Blue Dogs find their bone

Cross-posted from Congress Matters.

The Hill:

Armed with a new Treasury Department report, conservative Democrats on Monday said they want the economic stimulus package to call for the creation of a new commission on the nation’s long-term fiscal health.

Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) a leader of the Blue Dog Coalition, and Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.), the vice chairman of New Democrats Coalition, seized on the release of the 2008 Financial Report of the United States Government to make their case that action is needed immediately.

And that action is... a commission.

Hmm. Well, OK.

I don't know exactly what kind of commission or what it would do. I'm not entirely sure Cooper knows, either. But here's how his comments were reported:

Cooper, a long-time budget hawk and senior Democrat on the House Budget Committee, said a “fiscal cancer” is eating away at the country, and that a commission or summit to address the nation's long-term insolvency problems would be “chemotherapy.”

Take away the lurid imagery, and you're left with... a commission or summit.

And reaction so far?

Cooper has proposed such a commission, which has been endorsed by Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) but not been embraced by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

However, Cooper said on Monday he hopes the new report will get Pelosi’s attention.

What a surprise. Anybody else?

More importantly, Cooper and Kind said they have the attention of President-elect Barack Obama.

Cooper said that a recent meeting between the Blue Dogs and Obama economic team members yielded a “very positive reception,” and that, as a whole, Blue Dogs believe they have Obama's ear on this issue, if not a commitment in principle to addressing their fiscal concerns through a summit or commission, and to include that legislation in the stimulus bill.

Better.

So you want a commission. And maybe a seat on it? Or a seat for a favored staffer or advisor, perhaps? Or a "summit?"

Sure. Fine. You got it.

It's not a bad idea, as much as I'm inclined to think the worst of almost anything the Blue Dogs ask for. Without knowing more about what they want the commission and/or summit to accomplish, and what kind of binding results Cooper envisions coming from it, it's hard to evaluate this as a demand. But in the absence of better information and more details, it seems harmless enough to agree to exploring the possibility.

What's more interesting is that if this represents the totality of Blue Dog demands for their agreement to a $600 billion stimulus package, I think it can safely be said that they've concluded that foot dragging in the name of "fiscal conservatism" in this economy (and after this election) isn't likely, let's say, to win friends and influence people.

So, that's it? A commission or summit as the Blue Dog price for the stimulus package? Fair deal. Hell, we should have a look at this. A $700 billion Wall Street bailout. A $600 billion stimulus. A $35 billion Detroit bailout. And, oh yeah! A $10 billion-a-month war still ongoing. Remember that?

So, fine. A commission and/or a summit. That used to be called "Congress," but whatever.

But wait! There's more! And really, we should have assumed this was the case -- and more specifically, that it would be about PAYGO. From (subscription) CQ:

Reps. Baron P. Hill, D-Ind., and Charlie Melancon, D-La., two of the three incoming Blue Dog leaders, said Tuesday that they would like a commitment to put a statutory pay-as-you-go bill on the agenda when Congress considers an economic recovery or stimulus bill in January.

But they're not getting too far ahead of themselves. They know which way the wind is blowing:

“Now more than ever ... statutory PAYGO is of utmost importance,” Hill said in a conference call with reporters. “...[W]e all recognize, even we Blue Dogs realize, that the economy is first, and there is going to be deficit spending, but along with that we have to charter a course that makes us fiscally responsible somewhere down the line.”

By the way, interested in this new report that's prompted Cooper's reaction? Find it here.