Will fiscally responsible "Blue Dog" Dems be an albatross for Obama/Pelosi/Reid?

[Talismen]

The "Blue Dog" Dem coalition has (formally) been around since 1995.

Back in 2004, just after George W Bush won his 2nd term and many new "Blue Dogs" were elected to the house and senate, I said then that they may be the "death" of the extreme lurch to the left for the democrat party.

Well, according to the election results from a few weeks ago, the "Blue Dog" coalition upped their members by two (and possibly one more, depending on a still undecided seat in the south).

If there's one thing conservatives of all stripes can be thankful for (as we head into Thanksgiving week), it's the fact that "Blue Dogs" tend to stick to their "fiscally conservative" mold. And with that in mind, Obama/Pelosi/Reid may have a huge fight on their hands for at least the next 4 years:

Newsmax has a nice article on this, here:
(snip below)

The left may still be crowing about its resounding Election Day victory, but it’s the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrats who are emerging as a significant force in the upcoming Congress.

The influential Blue Dog coalition of House Democrats saw their ranks increase on Election Day, and they’re likely to gain even greater power on Capitol Hill with an ally in the White House.

Just a few days after his victory, President-elect Barack Obama tapped his chief economic adviser, Jason Furman, to consult regularly with the Blue Dog leadership on economic issues.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, meanwhile, acknowledged the new power of centrists when she said, a few days after her party gained at least 20 House seats, that “the country must be governed from the middle.”

Blue Dogs, for their part, say they’ll hold Obama’s feet to the fire.

When we consider what's going on with the "Mother Of All Bailouts", the more fiscally conservative" leaders there are, the better.

Pass the turkey please. 

[Abigail Adams]

On the one hand, these Blue Dogs lack seniority so they may have to walk & talk more softly than they might do otherwise- crossing Pelosi or Reid is undoubtedly hazardous to your career. On the other hand- the folks back home will pressure these people to do right by them. I do not envy the Blue Dogs-they are damned if they do, damned if they don't.  I hope the Blue Dog leadership has the talent of a tighrope walker, they will need it!

[Talismen]

Hopefully, those who voted for the "Blue Dogs" will remember WHY they liked them enough to vote for them to begin with. I'm guessing that being fiscally responsible had something to do with it.

Good point Abigail.

[dragonbutt]

IT would be nice to hope for, but then again i look back over the last 8 years and i havent seen much in the way of fiscal conservatism happening, even when the republicans had the house and didnt need the blue dogs. Hope the republicans have enough sense to spotlight Jindl and Palin for the next four years.

[Talismen]

We DO have a fight on our hands dragon.

We have to fight the RINO's within, and the non-"Blue Dogs" (which make up the majority) in the dem party.

[Talismen]

Here it is, O-nauguration day, and the fiscally "alert" dems are making sure the honeymoon doesn't last too long:



http://michellemalkin.com/2009/01/20/honeymoons-over-democrats-start-grumbling-about-generational-theft-act-of-2009/

Honeymoon’s over: Democrats start grumbling about Generational Theft Act of 2009
By Michelle Malkin  •  January 20, 2009 03:20 PM

It’s dawning on a few fiscal conservative Democrats that Obama’s Generational Theft Act of 2009 is a bad, bad idea.

NC Dem. Rep. Heath Shuler makes his misgivings public:

Shuler, who twice voted against the $700 billion bank rescue and the bailout of the Big Three automakers, said he could support a stimulus package only with certain assurances.
“This can’t be a Christmas tree,” Shuler said. “It can’t be the pet projects of the House and Senate.”
Shuler said the money must go toward infrastructure construction and the expansion of broadband Internet access throughout the country. The bill should focus on job creation, he added.
“We want people to work,” he said. “We need to be building bridges. We need to be laying infrastructure.”
But Shuler said the price tag of the stimulus package is high, and he is concerned about returning fiscal responsibility to Washington. He is a member of the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Caucus and was recently elected whip of the group.

Democrat Sen. Kent Conrad is also grumbling:

Senator Kent Conrad, a North Dakota Democrat, said his committee projects the plan will reduce the unemployment rate by “maybe” 1 percent, or about half of the 3 million jobs Obama has said the plan would generate.

Let’s hope more Dems can help change the course of this juggernaut.

