflect A ‘Fair Inclusion’ Of Women And Minorities.” (Carrie Budoff Brown, “Feds Demand Diversity On Wall Street,” Politico, 7/28/10)
“If The Director Determines A Firm Failed To Make A ‘Good Faith Effort,’ The Contract Can Be Severed Or Referred To The Labor Department’s Office Of Federal Contract Compliance For Review.” (Carrie Budoff Brown, “Feds Demand Diversity On Wall Street,” Politico, 7/28/10)
So, Webb voted in favor of legislation that essentially created a whole new “government-directed diversity” program and then a week later wrote in no uncertain terms that “government-directed diversity” programs should end. I wonder what other deceitful sleight-of-hand tricks Webb has up his sleeves.
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