In the comments to this post ("Rahm Emanuel: 'F*ck the UAW'", I'm tipped to this report in the HuffPost by lynchie. Apparently the various Dem ATMs are closing down — including the one that sends congressional cash to the DCCC.
Interesting. Amanda Terkel at HuffPost:
As the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) battles to keep ahead of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), a handful of Democrats who are either in solidly safe seats or retiring have yet to pay their dues to the House fundraising arm -- funds that would go toward boosting the election chances of their vulnerable colleagues.Here's her chart:
The Huffington Post obtained the dues sheets for several of these House members. In total, they owe $2,134,509 in unpaid dues to the DCCC. All members, except Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), have enough cash on hand to cover the balance. Individually, they owe anywhere between $45,000 and $250,000.
Note Peter DeFazio and Anthony Weiner, both decent progressives, on the list. There's more good information in Terkel's article. For example, Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) is quoted as saying:
When you contribute to [the DCCC, the money] goes to front-liners and usually Blue Dogs, and [they] usually vote against our issues.Recall that the DCCC was run by Rahm Emanuel (see the first sentence of this post), who in 2006 gave us a generous helping of Heath Shuler and his ilk. It's now led by Chris Van Hollen, who appears to support cuts in Social Security. (Go ahead, click it; you won't be amazed.)
Given these facts, some people might be inclined to send notes of thanks to these holdouts. That is if some people think filling the Democratic party with true progressives, for a change, is a worthy goal.
This will be a tough year for Dems. Do we fill the joint with Blue Dogs, just to have Dems, or let those who gave us our lumps take responsibility — and their own lumps — as well?
That decision I leave to you and your conscience. Me, I'm just standing here passing out info.
GP
