40 House DLC

[sandnsea]

There's 40 DLC in the House. The 4 House DLC leaders didn't even vote for CAFTA:

Ellen Tauscher (CA), Chair

Ron Kind (WI), Co-Chair

Artur Davis (AL), Co-Chair

Adam Smith (WA), PAC Chair

Before people go off the deep end, following those who LOVE to create division in the Democratic Party, maybe considering the whole of who voted for that bill is in order.

Are there 15 people who vote money over constituent? Maybe. But nail it down based on facts and issues, not the illusory boogeyman, the DLC. You can't sell that to a voter anyway. Do you seriously believe you can go up to a door and say "Don't vote Meeks, he's DLC".

Gotta get smarter than this.

[LoZoccolo]

1. Only three of the 15 who voted for it were DLC.

I don't know who they are though, cuz that's just what someone said in another post.

[Spiffarino]

2. Whatever their vote for CAFTA

...it doesn't change the fact that the DLC has taken the Democratic Party away from its base constituency: Working Americans.

The DLC is about enabling the Corporatocracy and maintaining the status quo. So they voted against one bad trade bill. It probably says more about their fear of losing votes at home than their core values.

Sorry, but it's time to run them off. We don't need their "help" any more. We need to become an alternative to the Republican party, not merely a less disturbing version of it.

[LittleClarkie]

3. How do you propose to "run them off?"

Eh?

[Spiffarino]

17. WTF? It's not brain surgery.

Marginalize them.

The DLC politicos suckle at the teats of big money donors, and that gives the Corporatocracy clout. Once elected the DLC politicians - while better than most Repubs - still have few incentives to promote laws that will help the average American.

But now, progressives have begun to grow some teats of their own.

Like most people I am a wage-earner. I don't have a lot of money to spend on political contributions, but I do what I can whenever I can.

Yet as thousands of us lowly wage-earners band together to support an agenda that helps the average worker our contributions are beginning to rival and surpass those of the mega-wealthy. Howard Dean understands this and is pushing the DNC to work on cultivating small donors. MoveOn, DFA, and other progressive organizations are promoting candidates and getting donations amounting to millions. That's a lot of power.

So how do we run off the corporate hoes in the Democratic party? Simply by using our collective power to find, promote and support excellent candidates. Then we must give, progressives; and we must give until it hurts or we are the ones who will continue to be marginalized.

[expatriot]

6. they are elected officials....

they are at the mercy of Democrats in the primaries and the mercy of the general voter in the generals. If they are to be "run off" then it will be in the primaries. If they are not "run off" then, then their Democratic constituents have given them license to hold office under the banner of the Democratic Party for another term.

American political parties are not parties of a closed ideological code of allegiance. The platform of the party is decided by the process of registered party members electing delegates to build the platform and the heralds of that platform are likewise chosen by the registered members of that party.

In order to change the direction of the party we must do it from within, not by claiming that a caucus of our party's elected officials are heretics and should be purged but rather by working to spread our vision through the party so the delegates and candidates the people of this party changes.

yes there are other factors, such as media control, etc. but that just stands testament to the fact that we have an uphill battle to fight when it comes to messaging since the corporations control the microphone.

[dajoki]

16. run them off?

we need a united democratic party if we expect to change anything and win elections.

[Lecky]

18. Do people even think before they post anymore?

THERE WILL ALWAYS BE DINO'S

THERE WILL ALWAYS BE RINO'S

Both parties bitch about them.

Not all DLC members vote the same.

I just wish the DLC would listen to their base more often, I have no intention to "run them off"...perhaps if they had more encouragement from us they would start to listen. Our base is at fault too...we have been letting them get away with this, now we are waking up.

I hear no strategy just "get rid of DLC! DLC IS THE DEVIL!" ...but even when a DLC member votes your way you still bitch and moan. I have a feeling that if the DLC started to do what we wanted there would still be those same people finding something else to cry about.

