Rep. Dan Maffei (R) taking oath of office with the guy he loves to "compromise" with.
Rep. Dan Maffei represents
New York's 24th congressional district. He was first elected in 2008. Lost in the 2010 wave. And then won his seat back in 2012 in a post-redistricting shored-up districts.
He'd be a anonymous backbencher in a United States House full of them, except he stood out like a sore thumb the last couple of days, voting twice with Republicans to pass their continuing resolutions delaying Obamacare. He wasn't the only one. He was joined by Reps. Ron Barber (AZ), John Barrow (GA), Steven Horsford (NV), Sean Maloney (NY), Jim Matheson (UT), Mike McIntyre (NC), Raul Ruiz (CA) and Kyrsten Sinema (AZ). But let's look at the Obama share of the vote in their districts:
I'd argue that everyone above John Barrow has no excuse for voting with Republicans on those resolutions, but whatever. But Maffei? He won his district 57-41. What could possibly be his excuse?
The second-term congressman said he believes Democrats in both the House and Senate should have been willing to compromise with Republicans - rather than insisting on a "clean" standalone budget bill.
Ahh, it's the Democrats' fault for not letting Republicans hold the government and the world economy hostage! Thus, Maffei wants a "compromise", and the "compromise" he voted for was essentially killing Obamacare. What did Democrats get out of that deal, the one that locked in the budget at sequester-level spending (which is even lower than the first Paul Ryan bill)? Nothing, obviously. But darn it, it's the Democrats' fault!
Yes, Maffei is stupid. And if you needed further evidence:
Maffei said he didn't believe that the GOP bill - linking the budget to a one-year delay in the insurance mandate - was necessarily dead on arrival in the Senate, as Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., had promised.
No one believed the Senate would budge. Except, apparently, Maffei. But none of this should be a surprise, for a joker who spent his two years in between terms
at Third Way (the
successors to the DLC), and who spends his free time galavanting with the No Labels
jokers:
.@RepDanMaffei says he's been working with fellow members of @NoLabels to pressure leadership to reach a compromise. #NY24 #shutdown
— @robertharding
This is a solid Democratic district. It deserves better than Dan Maffei, and I hope local Democrats are looking for a serious primary challenger, because that's a battle I would eagerly join, and one I hope you would too.