It's a dirty little secret that Hoyer and his corrupt, conservative allies in the House Democratic caucus forced Nancy Pelosi to appoint Long Island "ex"-Blue Dog and model of Wall Street corruption, Steve Israel as DCCC chairman. We've mentioned a few times how Israel's "strategy" mathematically guarantees that the Republicans can never lose the majority in the House, or at least not while he is DCCC Chair. Aside from only naming 16 Red-to-Blue candidates (when the Dems need a net of 17 red-to-blue wins), Israel has made a deal with the NRCC to not target any senior Republicans, including committee and subcommittee chairmen in vulnerable seats-- like Fred Upton, Paul Ryan, Joe Pitts, Ileana Ros Lehtinen, Darrell Issa, John Kline, Mike Rogers-- in return for his own free pass to reelection. When pressed about why she picked Israel, Pelosi will go no further than lauding his reptilian tendancies. She refuses to address his mystery meat candidates-- like FL-13 loser Alex Sink-- that will prove another disastrous year for House Democratic chances in November. Expect all Steve Israel's wretched candidates to feel this pain this cycle:
Democrat Alex Sink herself called Social Security "an American promise" and said that unlike her opponent, she would "fight to protect the integrity" of the program. It's a message the party hoped would resonate in a district that has one of the nation's highest concentrations of voters over the age 65.Steve Israel's innate corruption and conservatism make him incapable of ever finding anything but "flawed messengers." And fake Democrats who will be on the ConservaDem side inside the caucus (if-- as is unlikely) any of them win in November. He's lining up soldiers for the conservative side of the coming power struggle, mostly more New Dem and Blue Dog garbage. In yesterday's Roll Call, Abby Livingston and John Rieger spotlighted Israel's atrocious and most recent Red-to-Red candidate, Nick Casey.
But Jolly had an easy comeback: He denied wanting to privatize Social Security, and fired back by noting that Sink voiced some support for the Simpson-Bowles debt-reduction plan, which included cuts to Social Security.
The National Republican Congressional Committee hit Sink from the left on this, saying she "supports a plan that raises the retirement age for Social Security recipients, raises Social Security taxes, and cuts Medicare." Katie Prill, a spokesperson for the Republican group, added: "Sending Alex Sink to Washington guarantees that seniors right here in Pinellas County are in jeopardy of losing the Social Security and Medicare benefits that they have earned and deserve."
Liberal writers cried hypocrisy, but it didn't matter: Sink lost.
For the Left, it's evidence that Democrats need to take a firm line on the entitlement program-- or even support expanding it-- at a time when some in the party, and especially the White House, have offered concessions.
"She was a flawed messenger," says Neil Sroka of Democracy for America. "The fight has moved. But too many Democrats in Washington, while we're 10 years away from the Bush privatization effort, haven't yet gotten it into their talking points that voters also don't support cuts of any kind to Social Security."
Last year, when the newly House organized itself, 220 Republicans voted for John Boehner to be Speaker and 192 Democrats voted for Nancy Pelosi. 4 of the most repulsive, anti-working family Blue Dogs, each of whom who votes far more frequently with Republicans than with Democrats on crucial issues, voted for other candidates rather than Pelosi. Nashville Blue Dog Jim Cooper actually voted for a Republican. Two right-wing scumbags who are thankfully retiring from Congress this year, Jim Matheson and Mike McIntyre, plus John Barrow (GA) and Dan Lipinski (IL) also voted against Pelosi. Casey made it clear that he will be another vote against Pelosi if he's elected (which he won't be). “It is time for a change. When the team does not play well, you don’t fire the team, you look for new coaches. Ms. Pelosi-- appreciate her past service-- I would not support her.”
A corporate whore and former campaign treasurer for Joe Manchin, no one was surprised when the West Virginia Bankers’ Association endorsed Casey. He's their kind of candidate (as well as Steve Israel's).
