We need more and better Democrats in office, this we all know. But what does better really mean? To me, it means having Democrats in office who will not buckle under pressure, who will always fight for progressive principles, and who will show judgment worthy of their office on all issues.
Restating that is important because we arecurrently being reminded of the need for better Democrats. With $700 billion dollars on the line, our representatives folded under the immense pressure to do something about this looming credit crisis. I understand the fear that we all feel and I understand that the pressure on congress to do something must be near unbearable, yet I cannot see this as anything but a failure of leadership. On Monday this bill was shot down, much to the credit of those who voted no, but the Democratic leadership did not propose a new plan. They ignored plans presented by Rep. Pete DeFazio, George Soros, and many others in favor of giving lots and lots of our money to Secretary Paulson and hoping for the best. That is poor judgment. More importantly, those are not the actions a better Democrat.
And that again brings us to my point: we need better Democrats. We need Democrats who will show some leadership, who won't buckle and who will stand up for progressive principles. I can think of no better means to sort the good from the bad in recent years than our representatives voting record on the vote to authorize the use of United States Armed Forces against Iraq (AUMF) in 2002, the FISA Amendments Act of 2007, and Drunken Sailor Bailout Act of 2008.
I'm not an ideological purist. My Congresswoman, the esteemed Barbara Lee, voted for the bailout and, while you can bet she'll be hearing from me about that for a long time, I'm not suggesting she isn't a better Democrat. However, when we look at these three bills, we see bills that represent the abuses and failures of government in the realms of military action and executive power (AUMF), civil liberties and accountability (FISA), and economic stewardship and leadership (Bailout). That said, anyone who voted for all three of these needs to be held accountable for their poor judgement.
Who are these people? In the Senate, they are:
- Max Baucus
- Evan Bayh
- Thomas Carper
- Herb Kohl
- Blanche Lincoln
- Ben Nelson
- Jay Rockefeller
In the House, they are:
- Gary Ackerman
- Howard Berman
- Marion Berry
- Sanford Bishop
- Leonard Boswell
- Rick Boucher
- Allen Boyd
- Joseph Crowley
- Chet Edwards
- Eliot Engel
- Bob Etheridge
- Bart Gordon
- Jane Harman
- Steny Hoyer
- Steve Israel
- Paul Kanjorski
- Patrick Kennedy
- Ron Kind
- Nita Lowey
- Carolyn Maloney
- Edward Markey
- Carolyn McCarthy
- Michael McNulty
- Dennis Moore
- John Murtha
- Bill Pascrell
- Earl Pomeroy
- Mike Ross
- Adam Schiff
- Ike Skelton
- Adam Smith
- John Spratt
- John Tanner
- Ellen Tauscher
- Henry Waxman
- Anthony Weiner
- Robert Wexler
Some of these names are not surprises. There are some names on there that we wish weren't (I guess that's the whole list), but the fact is the fact: these people have voted against us and have not represented us when it mattered. On the matters of the greatest importance, they failed us.
When I first wrote this, I was a lot more irate than I am right now. Immediately after the Bailout was passed through the House, I was ranting to my roommate about how Reagan had won and we needed to throw out the bums. Now I am more contemplative. What does it mean to us that some of the most high profile and influential Democrats (7 in the Senate and 37 in the house, to be specific) have been wrong about such important issues? Do we start primarying everybody on those lists? Do we write sternly worded letters? Stop contributing or volunteering for them?
More than anything else, I hope this list provides a good list of people to keep your eyes on next time something terrible comes down the pipeline, because apparently we can’t count on them.
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A couple CYA statements: I'm focusing on the Democrats who need to be thrown out because we know all the Republicans are corrupt bums. Just because they're worse doesn't mean we shouldn’t hold our lackluster representative accountable.
As for my choice of bills used to characterize judgment, I think it's fair to say there are other votes that could have been used (Patriot Act, No Child Left Behind, etc.) but I chose these because I think they demonstrate bad judgment on very fundamental issues that are important on the broadest scale.