This is really not acceptable.
As the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) battles to keep ahead of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), a handful of Democrats who are either in solidly safe seats or retiring have yet to pay their dues to the House fundraising arm -- funds that would go toward boosting the election chances of their vulnerable colleagues.
The Huffington Post obtained the dues sheets for several of these House members. In total, they owe $2,134,509 in unpaid dues to the DCCC. All members, except Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), have enough cash on hand to cover the balance. Individually, they owe anywhere between $45,000 and $250,000.
For the majority of these guys (and most of them are men) it's not an issue of not having the cash on hand. Most of them have at least enough to pay a portion of their dues. Some of them might have valid opposition:
Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) told the Huffington Post's Ryan Grim and Arthur Delaney earlier this year that strong progressives don't always get enough backing from the party committees. "When I give my dues to the DCCC, or when you contribute to it, you have no distinction as to where your money is going to go," he said. "And it goes to front-liners and usually Blue Dogs, and [they] usually vote against our issues. And that's a real frustration. And usually, if there's a progressive running, it's the last consideration in terms of support."
That's where the netroots can help. We can give to individual progressive candidates, rather than to the DCCC. And on the topic of giving to the DCCC, why should individual donors give if actual Dem Members won't? These guys need to pony up. After all, they've got jobs--they can afford it.