I don't give a damn what party they're in...If they can stop this bailout BS, I'm all for it!

[Talismen]

http://www.redstate.com/brianfaughnan/2009/01/20/shuler-first-dem-to-oppose-the-destimulus-bill/
"Heath Shuler First Dem to Oppose the (De)Stimulus Bill?"

[Talismen]

http://townhall.com/blog/g/0942a241-8c6f-4736-9567-5e21487c75d2

Tuesday, February 03, 2009 
Blue Dog Says Pelosi Treats Members Like 'Mushrooms' 

Posted by: Amanda Carpenter at 10:04 PM 

Democratic Rep. Jim Cooper (Tenn.) vented to Air America about the way Speaker Nancy Pelosi was treating members who wanted to do things like read the bills being voted on.

It wasn't pretty.

Cooper, one of the 11 Democrats to vote against the House version of the stimulus bill, said he landed in hot water with Pelosi because he cared what was in the bill.

"I got in terrible trouble with our leadership because they don’t care what’s in the bill, they just want it pass and they want it to be unanimous," he said.  "They don’t mind the partisan fighting cause that’s what they are used to. In fact, they’re really good at it. And they’re a little bit worried about what a post-partisan future might look like. If members actually had to read the bills and figure out whether they are any good or not. We’re just told how to vote. We’re treated like mushrooms most of the time."

The interview is compelling. The good folks at Eyeblast.tv snipped it and posted it. Here it is below.

NOTE: Click the link above to view the vid



Same story, but a bit more info, here:
http://www.redstate.com/erick/2009/02/03/obama-staff-encouraging-democrats-to-oppose-pelosi/

[Talismen]

Blue Dogs Suddenly Don’t Like Crap Sandwich

[Talismen]

Linking to:

http://www.dcexaminer.com/opinion/Blue-Dog-nips-Obama-with-a-better-stimulus-idea-39358182.html
"Blue Dog nips Obama with a better stimulus idea
By Examiner Editorial
- 2/10/09"

[Talismen]

Link: Democrat Congressman Boren: This Bill is Unamerican; Obama is a Partisan

Posted by Brian Faughnan (Profile)

Friday, February 13th at 7:00AM EST

I couldn’t agree more:

Blue Dog Democrat Boren, the lone Democrat [in the Oklahoma delegation - bf], was the first to pop off about President Obama.

Boren said Obama “missed an opportunity” for the stimulus bill to be bipartisan.

“It was a good thing for the president to meet with Republicans. The previous administration never met with Democratic members of Congress.

“The problem is that it became a Democrat bill and not an American bill,” Boren continued, “because he didn’t use any of the Republican ideas.”

Apart from us conservatives, Boren seems to be one of the few who recognizes that Obama has been talking through his hat. The President has droned on about bipartisanship, but this bill is a partisan vehicle. Recall that at his first meeting with Congressional Republicans, Obama was encouraging about using some of their ideas, only to reject them all later — because ‘he won.’ Obama has denigrated Republican ideas, while press secretary Robert Gibbs has been forced to admit that he can’t think of a single proposal suggested by a Republican that Obama included in the bill.

Boren now joins Walt Minnick among the Democrat truth tellers.

Plenty of embedded links at the source.

[Talismen]

http://www.redstate.com/brianfaughnan/2009/02/18/blue-dogs-try-to-stop-card-check/

Blue Dogs Try to Stop Card Check
Posted by Brian Faughnan

Wednesday, February 18th at 5:13PM EST

The Blue Dogs make a pretty good case: they bellied up to the bar and by-and-large supported a spending bill that Joe Biden warns will be used against them next year. Now the House leadership seems likely to ask them to line up and vote to end the secret ballot for union organizing — which is likely to wind up even less popular than the ’stimulus’ vote. According to the Arkansas News, the Blue Dogs have told House leadership they don’t want the measure to come up for a vote:

An official informed the group that Berry recently had told him that he thought the bill was a piece of junk and that he only voted for it because he knew then-President Bush would veto it.

The official then told the group that Berry recounted to him a recent discussion the Blue Dogs had with House Democratic leadership. According to Berry, the Blue Dogs told House leadership that card check wasn’t a free vote for them anymore and that their constituents were giving them a lot of grief over the issue.

