Somtimes this place truly pisses me off. When it does, I try to do something constructive.
BTD has begun a series of "nightly diatribes against the Dem Congress" trying to push Congress to defund the Iraq War. I disagree with his assumptions and conclusions, but they don't truly piss me off. Nor do wrongheaded comments that the Dems won't deserve support in 2008 if they can't end the Iraq War now.
What pisses me off is that kvetching about what the Democratic caucus should do won't achieve much. Is defunding your goal? Then let's do this right.
That means identifying representatives' positions on defunding, assessing our status and, if defunding looks possible, figuring out whose votes we need to get and targeting those representatives for lobbying. Without that, diaries slamming Democrats -- who need votes from Ellen Tauschers and Gene Taylors, not just Barbara Lees -- for failing to defund are just communal self-gratification.
We can nail down people's positions within a day or two. You really believe in defunding? Here is my challenge: fill in this chart in your comments. I'll update it. Let's act like goddamned activists.
Update: Adding a column for the Murtha Plan, to honor Kagro X's diary. Hey, why not?
What to do:
Call Democratic representatives in Washington and say this:
Democrats have a majority of votes in the House. All appropriations must begin in the House. Therefore, refusing to approve any additional funding for the war, beyond the costs of withdrawal by a date certain, is the one way that a united Democratic caucus could stop the war in Iraq without worrying about a filibuster, overriding a veto of legislation, or Presidential non-compliance with conditions on funding.
President Bush has already made a supplemental funding request and will offer another annual funding request later this year. I want to know whether Rep. __________ supports funding for either or both of these requests beyond the cost of withdrawal. [ADDED: I'd also like to know if Rep. _______ favors adding the restrictions Rep. Murtha had proposed to any funding authorization that may eventually be passed.]
(Note: I'm open to amendments on how to phrase the above. At first blush, I think it does the job.)
If you plan to call certain reps, you might want to "lay claim" to them with a comment so we can avoid too much reduncancy. People post your comments here, with verbatim explanatory quotes if you'd like, and I'll update them. If someone would like to port this table into DKosopedia so everyone can work on it at once, that would be fine too.
Once we know where we actually stand, we'll be able to have a better discussion here about what the Democratic leadership -- which probably already knows the answers to these questions -- should be doing. The table follows.
Making sense of the table:
"Yes" signifies favors funding
"No" signifies opposes funding
"Undecided" signifies stated equivocation
"N/A" signifies no statement available
"Leans" may precede "yes" or "no"
"SUPP" signifies upcoming supplemental Iraq War funding request
"ANNUAL" signifies annual Iraq War funding request (later in 2007)
I've entered fake sample data for Rep. Abercrombie to push the columns apart.
REPRESENTATIVE FAVORS FUNDING: | SUPP? | ANNUAL? | Pro-Murtha? |
Neil Abercrombie (D - HI) | undecided | N/A | |
Gary Ackerman (D - NY) | | | |
Tom Allen (D - ME) | | | |
Jason Altmire (D - PA) | | | |
Rob Andrews (D - NJ) | | | |
Michael Arcuri (D - NY) | | | |
Joe Baca (D - CA) | | | |
Brian Baird (D - WA) | | | |
Tammy Baldwin (D - WI) | | | |
John Barrow (D - FL) | | | |
Melissa Bean (D - IL) | | | |
Xavier Becerra (D - CA) | | | |
