House Republicans Eager To Waste Time On A Symbolic Vote To Take Health Coverage Away From Millions Of Americans-- Guess Which Democrats Are Onboard

When the House finally passed a watered-down, corporate-friendly (some would say "sellout") version of the healthcare bill in early November 2009, 39 Democrats voted against it-- along with 176 Republicans, all of them except Ahn Cao (R-LA). Most of the Democratic NO votes were a gaggle of mangy, corrupt Blue Dogs pigging out at the same Medical-Industrial Complex trough as the Republicans. Justice was served a year later when all but 13 of these anti-family conservatives were defeated as Democratic voters stayed away from the polls and let them strangle on their own abysmal records. Hopefully we'll never hear from cowardly conservatives like John Adler (NJ), Allen Boyd (FL), Bobby Bright (AL), Travis Childers (MS), Artur Davis (AL), Lincoln Davis (TN), Parker Griffith (AL), Suzanne Kosmas (FL), Frank Kratovil (MD), Jim Marshall (GA), Walt Minnick (ID), Glenn Nye (VA), Gene Taylor (MS) and the rest of them again.

The Republicans, of course, are counting on rounding up the 13 renegades to join them next week in passing a symbolic bill to repeal healthcare. No one quite understands why-- other than his family name-- Dan Boren (OK) is still officially a quasi-Democrat, but predictably he was the first of the 13 to run to Fox and reassure reactionaries that he would vote for repeal. The new Energy and Commerce Committee Chair, Fred Upton (R-MI), predicted that a "significant number of Democrats" would vote with the Republicans. So far, though, it's only Boren. Conservatives Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN) and Daniel Lipinski (IL) voted against it but have both publicly stated they won't vote to repeal. That still leaves freaks like Heath Shuler (Blue Dog-NC), Jason Altmire (Blue Dog-PA), John Barrow (Blue Dog-GA), Ben Chandler (Blue Dog-KY), Larry Kissell (NC), Jim Matheson (Blue Dog-UT), Mike McIntyre (Blue Dog-NC), Mike Ross (Blue Dog-AR) and a couple of others who tend to vote more frequently with the Republicans than with their own party, especially on substantive, high-visibility legislation.

For all the House Republicans' crying last year that they couldn't be bipartisan because big bad Nancy Pelosi wasn't allowing them to tack a billion frivolous amendments onto legislation, now-Majority Leader Eric Cantor announced in his first press conference in his new capacity that no Democratic amendments would be allowed to be voted on with the repeal bill. Oh, I'm so surprised!


UPDATE: The First Vote Of The 112th Congress

Every Republican voted for John Boehner to take the Speaker's gavel. Nineteen arch-conservatives, mostly scumbags from the shriveled up Blue Dog caucus that was overwhelmingly repudiated at the polls by Democrats and Republicans in November, voted against Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Party choice. Eleven voted for the Blue Dog choice, Heath Shuler (Blue Dog-NC)-- besiders himself Jason Alrmire (Blue Dog-PA), Dan Boren (Blue Dog-OK), Jim Cooper (Blue Dog-TN), Joe Donnelly (Blue Dog-IN), Tim Holden (Blue Dog-PA), Larry Kissell (NC), Mike McIntyre (Blue Dog-NC), Jim Matheson (Blue Dog-UT), Mike Michaud (Blue Dog-ME), and Mike Ross (Blue Dog-AR). Blue Dogs John Barrow (GA) and Gabby Giffords (AZ) each voted for John Lewis, Barrow so he can tell brag to African American primary voters in 2012 while going to whites in the general and ranting about how he opposed Pelosi. Giffords is an imbecile and it's pointless in trying to figure out what's going on in her fevered imagination.

After voters wised up to their sleazy and corrupt politics mixed with right-wing policies and the drubbing that ensued left only 26 mangy, pathetic Blue Dogs in the House. Blue Dogs voting for Pelosi today included Joe Baca (CA), Leonard Boswell (IA), Ben Chandler (KY), Henry Cuellar (TX), Jane Harman (CA), Collin Peterson (MN), Loretta Sanchez (CA), Adam Schiff (CA), David Scott (GA), and Mike Thompson (CA). Here's the roll call for posterity.