The Blue Dogs strongly urged House leadership not to bring this bill back up on the House floor until the Senate had passed something first, because they look like idiots for continuing to pass it and then it dying in the Senate.

You can bet both the Nutroots and the AFL-CIO are livid when a moderate Democrat goes off the reservation like this. The unions expect a bailout of the automakers and passage of Card Check this Congress; the last thing they need is for individual Members of Congress to go voting their consciences or expressing their views.

You may remember a few years ago when ‘progressives’ were thrilled with the moderate Democrats who won in marginal districts and gave them a majority. Now that Democrats are running the show, they no longer want those Members to ‘vote their districts.’ They want them to toe the party line.

The Blue Dogs folded like a house of cards on the Obama-Reid-Pelosi spending plan. Will they show some backbone on Card Check?

I know Biden told the dems that voting for the "stimulus" would come back to haunt them in 2010. But, if a fiscally conservative dem voter goes into the voting booth, knowing that the Blue Dogs objected as much as they could...It might make a difference.

Mind you - I think the 7 that didn't vote for the bill have a much better chance, because they stood their ground.

[Talismen]

http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/pelosi_enemies_list/2009/03/03/187905.html

'Blue Dog' Shuler Tops Pelosi's 'Enemies List'

Tuesday, March 3, 2009 3:19 PM


Former professional football player and Blue Dog Democrat Heath Shuler is at the top of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s “enemies list,’’ according to Politico.

Why? Shuler, D-N.C., has staked out a leadership position as a fiscal conservative who doesn’t ride with the pack on issues like the massive stimulus package, which he and five other conservative “Blue Dog” Democrats voted against. Shuler’s name tops a list of 10 alleged enemies of the speaker. While many are predictable – Rush Limbaugh occupies the No. 2 spot, Virginia Republican Eric Cantor comes in at No. 4 – others are Pelosi’s ostensible compatriots in the Democratic Party.

“No Democrat has done quite so much in so short a time to arouse Pelosi’s disdain as the failed-Redskins-quarterback-turned-ambitious-North-Carolina-congressman,” according to Politico.

“The conservative, anti-abortion Shuler would have made the list for voting against both bank bailout bills and the stimulus package, but the way he went about it didn’t help; Shuler told an audience back home that “House leadership and Senate leadership have really failed” on the $787 billion package.” What most riles Pelosi, according to several accounts, is that Shuler may be positioning himself for a run against Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., next year.

Unless Shuler is planning a long House career, picking a fight with Pelosi may indeed have its advantages: His 2006 opponent, incumbent GOP Rep. Charles Taylor, scored points by portraying Shuler as a Pelosi acolyte.

Shuler, a second-term member, is clearly being noticed among Pelosi’s allies as a potential problem. He opposed Democratic leaders when he was a freshman, including on a high-profile debate on immigration. He ruffled feathers last week, according to The Hill, when, in publicly objecting to abortion-related foreign-aid provisions in the omnibus spending bill, he twice referred to the “Democrat leadership” — omitting the “-ic” from word’s end and, in so doing, repeating a refrain used by Republicans to insult Democrats. It was a tactic sometimes used by former President George Bush.

“It is an issue,” a Democratic leadership aide told The Hill. “He (Shuler) is either trying to sound Republican, or he is confused by the Republicans how to refer to us Democrats.”

Other Democrats on the enemies list: Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., (“too hawkish”); Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski, D-Pa., (voted ‘no’ on original stimulus bill); Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., (“outspoken, too conservative Blue Dog”); and Rep. Peter DeFazio ,D-Ore. (“squeaky liberal wheel”).

[Talismen]

http://www.newsmax.com/headlines/conservative_democrats/2009/03/19/194047.html

Conservative 'Blue Dog' Democrats Flex Muscles as Obama Stumbles

Thursday, March 19, 2009 6:21 PM
 
 
WASHINGTON - Conservative and moderate Democrats are flexing their muscles on Capitol Hill, demanding significantly lower spending for domestic programs as well as automatic budget cuts if tax cuts and new programs would increase the deficit.

A group of 51 so-called "Blue Dog" House Democrats released their roster of budget demands Thursday, calling for cutting more than $40 billion from domestic programs funded by Congress each year.

At the same time, they said that President Barack Obama's controversial bill to fight global warming should not be permitted to advance under rules that shut off the right of Senate Republicans to filibuster the measure.

