Even the congenitally conservative AMA has now endorsed the House compromise on health care, H.R. 3200, America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009-- not single payer but probably the best deal working families can expect under a system so thoroughly dominated by special corporate interests and the political prostitutes called the Republican Party plus their allies, in the DLC. Between them, they run the show in the House of Lords, and you can expect the Insurance Industry and the Medical-Industrial Complex to have Baucus and Grassley earn their keep with a "bipartisan" effort in the venal Senate Finance Committee to guarantee that the public plan is anything but robust. When Dick Durbin, in frustration, admitted a few weeks ago that "they" (meaning the banksters) "own the Senate," he was speaking quite literally. He just left off the part that they don't own it solely. The Medical Industrial Complex has spent almost as much paying out legalistic bribes to "conservative" members of both parties as the banksters have. And now they mean to kill the kind of effective health care reform that could force them to explore more sustainable and rational business models, models that serve consumers, not just CEOs.
The situation in the House isn't as bad but the Blue Dogs have every intention of making common cause with the ineffective Republican caucus to get behind the Insurance Industry agenda being put forward by Baucus and Grassley in the Senate.
The disingenuous Blue Dogs are already threatening to support the GOP in preventing a bill from passing. It's important to keep in mind that many of them are southerners who will, by nature, oppose anything and everything that could possibly help Black families or immigrant families. Although Blue Dogs ostensibly stand for fiscal discipline, in reality, many-- if not most-- of the Blue Dogs just use that as an excuse for their own reactionary and racist politics. The only Democrats, for example, to cross the aisle and vote with the Republicans against Hate Crimes legislation last April were a gaggle of 15 sleazy, bigoted Blue Dogs. Similarly, it is primarily the Blue Dogs in the House who are screaming that they will oppose any bill that includes a public option or in any way forces the Insurance Industry CEOs, who shower them with so much money, to compete with an alternative that is based on delivering health care instead if denying it. These are the 51 Blue Dogs in the House. There aren't a dozen worth a collective bucket of spit:
• Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (SD), Co-chair for Administration
• Rep. Baron Hill (IN), Co-chair for Policy
• Rep. Charlie Melancon (LA), Co-chair for Communications
• Rep. Heath Shuler (NC), Whip
• Rep. Jason Altmire (PA)
• Rep. Mike Arcuri (NY)
• Rep. Joe Baca (CA)
• Rep. John Barrow (GA)
• Rep. Marion Berry (AR)
• Rep. Sanford Bishop (GA)
• Rep. Dan Boren (OK)
• Rep. Leonard Boswell (IA)
• Rep. Allen Boyd (FL)
• Rep. Bobby Bright (AL)
• Rep. Dennis Cardoza (CA)
• Rep. Chris Carney (PA)
• Rep. Ben Chandler (KY)
• Rep. Travis Childers (MS)
• Rep. Jim Cooper (TN)
• Rep. Jim Costa (CA)
• Rep. Henry Cuellar (TX)
• Rep. Lincoln Davis (TN)
• Rep. Joe Donnelly (IN)
• Rep. Brad Ellsworth (IN)
• Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (AZ)
• Rep. Bart Gordon (TN)
• Rep. Parker Griffith (AL)
• Rep. Jane Harman (CA)
• Rep. Tim Holden (PA)
• Rep. Frank Kratovil, Jr. (MD)
• Rep. Mike McIntyre (NC)
• Rep. Jim Marshall (GA)
• Rep. Jim Matheson (UT)
• Rep. Mike Michaud (ME)
• Rep. Walt Minnick (ID)
• Rep. Harry Mitchell (AZ)
• Rep. Dennis Moore (KS)
• Rep. Patrick Murphy (PA)
• Rep. Glenn Nye (VA)
• Rep. Collin Peterson (MN)
• Rep. Earl Pomeroy (ND)
• Rep. Mike Ross (AR)
• Rep. John Salazar (CO)
• Rep. Loretta Sanchez (CA)
• Rep. Adam Schiff (CA)
• Rep. David Scott (GA)
• Rep. Zack Space (OH)
• Rep. John Tanner (TN)
• Rep. Gene Taylor (MS)
• Rep. Mike Thompson (CA)
• Rep. Charles Wilson (OH)
And speaking of this trash, it's worth noting that the Blue Dogs are already reaching out to conservative candidates, particularly in their Southern stronghold, in an attempt to enhance their power within the Democratic caucus. Although progressive Navy vet Doug Tudor astounded the DC and Tallahassee political establishments last year by doing so well-- with only grassroots support-- against GOP leader Adam Putnam, the Blue Dogs are trying to maneuver the DCCC into supporting a reactionary, anti-family, fake Democrat, Lori Edwards, against Tudor. Edwards, like the worst of the Blue Dogs, opposes the public option and the Blue Dogs, with corporate shill Allen Boyd in the lead, have endorsed her.
