1 Dem Voted Against Contempt: Cuellar (TX)

The Roll Call Vote on contempt:

	Ayes	Noes	PRES	NV
Democratic	220	1		10
Republican	3	31	1	163

One Democrat voted no. Henry Cuellar (TX-28)

Cueller, who stood on the Republican side of the aisle during Bush's 2006 State of the Union, once again stood with Bush.

Can I still donate to Ciro Rodriguez?

UPDATE: The good people of TX-23 assure me that I can vote for Ciro,  he is just not running against Cuellar any more.

•  tips

  I am trying to get the table to print properly. Bear with me.

  by TakeBackTheHouse on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 12:20:59 PM PDT

•  That toolbag has endorsed Hillary.

  by crazymoloch on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 12:21:05 PM PDT

•  Let's show him the door

  http://www.cirodrodriguez.com/

  by rf7777 on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 12:23:08 PM PDT

  •  As DLuntz says below

    Ciro is in Congress again, after losing two primaries to Cuellar. He only got back a seat (minus accumulated seniority) when the Supreme Court found that DeLay's mid-decade gerrymander had violated the Voting Rights Act. District lines were redrawn to remedy the violation. Ciro looked at the new map and saw his home had been moved into the district of Henry Bonilla (R). He jumped in the special election and won the runoff-- with a lot of help from grudge-settlers like the DCCC, AFL-CIO, etc.

    But you would not be wrong to send a contribution to Ciro. I think we can be sure that all is not forgiven, and never will be. When we do get a primary opponent for Cuellar, he might get some help from a certain embittered member of Congress.

    by Woody on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 12:39:01 PM PDT

•  Ciro's in Congress, dude.

  The 3 Republicans voting for it include R0n P4V1, Walter Jones, and someone who can now vote his conscience after losing his primary (Wayne Gilchrest)

  by DemocraticLuntz on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 12:26:27 PM PDT

  •  that Walter Jones is an odd duck

    It is sad that an entire political party, minus these three votes has sided with the concept that the executive branch does not have to obey the law of the land.

    by Mad Kossack on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 12:28:53 PM PDT

    •  Actually, it's maybe a little bit interesting

      that only 31 Republicans were willing to vote no on contempt.

      The vast majority walked out in what I think was a tactic to avoid making a choice. (The alleged reason for the walkout didn't make a lick of sense and, I suspect, will make them the butt of jokes on late-night TV.)

      Still, maybe walking out of the session was one degree more principled than if they had all stayed in their seats and voted no.

      Meanwhile, I do say kudos to Paul, Jones, and Gilchrest for standing to their convictions in the face of the Bush interests on a critical Constitutional matter. I hope others in the Republican Party may, in time, feel able to do the same.    

       

      by Clio2 on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 01:50:04 PM PDT

      •  that is interesting

        I saw a minute or two of Bonehead's speech after they walked out to a fortuitously waiting lecturn and microphone.  His pontificating had nothing whatsoever to with the whole walk-out thing.  

        I'm wishing that we could make them walk out every day for something or another.

        Why, or why can't we make them do real filibusters in the Senate instead of these fake cloture vote charades? I guess that would require leadership on our side to force the issue.

        by Mad Kossack on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 02:48:46 PM PDT

  •  How liberating must that be?

    Gilchrest is no longer beholden to his party; as a lame duck he's free to do whatever he wants without the threat of reprisals.

    Good on him for voting for this; good on Walter Jones and Ron Paul, too.

    Boo, Cueller.

    by Phoenix Rising on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 12:30:18 PM PDT

    •  That's R0n P4V1. His name must be typed

      in 1337.

      by DemocraticLuntz on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 12:32:34 PM PDT

    •  Being a lame duck

      but even lame ducks have, or hope to have, some kind of future careers and do risk something in speaking truth to power, especially to the Bush people, who have not been overly scrupulous when angered.  

      by Clio2 on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 01:55:02 PM PDT

  •  So That means I can?

    :)

    by TakeBackTheHouse on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 12:30:59 PM PDT

  •  Walter Jones is on his way out too

    The rightwingers have quietly been funding a primary challenger and they've got up until the North Carolina primary, sometime in April or May I believe, to take him out.

    Paul is also getting a well-funded primary challenger, but Ron can always snap his fingers and get a million dollars from around the country.

    by Skaje on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 01:55:44 PM PDT

•  who were

  republicans for contempt? i looked at the roll call but  could not tell who the republicans were.

  by Liberal Youth on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 12:28:19 PM PDT

  •  oh wait never mind nt

    by Liberal Youth on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 12:28:55 PM PDT

•  Bush's favorite House Democrat

  Henry Cuellar deserved a primary challenge more than Lipsyncher or Al Wynn. But the filing deadline passed weeks ago. He only took that seat from Ciro Rodriguez after Tom DeLay's mid-decade gerrymandering redrew the district to favor Cuellar. Our first real shot at knocking him out will probably come after the census and the next redistricting, so not until 2012.