The Blue Dogs, a coalition of moderate and conservative Democrats, many of them from the South, control a critical bloc of votes needed to pass the congressional budget blueprint. It is the first legislative response to Obama's $3.6 trillion budget for next year.

Of greatest importance to the group is putting in place a legally binding "pay as you go" system governing new tax cuts and benefit programs such as Obama's health reform initiative.

Under such a regimen, legislation cutting taxes, establishing new benefit programs or making current programs more generous must be "paid for" with higher revenues or benefit cuts elsewhere. If the rule is broken, it would trigger across-the-board cuts in other benefit programs, with Social Security exempted.

Such a statutory pay-as-you-go system, or "paygo," was in place for years in the 1990s and early this decade, though the law was simply "switched off" when Congress passed President George W. Bush's 2001 tax-cut bill.

"We're trying to be constructive in a way that allows the president to get an acceptable budget," said Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-La., "but at the same time get paygo statutorily put in place."

While the group hasn't drawn any lines in the sand, some of their demands are likely to be met, especially regarding global warming. Opposition from the Blue Dogs likely ensures that Obama's controversial "cap-and-trade" plan to limit greenhouse gases won't advance in a fast-track budget bill that could avoid a GOP filibuster in the Senate.

Under cap-and-trade, the government would establish a market for carbon dioxide by selling credits to companies that emit greenhouse gases. The companies can then invest in technologies to reduce emissions to reach a certain target or buy credits from other companies that already have met their emission reduction goals. The cost of the credits would be passed on to consumers.

The demands by moderates to curb the growth of domestic agency budgets by limiting the increase for next year to inflation will face great resistance from senior lawmakers and the administration.

Obama sought a $51 billion, 9 percent increase for non-defense programs, a figure that's probably too high to pass, especially with Congressional Budget Office estimates on Friday expected to show that the worsening economy with produce significantly higher deficits than predicted by Obama's budget.

"I'm going to show that we've made many adjustments in the budget in light of CBO's re-estimates," said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D.

Administration allies such as House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, D-Wis., are pressing for budget increases well above those sought by moderates.

The looming battle over how much to devote to annual domestic agency budgets is important because unlike other elements of the congressional budget plan—they are often more symbolic than substantive—the annual caps on appropriations have real impact on programs.

Wow 

[Talismen]

Blue Dogs Accused of Being Too Conservative

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Blue Dogs Accused of Being Too Conservative   [Veronique de Rugy]


Yesterday, Sen. Judd Gregg gave a scary-yet-accurate picture of what America’s fiscal outlook will look like if President Obama gets his budget adopted. The president’s plan means:

Seventeen trillion dollars worth of debt at the end of 10 years, $11 trillion at the end of five years. This translates into a debt-to-GDP ratio which we have not seen in this country since the end of World War II when we were trying to pay off the war debt.  Basically, you take national debt up to about 80 percent of gross national product. That's the public debt. Historically, it's been about 40 percent.

Gregg explains the implications: “When you get up to an 80 percent ratio, where your public debt is 80 percent of your gross national product, and you maintain that ratio for years to come, you're basically running your country into the ground.”

Thankfully, some Democrats get it. The fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition in the House and a new alliance of centrist Democratic senators led by Evan Bayh of Indiana have been really vocal about their dissatisfaction with projected deficits and the president’s budget.

Back at the beginning of March, Senator Bayh was already causing trouble for the Democrats in Congress by opposing the Omnibus bill.

As a result, he and his blue-dog colleagues are now the targets of the Campaign for America’s Future’s attacks. The liberal advocacy group has gone on the offensive with a lobbying campaign that urges the public to “dog the dogs.”

Robert Borosage, co-director of the campaign, for instance, accuses them of “treacherous opposition” to pieces of Obama’s agenda. According to Borosage, “House Blue Dogs threaten constantly to join with Republicans to cut vital investments and limit basic reforms. But it’s the Senate where the opposition is most damaging.”

Here is his best insult: “Sen. Bayh’s group wants to be called ‘moderate,’ but their complaints about President Obama’s policies are conservative complaints.”

For a misguided list of complaints that reads like compliments to my ears go here.

 
And for a list of the blue dogs go here.


