Speaker Pelosi has attempted to minimize the effect of major league squabbles amongst her newly established majority in the current House of Representatives. The differences have become public with the Leftists front and center as the MSM has covered for Pelosi while she supposedly covered for her “Moderates.” How long will she do that?
What I am really shocked about is how quickly the “Moderates” in the caucus are being whipped into line. I would have thought Pelosi et al would have waited until Democrats took back the Presidency and had some say in Congress. This just shows you how far left the caucus has moved.
As I previously pointed out, the caucus did not recently shift to the left. After the 2010 wipeout, the only Democrats remaining were significantly far to the left. That is why they so willingly re-elected Pelosi to her leadership position after losing a historic number of seats.
The new influx of members does contain a group of radical Leftists. You may have heard about them. They are now referred to as “The Squad.” The new caucus though likewise contains a group of Democrats who came from districts that have previously supported President Trump and the Leftists could not possibly win. Thus, this group has been christened the “Moderates.”
Recently there was an explosion in the Democrat caucus because 26 first-term “moderate” members of Congress dared to vote for an amendment that was offered by Republicans to a Democrat bill. This bill will never be brought up in the Senate and never, ever reach President Trump’s desk. The idea that these Dems would vote for anything sponsored by Republicans caused such consternation that some actually diverted from attacking Mr. Trump for at least a few minutes.
In a closed-door meeting after the vote, Speaker Pelosi made a statement directed at the accused offenders stating “We are either a team or we’re not, and we have to make that decision.” Please be reminded that they voted on an amendment to a bill that passed. The amendment did not even effect American citizens nor did it materially alter the bill. This bill was about extending background checks for guns and the amendment required that gun dealers notify ICE when an illegal immigrant attempted a purchase.
Then matters changed as the radical Left members took on Speaker Pelosi while the Speaker made clear she wanted to maintain a united caucus to protect the “Moderates.” Pelosi knows she needs to keep them in office to keep the majority. This is while the Leftists are drowning out any recognition of the rest of the caucus.
Try to find any news about the rest of new members of the caucus. That is an immense challenge. There has been talk about the two Katies – Porter and Hill. That is only because people have been getting them confused — they are both from Southern California and have the same first name.
There was one column that wrote about five freshmen Democrats who have banded together. The article did not speak much about any accomplishments or goals other than reelection. They have formed a joint cause to raise money based on their common military service. They have nearly zero ability of getting any recognition as the Squad drowns out discussion of anyone else.
The situation has changed radically since the offenders were threatened regarding their reelection prospects. This is for elected officials not even in office for a year. The elected boss of the caucus (Pelosi) stated that vulnerable Dems who had the “courage” to vote against the amendment would become a higher priority with her election apparatus. The apparent real boss of the party (she did say she is boss) Alexandra Ocasio–Cortez told the offenders she was going to help liberal (i.e. Leftist) activists run against the gang of marauders. Pelosi’s tune has since changed.
To that I suggest to both these ladies, go ahead — make my day. The only reason the Democrats have a majority is these 26 transgressors. They will lose their seats back to Republicans just like the Blue Dog Democrats did once they are forced to vote as “team players” for some legislation their left-wing colleagues support (in this case the unpalatable legislation was Obamacare.) This is going to happen sooner rather than later, so why don’t you ladies help make it sooner. That would truly be a gift.
For example, raising of the minimum wage to $15 an hour on a national basis. This may be favored in coastal districts but will crush a significant swath of businesses in districts held by many of the “Moderates.” Fortunately for them, the Republicans in the Senate will save them by making sure this will not become law.
The Democrats have always operated their caucus un-democratically. There are no recriminations against Republicans for voting against President Trump’s emergency order. The Democrats suckered moderate people with reasonable backgrounds to run in competitive districts before and in 2018 a new crop of candidates fell for it again.
The only thing we can do is wait for the next election so the citizens in these districts cannot only vote for someone who supports their interests, but is allowed by their party to vote for those interests once in office.
A tiger cannot change its stripes. The dictatorial attitudes of Democrats can change but won’t. If or when the Democrats take over the various branches of our national government the “Moderates” will be sacrificed by voting for a radical legislative priority of the majority like Medicare for All as dictated by their caucus run by Leftists. Then they will lose once again. Why not just move this up to 2020 and save everyone the pain?