Blue Dogs DINO

=see medicare negot pricesee sellout (also tag?)see 3rd waymebbe DINO shd be newer ones?=<div>=</div><div>no twt lnx</div><div>https://www.alternet.org/2022/05/gigi-sohn/</div><div>
</div><div><div>'Infuriating': Telecom lobbyists spending big money to keep Gigi Sohn off FCC</div><div>
</div><div>Julia Conley and Common Dreams May 01, 2022</div><div>   </div><div>Consumer rights defenders are warning that telecom companies and lobbyists are taking advantage of the U.S. Senate's delay in confirming Gigi Sohn to the Federal Communications Commission by spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to pressure corporate Democrats to vote against the longtime public advocate.</div><div>
</div><div>"There's an unseemly amount of money being spent to promote disinformation about her," Greg Guice, director of government affairs for Public Knowledge, the group founded by Sohn, told MarketWatch this week. "These criticisms aren't based in fact whatsoever."</div><div>
</div><div>As Karl Bode wrote at Techdirt last week, former Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp's rural-focused non-profit group recently launched a $250,000 social media ad campaign targeting at least two Democrats who have not yet confirmed how they plan to vote on Sohn's confirmation, even though it would give the party three of the five FCC seats for the first time in six years and would end the current deadlock.</div><div>
</div><div>The group's ads are aimed at Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), neither of whom have indicated how they will vote on Sohn's nomination and both of whom are facing reelection campaigns in November. Politico has reported that Heitkamp is also running ads in West Virginia, where right-wing Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin was "undecided" on Sohn after meeting her.</div><div>
</div><div>Heitkamp's group, the One Country Project, is claiming that Sohn has been insufficiently committed to improving broadband access in rural communities, pointing to congressional testimony in which she said Congress has been "disproportionately focused on broadband deployment in rural areas."</div><div>
</div><div>As Chris Matthews wrote at MarketWatch, Sohn's testimony didn't "argue that the federal government shouldn't fund broadband deployment, but that the main hurdle for Americans accessing broadband in both rural and urban areas is affordability, not infrastructure."</div><div>
</div><div>Heitkamp started One Country Project with "leftover campaign cash" to start her political action committee, Matthews noted, and counted AT&T and Comcast as two of her biggest donors when she was in the Senate.</div><div>
</div><div>"Telecom monopolies are now terrified that the Sohn appointment won't just break 2-2 commissioner gridlock (they created) at the agency, it will mean the restoration of meaningful federal oversight over one of the least popular and least competitive industries in the Internet ecosystem," wrote Bode at Techdirt.</div><div>
</div><div>Andrew Lokay, an analyst with independent policy research firm Beacon Policy Advisors, told MarketWatch that opponents of Sohn in the telecom industry appear to be "taking advantage of Biden's delay in nominating Sohn and the crowded Senate calendar in an attempt to sink her nomination."</div><div>
</div><div>Craig Aaron, president of media and technology advocacy group Free Press, accused the telecom industry and its allies of waging a "dishonest astroturf campaign" against Sohn and called the effort to derail the nomination of a strong net neutrality defender "infuriating."</div><div>
</div><div>In addition to One Country Project's efforts, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)—which has long partnered with AT&T—published an op-ed in the Arizona Daily Star earlier this month accusing Sohn of having a "deeply problematic track record on media diversity issues."</div><div>
</div><div>The group wrote that as a senior staffer at the FCC, Sohn "masterminded a plan to give Google a government permission slip to steal, repackage and monetize TV programming without paying one cent to its creators"—a move which angered "diverse creators" and lawmakers over "how her proposal would impact vulnerable, underrepresented communities."</div><div>
</div><div>In fact, Bode wrote, "the FCC's goal was to kill the cable box monopoly and save consumers about $20 billion annually in bullshit rental fees," adding that "framing it as a handout to 'big tech' is an intentional misrepresentation."</div><div>
</div><div>LULAC denied to MarketWatch that its opposition to Sohn has anything to do with its relationship with AT&T, and the company said it has not donated any money directly to One Country Project.</div><div>
</div><div>But as Bode argued, "Sohn's so popular, and the goals of telecom monopolies (less competition, more revenue, no oversight) are so viciously unpopular, they've been forced to fabricate flimsy complaints and funnel them through proxy organizations in a bid to derail the popular nomination."</div><div>
</div><div>"If Sohn's nomination is scuttled, it will come at the hands of Senators Joe Manchin, Catherine Cortez Masto, Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), or Mark Kelly, who will, not coincidentally, parrot the false justifications for opposing Sohn's nomination concocted by the telecom lobby," Bode added.</div><div>
