If Barack Obama wants bipartisanship, he should remove Byrne grants from the stimulus package

A screening last night of the new documentary, Tulia, Texas, which will air nationwide February 10 on PBS, drew a really good crowd on a chilly night, and those who stayed for the Q&A session afterward with me and Texas Monthly's Nate Blakeslee had lots of questions and, I thought, a really good discussion.

Austin's a liberal, Obama-supportng town, so most who attended seemed shocked to learn that the Bush Administration has been a bitter opponent of the federal Byrne grant program (which funds drug task forces like the one in Tulia), while the new Obama Administration is championing its resurgence.

The reasons lie in the history of the program, which was spawned by a Democratic Congress during the latter days of the Reagan Administration, aiming to bolster Democrats' "tough on crime" credentials during Michael Dukakis' failed presidential bid.

Byrne grants theoretically can pay for all sorts of criminal justice programs, but in most states they largely pay for Tulia-style drug task forces. National Republicans dislike the program on federalist grounds, believing that federal pork shouldn't pay for local law enforcement, while Dems are more likely to view backing Byrne grants as a way to avoid the "soft on crime" label.

In Texas, regular readers are aware, Governor Rick Perry eliminated our task force system in the wake of the Tulia scandal. And George W. Bush, from the earliest days of his presidency, supported total elimination of the program, in part because he was criticized over the Tulia case when he first campaigned for the office.

Ironically, Barack Obama has been unsuccessful in his first efforts to reach across the aisle on his much-ballyhooed stimulus package - in part because it's larded with pork like Byrne grants that do nothing to stimulate the economy. Ending the Byrne grant program once and for all could be a terrific early opportunity to succeed in reaching out to Republicans on an issue they've championed, actually demonstrating bipartisanship instead of just talking about it.

It really is time for national Democrats in Congress to join Republicans and dump this program, which is a massive driver of racial disparities in state-level incarceration. In some states, 85% of drug arrests are made by Tulia-style drug task forces, predominantly in black communities.

Perhaps the nationwide airing of the Tulia, Texas documentary on PBS next month will give momentum to those in Washington who want to reach across the aisle to do something positive about which both parties could be proud.