Shelley Berkley (D - NV) | | | |
Howard Berman (D - CA) | | | |
Marion Berry (D - AR) | | | |
Sanford Bishop (D - GA) | | | |
Tim Bishop (D - NY) | | | |
Earl Blumenauer (D - OR) | | | |
Dan Boren (D - OK) | | | |
Leonard Boswell (D - IA) | | | |
Rick Boucher (D - VA) | | | |
Allen Boyd (D - FL) | | | |
Nancy Boyda (D - KS) | | | |
Bob Brady (D - PA) | | | |
Bruce Braley (D - IA) | | | |
Corrine Brown (D - FL) | | | |
G. K. Butterfield (D - NC) | | | |
Lois Capps (D - CA) | | | |
Mike Capuano (D - MA) | | | |
Dennis Cardoza (D - CA) | | | |
Russ Carnahan (D - MO) | | | |
Chris Carney (D - PA) | | | |
Julia Carson (D - IN) | | | |
Kathy Castor (D - FL) | | | |
Ben Chandler (D - KY) | | | |
Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D - MI) | | | |
Yvette D. Clarke (D - NY) | | | |
William Lacy Clay, Jr. (D - MO) | | | | |
Emanuel Cleaver (D - MO) | | | |
Jim Clyburn (D - SC) | | | |
Steve Cohen (D - TN) | | | |
John Conyers (D - MI) | | | |
Jim Cooper (D - TN) | | | |
Jim Costa (D - CA) | | | |
Jerry Costello (D - IL) | | | |
Joe Courtney (D - CT) | | | |
Bud Cramer (D - AL) | | | |
Joseph Crowley (D - NY) | | | |
Henry Cuellar (D - TX) | | | |
Elijah Cummings (D - MD) | | | |
Artur Davis (D - AL) | | | |
Danny K. Davis (D - IL) | | | |
Lincoln Davis (D - TN) | | | |
Susan Davis (D - CA) | | | |
Peter DeFazio (D - OR) | | | |
Diana DeGette (D - CO) | | | |
Bill Delahunt (D - MA) | | | |
Rosa DeLauro (D - CT) | | | |
Norm Dicks (D - WA) | | | |
John Dingell (D - MI) | | | |
Lloyd Doggett (D - TX) | | | |
Joe Donnelly (D - IN) | | | |
Michael F. Doyle (D - PA) | | | |
Chet Edwards (D - TX) | | | |
Keith Ellison (D - MN) | | | |
Brad Ellsworth (D - IN) | | | |
Rahm Emanuel (D - IL) | | | |
Eliot L. Engel (D - NY) | | | |
Anna Eshoo (D - CA) | | | |
Bob Etheridge (D - NC) | | | |
Sam Farr (D - CA) | | | |
Chaka Fattah (D - PA) | | | |
Bob Filner (D - CA) | | | |
Barney Frank (D - MA) | | | |
Gabrielle Giffords (D - AZ) | | | |
Kirsten Gillibrand (D - NY) | | | |
Charlie Gonzalez (D - TX) | | | |
Bart Gordon (D - TN) | | | |
Al Green (D - TX) | | | |
Gene Green (D - TX) | | | |
Raúl M. Grijalva (D - AZ) | | | |
Luis Gutierrez (D - IL) | | | |
John Hall (D - NY) | | | |
Philip Hare (D - IL) | | | |
Jane Harman (D - CA) | | | |
Alcee Hastings (D - FL) | | | |
Stephanie Herseth (D - SD) | | | |
Brian Higgins (D - NY) | | | |
Baron Hill (D - IN) | undecided | undecided | | |
Maurice Hinchey (D - NY) | | | |
Rubén Hinojosa (D - TX) | | | |
Mazie Hirono (D - HI) | | | |
Paul Hodes (D - NH) | | | |
Tim Holden (D - PA) | | | |
Rush D. Holt Jr. (D - NJ) | | | |
Mike Honda (D - CA) | | | |
Darlene Hooley (D - OR) | | | |
Steny Hoyer (D - MD) | | | |
Jay Inslee (D - WA) | | | |
Steve Israel (D - NY) | | | |
Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D - IL) | | | |
Sheila Jackson-Lee (D - TX) | | | |
William J. Jefferson (D - LA) | | | | |
Eddie Bernice Johnson (D - TX) | | | |
Hank Johnson (D - GA) | | | |
Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D - OH) | | | | |
Steve Kagen (D - WI) | | | |
Paul E. Kanjorski (D - PA) | | | |
Marcy Kaptur (D - OH) | | | |
Patrick J. Kennedy (D - RI) | | | |
Dale E. Kildee (D - MI) | | | |
Ron Kind (D - WI) | | | |
Ron Klein (D - FL) | | | |
Dennis J. Kucinich (D - OH) | | | |
Nick Lampson (D - TX) | | | |
James Langevin (D - RI) | | | |
Tom Lantos (D - CA) | | | |
Rick Larsen (D - WA) | | | |
John Larson (D - CT) | | | |
Barbara Lee (D - CA) | | | |
Sander Levin (D - MI) | | | |
John Lewis (D- GA) | | | |
Dan Lipinski (D - IL) | | | |
David Loebsack (D - IA) | | | |
Zoe Lofgren (D - CA) | | | |
Nita Lowey (D - NY) | | | |
Stephen Lynch (D - MA) | | | |
