Freshmen With "F" Graded Voting Records... Already

Don't Shoot! by Nancy Ohanian

Yesterday, the House Dems passed the second of two gun control bills. This one, Jim Clyburn's Enhanced Background Checks Act (H.R.1112), had a little closer margin of victory, just 228-198. Seven Republicans voted with the Democrats against more endless slaughter of children and 3 Democrats voted for more endless slaughter of children:

• Anthony Brindisi (Blue Dog-NY)
• Jared Golden (ME)
• Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN)

There would have been an actual reason for progressive Democrats to vote against this bill, but that isn't why Brindisi and Peterson did-- and I'd be somewhat suspicious of Golden using it as an excuse too. It's complicated but in the House Judiciary Committee, the ranking Republican, Doug Collins (GA) started whining about the wording of trying to keep guns out of the hands of homicidal maniacs. The Judiciary Committee foolishly allowed Collins-- who has a child with a mental disorder-- to amend the legislation by striking "adjudicated as a mental defective" (which is a precise term, medically and legally) and inserting "adjudicated with mental illness, severe developmental disability, or severe emotional instability," which is so broad that the ACLU came down against the final bill, as did several veterans groups, claiming that under the Collins wording a veteran with mild PTSD could be prevented from owning a gun. Collins didn't vote for the bill anyway, but did get his amendment into it, meaning Democrats who voted for it can be accused of voting against veterans. Real smart!

I thought Pelosi was supposed to be some kind of master tactician. How are these kinds of things happening to her/ Does he think this is a day on the beach? This is the United States Congress. If she can no longer keep it together, let her step aside and give the Speaker's gavel to AOC or Ted Lieu or Pramila Jayapal. Two days in a row of being played by an imbecile like Kevin McCarthy? How does that happen.

It's still very early in the session, but it's worth mentioning that two-dozen freshmen Democrats have voting records that have been scored with an "A" by ProgressivePunch. Twenty have "F." This list, which goes from bad to worst, are the Fs:

• Steven Horsford (New Dem-NV)
• Katie Porter (CA)
• Harley Rouda (New Dem-CA)
• Kim Schrier (New Dem-WA)
• Mikie Sherrill (Blue Dog-NJ)
• Abigail Spanberger (Blue Dog-VA)
• Ed Case (Blue Dog-HI)
• Cindy Axne (New Dem-IA)
• Anthony Brindisi (Blue Dog-NY)
• Abby Finkenauer (IA)
• Jared Golden (ME)
• Elaine Luria (New Dem-VA)
• Max Rose (Blue Dog-NY)
• Xochitl Torres Small (Blue Dog-NM)
• Sharice Davids (New Dem-KS)
• Antonio Delgado (NY)
• Kendra Horn (Blue Dog-OK)
• Ben McAdams (Blue Dog-UT)
• Joe Cunningham (Blue Dog-SC)
• Jeff Van Drew (Blue Dog-NJ)

The bottom two piles of walking, talking dreck are so bad that there are already Republicans voting more progressively than they are on the crucial roll calls like yesterday's and today's gun safety roll calls. I just bolded all the names of the members with "F" who voted to allow undocumented workers to be turned over to ICE if they try to buy a gun, a Republican amendment that passed yesterday basically because it was nap time for Pelosi and her pathetic and geriatric leadership team.

According to Politico, Pelosi went batshit after so many conservative freshmen abandoned the party and voted with the GOP, implying they would suffer the consequences financially next year. She extolled "vulnerable Democrats who had the 'courage' to vote against the Republican motions to recommit [suggesting they] would become a higher priority for the party leadership and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee." That was the carrot, kind of. AOC offered the stick: "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the superstar New York freshman lawmaker, suggested she would alert progressive activists when Democrats are voting with the GOP on these motions."

One really stupid right-wing jerk who is likely to be defeated in 2022, Xochitl Torres Small (D-NM), "who voted for the GOP motion on Wednesday, grew visibly emotional when speaking and pointedly said courage looks different to different people, according to two sources in the room. Some lawmakers and aides exited the meeting frustrated with Ocasio-Cortez’s remarks, with one member saying the freshman’s comments sounded like a passive-aggressive threat to Democrats who vote for the GOP motions." Wow, there's a genius!

The heated meeting-- which several lawmakers and aides described as “confrontational” and “emotional”-- is just the latest in a behind-the-scenes debate that has been simmering for weeks. The dispute has divided Democratic leaders and led to sniping among lawmakers and aides about who is to blame.

One senior Democratic aide said the fault lies with Hoyer and Clyburn, who need to do a better job of communicating to members, particularly the freshmen, about how they should vote. Another senior aide countered that Democrats wouldn’t have lost so many seats in 2010, when Republicans took back the majority, if “Pelosi hadn’t been so cavalier about members’ votes.”

“That should be a lesson for us now,” the second aide added.