</div><div>"It will leave a permanent and violent scar on the political and policy landscape," he added, "loudly advertising once again that the voice of the public (which overwhelmingly supports holding telecom and media giants meaningfully accountable) simply doesn't matter in our purported democracy."</div></div><div>
</div><div></div><div>=</div><div><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2020/12/pharma-lobby-poured-millions-into-darkmoney-groups/">https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2020/12/pharma-lobby-poured-millions-into-darkmoney-groups/</a></div><div>
</div><div>pharmaceutical companies’ top lobbying group funneled millions of dollars to prominent “dark money” groups that pushed industry friendly messages to lawmakers and 2020 voters. The <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/pharmaceutical-research-manufacturers-of-america/summary?all=2020&id=D000000504" style="line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; touch-action: manipulation; background-color: transparent; transition: background-color 150ms ease-in-out 0s, border 150ms ease-in-out 0s, color 150ms ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline; max-height: 1e+06px;">Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America</a> raised nearly $527 million last year and spent roughly $506 million, <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/7335117-PhRMA-990-Fiscal-Year-2019.html" style="line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; touch-action: manipulation; background-color: transparent; transition: background-color 150ms ease-in-out 0s, border 150ms ease-in-out 0s, color 150ms ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline; max-height: 1e+06px;">new tax returns</a> obtained by OpenSecrets reveal. That’s a record haul for the organization, which is funded by the world’s most powerful pharmaceutical companies.The trade association made its largest political donation of 2019 — $4.5 million — to the American Action Network, a dark money group that backs House Republicans. The conservative nonprofit and its pharmaceutical industry donor share disdain for proposals to regulate the price of prescription drugs. The same year it received PhRMA’s donation, the American Action Network launched <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2019/11/big-pharma-bankrolled-conservative-groups-tax-returns-show/" style="line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; touch-action: manipulation; background-color: transparent; transition: background-color 150ms ease-in-out 0s, border 150ms ease-in-out 0s, color 150ms ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline; max-height: 1e+06px;">several multi-million dollar ad campaigns</a> opposing President <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/2020-presidential-race/donald-trump/candidate?id=N00023864" style="line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; touch-action: manipulation; background-color: transparent; transition: background-color 150ms ease-in-out 0s, border 150ms ease-in-out 0s, color 150ms ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline; max-height: 1e+06px;">Donald Trump</a>’s proposal to let Medicare negotiate drug prices. This year, the group launched multi-million dollar ad campaigns opposing <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2020/01/07/american-action-network-backs-limited-drug-pricing-reform/" style="line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; touch-action: manipulation; background-color: transparent; transition: background-color 150ms ease-in-out 0s, border 150ms ease-in-out 0s, color 150ms ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline; max-height: 1e+06px;">House Democrats’ bill</a> to lower drug prices and ads <a href="https://americanactionnetwork.org/press/aan-releases-3-new-ads-continuing-4-million-advocacy-effort-to-pass-h-r-19/" style="line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; touch-action: manipulation; background-color: transparent; transition: background-color 150ms ease-in-out 0s, border 150ms ease-in-out 0s, color 150ms ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline; max-height: 1e+06px;">boosting vulnerable Republicans</a> who supported an alternative bill considered <a href="https://khn.org/morning-breakout/house-republicans-to-offer-up-their-own-plan-to-combat-high-drug-prices-to-counter-dems-aggressive-bill/" style="line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; touch-action: manipulation; background-color: transparent; transition: background-color 150ms ease-in-out 0s, border 150ms ease-in-out 0s, color 150ms ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline; max-height: 1e+06px;">much friendlier</a> to drugmakers. The alliance between drugmakers and GOP groups isn’t new. PhRMA has given $14.6 million to the American Action Network since 2016. In that time, the American Action Network became a major contributor to GOP causes. During the 2020 election cycle, it gave $26.4 million to the <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cycle=2020&cmte=C00504530" style="line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; touch-action: manipulation; transition: background-color 150ms ease-in-out 0s, border 150ms ease-in-out 0s, color 150ms ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline; max-height: 1e+06px;">Congressional Leadership Fund</a>, the House Republicans’ top super PAC that helped unseat several freshman Democrats.In several key 2020 races, the American Action Network battled with a Democratic group that also received funding from drugmakers. PhRMA gave nearly $1.6 million to Center Forward, a dark money group aligned with moderate Blue Dog Democrats, last year. That nonprofit provided most of the funding for an <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C00568444&cycle=2020" style="background-color: transparent; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; touch-action: manipulation; transition: background-color 150ms ease-in-out 0s, border 150ms ease-in-out 0s, color 150ms ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline; max-height: 1e+06px;">allied super PAC</a> that spent $3.3 million supporting House Democrats. The pharma-backed GOP and Democratic groups went head-to-head in several key House races, including a <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/fight-for-upstate-new-york-house-race-continues-in-court-11607299200" style="background-color: transparent; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; touch-action: manipulation; transition: background-color 150ms ease-in-out 0s, border 150ms ease-in-out 0s, color 150ms ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline; max-height: 1e+06px;">tightly contested New York race</a> that has come down to a handful of votes.Late last year, as Congress debated drug pricing bills, Center Forward <a href="https://readsludge.com/2019/12/12/pharma-funded-dark-money-group-hosts-house-staffers-for-california-junket/" style="line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; touch-action: manipulation; background-color: transparent; transition: background-color 150ms ease-in-out 0s, border 150ms ease-in-out 0s, color 150ms ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline; max-height: 1e+06px;">flew House staffers</a> to San Francisco to meet with drug company executives. The nonprofit’s board members have also lobbied for pharmaceutical interests. Republicans in Congress are the most vocal opponents of efforts to have the government regulate drug prices — a measure that would damage drugmakers’ profits — but Blue Dog Democrats also <a href="https://readsludge.com/2020/10/09/blue-dog-affiliated-group-runs-ads-for-big-pharma/" style="line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; touch-action: manipulation; background-color: transparent; transition: background-color 150ms ease-in-out 0s, border 150ms ease-in-out 0s, color 150ms ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline; max-height: 1e+06px;">pushed back</a> on more aggressive proposals to lower drug prices.<h2 style="line-height: inherit; margin: 1.5em 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; clear: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Drugmakers bankroll groups pushing industry talking points to Trump</h2>Prominent drugmakers have spent much of 2020 developing vaccines to fight COVID-19, and the threat of drug pricing legislation in Congress has died down amid the pandemic. But Trump has continued to push forward with executive actions on prescription drugs opposed by the pharmaceutical industry. PhRMA deployed creative tactics in an attempt to persuade Trump against following through on his campaign promise to aggressively lower drug prices. During the Trump era, the trade association has bankrolled conservative groups that have access to the president. The American Conservative Union, which hosts the annual <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2020/02/cpac-2020-gets-cozy/" style="line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; touch-action: manipulation; transition: background-color 150ms ease-in-out 0s, border 150ms ease-in-out 0s, color 150ms ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline; max-height: 1e+06px;">Conservative Political Action Conference</a>, received $150,000 from PhRMA in 2019. Led by Trump ally and corporate lobbyist <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/revolving/rev_summary.php?id=33712" style="line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; touch-action: manipulation; transition: background-color 150ms ease-in-out 0s, border 150ms ease-in-out 0s, color 150ms ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline; max-height: 1e+06px;">Matt Schlapp</a>, the conservative nonprofit launched the Coalition Against Socialized Medicine late last year to <a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/jun/6/coalition-against-socialized-medicine-challenges-m/" style="line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; touch-action: manipulation; transition: background-color 150ms ease-in-out 0s, border 150ms ease-in-out 0s, color 150ms ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline; max-height: 1e+06px;">oppose efforts</a> to regulate drug prices and enact single-payer health care proposals. Nearly all of the coalition’s members received funding from drugmakers within the last two years. Big pharma’s