Posted on 02/25/2009 8:29:21 PM PST by mojitojoe
Who are the real Blue Dogs?
The question irks leaders of the fiscally conservative coalition of House Democrats, which made solid gains in 2008 and now includes 49 members. Every one of them is sincerely committed to reducing the federal deficit, they say. Of the 49, however, only six of them voted against President Obama’s $789 billion economic stimulus package despite their stated, laser-like focus on balancing the budget. Obama’s plan, by his own acknowledgement, will increase the deficit in the short term by roughly $200 billion. (Another five Blue Dogs who had opposed Obama’s original plan switched to “yes” votes on the final version).
Obama is working to court Blue Dogs. The president invited them to the White House on Feb. 10 and focused their hour-long meeting on curbing federal spending rather than boosting the deficit. “We feel like he is committed to fiscal responsibility,” Rep. Baron Hill (D-Ind.), one of the Blue Dogs who switched to ultimately support the president’s plan, told reporters after the meeting.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
Still, some Blue Dogs say their relations with House Democratic leaders frayed during the stimulus negotiations, mostly because many Blue Dog demands were ignored. “I got in terrible trouble with our leadership because they don't care what's in the bill; they just want it to pass and they want it to be unanimous,” Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.), a Blue Dog with particularly tense ties to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, told a Nashville radio station in early February. “We're just told how to vote. We're treated like mushrooms most of the time.”
don’t understand the Blue Dogs:
how can a person be fiscally conservative, but socially liberal? that’s like mixing oil and water.
From what I have seen so far, these people are the yellow bellied blue dogs, slinking around with their tails between their legs anytime Nancy Pelosi whaps a rolled up newspaper. Then they pee, run, and yelp. They crawl into their dog houses and put their paws over their noses and cry and howl. Blue dogs. Yeah right. Flea bitten, tic infested mongrels. These people are so brave that if the Civil War were fought again, and if they were in charge, the South would lose again. Cowards!
His whining is ... something. Did he vote NO?
Hypocrite self-delusional putz.
This “blue dog” myth is over hyped. 3/4 of them will vote party line.
Utterly wrong Enterprise, Heath Shuler votes conservative and voted against Porkulus and at the moment has Dhimmi ads running against him in his district, NC 18./
Wait till Assault Rifle Ban and Amnesty for Illegal Immigrants is brought up. Let us see how the blue dogs bark or bite.
truth.
The current crop of “blue dogs” is just about being re-elected, not real policy.
I hope the other 1/4 bite the Democratic Lefts balls, or their bite will be no stronger than that of a mosquito - a pest but not capable of doing any real damage.
The Blue Dogs are powerless. If they had any real power or courage, they would have sided with the Republicans and made the vote on Porkulus much more interesting. Even the few who did vote against it did so with Pelosi’s permission so that they would appear conservative in their districts.
“how can a person be fiscally conservative, but socially liberal?”
That’s the very definition of a libertarian. They are very conservative on economic issues but don’t believe in govt involvement on issues like abortion, embryonic stem cell research, gay marriage, etc.
Libertarians, in general, believe if a woman chooses to have an abortion, she is free to do it on her own dime. Same with the embryonic stem cell research.. any company that wants to conduct the research should be free to do it, absent government funding. Basically, they think any individual is free to do as s/he chooses in his/her personal or corporate life, so long as its self-funded.
My guess is that the House will pass Amnesty and the weapons ban. Sure, there will be a few "blue dogs" who will vote against these two issues, nonetheless, the "blue dogs" will for the most part be shown to be toothless and cowardly.
Does anyone have the names of the five who switched their Nay votes to Yea, on the final version?
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