FILNER JOINS 20 MEMBERS OF CONGRESS TO ESTABLISH POPULIST CAUCUS FOR MIDDLE CLASS ECONOMIC ISSUES

[Liberty Belle]

Source: East County Magazine

February 12, 2009 (Washington, DC) Today, Rep. Bob Filner (D-San Diego) announced that he has joined with 20 other Democratic members of Congress to form the Populist Caucus, the only caucus in Congress devoted solely to addressing middle class economic issues.

“The middle class is the economic engine of America, but too often in Washington, the needs of the middle class are ignored,” said Filner, whose 51st Congressional district includes southern portions of East County as well as the South Bay. “During these tough times, we need a renewed focus on strengthening the middle class and improving the lives of working families. That’s why I’m proud to be a founding member of the Populist Caucus. This group of Democrats will work together to find common ground on policies that create good-paying jobs, make healthcare more affordable for all, and put middle class families first again.”

The move has drawn praise from labor groups as well as from San Diego East County Chamber of Commerce President Mike Cully.

“The platform for this group is economic justice, universal health care, affordable college education, consumer safety, fair trade, and good paying jobs – hard to argue with any of those aspirations from a business perspective,” Cully told East County Magazine. “Looking over the initial membership of this caucus, I think we can expect some good stuff from it in the weeks and months ahead on the bailout, on regulation and on trade issues.”

Read more: http://www.eastcountymagazine.org/?q=node/551

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In our supposedly red district, I find it interesting that business and labor groups are not so far apart when it comes to these middle class family issues. I wrote this article, which was published on a website I founded and edit, so moderators, it's okay to post this extra excerpt. Here's the conclusion drawn by the local Chamber of Commerce president, a Republican, who like so many Democrats is fed up with the banking bailout fiasco:

"If this group can develop in to something that bends legislative process to their wills, then it will be a huge asset for Democrats in Congress,” he concluded. “ In short – a good move – and looking forward to seeing a coordinated pushback against the financial institutions (banks) and their shenanigans at taxpayer expense.”

[4lbs]

1. Woohoo!!! Filner is my Rep! I voted for him for the 8th straight time back in November!

:bounce:

He's pro everything progressives like:

Pro Union/Labor

Pro middle class

Pro standardized/universal healthcare

Voted NO on Prop 8

Supports Gay Marriage

Supports rights for minorities (Filner's 51st CA District is 53% Latino and heavily Democratic)

Even though Filner is white in a mostly Latino area, he beat out two Latinos and fellow Dems, Juan Vargas and Danny Ramirez, two years ago. It was a hotly contested primary. Vargas though is more moderate, while Filner is much more to the left. Vargas ended up moving to the 79th CA district and won there.

[justgamma]

2. Bruce Braley is mine Rep.

He's just a super fantastic person. I've been so proud of him since he's been elected.

[progressoid]

4. Hooray for Bruce!

(unfortunately we still have King over here) :grr:

K/R

[exboyfil]

7. But he did vote for TARP

I begged him not to do it. Everything I thought would happen did with that legislation.

You know we have the same Goldman Sachs crowd running the Treasury now. I don't see why a single equity position in these big banks was preserved. There were alternatives.

[cascadiance]

8. He also voted *CORRECTLY* on Kucinich's impeachment bill too!

And also was a big stickler on keeping Blackwater out of part of his district too, when Duncan Hunter tried to sneak them into a big land area in both his and Filner's districts under Filner's nose.

I spoke to him back a Dem Club meeting on this too. He's a good man that supports this and many other decent progressive issues. Had he been my rep there instead of Brian Bilbray / Duke Cunningham while I was there, I might have given more thought to staying in San Diego instead of moving to Oregon where I am now.

[YvonneCa]

13. He is GREAT. He used to be my rep...

...too. :)

[Maat]

14. Thank you for voting for Bob!

I've met him several times at various functions - he's the best!

[roguevalley]

18. awesome. I have been a populist rabblerouser all my life, mostly

within the confines of my unions, my house, my job (two of which I was fired for talking about how unions would make it all better), on the street, in the grocery store, here on this board, in the bathroom ...

[Mithreal]

3. Is this going to be another group the President is going to ignore?

Like the Progressive caucus

Oh wait, Congressman Filner is also a member of the Progressive Caucus.

Anyone know why there need to be two groups that will have essentially the same goals?

Is the Progressive tag so out of favor?

[harmonicon]

6. the "progressive" tag is completely meaningless

It seemed to come into being when liberal became a dirty word. I knew it was a complete joke when Clinton labeled herself a progressive during the primaries. I know that she's to the left of many Dems, but to call her progressive, in my opinion, and I suspect in the opinion of people who want things like single-payer healthcare, a laugh. I hope the same thing doesn't happen to "populist", but I'm sure that it will. Real change in this regard will only come when people start respecting democracy and vote for the candidates who align with their desires instead of playing internet message board pundit and voting based on things like who will win against the Republican, who can "get more done", etc.

[Mithreal]

9. I really thought populist already was a dirty word? nt

[harmonicon]

12. to some it is, that's for sure

but they usually don't like to admit to it, so they say "socialist" instead.

[Liberty Belle]

11. My guess is because the progressive causes has broader goals, some of which are less popular

Than middle class economic values: ie, abortion, gay rights, anti-war....by focusing solely on the economic issues affecting middle class families, this caucus might be better able to build consensus and accomplish something on the core economic issues like healthcare and jobs.

While Filner supports all those other progressive values, I see this as a smart move. One could argue why do we need a black caucus since progressives support equality, but similarly having a group with a laser focus on key issues can draw more attention and is less apt to dilute the message with other more divisive messages.

[Mithreal]

17. Makes sense, the name concerns me though

It's like not calling this stimulus bill, the Jobs Bill. Our party doesn't seem to understand the importance of naming. Populism is already used as a slur.

[earth mom]

15. Obama will likely ignore them-he's busy protecting the status quo.

[Piewhacket]

5. bravo!

[No Elephants]

10. The middle class is the majority. If they have problems getting represented, something is

very wrong with our system, or the way the middle class votes, or both.

[geardaddy]

16. Cool!

My rep (Keith Ellison) is a found member of this caucus!

:applause:

[kath]

19. Wasn't Filner the one who stood with the Congressional Black Caucus on Jan. 6, 2001

in challenging Coup2K?

[fascisthunter]

20. fuck that... we need to take the whole damn Party back

let the fascist suck-ups bitch about their need for greed.

[Laelth]

21. Excellent! k&r

The United States is a LIBERAL Country.

:dem:

-Laelth

[bvar22]

22. One suggestion for the new Populist Caucus.

Stop talking about "affordable Health Care",

and start talking "Single Payer Health Care".

[wordpix]

23. now that the stim is giving tax breaks to RV buyers, I say hooray for Filner