03/24 11:57 AM

A few embedded quotes in this piece. Click the link above to access them.
I'll link one here, to the list of Blue Dogs (you'll note that this website tells its readers to "dog the blue dogs". They want people to harass the "blue dogs" because they seem to have minds of their own): http://www.ourfuture.org/node/36490

[Talismen]

http://www.redstate.com/brianfaughnan/2009/05/13/blue-dogs-finally-developing-teeth/
(snip)

Blue Dogs Finally Developing Teeth?

They Insist on Being 'In the Room' on Health Care Reform
Posted by Brian Faughnan
Wednesday, May 13th at 8:28AM EDT

I have consistently argued that the ‘Blue Dog’ label is essentially meaningless - that it is nothing more than an advertising slogan to help Democrats get elected in conservative districts while voting with liberals in DC. Blue Dogs in Congress claim to have no higher priority than deficit reduction and balanced budgets, but they have acted as accomplices to Pelosi, Reid, and President Obama, as those leaders have exploded the deficit to historic levels. Their answer has been to claim progress toward implementing a pay-go rule, which prevents expansion of the deficit - unless Congress decides to ignore the rule.

That said, it seems that the Blue Dogs are starting to worry that their mask is slipping. Already on the hook for the enormous deficit, it seems they may be rebelling against government-run health care:

Read the rest at the link....

[Talismen]

http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/us_health_care_overhaul/2009/07/09/233873.html
(snip)

Blue Dog Democrats Stall Health Care Bill in House
Thursday, July 9, 2009 6:10 PM

 WASHINGTON -- The drive to remake the nation's health care system suffered yet another setback in Congress on Thursday when a pivotal group of House Democrats rebelled against leadership-backed legislation taking shape and sought additional time to make changes.

"We need to slow down and do it right," Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark., said outside a meeting of the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of 52 moderate to conservative Democrats. "It needs to do a much better job of cost containment" within the health care system, he added.

Other lawmakers said they were concerned about proposed tax increases, the rules on any government-sold insurance, and other issues that are key to implementing President Barack Obama's call for sweeping legislation.

Ross said the group was drafting a letter to the Democratic leadership asking for additional time. Although he did not specify how much time, he said he believes no vote should take place until the fall — well after a midsummer informal deadline set by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Read the rest at the link....

[Talismen]

http://www.newsmax.com/headlines/obama_healthcare_plan/2009/07/13/235087.html

Obama Healthcare Plan Collapsing; GOP, Blue Dog Democrats Rebel Over Cost, Taxes

Monday, July 13, 2009 7:41 PM
 
WASHINGTON -- Back in the White House after a week overseas, President Barack Obama pressed Democratic leaders to pass healthcare legislation in both houses of Congress before August and expressed confidence about the ultimate outcome for his top domestic priority.


"Don't bet against us. We are going to make this thing happen," a defiant president said, eager to impart fresh momentum after days of delays in the House and Senate.


Obama delivered his full-throated promise in a Rose Garden appearance to announce his surgeon general nominee and later met privately with Democratic congressional leaders crucial to his legislation. The leadership's ambitious timetable for floor votes this summer has slipped.


"There was a strong agreement by everyone in the room that we can get a bill done before the start of the August recess," said Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. "Sen. Reid intends to take a bill to the floor as quickly as possible."


That was short of a commitment, and left unanswered how quickly the Senate Finance Committee, chaired by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., would act — or whether the leadership and White House would step in.


"The urgency barometer is going up," Baucus said following the White House meeting.


In the House, Democrats said they were nearly ready to unveil comprehensive legislation, and push it through three committees in the coming days. Speaker Nancy Pelosi has long been on record as saying the full House would act by the end of July.


While the president was out of the country sizing up foreign leaders, rank-and-file lawmakers took a look at the emerging details of healthcare legislation and many decided they didn't like what they saw. They called a time out. In the House, conservative Democrats rebelled over costs. In the Senate, the Democratic leadership pulled the plug on a controversial financing scheme to tax health benefits that a moderate Democrat worked out with Republican counterparts.


In a separate White House meeting Monday with union leaders, Obama said taxation of employer-provided health benefits was off the table and expressed his strong commitment to a voluntary public health plan, according to a labor activist familiar with the session. The activist spoke on condition of anonymity to freely discuss the private meeting.