Tim Mahoney (D - FL) | | | |
Carolyn B. Maloney (D - NY) | | | |
Ed Markey (D - MA) | | | |
Jim Marshall (D - GA) | | | |
Jim Matheson (D - UT) | | | |
Doris Matsui (D - CA) | | | |
Carolyn McCarthy (D - NY) | | | |
Betty McCollum (D - MN) | Yes | Yes | | |
Jim McDermott (D - WA) | | | |
Jim McGovern (D - MA) | | | |
Mike McIntyre (D - NC) | | | |
Jerry McNerney (D - CA) | | | |
Michael R. McNulty (D - NY) | | | |
Marty Meehan (D - MA) | | | |
Kendrick Meek (D - FL) | | | |
Gregory W. Meeks (D - NY) | | | |
Charlie Melancon (D - LA) | | | |
Mike Michaud (D - ME) | | | |
Juanita Millender-McDonald (D - CA) | | | |
Brad Miller (D - NC) | | | |
George Miller (D - CA) | | | |
Harry Mitchell (D - AZ) | | | |
Alan Mollohan (D - WV) | | | |
Dennis Moore (D - KS) | | | |
Gwen Moore (D - WI) | | | |
Jim Moran (D - VA) | | | |
Chris Murphy (D - CT) | | | |
Patrick Murphy (D - PA) | | | |
John Murtha (D - PA) | | | |
Jerrold Nadler (D - NY) | | | |
Grace Napolitano (D - CA) | | | |
Richard Neal (D - MA) | | | |
Jim Oberstar (D - MN) | | | |
Dave Obey (D - WI) | | | |
John Olver (D - MA) | | | |
Solomon P. Ortiz (D - TX) | | | |
Frank Pallone (D - NJ) | | | |
Bill Pascrell Jr. (D - NJ) | | | |
Ed Pastor (D - AZ) | | | |
Donald M. Payne (D - NJ) | | | |
Nancy Pelosi (D - CA) | | | |
Ed Perlmutter (D - CO) | | | |
Collin Peterson (D - MN) | | | |
Earl Pomeroy (D - ND) | | | |
David Price (D - NC) | | | |
Nick Rahall (D - WV) | | | |
Charles B. Rangel (D - NY) | | | |
Silvestre Reyes (D - TX) | | | |
Ciro Rodriguez (D - TX) | | | |
Mike Ross (D - AR) | | | |
Steve Rothman (D - NJ) | | | |
Lucille Roybal-Allard (D - CA) | | | |
Dutch Ruppersberger (D - MD) | | | |
Bobby Rush (D - IL) | | | |
Tim Ryan (D - OH) | | | |
John Salazar (D - CO) | | | |
Loretta Sanchez (D - CA) | | | |
Linda Sánchez (D - CA) | | | |
John Sarbanes (D - MD) | | | |
Janice D. Schakowsky (D - IL) | | | |
Adam Schiff (D - CA) | | | |
Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D - FL) | | | |
Allyson Schwartz (D - PA) | | | |
David Scott (D - FL) | | | |
Robert C. Scott (D - VA) | | | |
José Serrano (D - NY) | | | |
Joe Sestak (D - PA) | | | |
Carol Shea-Porter (D - NH) | | | |
Brad Sherman (D - CA) | | | |
Heath Shuler (D - NC) | | | |
Albio Sires (D - NJ) | | | |
Louise McIntosh Slaughter (D - NY) | | | |
Ike Skelton (D - MO) | | | |
Adam Smith (D - WA) | | | |
Vic Snyder (D - AR) | | | |
Hilda Solis (D - CA) | | | |
Zack Space (D - OH) | | | |
John Spratt (D - SC) | | | |
Pete Stark (D - CA) | | | |
Bart Stupak (D - MI) | | | |
Betty Sutton (D - OH) | | | |
John S. Tanner (D - TN) | | | |
Ellen Tauscher (D - CA) | | | |
Gene Taylor (D - MS) | | | |
Bennie Thompson (D - MS) | | | |
Mike Thompson (D - CA) | | | |
John Tierney (D - MA) | | | |
Ed Towns (D - NY) | | | |
Mark Udall (D - CO) | | | |
Tom Udall (D - NM) | | | |
Chris Van Hollen (D - MD) | | | |
Nydia Velázquez (D - NY) | | | |
Peter Visclosky (D - IN) | | | |
Tim Walz (D - MN) | | | |
Maxine Waters (D - CA) | | | |
Diane Watson (D - CA) | | | |
Mel Watt (D - NC) | | | |
Henry Waxman (D - CA) | | | |
Anthony D. Weiner (D - NY) | | | |
Peter Welch (D - VT) | | | |
Robert Wexler (D - FL) | | | |
Charlie Wilson (D - OH) | | | |
Lynn Woolsey (D - CA) | | | |
David Wu (D - OR) | | | |
Albert Wynn (D - MD) | | | |
John Yarmuth (D - KY) | | | |
NON-VOTING: | | | |
Madeleine Bordallo (D - GUAM) | | | |
Donna Christian-Christensen (D - VIR. ISLS.) | | | |
Eni Faleomavaega (D - AM. SAMOA) | | | |
Eleanor Holmes Norton (D - DC) | | | |
(Note: the table is adapted from Wikipedia and may have errors in its source or its transcription. Please let me know of any errors and I'll fix them.)