TPM reports via The Hill, Bush to have Blue Dogs, New Dems to White House for chat on Friday

[flpoljunkie]

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/011412.php


(December 05, 2006 -- 07:41 PM EDT)

Let's party.

From The Hill ...

President Bush has invited leaders of the conservative Blue Dog and New Democrat coalitions to the White House Friday to discuss areas of “mutual cooperation” in the words of one Democratic Congressional aide.

The outreach comes at a time when Bush’s image on Capitol Hill and around the country has taken a serious beating. The meeting is scheduled just two days after the Iraq Study Group is scheduled to release its findings and one day after the Senate Armed Services Committee plans to hold hearings on them.

Reps. Alan Boyd (Fla.), Dennis Moore (Kan.) and Mike Ross (Ark.) will represent the Blue Dogs, a coalition of usually southern, conservative-leaning Democrats and Reps. Joe Crowley (N.Y.), Artur Davis (Ala.), Ron Kind (Wis.), Adam Smith (Wash.) and Ellen Tauscher (Calif.) are set to represent the New Democrats, a group of business-friendly centrists, at the meeting, which the president is expected to attend.


-- Josh Marshall

[enuffs_enuffs]

1. Is he gonna hang out for the WHOLE thing, dang... n/t

[KingFlorez]

2. He's trying to twist arms I see

They might be conservative, but they are not Bush supporters.

[tanyev]

3. Sic 'em, Blue Dogs!

[Cha]

4. Boy, wouldn't you love to

be a spider on the wall listening to that schmoozefest?

"Business friendly"..you'd know there wouldn't be any "We Are The People" friendly invited.

[madfloridian]

8. Too business friendly

:hi:

[Ignacio Upton]

5. Alan Boyd supported his plan to privatize Social Security

Fuck him...but the rest of them haven't done anything wrong, and being a lame duck, I see no reason why the Blue Dogs should fear Bush.

[madfloridian]

6. Lists of the Blue Dog and New Dem Coalitions plus new members.

Here are the new members of each group with an * next to the names of those who are joining both groups.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/701

Here are the lists of both groups without the new ones included.

House New Democrat Coalition
(I know you can subtract Jim Davis, Ed Case, and Harold Ford from the list, I don't know how else lost)

I put asterisks nest to the names of those in both groups.

NDC Membership
Ellen Tauscher (CA), Chair*
Ron Kind (WI), Co-Chair
Artur Davis (AL), Co-Chair
Adam Smith (WA), PAC Chair
Joseph Crowley (NY), Whip

Brian Baird (WA)
John Barrow (GA) *
Melissa Bean (IL)
Shelley Berkeley (NV)
Lois Capps (CA)
Russ Carnahan (MO)
Ed Case (HI) *
Ben Chandler (KY)
Henry Cuellar (TX)
Jim Davis (FL)
Susan Davis (CA)
Rahm Emanuel (IL)
Eliot Engel (NY)
Bob Etheridge (NC)
Harold Ford (TN) *
Charles Gonzalez (TX)
Jane Harman (CA) *
Stephanie Herseth (SD)*
Brian Higgins (NY)
Rush Holt (NJ)
Darlene Hooley (OR)
Jay Inslee (WA)
Steve Israel (NY)
Rick Larsen (WA)
John Larson (CT)
Carolyn McCarthy (NY)
Mike McIntyre (NC) *
Kendrick Meek (FL)
Gregory Meeks (NY)
Charlie Melancon (LA)
Juanita Millender-McDonald (CA)
Dennis Moore (KS) *
Jim Moran (VA)
David Price (NC)
Loretta Sanchez (CA)
Adam Schiff (CA)
Allyson Schwartz (PA)
David Scott (GA) *
Vic Snyder (AR)
Tom Udall (NM)
Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL)
David Wu (OR)
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Blue Dog Coalition

Blue Dogs

Jim Matheson
John Tanner
Jim Cooper
Allen Boyd
Dennis Cardoza
Lincoln Davis
Steve Israel
David Scott *
Stephanie Herseth *
Ed Case *
Leonard Boswell
Ken Salazar
Ellen Tauscher*
Marion Berry
Sanford Bishop
Bud Cramer
Collin Peterson
Jim Costa
Mike Thompson
Harold Ford, Jr*
Dennis Moore *
John Barrow *
Mike Ross
Mike Michaud
Joe Baca
Jane Harman *
Mike McIntye *

I started paying close attention to these groups when they both wrote letters to Dennis Hastert begging for the Bankruptcy Bill to be brought up for a vote. Their eagerness worried me so I keep an eye out.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/699
The Blue Dogs and the New Dems sold us out on the Bankruptcy Bill.

[madfloridian]

7. I don't think they should meet with him.

They should know he is being divisive.

[Freddie Stubbs]

13. Congress is going to have to play ball with Bush (and vice-versa) if

anything is going to get done.

[madfloridian]

14. Make that all of congress, not just two coalitions.

.

[Freddie Stubbs]

15. Correct. Pelosi and Reid had breakfast at the White House last month

[KoKo]

9. Bush has no power (worst President ever/Historians) so he grasps at

New Dems (DLC) and Blue Dogs hoping to try to save his fallen P-Residency.

I'll bet SS Privitization is Top on his list! :D

[Norquist Nemesis]

10. Suckers! n/t

[kentuck]

11. He's going to look into their eyes...

and see which ones he can play. He can pick the patsies from the crowd. Should not be too hard to do with that bunch.

[wyldwolf]

12. one writer recently advised Republicans in Congress to follow their lead!

Imagine that - Watch and do what the Democrats do.

on edit: Charlie Cook said a prominent Republican told him that if House Republicans want to remain relevant, “they would take their cues not from the White House” but from the Blue Dogs.

[mrgorth]

16. GGRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!

[flpoljunkie]

17. More on this meeting from David Sirota writing for Huffpost

This disconnect between the Serious People and the Actual People is carrying into the new Congress. The Hill Newspaper today reports that Bush has asked for a meeting with Democratic "centrists" - that is, the Democratic faux "centrists," the people who may be liberal on social issues but are in the pocket of Big Money on everything else; the people who are inside Washington's "center" and get praised by the Serious People, but are nowhere near the center of public opinion. You will notice that the list of Democrats the Hill references are the people who support most lobbyist-written trade deals and voted for the bankruptcy bill - a piece of legislation that no one even pretended was for anyone other than the credit card industry.

While no one can blame Democrats for meeting with Bush, you can bet this signals the White House's effort to find "common ground" on Money Party issues (trade, deregulation, corporate accountability, etc.) that continue the war on the middle class - and you can bet when this happens, the David Broders will hail the new day of "bipartisanship" and "comity," praising heaven that the Guardians of the Flame of the Vital Center still dominate what they see as the Dirty Hippies (aka. the vast majority of the country).

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-sirota/note-to-dems-put-voters-_b_35688.html

[Freddie Stubbs]

19. Mr. Sirota needs to check his facts

the bankruptcy bill - a piece of legislation that no one even pretended was for anyone other than the credit card industry.

The credit card industry was not the only supporter of the bankruptcy bill. Credit Unions also supported this.

[PVnRT]

18. When is he going to meet with the Progressive caucus?

Or is this just a maneuver to get the Blue Dogs and New Dems on his side and split the party?