"We know a little bit about Lori's record; we know that she will be a great fit with the Blue Dogs," said Boyd, who was in a similar group with Edwards when both served in the legislature. "She understnds how the government economic model works."
Edwards, who faces Doug Tudor in the Democratic primary, in a conference the endorsement will help voters unfamiliar record understand that "I am a conserv and moderate Democrat." Asked about President Obama health care reform proposal, Edwards indeed sounded like she'll fit right in with the Blue Dogs, saying it should be "deficit-neutral" and focus on "small business protection."
Grassroots progressives have endorsed Tudor and I want to urge everyone who can to consider making a donation to Doug's campaign and sending a message to the DCCC that we want real Democrats in Congress, not Blue Dog hacks serving the interests of corporate CEOs.
One Blue Dog, Patrick Murphy (PA), who has been supportive of a great deal of progressive legislation, including health care reform and, most recently, ending Don't Ask Don't Tell, is now a chair of the DCCC’s Red to Blue program. Yesterday he endorsed progressive Democrat Doug Pike for the seat being vacated by conservative Republican Jim Gerlach in the suburbs south of Philly. Although I wasn't too happy to read that the DCCC seems to be involving itself in a primary again, at least it's to the detriment of Blue Dog-oriented state Senator Andy Dinniman. It will be interesting to see if the DCCC persists in butting into local primaries this year. We don't even like it when they do it against a conservative like Dinniman but when they do it to support Republicans-disguised-as-Democrats like Lori Edwards, it means real trouble.
Ask almost any Democrat in the House who's the biggest scumbag in the party caucus and Dan Boren (Blue Dog-OK) will usually beat out even slimy neo-Confederate reactionaries like Jim Marshall (Blue Dog-GA), Heath Shuler (Blue Dog-NC) and Gene Taylor (Blue Dog-MS), all of whom vote with the Republicans on substantive matters at least as much as they vote with Democrats. Yesterday, Boren became the first so-called Democrat to go on a full frontal attack against President Obama.
Ten feet from the desk, in the main hallway of Boren's new Durant headquarters, the congressman beams from a portrait, his arm draped around President George W. Bush. A photo with the current president is nowhere to be found.
“Barack Obama is very unpopular,” said Boren, who represents Oklahoma’s 2nd Congressional District. “He got 34 percent of the vote statewide, and less in our district. If he were to run for re-election today, I bet it would be even worse.”
...“It would be a lot nicer if we had someone who was in the middle,” he said. “Bill Clinton won our district. A lot of people don’t remember that, but he, in 1996, carried this district. I think if you have someone who governs from the middle, who’s pragmatic, who works with both parties. President Obama talks a lot about bipartisanship. If you look at some of the legislation, he may have one or two Republicans.”
Next time you get solicited by the DCCC to donate please think about this brief piece in today's Hill:
Centrist Democrats are threatening to oppose their party’s healthcare legislation unless House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) accepts changes that make the bill more to their liking.
Seven Blue Dogs on the House Energy and Commerce Committee have banded together to draft amendments that they’ll co-sponsor in the committee markup, which starts Thursday. Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.), the Blue Dogs’ point man on healthcare, says if those changes aren’t accepted, they’ll vote down the bill.
“We cannot support the current bill,” Ross said. “Last time I checked, it took seven Democrats to stop a bill in Energy and Commerce.”
And remember, when you donate money to the DCCC you are contributing money to anti-family extremists, reactionaries and racists like Dan Boren, no matter what you think your money is going towards. Money donated through any number of Act Blue PACs goes only to progressive candidates who you pick yourself-- like Doug Tudor.