The House GOP has come under a lot of criticism for its failure to deliver on its end of the bipartisan bailout deal, including from yours truly. Meanwhile, the Democratic leadership has come in for some moderate pro forma criticism for failing to do what was necessary to see the legislation passed.
It is a funny — though not ha-ha funny — double standard: When the GOP ran the show, it was always held responsible for every “bad” outcome. Now that the GOP is in the minority, it’s still held responsible for every “bad” outcome. I suppose it’s a similar standard that somehow allows the Democrats in charge of overseeing the financial sector to whine that there hasn’t been enough oversight without even the slightest sting of embarrassment.
On that point, you know what I haven’t seen in all of the coverage of the bailout-blow-up? I haven’t seen a single interview with a Democrat who voted against this deal. I’ve seen interviews of Republicans who’ve voted for it. I’ve seen interviews of Republicans who voted against it. And, of course, I’ve seen interviews with the Democratic leadership in which they blamed the Republicans who voted against it but not the 94 Dems who voted against it.
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But why didn’t those Democrats vote for the a bailout that their own leadership contends is vital for the financial health of the country?
That’s a question that hasn’t gotten a lot of attention.
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But I’m interested in the Democratic equivalent of the Republican ideologues. A majority of the hyper-leftwing Congressional Black Caucus — the self-anointed “conscience of the Congress” — voted against the bailout, even though they come from some of the safest districts in America. A majority of the Hispanic caucus voted no, too. Half of the Congressional Progressive Caucus voted against the bailout.
Have you heard anyone denounce these people as “left-wing ideologues”? I haven’t.
What would have brought these people around? Renowned intellectual Jesse Jackson Jr. says that he voted against the bill in effect because it didn’t cost enough. If it was more of Christmas tree of left-wing New Deal policies he’d be in favor of a bailout. Indeed, you can be sure that most of these Democrats would have voted for the legislation if the old 20-percent-off-the-top for La Raza and Acorn provisions were still in there. Read the Congressional Progressive Caucus’s letter to Nancy Pelosi. The short version: We’ll vote for it — if it nationalizes America’s financial system.
Read the whole thing.
Karl Rove in the vote:
Rove noted Frank failed to persuade one of his own subcommittee chairs on the banking committee, Serrano of New York, who voted 'no.'
Rove finds three Democrats from Chicago — Jesse Jackson Jr., Bobby Rush, and Daniel Lipinski — who voted no, wondering where the heck the world's most famous Chicago Democrat was. Rove rattles off several other House Democrats who are strong Obama backers.
I am now persuaded by this. If voting "yes," is political suicide, Pelosi can't let her Democrats go and reap the benefits of a non-disastrous economy, and beat the Republicans up for making the hard call. She's the speaker, she controls the chamber. You can't say, "vote for this bill, it is necessary" and "we will target any Republican who votes for this bill" at the same moment.
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