CORPORATIONS FUNNELING MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN BRIBES TO DEMOCRATS THRU REACTIONARY BLUE DOGS

In the last election cycle when we were looking for candidates to support we basically wanted to make sure they were progressive-minded and wouldn't waver from supporting basic progressive values that are easily manifested in issues like equality under the law for all, choice and medical privacy for women, campaign finance reform, and a quick and safe end to the occupation of Iraq. That worked pretty well and we helped elect a dozen new members of Congress-- Mike Arcuri (D-NY), Bruce Braley (D-IA), Chris Carney (D-PA), Kisten Gillibrand (D-NY), John Hall (D-NY), Paul Hodes (D-NH), Jerry McNerney (D-CA), Patrick Murphy (D-PA), and Joe Sestak (D-PA) to the House and Jon Tester (D-MT), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Ben Cardin (D-MD) to the Senate. On top of that one of our favorite candidates, Donna Edwards defeated a corrupt, reactionary Democrat, Al Wynn, in this year's Maryland primary and the ground that 4 of our candidates laid last year will in all likelihood make them winners in November-- Charlie Brown (D-CA), Larry Kissell (D-NC), Eric Massa (D-NY), and Victoria Wulsin (D-OH).

Although several joined the Blue Dogs and have voted more conservatively than we had hoped, only one has turned out to be a complete disaster, Chris Carney who consistently votes to rubber stamp the Bush-Cheney agenda and, in many ways is no better than the heinous Republican he replaced (although, as far as we know, Carney hasn't choked any young women). In fact, our biggest problem with Carney isn't really that he votes so terribly-- although he's one of the half dozen Democratic freshmen the GOP has come to count on to block progressive legislation-- but that he blatantly and cynically deceived us when he was eager to get our support and then refused to even discuss his actions after he voted no on a bill he had promised to support, the Hate Crimes Bill.

This year aside from trying to ascertain where our perspective candidates stand on values and issues, we are also looking for potential progressive leaders. Many of us are sick to our stomaches at the disgraceful showing the so-called Progressive Caucus has made in combating the Bush agenda and in helping elect progressives to Congress. One of its leaders, Dennis Kucinich, was so busy running a hopeless and nearly pointless campaign for the presidency, that the Progressive Caucus wound up being ineffective and embarrassing. This year we're hoping that strong leaders like Donna Edwards, Darcy Burner, Jim Himes, Leslie Byrne and Howard Shanker will be able to help mobilize and organize the floundering caucus.

Last week Congressional Quarterly reported on the great success the Republican-lite, business-oriented Blue Dog Caucus has been having this year. Corporate money, seeking to influence the Democratic Congress goes straight to the friendly Blue Dogs. CQ calls them a "cash machine," just what politics does not need.

Once a splinter group with Southern, populist roots, the Blue Dog Coalition has become a pinstriped national alliance with ties to K Street and a penchant for bucking Speaker Nancy Pelosi on business priorities.

...Business interests, which are among the donors, clearly are happy to steer campaign dollars to business-friendly Democrats.

“We need businesspeople to be successful,” Cardoza said. “If businesses aren’t successful, workers won’t have jobs. There’s a nexus. We need to find middle ground to make workers and businesses successful.”
The Blue Dogs are players in nearly every big issue before the House.

Take the pending proposal backed by Pelosi, D-Calif., to allow bankruptcy judges to write down the principal of some home mortgages to avert foreclosures. Several Blue Dogs, including Dennis Moore , D-Kan., the group’s policy chairman, spoke against the proposal.

They pointed to an Oct. 16 letter to Judiciary Chairman John Conyers Jr. , D-Mich., that was signed by 15 Blue Dogs who vowed to oppose changes to the 2005 bankruptcy overhaul (PL 109-8). That bloc-- if it holds together-- could scuttle the bankruptcy proposal.

Senior Blue Dogs have also emerged as prime targets of efforts by the GOP to move priorities such as the Colombia free-trade agreement and the Senate-passed liability exemption for telecommunications companies in a rewrite (HR 3773) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (PL 95-511).

Some of the bigger corporate whores among the Blue Dogs are John Tanner (TN), Dennis Cardoza (CA), Mike Thompson (CA) and Allen Boyd (FL). One of the most reactiuonary Blue Dog leaders, Arkansas Dixiecrat Mike Ross, bragged that "we’re replacing Republicans not with liberal Democrats but Blue Dog Democrats.” Of the 31 seats that went from red to blue, 11 went to moderate Democrats (defined here as Democrats with a Progressive Punch 2007-08 score below 93 and above 85)-- Ed Perlmutter (CO), Ron Klein (FL), Tim Walz (MN), Steve Kagen (WI), Ciro Rodriguez (TX), Joe Sestak (PA), Charles Wilson (OH), Jerry McNerney (CA), Kirsten Gillibrand (NY), Patrick Murphy (PA), and Nancy Boyda (KS). 11 went to conservative Democrats (with scores under 85)-- Zach Space (OH), Gabby Giffords (AZ), Tim Mahoney (FL), Harry Mitchell (AZ), Baron Hill (IN), Chris Carney (PA), Brad Ellsworth (IN), Jason Altmire (PA), Joe Donnelly (IN), Rahm Emanuel's boy Heath Shuler (NC), and Nick Lampson (TX). Meanwhile 10, went to progressives (with scores of 93 or better)-- Mike Arcuri (NY), Chris Murphy (CT), Bruce Braley (IA), John Hall (NY), Phil Hare (IL), Joe Courtney (CT), John Yarmuth (KY), Carol Shea-Porter (NH), Dave Loebsack (IA), Paul Hodes (NH). This doesn't take into account that several liberal Democrats replaced far less progressive Democrats. The best example would be Steve Cohen, a staunch liberal, replacing egregious corporate whore and right-wing triangulator Harold Ford in Tennessee. Other Democratic freshmen who replaced less liberal Democrats include Keith Ellison (MN), Niki Tsongas (MA, in a special election), Mazie Hirono (HI), Yvette Clarke (NY), Betty Sutton (OH), Kathy Castor (FL), No conservatives replaced progressives anywhere.