trade group gave $505,000 to American Commitment, $78,500 to Americans for a Balanced Budget and $60,000 to the Taxpayers Protection Alliance last year alone, according to new tax returns. The Taxpayers Protection Alliance launched a <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/528291-group-launches-ads-opposing-bipartisan-fix-to-surprise-medical-bills" style="line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; touch-action: manipulation; background-color: transparent; transition: background-color 150ms ease-in-out 0s, border 150ms ease-in-out 0s, color 150ms ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline; max-height: 1e+06px;">six-figure ad campaign</a> last month aimed at killing “surprise” medical billing legislation and calling it a “handout” to big insurance companies.New tax returns also show that pharmaceutical manufacturers’ trade group gave $200,000 to the National Sheriffs Association, a nonprofit representing thousands of law enforcement officials. The group <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2019/07/sheriffs-target-trump-w-ads-stop-prescription-drugs/" style="line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; touch-action: manipulation; transition: background-color 150ms ease-in-out 0s, border 150ms ease-in-out 0s, color 150ms ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline; max-height: 1e+06px;">launched a six-figure ad campaign</a> last year warning against Trump’s proposal to import drugs from foreign countries, a measure bitterly opposed by drugmakers. Those ads specifically targeted Trump, airing in Washington, D.C., on his favorite Fox News programs.Trump ultimately <a href="https://khn.org/news/trump-approves-final-plan-to-import-drugs-from-canada-for-a-fraction-of-the-price/" style="line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; touch-action: manipulation; background-color: transparent; transition: background-color 150ms ease-in-out 0s, border 150ms ease-in-out 0s, color 150ms ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline; max-height: 1e+06px;">approved a plan</a> to import drugs from Canada in September, but its scope was limited. He also <a href="https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/fiercepharmapolitics-trump-unveils-favored-nation-drug-pricing-executive-order-and-pharma" style="line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; touch-action: manipulation; background-color: transparent; transition: background-color 150ms ease-in-out 0s, border 150ms ease-in-out 0s, color 150ms ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline; max-height: 1e+06px;">moved ahead with a rule</a> that would allow Medicare to negotiate the cost of drugs based on the price foreign governments pay, another measure strongly opposed by drugmakers. Still, while Trump has moved ahead with industry-opposed measures, his GOP allies in Congress have not made drug pricing legislation a priority. Republican lawmakers and their aides are <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2019/11/big-pharma-bankrolled-conservative-groups-tax-returns-show/" style="line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; touch-action: manipulation; background-color: transparent; transition: background-color 150ms ease-in-out 0s, border 150ms ease-in-out 0s, color 150ms ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline; max-height: 1e+06px;">consistently fed</a> opinion pieces and ad campaigns from conservative groups urging them to reject “socialist price controls.”Republicans <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2020/09/gop-groups-attack-via-healthcare-talkingpoints/" style="line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; touch-action: manipulation; transition: background-color 150ms ease-in-out 0s, border 150ms ease-in-out 0s, color 150ms ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline; max-height: 1e+06px;">ran political ads</a> in 2020 that mirrored talking points from major healthcare industry players. Super PACs aligned with Senate Majority Leader <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/mitch-mcconnell/summary?cid=N00003389" style="line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; touch-action: manipulation; transition: background-color 150ms ease-in-out 0s, border 150ms ease-in-out 0s, color 150ms ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline; max-height: 1e+06px;">Mitch McConnell</a> (R-Ky.) attacked Democrats’ over their support for a public health insurance option, a proposal that could hurt drugmakers’ profits. Those ads cited a study from the Partnership For America’s Health Care Future, a conglomerate of insurers, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies that received $300,000 from PhRMA last year.