A Call For Extinction: Blue Dogs

Josh Gottheimer needs a primary opponent

With a handful of corrupt Democratic conservatives in the House-- led by Blue Dog scumbags Josh Gottheimer (NJ) and Kurt Schrader (OR)-- threatening to torpedo the progressive soft infrastructure bill, Pelosi is stuck with trying to come up with a solution that satisfies them and normal Democrats who are concerned about the core issues Gottheimer and Schrader and their gang are trying to derail. She has to decide which comes first, the completely inadequate, incrementalist, conservative "hard" infrastructure bill written by a self-appointed gaggle of right-of-center senators from both parties or the $3.5 trillion "soft" infrastructure Family Plan bill that will pass the Senate with no Republican votes. Gottheimer, Schrader and their cronies are using GOP talking points to undermine it and want to pass the conservative bill and then block the Democratic bill.

This morning, Pelosi sent out a Dear Colleague letter seeking to satisfy all sides.

Last week’s actions in the Senate and on the Census call upon us to take immediate action to make historic progress on many of the top priorities facing the Congress and the American people.

First, the Senate passed infrastructure legislation with an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote. We salute the passage of this bill and the bipartisan nature of it. It is not, however, inclusive of the totality of President Biden and Congressional Democrats’ vision to Build Back Better. House Chairs of the committees of jurisdiction, their Members and staff are reviewing the bill.

Second, the Senate’s actions on the budget call upon us to take the next step and pass the budget resolution, which will be the basis for passing our broader Build Back Better agenda. I commend the Chairs of the committees, their Members and their staff for working diligently to align Democratic priorities. Thanks to the timely actions of the Senate, we have begun the process of assembling this legislation. In order to build consensus within our Caucus and with Democrats in the Senate, please continue to make known your priorities on this legislation to the Chairs and to me in advance of the September 15th deadline for our Chairs to finish drafting.

Our goal is to pass the budget resolution the week of August 23rd so that we may pass Democrats’ Build Back Better agenda via reconciliation as soon as possible. To that end, I have requested that the Rules Committee explore the possibility of a rule that advances both the budget resolution and the bipartisan infrastructure package. This will put us on a path to advance the infrastructure bill and the reconciliation bill.

...When the House returns on August 23rd, we will proceed in a way that builds consensus in our Caucus, promotes the values of our party and advances the President’s transformative vision to Build Back Better.

Colleagues, we are forging ahead with a bold and historic agenda, with progress we have not seen in fifty years. This legislation will stand for generations alongside the New Deal and the Great Society as pillars of economic security for working families. Indeed, these bills will be the biggest and most consequential initiatives that any of us have ever undertaken in our official lives.

Passing the two bills before us will give us the leverage that we need to expand the Biden Child Tax Credit, Child Care, paid family and medical leave, universal pre-K, workforce development, education, climate, housing and other initiatives that many Members have worked on for years. These bills will advance equity in how we build our physical infrastructure and justice in how we build our human infrastructure. They will be transformative for our economy, our society, our working families and our children.

Jim Costa needs a primary opponent

For us, it is absolutely crucial to nominate real Democrats for every open office in 2022, not fakers from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party. There are consequences for electing lesser of two evils candidates like Josh Gottheimer-- and every other member of the Blue Dog Coalition. None of these incumbents should be renominated... all are Republican-lite, dues-paying members of the Blue Dog Coalition:

• Sanford Bishop (GA)

• Carolyn Bourdeaux (GA)

• Ed Case (HI)

• Jim Cooper (TN)

• Luis Correa (CA)

• Jim Costa (CA)

• Charlie Crist (FL)-- a former Republican and current candidate for governor of Florida

• Henry Cuellar (TX)

• Jared Golden (ME)

• Vicente Gonzalez (TX)

• Josh Gottheimer (NJ)

• Stephanie Murphy (FL)

• Tom O'Halleran (AZ)

• Brad Schneider (IL)

• Kurt Schrader (OR)

• David Scott (GA)

• Mikie Sherrill (NJ)

• Abigail Spanberger (VA)

• Mike Thompson (CA)

These men and women have, to one extent or another, been imbued with almost everything you hate about Republicans. When Henry Cuellar, for example, was in the Texas state legislature, he was universally know as then-governor "George W Bush's favorite Democrat." He came within an inch of being defeated in 2020 by progressive Jessica Cisneros. Last minute sewer money saved his ass but Cisneros is taking him on again this cycle. We should all support her. In fact, we should support every Democrat running against a Blue Dog. There are candidacies in the process of being planned out and some that have already begun. That thermometer on the left is about one thing: replacing Blue Dogs with progressives in the 2022 primaries. I guarantee you: it will grow.

If you want to play the pointless less-of-two-evils game-- how'd that work out in Afghanistan?-- and vote for a Blue Dog in the general election to keep a Republican out of a seat, obviously that's your choice, but please help replace Blue Dogs in primaries so that when the general election comes up, voters have a real choice, not the kind of lesser-of-two-evils choice that has driven millions of Americans into the disgusted non-voter category.