As we know, Nancy Pelosi has drafted a discharge petition in the House to ensure middle-class tax relief is extended. A bill has already passed the Senate to do this, and President Obama has said he would sign such a bill the minute it hit his desk.
Joan linked to the discharge petition yesterday, at which point it had 178 signatures, all Democratic. Because of the way the House Clerk reports signatures and votes, it's very hard to determine which members in our party has not signed Pelosi's petition, inaction I feel is completely without excuse, particularly in this political moment. So, I took it upon myself yesterday to flush out these Dems. My results are beneath the little orange cumulonimbus. I encourage everyone, particularly constituents of these Congresscritters, to put pressure on these folks and get this petition signed by every Democrat in the House.
The first place to look for laggards, of course, is at the withering Blue Dog caucus. I confess taking some heart that a majority of Blue Dogs have signed the petition. What this also means to me is that there is no excuse for any self-respecting Member not to get on board.
Bolded Blue Dogs below have not signed the discharge petition as of yesterday:
Jason Altmire (PA-4)
Joe Baca (CA-43)
John Barrow (GA-12), Co-Chair for Policy
Sanford Bishop (GA-2)
Dan Boren (OK-2), Blue Dog Whip
Leonard Boswell (IA-3)
Dennis Cardoza (CA-18)
Ben Chandler (KY-6)
Jim Cooper (TN-5)
Jim Costa (CA-20)
Henry Cuellar (TX-28)
Joe Donnelly (IN-2)
Tim Holden (PA-17)
Larry Kissell (NC-8)
Jim Matheson (UT-2)
Mike McIntyre (NC-7)
Mike Michaud (ME-2)
Collin Peterson (MN-7)
Mike Ross (AR-4), Co-Chair for Communications
Loretta Sanchez (CA-47)
Adam Schiff (CA-29)
Kurt Schrader (OR-5)
David Scott (GA-13)
Heath Shuler (NC-11), Co-Chair for Administration
Mike Thompson (CA-1)
[edit]
From the Blue Dogs, then, that leaves six foot-draggers --
Joe Baca (CA-43)
John Barrow (GA-12), Co-Chair for Policy
Dennis Cardoza (CA-18)
Joe Donnelly (IN-2)
Jim Matheson (UT-2)
Mike McIntyre (NC-7)
As of December 3, there are 191 Democratic House Members. So, to date, there are 14 Democratic Members who have not signed, six of them from the Blue Dog coalition.
From this list of Members published last week by the clerk, the following additional Democratic members do not appear on the petition [phone numbers are listed as five-digit exchanges (thanks, Clerk!); i.e., Gary Ackerman's phone number is 202-225-2601]-
Ackerman, Gary L., 5th NY ........................ 52601
Costello, Jerry F., 12th IL .......................... 55661
Hastings, Alcee L., 23d FL ......................... 51313
McCarthy, Carolyn, 4th NY ....................... 55516
Moran, James P., 8th VA ........................... 54376
Scott, Robert C. “Bobby”, 3d VA ............... 58351
Towns, Edolphus, 10th NY ......................... 55936
Visclosky, Peter J., 1st IN .......................... 52461
So, I count 14 total unsigned, six Blue Dog and eight others.
How could it be that 14 Democratic Members cannot find a way to sign this petition? I don't know... I think we should ask them.
And of course, we cannot find one GOP member of conscience. Their middle-class constituents need to know this.
This was a ridiculously and unnecessarily time-consuming exercise, as I noted above. The Clerk's Office needs to be renamed the Cluck's Office, as in "Nobody here but us chickens."
To the Bat Phone!