Some Kinds Of Bipartisanship We Can Do Without-- Take Tom Corbett And Tim Holden, For Example

I suppose a case can be made that Blue Dog Tim Holden (PA) is very bipartisan. He's one of the dozen conservative Democrats Eric Cantor and John Boehner have come to count on to move their anti-working family agenda along and give it the patina of "bipartisanship." Since Obama took office, Holden has voted against progressive positions and with the Republicans far more frequently than he has with his own party. According to ProgressivePunch the 2011-12 session has seen him, on crucial roll calls, with the Republicans 63.75% of the time. Closer examination of his voting record, however, finds that there's something more important than ideology or the partisan debate. Holden votes for the special interests of the corporations that have filled his campaign coffers with millions of dollars over the years. And one of those votes-- for the Halliburton Loophole he pushed and helped pass, which allows for fracking in his home state-- may cost him a seat in Congress this year.

Big Energy PACs run by Dick Cheney's Halliburton donated $511,638 to help finance Tim Holden's slimy career. Why would they help finance a Democrat? Holden is barely a Democrat and, after all, he supported them when it really mattered most-- in creating the Halliburton Loophole, exempting Holden's big campaign donors from EPA regulations so they could poison the water table with impunity. In conjunction with Holden's congressional manipulations. the U.S. Forest Service announced it didn't plan to issue a universal ban on horizontal drilling on federal land, allowing many national forests to remain available for natural gas production, the agency's deputy chief said Friday. Continuing to push both GOP and Big Oil and Gas talking points, "extolled the importance of domestic energy production. Public land generated more than $112 billion in 2010, he said, noting the contribution of mineral resource management to that figure."

The political careers of Gov. Tom Corbett (R) and Rep. Tim Holden (D) have partially underwritten by the same fracking interests who are making parts of Pennsylvania dangerous to live in. That's called a sell out. Corbett isn't up for reelection this year-- but we'll remember when he is. Tim Holden is up for reelection in November and he has a strong, progressive opponent, Matt Cartwright. Today is the first day of the new FEC quarter. Think about helping Blue America put more of these billboards up in Luzerne, Northampton, Lackawanna, Monroe, Carbon and Schuylkill counties. Or, if these billboards aren't your cup of tea, contribute directly to Cartwright's campaign. You can do either-- or both, on the Blue America FrackingHolden page. (Yes, open Sundays-- just like the fracking operations.)




UPDATE: And We're Not Operating In A Vaccum

Last week Aaron Blake raised the possibility in the Washington Post that Holden could be the next Mean Jean Schmidt, a hackish incumbent defeated in her own party's primary.

Even in the most anti-incumbent primary season of the past few decades, less than 5 percent of members of Congress lost their primaries.

Such is the case under a political system that weighs things heavily in favor of incumbents.

...But relatively speaking, this looks like one of the most anti-incumbent years in decades. There are several factors in the coming election that will lead to an increase in the number of members sent home early-- and it’s quite possible we could see more incumbents lose than at any point in the last 40 years.

...Holden was one of few Democrats who survived in a conservative district last election, and Republicans appeared to do him a favor by moving many of his Republicans to shore up neighboring GOP incumbents and giving him a much more Democratic district in the process. But that new territory also drew new intra-party opposition, and lawyer Matt Cartwright has reportedly put together $600,000 for his primary challenge April 24. Cartwright has also gotten the support of some liberal groups against the Blue Dog Holden, and the Campaign for Primary Accountability has said it will spend $200,000 on taking down Holden.