I hate sounding like a DLC apologist but they IMO are not our biggest threat. The Democrats need to pull together, ALL OF THEM...in order to make a difference.

[Spiffarino]

19. Huh?

The DLC's philosophy is PRECISELY why the Democrats can't win!

If they want to be conservative Democrats, fine. But I refuse to support their Republican-lite agenda and plan to call them out every time they play ball with people who hurt average Americans for profit.

The DLC's hero, Terry McAuliffe, was at the helm of the DNC massaging the b*lls of the wealthy while the candidates they funded aided the Republicans in scuttling decades worth of legislation that helped working families.

Their bullshit triangulation strategy is what has made perennial losers out of the Dems and is the fundamental reason our democracy is at risk. Al From and his henchmen are CORPORATE WHORES, my friend. Sure Bill Clinton used them to gain the White House. And while Bill sat cozily in the West Wing, we Dems continued to lose seats at the local, state, and national levels.

Unions are disintegrating, working people are being hammered, laws designed to protect workers are being systematically removed, and cheap labor is once again becoming abundant. Did the DLC cause all of this? No. But they most certainly enabled it.

We will never make a difference in this country by being half the assholes our opponents are. It's time to be Democrats again.

I heartily suggest that you read "What's the Matter with Kansas?" if you haven't already. While not pointing the finger at the DLC by name, it will make you wonder why they call themselves Democrats at all.

[expatriot]

4. here is a link to the roll call plus my general thoughts

here is a thread with the break down
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1964233


yes, 15 total House Democrats voted for it, only 3 of them DLC.... House DLC Dems voted for it in the same percentages as non-DLC Dems.

In the Senate, 7 out of 18 DLCers voted for it vs. 3 out of 25 non-DLCers.

The problem is much more complex than it just being a case of the DLC being evil Bush-lite infiltrators of the Party which is the overly-simplistic view of many on this board as of late.

If progressives want more voice in this party we have got to work to get that voice with the realization we have an uphill battle because we have not only go against corporate interests that we want to reign in but also we have to be able to get our message out which will be doubly hard since corporations have control of the media.

While I disagree with the DLC I think many of them have good intentions... they have different ideas of how to affect the most change. We can call them sell-outs, collaborators, etc. and they most likely are, but they aren't as evil-hearted as our real enemies.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1964233

[Mass]

7. OK, let's run somebody against Spitzer in NY State

Dorgan in ND.

That would be a sad day because Spitzer has been fighting as a DA in NY against big business for years, but he is a member of the DLC, so, if we apply your inconditionnal POV, that's what we have to do.

No question that I disagree. I'd be happy to see somebody replace Lieberman, Feinstein (there should be better Dems able to be elected in CA) or Nelson (and by the way a few other ones who are not even DLC), if people can find a replacement that is going to win as a Democrat.

Now, I am all for doing something against CAFTA supporters, DLC or NOT.

[LoZoccolo]

5. They'd probably go up to a door and say that, yes.

After all it's all about asserting one's values, despite whether or not people understand what you're talking about. All we need to do is fire up the base!

_{NOTE: This post is sarcastic.}

[Mass]

8. No, but you can probably sell a: dont vote Meeks, he supported CAFTA

But who cares about issues. People are fighting the letters C,D, and L.

If tomorrow, these people decide to leave the DLC, but vote as badly, some people here will support them.