<h2 style="line-height: inherit; margin: 1.5em 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; clear: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Longtime pharmaceutical ally gets seven-figure gift in retirement </h2>One of PhRMA’s largest 2019 gifts was a $2 million donation to the Orrin Hatch Foundation, a think tank and research library launched by former Sen. <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/summary?cid=N00009869" style="line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; touch-action: manipulation; transition: background-color 150ms ease-in-out 0s, border 150ms ease-in-out 0s, color 150ms ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline; max-height: 1e+06px;">Orrin Hatch</a> (R-Utah). The trade group gave $140,000 to the foundation between 2017 and 2018. Hatch, who retired in January 2019, <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Health/sen-orrin-hatchs-influence-us-health-care/story?id=60120082" style="line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; touch-action: manipulation; transition: background-color 150ms ease-in-out 0s, border 150ms ease-in-out 0s, color 150ms ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline; max-height: 1e+06px;">was known</a> as the pharmaceutical industry’s “man on the Hill” by the end of his 42-year tenure. Hatch helped shape current laws that regulate generic drugs and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/13/us/politics/utah-senator-crucial-ally-for-the-pacific-rim-trade-deal-is-now-its-main-hurdle.html" style="line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; touch-action: manipulation; transition: background-color 150ms ease-in-out 0s, border 150ms ease-in-out 0s, color 150ms ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline; max-height: 1e+06px;">opposed measures</a> to limit drugmakers’ monopoly protections. As chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Hatch was <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/417524-drug-industry-nervous-about-grassleys-new-role" style="line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; touch-action: manipulation; transition: background-color 150ms ease-in-out 0s, border 150ms ease-in-out 0s, color 150ms ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline; max-height: 1e+06px;">considered the major roadblock</a> to drug pricing changes proposed by Democrats and Trump.the pharmaceuticals and health products industry <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/summary.php?ind=H04&cycle=All&recipdetail=M&sortorder=U" style="line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; touch-action: manipulation; transition: background-color 150ms ease-in-out 0s, border 150ms ease-in-out 0s, color 150ms ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline; max-height: 1e+06px;">gave $2.8 million</a> to Hatch’s campaign committee since 1998, more than any member of Congress who didn’t run for president. When Hatch faced a primary challenge in 2012, PhRMA <a href="https://publicintegrity.org/politics/drug-lobby-gave-750000-to-pro-hatch-nonprofit-in-utahs-u-s-senate-race/" style="line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; touch-action: manipulation; transition: background-color 150ms ease-in-out 0s, border 150ms ease-in-out 0s, color 150ms ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline; max-height: 1e+06px;">gave $750,000</a> to a super PAC boosting his reelection campaign. During Hatch’s final years in office, his allies reportedly <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/orrin-hatch-foundation-230555" style="line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; touch-action: manipulation; transition: background-color 150ms ease-in-out 0s, border 150ms ease-in-out 0s, color 150ms ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline; max-height: 1e+06px;">asked pharmaceutical companies and K Street lobbyists for donations</a> to fund the Orrin Hatch Foundation. In 2018, the foundation <a href="https://publicintegrity.org/politics/companies-court-lawmakers-with-charitable-giving-but-dont-always-disclose-the-funds/" style="line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; touch-action: manipulation; transition: background-color 150ms ease-in-out 0s, border 150ms ease-in-out 0s, color 150ms ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline; max-height: 1e+06px;">invited major corporations</a>, including pharmaceutical giant <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/merck-co/summary?id=D000000275" style="line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; touch-action: manipulation; transition: background-color 150ms ease-in-out 0s, border 150ms ease-in-out 0s, color 150ms ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline; max-height: 1e+06px;">Merck</a>, to a luxury mountain resort for a fundraiser.While the foundation will serve as a library to catalogue Hatch’s government service and provide civic education, it has also put out policy reports on pressing issues. Its <a href="https://www.flipsnack.com/six40/biosimilars-report-final/full-view.html" style="line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; touch-action: manipulation; background-color: transparent; transition: background-color 150ms ease-in-out 0s, border 150ms ease-in-out 0s, color 150ms ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline; max-height: 1e+06px;">most recent report</a> delves into how lawmakers can craft “sensible solutions to both foster innovative biologics and curb skyrocketing drug prices.”</div><div>
