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Blue Dogs Lose Their Bark as Obama Guts Welfare Reform

August 8, 2012

Increasingly Left-Wing Blue Dogs Stay Silent as Obama Rolls Back Welfare Reform, the Historic Bipartisan Legislation They Once Helped Create 

  • President Obama shocked political observers with his recent decision to gut the 1996 welfare reform which created work requirements for welfare recipients.
  • Blue Dog Democrats had nothing to say about the decision, which is notable since they were once proud of the role they played in achieving welfare reform.
  • Time after time, the Blue Dogs have served as lapdogs for President Obama and Nancy Pelosi. The result is that today, they are on the verge of extinction.

President Obama shocked political observers with his recent decision to gut the 1996 welfare reform which created work requirements for welfare recipients:

OBAMA SAID IN ’08 CAMPAIGN THAT HE HAD COME AROUND TO SUPPORTING WELFARE REFORM: “During the 2008 presidential campaign, pastor Rick Warren asked Senator Barack Obama if he had changed his mind on any substantive issue in the past decade. Obama’s answer: welfare reform. Obama said he initially thought President Clinton’s 1996 welfare-reform bill would have disastrous results. By 2008, he was ‘absolutely convinced’ that the work-centered approach in Clinton’s law must be ‘the centerpiece of any social policy.’ A July directive from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has sparked questions about whether Obama has changed positions once again, and made welfare reform an unlikely issue in the 2012 election.”(Alex Rogers, “New Welfare Reform Directive Creates Unlikely Political Issue For Obama,”Time, 7/31/2012)

BUT OBAMA SAID HE WOULD GRANT STATES WAIVERS TO END WELFARE WORK REQUIREMENTS WHICH WERE KEY TO THE ’96 WELFARE REFORM:“The Department of Health and Human Services announced last week that it would grant states waivers to experiment with how they administer the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which distributes aid to the poorest Americans while they look for work.” (Rebecca Berg, “Shift In Welfare Policy Draws G.O.P. Protests,” The New York Times, 7/17/2012)

“OBAMA BY EXECUTIVE ORDER TOSSED OUT THE CLINTON-ERA WELFARE REFORM”: “In a blatant challenge to the legislative branch, Obama by executive order tossed out the Clinton-era welfare reform that required able-bodied aid recipients to work, saying the federal government will no longer enforce the law.” (Editorial, “Obama’s Power Grab Flouts Constitution,” The Detroit News, 8/6/2012)

Blue Dog Democrats had nothing to say about the decision, which is notable since they were once proud of the role they played in achieving welfare reform:

AFTER THE 2010 ELECTION, BLUE DOGS VOWED TO STAY RELEVANT BY WORKING FOR BIPARTISAN SOLUTIONS LIKE WELFARE REFORM:

BLUE DOG CAUCUS MET WITH PRESIDENT CLINTON IN EARLY 2011 TO GET “POINTERS ON BIPARTISANSHIP,” HEAR ABOUT WELFARE REFORM: “Blue Dog Democrats in the House took pointers on bipartisanship from master centrist President Bill Clinton at a meeting in New York on Monday.

“The 26-member caucus, which saw its ranks cut nearly in half after the November election, listened closely to Clinton in an hour-and-a-half meeting with the former president.

“Lawmakers at the meeting said that Clinton’s talk covered tensions in Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries, domestic energy and housing policy, welfare reform, the national debt and efficiency in federal government.

(Simmi Ajula, “Blue Dogs Praise Bill Clinton,” Politico, 2/7/2011)  

REP. JIM MATHESON (D-UT): “WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY THAT’S THE SAME OPPORTUNITY THE BLUE DOGS DID WITH WELFARE REFORM. THEY WERE THE BRIDGE AND THEY WERE THE GROUP THAT HELD THAT TOGETHER IN A BIPARTISAN WAY TO MAKE IT HAPPEN”: “Blue Dogs have already started having informal discussions with Republicans in the hope that they can help forge bipartisan deals like they did between President Bill Clinton and the GOP after the 1994 Republican takeover.

“ ‘We have an opportunity that’s the same opportunity the Blue Dogs did with welfare reform,’ said Rep. Jim Matheson (Utah), who co-chairs the Blue Dog Coalition’s political action committee and replaced retired Rep. John Tanner (Tenn.) as one of the Democratic Caucus’ chief deputy whips. ‘They were the bridge and they were the group that held that together in a bipartisan way to make it happen.’”

“Matheson said it is too early to say which issue will be this Congress’ equivalent of welfare reform, but he noted that creating jobs, helping small businesses and reining in the deficit are areas on which the Blue Dogs intend to focus.” (Steven T. Dennis and Kathleen Hunter, “Bitter Blue Dogs Ready to Cut Deals,”National Journal, 1/10/2011)

POST-2010 ELECTIONS: WELFARE REFORM “IS AN EXAMPLE OF BEING HONEST BROKERS, WORKING TOGETHER TO GET THINGS DONE, AND THAT’S WHAT BLUE DOGS WANT TO DO”: “In those days, Matheson noted, they worked with then-President Bill Clinton on welfare reform and balancing the budget things that enraged liberals and led to angry accusations that the president was betraying his own party. Welfare is ‘an example of being honest brokers, working together to get things done, and that’s what Blue Dogs want to do.’” (Julie Hirschfield Davis, “Pelosi’s New Mission: Limit Obama Deals with GOP,”Associated Press, 11/24/2010)

