Politico on the fight by New Democrats and Blue Dogs to stop the mortgage relief bill coming to the floor this week:
Moderates worry Pelosi is routinely staking very liberal positions to push House versions of big bills as far to the left as possible to enhance their standing in negotiations with the historically centrist Senate. This might be a smart tactic, but it often hurts Democrats who rely on Republican votes to win reelection. Put bluntly, it makes them look too liberal.
"Moderates worry."
Stop the presses! Hahahahahahahaha! "Dog bites man!" "Sun rises in East!"
Yes, trying to help the nearly 2.5 million homeowners projected to go into foreclosure in 2009 "makes them look too liberal," and the only way to make this bill "moderate" enough is to side with the banks, who had the gift of the Republican bankruptcy bill handed to them in 2005, but still couldn't manage to survive as a viable industry without at $700 billion bailout (with more to come).
So the genius of Ellen Tauscher's (D-CA-10) position? Democrats need to side with the banks who converted their 2005 gift into the complete meltdown of the world financial order, then siphoned off trillions of public dollars to "stabilize" themselves, and now want still more blood from the homeowners they killed in creating this mess.
Really, Congresswoman? You're really hearing calls for Democrats to step in on behalf of the banking industry in this country? Seriously?
Please, someone stop the populism! The "moderates" are going to be crushed in a tidal wave of Thank You notes!
Politically astute? Or political ass toot? You decide.
Call your Representatives and get them on the right side for this week's vote.