Word: voting
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...Cooper says he plans to vote for the measure, and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, who has always stood behind the Blue Dogs and isn't happy about the Senate's maneuver, will likely sign on reluctantly as well. But even with Barack Obama calling some of the Blue Dogs to get their support, not all of them have been convinced. "I don't believe this bill is the right medicine to cure the disease," says Rep. Jim Matheson, a Utah Democrat who co-chairs the Blue Dogs. "The Senate version is even worse. It's larded up with more...
...maximum amount of bank deposits insured by the FDIC, from $100,000 to $250,000. But several influential conservative Republicans who oppposed the first bill, like John Shaddeg of Arizona and Zach Wamp of Tennessee, have signaled that they will reluctantly support the new Senate version. Still, the vote promises to be a nail-biter, and by Thursday evening, the White House and Congressional leaders were still not convinced that they had secured the additional 12 votes to guarantee passage. With the outcome still uncertain, the business community has launched a full-court press of every member of Congress, reminding...
...Their importance to the bailout measure is a reflection of the Blue Dogs' growing clout within the Democratic Party. Decades ago, when the South was thick with Democrats, there was a saying that Southern Dems were so loyal they're rather vote for a yellow dog than a Republican. As the party moved to the left, forcing moderates like Billy Tauzin and Jimmy Hayes (both former Blue Dog leaders) to switch parties, one member joked that the remaining moderates had been choked blue by the left - thus rechristening the group Blue Dogs. For a while their numbers dwindled...
...Stenholm, once a leading Blue Dog, says if Democrats want to maintain and grow their majority, they must take the Blue Dogs' fiscal conservative demands seriously. "If they don't you will see one of the largest turnovers of Congress in 2010," Stenholm says. "Blue Dogs that do not vote for fiscal responsibility, they'll be held accountable in their districts. Blue Dogs didn't get elected by beating liberal Democrats, they got elected by beating moderate and conservative Republicans, so those seats will flip if constituents aren't satisfied...
...which could lead to some major battles next year when the Blue Dogs try to force the next President, whoever he is, to pay for whatever new programs or tax cuts he is trying to pass. "Nothing will pass without a majority of Blue Dogs voting for it, that's true on this vote," Stenholm says. And if they do help pass this bill, the Blue Dogs will be sure to remind Nancy Pelosi of it next year...