[flpoljunkie]

9. Meeks also supported Dubya's bankruptcy bill, class action "reform"

Meeks is joined in this distinction by eight others of the 15 who voted for CAFTA, and who are named in this last paragraph of this post.

http://www.davidsirota.com/2005/07/which-of-15-dem-sellouts-should-start.html

Melissa Bean (IL)
Jim Cooper (TN)
Henry Cuellar (TX)
Norm Dicks (WA)
Ruben Hinojosa (TX)
William Jefferson (LA)
Jim Matheson (UT)
Greg Meeks (NY)
Dennis Moore (KS)
Jim Moran (VA)
Solomon Ortiz (TX)
Ike Skelton (MO)
Vic Snyder (AR)
John Tanner (TN)
Ed Towns (NY)


Let's be clear - all of these people should never get a red cent from labor unions or the progressive community again, and that goes even for the ones who represent marginal districts. The idea that this was a "tough vote" for a Democrat who represents a swing district doesn't hold water - no one is getting voted out of office over voting against CAFTA, and voting for American workers. Remember, polls show that Americans are sick and tired of Congress passing these corporate-written "free" trade deals that sell out ordinary workers.

But, let's further break this down.Which of these 15 Members has CONSISTENTLY been selling out the Democratic Party and America's middle class? The way we find that out is by looking at other recent votes on key economic issues, such as the Bankruptcy Bill, and the bill to limit citizens' legal rights and protect corporations that abuse Americans.

Starting with bankruptcy, we get the list whittled down to 12: Bean, Cooper, Cuellar, Hinojosa, Jefferson, Matheson, Meeks, Moore, Moran, Ortiz, Skelton and Tanner.

Moving to the bill that limits citizens' legal rights and protects corporations that abuse ordinary Americans, the list gets whittled down to 9: Bean, Cooper, Cuellar, Hinojosa, Matheson, Meeks, Moore, Moran and Tanner.

[Mass]

10. They should definitively be replaced.

How can they justify being Democrats.

[sandnsea]

12. Which is my point

Replace them based on their individual votes, in their individual districts. Except it won't be possible on all of them. Melissa Bean ran as a business and trade oriented person, her votes shouldn't surprise anybody. She also beat a 20 year incumbent, it was a huge win last year. While everybody is excited about Paul Hackett, we don't know his politics either and he's running in a strong Republican district too. Are people going to knock themselves out to get him elected, only to turn around and say he needs to be purged if it turns out he has to represent his Republian district with alot of crappy votes. It's not true for all of these people, but it is for some. And it isn't all a DLC conspiracy either.

[flpoljunkie]

11. Steny Hoyer voted no too, but couldn't be bother to whip the CAFTA vote

The decision not to whip the bill formally may also play well for Hoyer personally. He has cultivated a reputation as a member of Democratic leadership who is friendly to business interests. Hoyer’s support of this year’s bankruptcy bill, however, triggered criticism from some progressives in the House.

http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Fro...

[sandnsea]

13. Every notice last week had CAFTA

It reminded people the vote was going to be soon, be close, and anybody who would be absent should call Hoyer. Even if he'd formally said "Democrats are urged to VOTE NO", I doubt he would have gotten a better vote anyway. Do you suggest we arm twist and harangue people on the floor the way Delay does?

[sandnsea]

14. Hoyer whipped malpractice bill

I think anyway. Still got 14 ayes on that. That's why I think we need a strong Green Party. Somebody has to be making a strong, and distinct, case on these bills separate from the Democrats. We're always going to have crossover votes, always. As it stands, the Democrats just keep looking like we do nothing but fight amongst ourselves. That's why no message at all is getting out. If there were a strong Green Party, the left message would be clear. That would lead the way for the Democrats to define a centrist message, distinct from Republicans. Then these constituents who are reacting against the left, might start listening to something besides Republican hogwash again.

[Gormy Cuss]

15. Minor correction

Tauscher is chair of the NDC. Vilsack is chair of the DLC.

Why she didn't vote, I don't know. Her position statement from her website is clear:
***********************
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 27, 2005

Rep. Tauscher’s Statement on DR-CAFTA Bill

Rep. Tauscher entered the following statement into the record today, regarding her position on the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement:

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to voice my strong opposition to the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement and intend to vote it against.
************************

On edit: Tauscher represents a district where only a moderate Democrat could win --- if her predecessor hadn't been such a huge embarassment this district would still have a Repub MOC.