How Can You Tell The Good Democrats From The Ones Who Are Just Republicans With Blue T-Shirts?

So far there have been 34 votes in the House. Most of the votes have been symbolic nods to the Republican base. There has been no serious lawmaking or policy. On top of that Boehner and Cantor have let the Members have lots of free weeks. So far only 3 Democrats-- each a Blue Dog, of course, has voted more frequently with the GOP than with their own party-- Jason Altmire (PA), Dan Boren (OK) and Mike Ross (AR). But when you look at what ProgressivePunch calls the "Crucial Votes of 2011-'12," some much more disturbing trends come to light. According the Progressive Punch "show the impact that even a small number of Democrats have when they defect from the progressive position. These are votes where EITHER progressives lost OR where the progressive victory was narrow and could have been changed by a small group of Democrats voting differently... Narrow progressive victories are defined as votes in which progressives won by 20 votes or fewer in the House (so a shift of 10 votes from one side to the other would have changed the result) or by 6 votes or fewer in the Senate (so a shift of 3 votes from one side to the other would have changed the result)." 20 Democrats have voted with Boehner and Cantor on every single crucial vote (or have been absent for a crucial vote):

Jason Altmire (Blue Dog-PA)
John Barrow (Blue Dog-GA)
Dan Boren (Blue Dog-OK)
Leonard Boswell (Blue Dog-IA)
Dennis Cardoza (Blue Dog-CA)
Kathy Castor (FL)
Ben Chandler (Blue Dog-KY)
Jim Costa (Blue Dog-CA)
Mark Critz (PA)
Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX)
Joe Donnelly (Blue Dog-IN)
Tim Holden (Blue Dog-PA)
Lipinski, Jr (IL)
Chris Murphy (CT)
Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN)
Mike Ross (Blue Dog-AR)
Steven Rothman (NJ)
Allyson Schwartz (PA)
Heath Shuler (Blue Dog-NC)
Jackie Speier (CA)

The ProgressivePunch system doesn't claim to be perfect. When I'm looking at this year's votes to determine which Democrats are likely to be most closely aligned with the bad guys... as well as the best candidates for Bobby Bright-like challenges, I'm doing it a little more intuitively. I picked out the most important votes-- the election of the Speaker, repeal of Healthcare reform, extending the Patriot Act (and again), and harassing the UN. I look over those votes and cross-check the results against the overall record (including little matters like signing on as a co-sponsor of the GOP anti-Choice legislation) and find the most problematic Democrats in the House. No surprises for DWT readers:

Jason Altmire (Blue Dog-PA)
Dan Boren (Blue Dog-OK)
Jim Cooper (Blue Dog-TN)
Mark Critz (PA)
Joe Donnelly (Blue Dog-IN)
Larry Kissell (NC)
Daniel Lipinski (IL)
Mike McIntyre (Blue Dog-NC)
Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN)
Mike Ross (Blue Dog-AR)
Heath Shuler (Blue Dog-NC)

Yesterday the DCCC was out shilling their bogus "GOP assault on reproductive rights" again. Sending it to Boehner is so silly that even they won't actually do it. Sending it to Benedict Arnolds within their own ranks who are co-sponsoring the bill, might do some good. But there's even less of a chance that a hypocrite like Steve Israel would ever do something like that than there is of him sending it to Boehner. One of the truest/bluest of the Democrats-- Jerry Nadler-- sent out a release yesterday that reflects the feelings of most Democrats, both inside and outside the Beltway-- but it doesn't reflect the opinion of the K Street lobbying community, their corporate patrons or their craven Blue Dog congressional supplicants. Nadler's point is very straight-forward: the GOP spending plan shows a reckless disregard for Americans' security and well-being. He's addressing the billions of dollars in irresponsible cuts to transportation, security and social service programs. The tragedy, of course, is that the Republicans are being aided and abetted in their determination to turn back the clock by a handful of corrupt, slimy Blue Dogs and quasi-Blue Dogs.

“The Republican budget proposal is the product of reckless and dangerous overreach that would be devastating for middle and working class Americans, destroy thousands of jobs without replacing them, and threaten national security. The Republicans want to cut billions in funding for roads, transit, High Speed Rail, and key infrastructure projects, effectively squashing economic development projects across the nation, eliminating quality jobs, and ensuring that our transportation systems won’t receive the maintenance and improvements they need to be safe and efficient. Nadler is too polite to say it but keep in mind that when he says "Republicans," he could just as well say "Republicans and Blue Dog scum."
 
“The Republicans want to cut funding to the FBI, state and local law enforcement agencies, and the COPS program, making us less safe and more susceptible to terrorist attacks. They want to cut funding to improve wireless communications for first responders, making rescue operations more dangerous. They want to defund our economic future by cutting investments in education, job training, community development and a wide range of social services. 
 
“And they are trying to do so by balancing the budget on the backs of the poorest and most vulnerable members of society, cutting funding for the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program, legal services for the poor, and maternal and children’s health programs. And, at a time when our government needs to take bold and innovative actions to create jobs and economic development, these cuts would in fact jettison thousands of existing jobs without producing new ones. These cuts would be disastrous for millions and millions of Americans, and we must oppose them with our collective might. With the Senate unlikely to rubber stamp such an irresponsible proposal, the Republicans now seem intent on forcing a complete government shutdown to impose their regressive agenda.”
 
Some of the proposed cuts to transportation:
 
• $4.975 billion cut from High Speed and Intercity Rail projects already funded.


·         $710 million cut from Transit New Starts, a program which funds major transit programs in urban areas.

·         $292 million cut from the Surface Transportation Program, which funds the maintenance of roads, bridges and essential national infrastructure.

·         $150 million cut from Amtrak, the nation’s only passenger rail system.

·         $100 million cut from FRA Rail Safety.
 
Some of the other proposed cuts:
 
• $600 million cut from the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program, resulting in 1,330 fewer police on the streets. This is a U.S. Department of Justice program that advances the practice of community policing in America’s state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies.

• $74 million cut from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

• $758 million cut from the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program, which provides nutrition-rich food assistance for low-income mothers and their newborn children.

• $400 million cut from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which assists millions of low-income households in meeting their immediate heat and home energy needs.

• $530 million cut from the HUD Community Development Fund, which is the largest source of federal financial assistance in support of state and local neighborhood revitalization, housing rehabilitation, and economic development activities.

• $405 million cut from Community Service Block Grants, which provide federal funds to states, territories, and tribes for distribution to local agencies to support a wide range of community-based activities to reduce poverty.

• $6 million cut from the National Endowment for the Arts, which provides critical arts funding.

Tough battles ahead... it would be nice for Pelosi to know that fire will be coming from the front and not just from her rear as well. Blue America plans to help recruit progressives to run against Blue Dogs and we could really use your help-- so could Democrats like Pelosi and Nadler... but they'd never ask for it. They don't want to make the Blue Dogs angry because... because... hmmmm... I have no idea why. They already vote with the Republicans on the important matters and give them cover with the media and disgrace the term "moderate."