The Blue Dogs and the New Dems sold us out on the Bankruptcy Bill. [View All]

[madfloridian]

The Blue Dogs voted 32-3 in favor of it. The New Democrats sent a letter to Dennis Hastert begging him to bring it up for a vote soon. More on that later.

Nancy Pelosi and David Sirota suffered fallout over the Bankruptcy Bill. They said it was wrong, they told why it mattered...and they suffered for that.

It was more than a bill. It was a total sell-out to corporations, in this case the credit card companies. The Blue Dogs and New Dems knew that when they advocated for it and voted for it. They knew it condemned the ill, the elderly, the poor, and those hurt by circumstances like hurricanes..to losing their homes and being left with little recourse.

Did you know that Nancy Pelosi stood up for the "liberals" in the party and stood up to the Blue Dogs and New Dems against the Bankruptcy Bill? Did you know it was one of the things that caused the worst divide between Pelosi and Hoyer.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/4/28/125717/774

In an acknowledgement that fences within her Caucus need mending, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) scheduled private meetings Wednesday evening with leading House Democratic moderates, including Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (Md.).

Pelosi was set to sit down individually with Hoyer, while a similar meeting with Rep. John Tanner (Tenn.), long a leading figure among conservative Blue Dog Democrats, was being rescheduled because of Wednesday evening's ethics vote. She also had asked for a meeting with Rep. Ron Kind (Wis.), a leader of the centrist New Democrat Coalition.

Sources suggested that the Minority Leader recognizes that a rift exists between different factions of her Caucus and that she wants to reach out to moderates in an effort to unite the party. Those sources said Pelosi called the meetings to hear the concerns of centrists, who for some time have felt growing alienation from the leader and other liberal Members....

.."The need for such healing became clear after a blow-up in last week's whip meeting over a vote on bankruptcy legislation. Accusations flew and tensions flared at the session when Pelosi sided with liberal Members angry over Democratic defections, and Hoyer defended the moderates who supported the measure

Did you know that David Sirota got called on the carpet at Center for the American Progress for pointing out that many of the conservatives Democrats voting for the bill had taken a lot of money from credit cards company. Those centrist Demcrats ran crying to John Podesta who is head of that group to tattletale on Sirota.

Here is what was posted at Daily Kos with a link to The Hill article about the whining.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/4/28/125717/774

Look, there was nothing "moderate" or "centrist" about the bankruptcy bill. Nothing. It was a payoff to the credit card industry, and frankly, I don't see how siding with MBNA over working Americans has anything to do with the ideological spectrum. This was a giveaway to a special interest, plain and simple.

Pelosi is right, and the "moderates" are wrong -- there's nothing to apologize for. These guys didn't just vote with the GOP on a bill. They sent a letter urging Hastert to introduce and pass the legislation. When David Sirota called them on that travesty, the Whining Moderates ran and cried to John Podesta (who runs the Center for American Progress where Sirota is a fellow). Now, they're crying to Pelosi when she calls them on the bullshit.

I am also going to post the letter the House New Democrat Coalition sent to Dennis Hastert begging him to please, pretty please put that Bankruptcy Bill up for a vote cause they couldn't wait any longer.

I will add Mary Scott O'Conner's post about the serious implications of this bill that passed last year and further divided our party.

There is going to be a battle about who we are and what we stand for, and I see it started right after the election.