Dump The DLC/Blue Dog Leadership
I knew this wasn’t the first time Harry had screwed a Democratic Senator while making a “deal” with Repubs, so I went looking and found the information at Blue Oregon: on October 31st Harry Reid ignores Ron Wyden’s hold on Bush nominee for Interior; outrage ensues
But on Monday, while Wyden was at OHSU with his wife and their brand-new baby twins, Senator Harry Reid brought the nomination of Laverty to the floor of the U.S. Senate. Without Wyden on the floor to muster an objection to the unanimous consent request, Laverty was approved by voice vote.
And it’s just as bad in the House: CQ reports: Angry Hispanic Democrats Confront House Leaders
Tensions between Hispanic Democrats and House leaders exploded Friday when a bloc of Hispanic lawmakers voted to derail a major tax bill, relenting only after an angry confrontation on the floor with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md.
The rebellion was a response to votes by 36 Democrats Thursday night in favor of a non-binding Republican motion Hispanic members called offensive. It instructed House conferees on an appropriations bill to accept a Senate-passed provision prohibiting the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission from suing employers over certain English-speaking requirements.
That motion was the latest in a series of immigration- and language-related votes that Republicans have used to splinter Democrats, some of whom are nervous about GOP attack ads that could portray them as “soft” on illegal immigration.
Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus said Thursday night’s vote was their breaking point. They retaliated by initially voting against the rule allowing debate of the tax bill, very nearly sinking the measure and prompting a fiery exchange on the floor.
Hoyer was toe-to-toe with the much shorter Joe Baca, D-Calif., chairman of the Hispanic caucus. According to one Hispanic Democrat, Hoyer jabbed his finger at Baca and yelled, “How dare you destroy this party? This will be the worst loss in 10 years.”
There is no “center” to be won by “compromise” there are only Democratic voters who will be lost by capitulation. The “conventional wisdom” of the Beltway is crackpot stupidity with the political sensitivity that isn’t good enough to win a seat on the average town council. I have a hint for Hoyer and the leadership – nothing you do is going to stop the attack ads, and what you are doing is convincing people that Democrats can’t govern and won’t fight.
6 comments
The Democratic party imagines itself to be left of center. It is in fact a center-right party, by standards of comparison with almost any party in any other democratic country. Compromising with the far-right does not get you closer to center.
The party is left of center – it’s the leadership that has veered to the right. The Congressional leadership came up through the ranks in a minority party and they can’t dump their minority party inferiority complex. They keep trying to compromise when there is no one left to compromise with – the Repubs have purged their moderates.
Democrats should support official English because it is good for America and the vast majority of the voters (including many immigrants) favor a common language. Both the left and right today want to splinter Americans into hostile camps and narrow identity groups but at some point we have to unite to survive as a nation.
As for the DLC and Blue Dogs, I am a conservative on some social issues and in favor of a strong national defense but definitely oppose much of what these groups are advocating in terms of economics. The DLC and two-thirds of the Blue Dog Coalition members were in favor expanding NAFTA to Peru so that we can ship some more American jobs overseas. With Democrats split on “free trade”, the Peru agreement passed the House last week. Both parties are clearly representing Wall Street rather than working families.
English is the language with or without laws, and translations have to be made because because in several US territories, for example, Puerto Rico, it is the second language. You can’t make it in the US if you don’t speak English and you are blocked from a lot of the Internet. It is the language of international travel and transportation.
The problem is that all of the English classes that we once had in the US are gone. At one time you could take an English class at almost any local high school after hours for free, and those classes have been eliminated because government stopped funding them along with night schools for adults.
Corporations make big campaign contributions, so they get their issues addressed and regular people get screwed. NAFTA was great for corporations, but American workers, Mexican farmers, and Canadian timber workers all got screwed. There is nothing free about the trade that resulted.
ESL should be taught for free in every part of the country, if we want English to be our common language. Isn’t it strange that the same people who oppose this are the same ones who want to build walls keeping people out of our country?
All of the classes that helped to almost eliminate illiteracy in the US are gone and this are worse than ever. There are two local churches trying to provide services, but we have professionals who could be doing this, and school buildings that are empty at night. The situation is absurd.