U.S. Rep. Major R. Owens: A Leash of Decency for the Blue Dogs

[marmar]

from HuffPost:




Rep. Major R. Owens
A Leash of Decency for the Blue Dogs
Posted November 26, 2007 | 04:52 PM (EST)



The Sunday, November 25th Washington Post editorial poses a vital question for taxpayers: "Is limiting federal subsidies to farmers with incomes over $750,000 dollars unreasonable?" It is a commentary on the latest farm subsidy and loans proposed legislative raid on the treasury. The well-targeted editorial argument ends with a challenging and provocative statement: "For a Democratic Congress eager to restore a modicum of balance to the distribution of income in America, this should be a very easy call."

Calling all Democrats. Decent members arise; you have nothing to lose but your fog of confusion. Shake off the chains of Blue Dog deception and seduction. Exorcise from your midst the legal racketeering tumor that drains precious blood from our safety nets. If this is not an "easy call" please explain to the voters the way in which a cancer controlled by the Blue Dog Coalition, a House Legislative Service Organization, has metastasized within our House of Representatives and now causes a paralysis which prevents any logical and reasonable response to this obvious fiscal atrocity.

Just the few well-focused facts contained in the Washington Post summary expose the obscene story:

- Crop subsidies are not a safety net for the hard-pressed denizens of Farm Country.

- On paper no one is allowed more than $360,000 dollars per year but the provision is riddled with loopholes.

- Two-thirds of all crop subsidies go to just 10 percent of farms.

- The House version of the farm bill would allow full-time farming households earning as much as two million dollars per year to collect payments.

The prosecution could offer mountains more of facts and evidence against the farm giveaways and their Blue Dog Coalition sponsors. It should be noted that every president from Ronald Reagan to the present George W. Bush has publicly expressed great discomfort with the farm legislative swindles - but no president has expended enough executive power to prevent the Blue Dogs from prevailing year after year. What they are unable to get in subsidies and loans they get in drought relief or rain relief.

Who are these Blue Dogs? Why are they the most powerful caucus in the Congress? Be advised that two of their Democratic founders were so conservative that they voted even for the impeachment of President Clinton. They are so clever that, despite their long-term demonization of the poor and Civil Rights, they now have four members of the Congressional Black Caucus in their ranks. This is the body that sponsored Harold Ford III's challenge to Nancy Pelosi when she ran for Minority Leader. So many members have been clamoring to get in that the Blue Dogs now operate like an Ivy League fraternity. You must be sponsored by five members and you must write an essay to achieve membership. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-major-r-owens/a-leash-of-decency-for-th_b_74190.html

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

1. Screwed by the pooch.

[madfloridian]

2. Wow...good for him.

"Like the ladies of the evening they wear glittering clothing bright with slogans against big government and waste. They seduce those whose constituencies they have demonized. They are the descendants of the Boll Weevils who practice tradeoffs and blackmail with either party. When the deliberately prolonged appropriation races end, the Blue Dogs usually trot away panting but with substantial increases."

[madfloridian]

3. I recently found this article by him about the DLC from Sept. 2004

http://www.logosjournal.com/owens_election.htm

I had not paid much attention before, but this article impressed me.

"As Democrats, we can win on the basis of our ideology and our philosophy. The DLC made it appear that it was their ideology, their philosophy, their style that brought us into power—therefore they felt that they should dictate what Clinton’s policy would be for the next 8 years. So, we had some monumental errors in terms of Clinton’s public decisions and his philosophy and views on social policy.

Don’t get me wrong; Bill Clinton was a great President. Hilary Clinton was a great First Lady. It was a very difficult period, a very nasty period, and the fascism of the Republicans was really beginning to show its teeth. I would congratulate him for being able to withstand many of these pressures.

We were putting too much stress on the DLC’s philosophy, its style, and ideology. We were constantly looking to the Right to make decisions. Unfortunately, there was no strong Left that could be practical and command Clinton’s attention. So he was always looking to the Right. He looked to the Left for small bodies of support, but we could not compete with the DLC in terms of cohesive vision and style."

..."We have to revamp the party. There is much more than can said about our style and approach. But most important is that ideologically and philosophically we return to dedicating ourselves to the folks who are left out of the system, who remain powerless. We must dedicate ourselves to empowering them, for we will not and cannot survive otherwise. The future of the Democratic Party as a force is one that works on trying to do exactly that.

Howard Dean gave us a great boost forward. I am very supportive of Dean simply because he jumped up there and just said it. It shook up many of our colleagues and Congressmen and that was good because it demonstrated the fact that he was not beholden to just a handful of contributors. The future of his organization and the future of the Democrats are now seen as a broadening innovation of contributions. We must get beyond the fact that the fat cats control everything; there are this set of corporate puppeteers and puppet masters or that set of corporate puppeteers and puppet masters…the Democrats control one set and the Republicans control the other…we have to break out of that in order to reach a new era of the Democratic Left. Dean has shown us how to break out of it."

[bklyncowgirl]

4. Here's to Major Owens--the only Librarian in Congress!

Seriously, we need more librarians, scientists, teachers, farmers and physicians in Congress.

How many scientists do we have in Congress. I can think of only one, Rush Holt (my Congressman). I don't know of any teachers and the only doctor currently serving who comes to mind is Ron Paul.