Many Blue Dog Conservative Democrats Voted Out of Office, Progressives Win

Many Blue Dog Conservative Democrats Voted Out of Office, Progressives Win

Dems Who Voted Against Unemployment Benefits Soon To Be Unemployed

-by Arthur Delaney
WASHINGTON -- Those who wanted Congress to reauthorize extended
unemployment insurance this summer often assumed that Democrats who
opposed the benefits were just posing as deficit hawks to impress
voters during an election year.

If that was their intention, it didn't work. Of the 11 Democrats who
opposed reauthorizing benefits at the beginning of July, seven are
goners. Reps. Brian Baird (Wash.) and Marion Berry (Ark.) retired,
leaving their seats to the GOP; five others went down in Tuesday's
epic wipeout.

Sixteen Democrats joined Republicans in blocking extended jobless aid
in a suspension vote the previous day, including Reps. Frank Kratovil
(Md.), Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (S.D.), John Adler (N.J.), Travis
Childers (Miss.), and Melissa Bean (Ill.), who flipped their positions
from one vote to the next. Those five lost Tuesday or are in imminent
danger of losing.

Alex Pareene at Salon savors the moment: "These brave politicians
bucked their free-spending, ultra-liberal party, and cast votes in
favor of fiscal responsibility. And for their willingness to oppose
Barack Obama's liberal agenda, nearly all of them were rewarded with
early (and ironic) retirement from public service."

In May, 34 House Democrats joined the GOP in opposing the extended
benefits (it took nearly two months before the impasse finally ended).
Seventeen of them have been defeated, while results are still out for
Reps. Bean, Gerry Connolly (Va.), Jerry McNerney (Calif.), and
Gabrielle Giffords (Ariz.). Thirteen Democrats who opposed jobless aid
in May retained their seats.

"I've been saying for two years that politicians ignore the pressing
needs of the unemployed at their own peril," said Judy Conti, a
lobbyist for the National Employment Law Project. "This is an angry
and increasingly organized group of people, and no matter how
concerned the average person is about deficit spending, the vast
majority understand that we cannot abandon the unemployed over
misguided notions of how to reduce the deficit."

Reps Jim Cooper (Tenn.), Mike McIntyre (N.C.), Walt Minnick (Idaho),
and Heath Shuler (N.C.) voted against reauthorizing the benefits in
July and won reelection on Tuesday.

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Everybody will get another chance to vote on reauthorizing extended
unemployment benefits when Congress reconvenes on Nov. 15 for its lame
duck session. If the benefits are not reauthorized by the end of the
month, NELP estimates that two million people will prematurely stop
receiving aid by the end of the year.

More:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/04/dems-who-voted-against-un_n_778931.html

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Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy

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