Joining Reid, Pelosi and Baucus at the White House were House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y.


Despite Obama's determination, there's no guarantee he'll succeed in the effort to get all Americans covered and try to better manage costs. With lawmakers concerned about the cost of an overhaul above all else, Congress may decide to expand coverage slowly, phasing it in over a number of years.


Baucus and Rangel are in charge of the crucial job of coming up with how to pay for a comprehensive care overhaul that would cost at least $1 trillion over 10 years, mostly for subsidies to help cover nearly 50 million uninsured Americans. But the two Democrats are taking very different routes. Rangel is shaping a bill that Democrats can support. Baucus is striving for a bipartisan compromise, which would have better chance of winning broad support, and which Obama says he wants.


Obama lost no time signaling that he intends to be in the forefront of the action.


"I just want to put everybody on notice, because there was a lot of chatter during the week that I was gone," the president said. "Inaction is not an option."


He also ruled out any tax increase affecting the middle class, complicating lawmakers' efforts to pay for overhaul.


"During the campaign I promised healthcare reform that would control costs, expand coverage and ensure choice and I promised that Americans making $250,000 a year or less would not pay more in taxes. These are promises that we're keeping as reform moves forward," Obama said.


House Democrats may be able to muscle a bill through the floor by August.


"We will be on schedule," Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters. Nonetheless, release of a bill — originally set for last Friday — was delayed until Tuesday. And Pelosi indicated more changes are likely as leaders try to keep intact a Democratic caucus that includes liberals and conservatives. "It won't be the final product," Pelosi said. "It is just the beginning."


Underscoring that political challenge, the campaign arm of the House GOP targeted more than 60 potentially vulnerable House Democrats on Monday with news releases asking whether they planned to support the Democrats' "massive government healthcare takeover" and "job-killing tax hike."


Up to now, the president has avoided debating policy details, choosing instead to make the broader case for a healthcare overhaul, and leaving the day-to-day negotiations to his aides. Yet if Congress is getting stuck in a policy swamp, Obama may be the only one who can get things moving again. He hinted as much on Monday: "Muscles in this town to bring about big changes are a little atrophied but we are whipping people back into shape," he said.


House Democrats have proposed raising income taxes on the wealthy. That faces opposition in the Senate, where a bipartisan group of senators is trying to reassemble a financing package now missing a key component: an unpopular tax on high-cost health insurance benefits, which would have raised $320 billion out of a $1 trillion package.


On Monday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee pushed to complete a partisan bill by Tuesday that would create a government-run health plan to compete with private insurers and require employers to provide coverage. Sponsors say the legislation would lead coverage for 97 percent of Americans. Its incomplete price tag is $600 billion over 10 years as the panel — one of five in Congress working on healthcare — is leaving some major cost issues to the Senate Finance Committee.

[Woodmonkey]

I hope the Blue dogs hang in there.

[nglfdnflms]

http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx?storyid=200907151403dowjonesdjonline000758&title=centrist-dem-leaderhas-committee-votes-to-block-health-bill

A glimmer of hope.

[Talismen]

http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx?storyid=200907151403dowjonesdjonline000758&title=centrist-dem-leaderhas-committee-votes-to-block-health-bill


A glimmer of hope.

Major kudos to them, if they can hang on.
ANY elected politican who claims to be fiscally responsible should be ready to face the thumb-screws instead of voting "Yes" to this bill.

[Talismen]

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/07/21/key-house-panel-cancels-health-care-session-blue-dogs-voice-concerns/

Key House Panel Cancels Health Care Session, as Moderate Democrats Voice Concerns
The House Energy and Commerce Committee is stacked with fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrats, who have voiced serious concerns about the details of the House package. 

FOXNews.com

Tuesday, July 21, 2009


A key House committee on Tuesday indefinitely postponed voting on health care reform legislation, after Democratic leaders were unable to line up enough votes from moderate members of their own party.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee canceled the session as it faced serious concerns about the legislation from fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrats, who hold a large number of seats on the panel. The Energy and Commerce Committee is the only House panel with jurisdiction over health care that has not completed writing its version of the reform bill. 

President Obama plans to meet with those Democrats Tuesday.

"We have ongoing discussions with members," committee Chairman Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said in a brief statement announcing that the markup set for Tuesday had been canceled. "I think we're making good progress, and I want to pursue those discussions further."