  I saw Ciro's name and Lampson's name on someone's stupid list of Bush Dogs. How little they know. The only real Bush Dog in the Texas (D) delegation is Henry Cuellar, as he demonstrated on this vote, and on many others.

  by Woody on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 12:29:06 PM PDT

  •  Ciro is a progressive

    Lampson is a moderate, which is fine by me considering he represents a district Bush won by some 30 points.  Cuellar on the other hand is a conservative, representing a solid Democratic district.

    by Skaje on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 01:57:24 PM PDT

•  Ciro is the rep for TX-23

  By all means, give to Ciro, but he's in TX-23 now.

  Wiki Race Tracker shows that Cuellar is unopposed in this primary.

  by sccs on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 12:31:01 PM PDT

  •  Diary Updated

    So noted, and updated!

    by TakeBackTheHouse on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 12:35:00 PM PDT

•  Henry Cuellar is a long time tool

  This is only to be expected from him.  We looked for a primary challenger for Henry in 2004, 2006 and even this year.  Hard to do as he's a lock on that District.  Henry is an old time pol who knows everybody in his District.  The Joe Lieberman of Texas.

  by Rolfyboy6 on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 12:34:07 PM PDT

  •  And if he can't get the votes honestly

    He can be ruthless. In his close run against Ciro, on the evening news the TV stations reported Ciro the winner by a couple of hundred votes. By morning, some "missing ballots" had been found in Cuellar's home county -- all for Cuellar, not a single one for Ciro, imagine that loyalty! The "missing ballots" put Cuellar in the lead.

    Ciro hired a lawyer and sent a team to gather evidence in Laredo, Cuellar's home base. They found names of voters whose family and neighbors believed to be currently incarcerated, living in Mexico, or using addresses that were abandoned homes and vacant lots. But somehow Cuellar's lawyer messed up, failing to file in a "timely" way any protest to these phantom voters, and he lost the court challenge.

    Meanwhile Cuellar remains popular in Laredo, and he is a hardworking, in-every-parade, at-every-banquet, kiss-every-baby politico who gives good constituent service.

    He can be beaten depending on how the district lines are drawn, because Laredo is not big enough to dominate a district. So it depends if it includes a single large base for a challenger, or if the balance of the district reaches down into part of the Rio Grande Valley and up to take a small part of the San Antonio suburbs, as it does now, denying either area enough quite votes to offset Laredo.

    by Woody on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 12:54:57 PM PDT

•  Henry Cuellar was Clinton's first

  superdelegate endorsement in Texas, IIRC.

  by IhateBush on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 12:38:10 PM PDT

•  Who is Ciro supporting

  Obama or Clinton?

  by IhateBush on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 12:38:56 PM PDT

  •  His Chief of Staff

    who helped him win that special election is working for Obama.

    Looking for backup info on that fact, I found this item, showing Ciro still has some of the piss & vinegar that makes him a favorite of some of us Texans:

    From "Contacting Congress":

    February 5, 2008: Made several updates, including noting the resignation of Rep. Richard Baker (R-LA) who "has decided to step down from Congress after 22 years to take a lucrative job in the private sector representing investors he has spent a career regulating." (From the New Orleans Times Picayune). Sorry if I included that somewhat biased statement, but it bugs me that members of Congress can enter industries they regulated, presumably so that they can then lobby their former colleagues about these issues. Furthermore, by leaving in the middle of the term he was elected to serve, he is requiring tax payers in Louisiana to foot the bill for a special election. I really am irritable today, sorry.

    Bugs me, too, Ciro, and it makes me really irritable every day.

    by Woody on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 01:02:50 PM PDT

  •  Here's the cite

    To that end, the Obama campaign is reaching out to the Latino community. It has named political strategist Adrian Saenz – U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez's chief of staff – its Texas campaign director. It has signed on state lawmakers, such as Rafael Anchía of Dallas, and intends to tell Mr. Obama's story as a civil rights organizer for Hispanics in Illinois.

    from the Dallas Morning News, Feb 10

    by Woody on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 01:13:48 PM PDT

•  Agreed on Henry Cuellar

  More than any other Blue Dog Democrat he is the one that aggravates me the most.

  by CanadianBoy on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 12:42:28 PM PDT

  •  He's more of a Red Dog (n/t)

    Starve the corporate beast, buy local!

    by EthrDemon on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 01:38:09 PM PDT

•  Betcha Mr. Sam could have gotten him in line. nt

  by dallasdave on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 01:03:24 PM PDT

•  Wow, most Republicans were too scared to vote no

  They had 3 ayes, 32 nays, 1 present, and 163 no votes.

  Cuellar: More of a Republican than the average Republican

  by jfern on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 01:33:19 PM PDT

  •  Or too principled,

    we can hope.

    by Clio2 on Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 01:56:32 PM PDT