In debt talks, moderate Dems resist deal-maker role
Moderate House Democrats, long presumed to be the linchpin voting bloc needed to seal a debt-limit deal, are watching the latest breakdown in negotiations and coming to a new conclusion: Don’t count on us.
These centrist Democrats, who are used to being political targets for Republicans and irritants for their own party, were critical to keeping the government open in the shutdown debate back in April — 81 Democrats helped push the spending resolution across the finish line after dozens of conservatives bailed on the deal.
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But this time around, moderate Democrats are starting to sour on the process, arguing that the intractability among Republican rank and file is threatening their support.
“I’ve been for cutting the deficit for a long time, that’s what the Blue Dog mantra is about — but not in a radical way and not in the way that harms the economy. These folks are hijacking the issue as a way that is very unfortunate, and they’re voting ideology versus what I think is in the best interest of the country,” said Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-Calif.), a member of the moderate Blue Dog Caucus. “I’m hearing my colleagues talking about putting their money in mattresses. That’s a very scary proposition.”
That members who have defined their legislative careers as deal makers are in no mood for deal making is an index of just how intransigent the politics of the debt ceiling have become. Amid more reports of gridlock from the bipartisan talks at the White House and a warning from Moody’s bond rating service that it could soon lower the country’s credit rating because of the risk of default, assumptions of good faith are practically absent among conservative Democrats — but gestures of disgust aren’t.
One Blue Dog, Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.), called the partisan posturing over the debt ceiling “an extremely dangerous game of chicken,” and said he’d “never seen politicians act more irresponsibly than they have been recently,” over the nation’s debt.
Another centrist, Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.), called it “terrible and almost unconscionable,” that Congress might fail in its “morally obligated” duty to increase the debt ceiling.
“Getting a lot of votes from the Blue Dogs will be difficult, because we’re in these districts where we have difficult elections. Why would we give a tea party person a pass when we’re having to take the tough vote? The Republicans need to get their votes in line,” said another senior Blue Dog member. “This is a scary proposition. I think a deal is unlikely.”
The tough comments from usually game moderates is a striking change in expectations of how a deal could happen. In April, 59 Republicans defied Boehner and voted against the landmark government spending deal that averted a shutdown, and 81 Democrats, rounded up by Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, were essential to the bill’s passage.
The fact that a number of Republicans are unlikely to vote for any deal that’s presented means President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) will very likely need even more Democrats for this vote. It’s just not clear where they’ll find those votes at this point.
“Everybody agrees that we won’t pass a compromise or agreement to make sure that we don’t default on our debts for the first time in history without a bipartisan vote,” Hoyer told POLITICO. “They’re going to need Democrats, and we’re going to need Republicans in order to preclude default.”
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