Genius. Absolutely genius.
House Democrats held an emotional debate behind closed doors Thursday over how to stop losing embarrassing procedural battles with Republicans — a clash that exposed the divide between moderates and progressives.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) took a hard line at the caucus meeting, saying that being a member of Congress sometimes requires taking tough votes.
Pelosi also said vulnerable Democrats who had the “courage” to vote against the Republican motions to recommit would become a higher priority for the party leadership and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
These motions often force a choice between an extreme ideological position and a more common sense approach. The majority party voting against it will often leave conservative Dems or liberal Republicans more vulnerable locally.
Speaker Pelosi doesn’t care and is demanding that conservative Dems continue bleeding in order to protect her authority.
#Leadership
Democratic leaders have vowed to do a better job preparing for the Republican motions, but the controversy has divided Pelosi and her longtime lieutenants, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.).
Pelosi argues that Democrats must stick together on procedural votes, which is the traditional view of party leaders on both sides of the aisle. Hoyer and Clyburn, however, have suggested that moderate members can vote with Republicans if they think it will improve their political standing.
The Dem House majority rests on the ability to bring in Dems from conservative districts. The Speaker from San Fran doesn’t understand the concept.
This trainwreck wouldn’t be complete without some showboating from the Dem’s social justice Kardashian.
The latest defeat came on Wednesday, as the House debated legislation requiring background checks on all gun sales — a position overwhelmingly favored by Democrats. When Republicans moved to amend the bill to require Immigration and Customs Enforcement be told of any undocumented immigrant who tries to buy a gun, 26 Democrats voted with the GOP. The language was added to the gun bill, spoiling an important Democratic legislative achievement.
And Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the superstar New York freshman Democrat, suggested she would alert progressive activists when Democrats are voting with the GOP on these motions, said the sources.
Inside the meeting, Ocasio-Cortez said she has “a text chain with 200 activists in her district” that she’s in constant contact with on issues facing Democrats.
Ocasio-Cortez said she even considered voting against the background checks bill because of the Republican language on ICE, perhaps the most-hated federal agency on the left.
Ocasio-Cortez went up to the gallery after the vote to tell activists she “had to choose between immigrants and gun violence. Not because of Republicans, but because of Democrats,” said a source in the room.
“I think it is an extension of Trump’s tactics into the House and we cannot legitimatize it and we cannot allow for it and we cannot support it,” Ocasio-Cortez told reporters after the meeting.
Ocasio-Cortez is ignorant and clueless. Her DSA pals got her privileged narcissistic self into the House where she showboats without knowing anything.
So of course it’s time to change the rules.
Pelosi told reporters afterward that she thinks Democrats should simply vote against the GOP motions, saying to do so otherwise gives Republicans “leverage.” But Pelosi also didn’t endorse the idea of changing House rules and nixing the procedural vote altogether as some lawmakers support.
“I’m a big believer in respecting the whole House and the rights of the minority to have their say,” Pelosi said at her weekly press conference. “I think we should just vote against all motions to recommit. It’s a procedural vote, it’s a ‘gotcha’ on the part of the opposition.”
Rep. Juan Vargas (D-Calif.) wants to get rid of the motion completely, telling a reporter “I think this motion to recommit is the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“I’ve had my mole for 57 years, it’s right there on my arm,” Vargas said, pointing to his elbow. “And it does no good either. It just sits there one day maybe becoming cancerous. … It’s the same thing with the MTR. There’s no good reason for it.”
Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) said party leaders would continue to review the issue in the coming weeks.
There’s a good reason for it if you’re in the minority party. Which the Dems were 5 minutes ago.
Has the gang learned nothing from the nuclear option?
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