How Do You Know If Congressmembers Love America? The Question Of Disloyalty

Sometimes, angry, frustrated congressmen call me to vent. That happened Friday during those silly Boehner votes on shutting down the Department of Homeland Security. But the call wasn't about the 52 Confederate/Teabagger villains in Boehner's caucus who voted to shut the Department down; it was about the dozen right-wing Democrats who broke ranks with Pelosi and went along with Boehner. Just for the record, these were the GOP Johnny Rebs Friday:

• Justin Amash (R-MI)
• Brian Babin (R-TX)
• Lou Barletta (R-PA)
• Joe Barton (R-TX)
• Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)
• Dave Brat (R-VA)
• Jim Bridenstine (R-OK)
• Mo Brooks (R-AL)
• Curt Clawson (R-FL)
• Ron DeSantis (R-FL)
• Scott DesJarlais (R-TN)
• Sean Duffy (R-WI)
• Blake Farenthold (R-TX)
• Stephen Fincher (R-TN)
• John Fleming (R-LA)
• Randy Forbes (R-VA)
• Trent Franks (R-AZ)
• Louie Gohmert (R-TX)
• Paul Gosar (R-AZ)
• Morgan Griffith (R-VA)
• Jody Hice (R-GA)
• Richard Hudson (R-NC)
• Tim Huelskamp (R-KS)
• Duncan Hunter (R-CA)
• Robert Hurt (R-VA)
• Sam Johnson (R-TX)
• Walter Jones (R-NC)
• Jim Jordan (R-OH)
• Steve King (R-IA)
• Raul Labrador (R-ID)
• Doug Lamborn (R-CO)
• Barry Loudermilk (R-GA)
• Tom Massie (R-KY)
• Mark Meadows (R-NC)
• Mick Mulvaney (R-SC)
• Randy Neugebauer (R-TX)
• Pete Olson (R-TX)
• Steve Pearce (R-NM)
• Scott Perry (R-PA)
• Ted Poe (R-TX)
• John Ratcliffe (R-TX)
• Tom Rice (R-SC)
• Phil Roe (R-TN)
• Tom Rooney (R-FL)
• Matt Salmon (R-AZ)
• Mark Sanford (R-SC)
• Lamar Smith (R-TX)
• Mark Walker (R-NC)
• Brad Wenstrup (R-OH)
• Roger Williams (R-TX)
• Rob Wittman (R-VA)
• Kevin Yoder (R-KS)

It's not always a cut and dry thing to say which Members of Congress are loyal to the U.S. and which are anti-American Confederates who still harbor that taste for disloyalty. But it is easy to point out that of the 52 Members who voted to shut down the Department of Homeland Security-- making America more vulnerable to terrorist attack, whether from ISIS or from domestic right-wing lunatics-- 34 were from states that seceded (and that doesn't count states like Oklahoma and Arizona that hadn't achieved statehood at the time).  Many of them had their paranoia stoked into high gear by rumors that Boehner had made a deal with Pelosi to fund the Department even while there are still people of Mexican heritage in America.

House Democrats signaled Friday that Republicans have cut a deal with them to pass a Homeland Security funding measure next week that would last until Sept. 30.

But Republicans are denying it.

The deal, Democrats said, was made in exchange for Democratic votes in favor of a one-week extension of Homeland funding, which passed late Friday and averted a partial closure of the Department of Homeland Security.

In the hours before the final vote, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi urged fellow Democrats to vote for the one-week deal, telling them it would lead to the full funding measure they are seeking.

"Your vote tonight will assure that we will vote for full funding next week," Pelosi said.

Pelosi aides would not comment on the nature of the talks that took place with Obama, or if she struck a deal with Boehner. But one top aide denied Democrats voted for the week-long deal at the request of the president.

"Not true," Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said on Twitter.

The week-long bill provides time for the Senate to vote on whether to hold a conference with the House on a Homeland spending provision that would curb President Obama's executive actions on immigration.

Next week, Senate Democrats are all but guaranteed to block a motion to hold a conference with the House. When they do, it will create a dead end for Republican efforts to negotiate their way into a bill that is more palatable to conservatives who want to curb the president's immigration directives.

Republicans would then presumably have no choice but to put a bill on the floor funding Homeland until Sept. 30 which would pass with full Democratic support but would anger House conservatives.

Republican leadership aides denied any promises were made to Democrats, who were also lobbied Friday evening by President Obama to pass the one-week measure.

"There was no such deal or promise," Speaker John Boehner's spokesman Michael Steel told the Washington Examiner.

House Democratic leaders were declaring victory, though.

"Tonight I voted for a seven-day continuing resolution to keep the Department of Homeland Security open to allow time for the House to pass the Senate's full-year funding bill next week," House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said.

Now, back to the Democratic Member who was sp upset by the dozen Democratic defectors. He referred to them as the "douchebag list," and there were no surprises on the list. Almost all of these are Boehner's allies inside the Democratic caucus and they're always looking for excuses to cross the aisle and vote with the Republicans. These are the 12 who did it Friday:

• Brad Ashford (Blue Dog-NE)
• Julia Brownley (CA)
• Cheri Bustos (Blue Dog-IL)
• Gerry Connolly (New Dem-VA)
• John Delaney (New Dem-MD)
• Gwen Graham (Blue Dog-FL)
• Michelle Lujan Grisham (NM)
• Patrick Murphy (New Dem-FL)
• Scott Peters (New Dem-CA)
• Raul Ruiz (CA)
• David Scott (Blue Dog-GA)
• Kirsten Sinema (Blue Dog-AZ)

When I reiterated that, with the exception of Lujan Grisham they all vote with the GOP all the time anyway so why get so worked up over this vote, this was the response: "Because this is one of the very few votes that I’ve seen in the past two years where Pelosi and Hoyer tried to create some party solidarity, and they ruined it. Now it will just be back to the SOP of fighting amongst ourselves." Remember that when the DCCC sends out mailers begging for money to save "Democratic seats," primarily seats of disloyal conservatives like Sinema, Peters, Murphy, Graham, Ashford and Brownley.