WHO ARE THE BLUE DOG DEMOCRATS AND WHY DO THEY MATTER

When the Democrats won the U.S. Senate, the Presidency, and secured their majority in the House of Representative by an even wider margin in 2008, many of my Democrat friends figured that this was the end of dealing with the Republicans. With the recent addition of Al Franken, aka Stuart Smally, to the U.S. Senate, those same Dems gleefully announced that they were now unstoppable. Legislation could be pushed through the House with no need to compromise with the God-awful Republicans, the Senate would have the 60 votes needed to override any attempts at a filibuster and President Obama would certainly sign anything put up by his fellow Democrats. If only it were that easy.

In an earlier post, I warned all of you about the very powerful, 100% Democrat, Jewish Caucus, along with the many other caucuses. In addition, in other posts, I've told you about traitorous RINOs and DINOs. In this post, I'll explain the role of the Blue Dog Democrats, particularly in the recent Heath care reform. But first, I want to briefly explain something to any of you laymen out there. Both of the major parties here in the U.S. have their little subsets. There are moderate Democrats and Republicans, Pro-life Democrats, Pro-choice Republicans, Republican Feminists, Fiscal Conservative Democrats, Pro-union Republicans, Pro-gun Democrats, and even Gay Republicans called the Log Cabin Republicans. Even though both parties have their basic platforms, the complexities of regional politics can make some strange combinations. To assume that having a majority in the House or Senate gives you Carte Blanche to do whatever you want would be a misnomer.

Now for the Blue Dogs.

To quote their site, "The fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition was formed in 1995 with the goal of representing the center of the House of Representatives and appealing to the mainstream values of the American public." On that part you should read, "Not Liberals". But being a Blue dog is really more about a "deep commitment to the financial stability and national security of the United States." On that you should read, "We don't like Debt." Unlike the Liberal wing of the Democratic Party, the Blue dogs do not believe in printing money and handing it out to whoever needs it. They want a way of paying for it. Currently there are 51 members of the Blue Dogs and they are creating quite a problem for the Liberals.

Part of that problem is that the Blue Dogs know that the Liberal wing is lying through their botox-laden mouths about the cost of the Health Care Reform they're promoting. By not limiting what they're asking for to something do-able, the Liberals have loaded up the bill with health care for illegal immigrants, money for abortions, and a thousand other "extras" that the Blue Dogs feel (along with most Republicans) is simply too much to pay for. (It should be noted here that President Obama says there will be no health care for adult illegals) The Liberals are drawing a line in the sand on some of these issues. Health Care for illegals would ease the burden on states like California by pushing the cost onto the Federal level. This would also assure them the continuing support of the Hispanic population and maybe even help them to turn some states Democrat. Federal dollars for abortions is an issue that the feminist wing of the Democrats have been in a tug-of-war with Republicans over for decades. The Blue Dogs are simply too traditional and fiscally conservative to accept either of these additions.

As the Health Care Reform legislation plods it's way through the various committees in the House and is sure to be sent back by the Senate to reconcile once it's passed (IF it's ever passed), you can be sure the Blue Dog Dems will be a major part of problem the House will have to deal with. My reading on all of this is that the Bill looks very likely to die due to lack of any consensus on what it should look like. For those of you that thought my idea of simple catastrophic coverage didn't go far enough, prepare to see how a complicated bill, that's easy to divide people on, dies on the floor as the Blue Dogs, with lots of help from anti-abortionists, fiscal conservatives, and a host of others, rips it to shreds. H.C.