A markup is where the committee essentially writes the bill, going through it line-by-line and accepting or rejecting amendments.

The two other House committees with jurisdiction over health care legislation approved their versions of the package last week.

[Talismen]

Blue Dogs bite back....say they were lied to, and that Waxman/Pelosi aren't negotiating fairly.
THIS kind of action reminds me of the dem party of old.

http://ace.mu.nu/archives/290092.php

and

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/house-healthcare-talks-break-down-in-anger-2009-07-24.html

House healthcare talks break down in anger 
By Jared Allen, Mike Soraghan and Lauren Burke 
Posted: 07/24/09 03:27 PM [ET] 
House healthcare negotiations dissolved in acrimony on Friday, with Blue Dog Democrats saying they were “lied” to by their Democratic leaders.

In advance of a subsequent press conference called by House leadership, Blue Dog liaison Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-Calif.) said the healthcare bill should be staying in committee.

"I expect the committee process to proceed," Cardoza said.


The seven Blue Dogs on the Energy and Commerce Committee stormed out of a Friday meeting with their committee chairman, Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), saying Waxman had been negotiating in bad faith over a number of provisions Blue Dogs demanded be changed in the stalled healthcare bill.



“I’ve been lied to,” Blue Dog Coalition Co-Chairman Charlie Melancon (D-La.) said on Friday. “We have not had legitimate negotiations.

“Mr. Waxman has decided to sever discussions with the Blue Dogs who are trying to make this bill work for America,” Melancon said.

Although those Blue Dogs were supposed to be headed back into another meeting of the Energy and Commerce Democrats, their anger was visible.

If the two sides cannot reach an agreement, the only hope for passage of the bill in the House will be to go straight to the floor, an option leaders shied away from endorsing but said was an option.

But the Blue Dogs issued dire warnings to leaders contemplating that approach.

"Waxman simply does not have votes in committee and process should not be bypassed to bring the bill straight to floor,” Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.), the lead Blue Dog negotiator, said on Friday. “We are trying to save this bill and trying to save this party.”

Melancon said there would be 40-45 “solid no” votes from the 52-strong Blue Dogs, among other problems throughout the caucus. And Melancon said there are more Democrats who will vote against the bill.

“If they try to bring it to the floor, I think they’ll find out they have more problems than the Blue Dogs.”

A leadership aide said no decisions have been made on how to proceed.

[Talismen]

http://www.ajc.com/business/democrats-struggle-to-find-175099.html
(snip)

Democrats struggle to find unity on health plan
By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR

The Associated Press


WASHINGTON — Democrats are still struggling to find a strategy that will let them push a health care overhaul through the Senate and fulfill President Barack Obama's goal of signing a bill this year.

Read the whole thing at the link....

[Talismen]

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/66041-blue-dog-says-dem-losses-would-strengthen-centrists-position

Blue Dog says Dem losses would strengthen centrists' position
By Michael O'Brien - 11/03/09 08:40 AM ET
Centrist Blue Dog Democrats might see their position strengthened if Democrats suffer broader losses Tuesday, one Blue Dog member suggested.

Rep. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.) argued that an election night rebuke for Democratic candidates across the nation could lead some in the party to rethink their plans on healthcare reform and other issues.

"It looks as though the anger that has been boiling up the last couple of months is going to lead to a pretty high turnout from Republicans and from people who are concerned about increased spending," Altmire said Monday evening during an appearance on Fox Business Network.

"And I do think that if the results show Republicans have a pretty good night, that probably is going to lead some Democrats to think that, going into next year, we need to take a second look at the way that we've done a lot of bills we've addressed up to this point," the Pennsylvania congressman added.

Many political prognosticators are looking to governors' races in New Jersey and Virginia as well as a special election in New York's 23rd congressional district for signs about the strength of the national Republican and Democratic parties. Democrats are hoping to hold onto the two governors' positions, while the GOP wants to retain the congressional district left by former Rep. John McHugh (R-N.Y.), who became secretary of the Navy.

Altmire, who had been a critic of previous healthcare reform proposals, said that he felt better about the current House bill, but added that he's going through the process of deciding whether or not he will support it.

"I can't speak for anyone else, but I do feel like my concerns have been heard," he said.