MATHESON CITED WELFARE REFORM AS MODEL FOR THE “SIGNATURE PIECES OF LEGISLATION ENACTED IN THE 20TH CENTURY”: “Most of the signature pieces of legislation enacted in the 20th century–the Civil Rights Act, the Social Security Act, welfare reform–came about through the efforts of broad, bipartisan coalitions.” (Jim Matheson, “Obama, Democrats Must Worry About the Center, Not the Left,” US News and World Report, 11/22/2010)

BUT BLUE DOGS HAVE HAD NOTHING TO SAY ABOUT OBAMA’S DECISION TO GUT WELFARE REFORM:

OBAMA WELFARE ROLL-BACK WAS ANNOUNCED JULY 12, 2012: (“Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Information Memorandum,” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 7/12/2012)  

BLUE DOG LEADER JIM MATHESON (D-UT) SILENT: (“News Releases,” Office of Rep. Jim Matheson, July 2012)

BLUE DOG CO-CHAIR MIKE ROSS (D-AR) SILENT: (“News List,” Office of Rep. Mike Ross, Accessed 8/8/2012)

BLUE DOG CO-CHAIR HEATH SHULER (D-NC) SILENT: (“Press Releases,” Office of Rep. Heath Shuler, Accessed 8/8/2012)

BLUE DOG CO-CHAIR JOHN BARROW (D-GA) SILENT: (“Press Releases,” Office of Rep. John Barrow, Accessed 8/8/2012)

Time after time, the Blue Dogs have served as lapdogs for President Obama and Nancy Pelosi. The result is that today, they are on the verge of extinction:

 

BLUE DOGS ARE STRUGGLING FOR RELEVANCE BECAUSE THEY VOTE LIKE THEIR LEFT-WING COLLEAGUES:

BLUE DOGS “MORE LIKE LAP DOGS” WHEN IT COMES TO PELOSI, VOTED WITH HER ON 80 PERCENT OF THE VOTES SHE CAST IN 111TH CONGRESS: “And with one leader in particular the Blue Dogs are more like lap dogs. Of the 62 votes cast by Speaker Pelosi during the current 111th Congress on economic issues, the Blue Dogs voted with her 80 percent of the time.” (“All Bark and No Bite: The Blue Dog Coalition and the Myth of the Fiscally Responsible Democrat,” The Club for Growth, 10/4/2010)

BLUE DOGS HAVE A LONG HISTORY OF VOTING FOR PELOSI’S AGENDA: “Of the 54 Blue Dogs serving at the end of the 111th Congress, 26 voted for the climate change bill in June 2009, 30 voted for the final version of health care reform in March 2010, and 42 ultimately backed the financial services bill in late June this year.” (Josh Israel and Aaron Mehta, “PACs Flocked to Conservative Blue Dog Democrats, then Fled After Crucial Votes,” Center for Public Integrity’s iWatch News, 12/7/2010) 

91% OF BLUE DOGS VOTED FOR THE STIMULUS: (“All Bark and No Bite: The Blue Dog Coalition and the Myth of the Fiscally Responsible Democrat,” The Club for Growth, 10/4/2010) 

BLUE DOGS ON THE VERGE OF EXTINCTION:

NATIONAL JOURNAL: “BLUE DOGS AN INCREASINGLY RARE BREED IN CONGRESS”: (Shane Goldmacher, “Blue Dogs an Increasingly Rare Breed in Congress,” National Journal, 4/25/2012) 

POLITICO: “BLUE DOG DEMS FACE EXTINCTION”: (Alex Isenstadt, “Blue Dog Dems Face Extinction,” Politico, 4/17/2012) 

BLUE DOG CAUCUS HALVED FROM 54 TO 26 AFTER 2010 ELECTIONS COULD BE HALVED AGAIN IN 2012: (Aaron Blake, “Why the Blue Dogs’ Decline Was Inevitable,” The Washington Post, 4/25/2012)  

NUMBER OF BLUE DOGS COULD FALL TO AS FEW AS 10: “In other words, only about 10 Blue Dogs are sure-things to return next Congress, and the caucus needs new blood.” (Aaron Blake, “Why the Blue Dogs’ Decline Was Inevitable,” The Washington Post, 4/25/2012) 

FIVE OF REMAINING 25 BLUE DOGS ANNOUNCED RETIREMENT, 2 LOST PRIMARIES, AND ANOTHER 8 “ARE LEGIMITATELY VULNERABLE”: (Aaron Blake, “Why the Blue Dogs’ Decline Was Inevitable,” The Washington Post, 4/25/2012)

DCCC NOW SPURNING “MODERATE” DEMOCRATS IN ITS CANDIDATE RECRUITMENT: “An aide within the Blue Dog organization told The Fix that the group ‘is not happy with DCCC’s progress in recruiting moderates.’” (Aaron Blake, “Why the Blue Dogs’ Decline Was Inevitable,” The Washington Post, 4/25/2012) 

PELOSI ALLIES RECENTLY MUSED ABOUT DEFEATING BLUE DOGS TO “PURIFY THE CAUCUS”: “Another liberal, Pete Stark of California, had referred to [the Blue Dogs] as ‘brain dead,’ while Henry Waxman mused to a reporter that the loss of a few Blue Dogs might purify the caucus.” (Robert Draper, Do Not Ask What Good We Do, Free Press, 4/24/2012)