</div><div>=</div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/02/big-pharma/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">https://www.alternet.org/2022/02/big-pharma/</a></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Dozens of vulnerable House Democrats are worried that the party's stalled spending negotiations with Joe Manchin will cost them seats in the midterms — and hand Congress to the Republicans</div>Democrats planned to include legislation allowing <a href="https://www.salon.com/2021/10/29/pro-pharma-democrats-bill-to-lower-costs--advocates-ask-what-did-they-get-for-that/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Medicare to negotiate drug prices</a>, fulfilling a campaign promise that helped them win control of the House in the "blue wave" of 2018, as part of President Joe Biden's Build Back Better legislation. The plan ran into an <a href="https://www.salon.com/2021/09/23/big-pharma-firms-donated-750k-to-kyrsten-sinema--then-she-opposed-bill/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">expensive lobbying blitz</a> from the pharmaceutical industry, prompting Democrats to significantly water down the bill to limit the number of drugs Medicare could negotiate amid pushback from <a href="https://www.salon.com/2021/10/29/pro-pharma-democrats-bill-to-lower-costs--advocates-ask-what-did-they-get-for-that/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., and other industry-aligned Democrats</a> –– and that was before Manchin blew up the Build Back Better package entirely."We cannot overstate the paramount urgency of fulfilling the promise of lowering drug prices now for the American people," a group of 40 House Democrats, led by Rep. Susan Wild, D-Pa., said in a <a href="https://twitter.com/RepSusanWild/status/1488185534241550337" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">letter</a> to party leaders on Monday.The letter came after pharmaceutical companies hiked prices on hundreds of medications to start the year. A <a href="https://patientsforaffordabledrugs.org/2022/01/12/a-new-year-brings-the-same-old-bad-behavior-by-big-pharma/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">recent report</a> from the patient advocacy group Patients for Affordable Drugs found that drug companies have increased prices on more than 550 drugs, including 183 drugs whose prices were raised by $100 or more, and 118 drugs that now cost more than $5,000. Pfizer alone raised prices on 125 drugs, more than any company, even as it shattered profit records thanks to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/02/business/pfizer-earnings/index.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">$36 billion</a> in sales from its widely-used COVID vaccine."Even as we enter the third year of a pandemic, Big Pharma continues its practice of targeting American patients and consumers with price increases, completely undeterred by the financial and health challenges facing American families," David Mitchell, the founder of Patients for Affordable Drugs, said in a statement."Drug corporations can do this because we let them — unlike other nations that use their purchasing power to get a better deal," said Mitchell, who suffers from an incurable blood cancer that is treated with a cocktail of drugs carrying a list price of more than $900,000 per year. The original drug-pricing agreement in the Build Back Better Act, he said, "would curb rising drug prices for millions of patients and halt abusive annual price hikes by limiting increases to the rate of inflation, which is projected to return to 2.3 percent in 2023."Election forecasts <a href="https://www.270towin.com/2022-senate-election-predictions/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">generally suggest</a> that Democrats will lose control of the House in the midterms, making the popular drug legislation a key priority, especially after Manchin and Sinema effectively killed off several other popular Democratic proposals, including a <a href="https://www.salon.com/2021/09/27/arizona-democrats-threaten-no-confidence-vote-against-sinema-as-she-blocks-hikes/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">rollback of the Trump-era tax cuts</a>, an extension of the expanded <a href="https://www.salon.com/2021/10/07/sanders-accuses-manchin-of-sabotage-over-demand-to-drop-family-child-care-medicare-provisions/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Child Tax Credit</a>, and <a href="https://www.salon.com/2021/10/28/joe-manchin-democrats-paid-family-and-leave-proposal-in-bidens-spending-bill/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">paid family leave</a>.A <a href="https://www.filesforprogress.org/datasets/2021/9/dfp_iia_sept27_blog_toplines.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Data for Progress poll</a> last fall found that likely voters support the Medicare legislation by a 55-point margin, including 83% of Democrats, 71% of independents, and 65% of Republicans."Taking action on prescription drugs is one of the most popular political issues Democrats can pursue — it's overwhelmingly supported by a bipartisan majority of voters," Sean McElwee, the founder and executive director of Data for Progress, said in an email. "Democrats need to take every opportunity to lower costs for voters and deliver popular legislation that visibly improves their lives this November."Manchin, who walked away from Build Back Better negotiations in December after the White House <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/manchin-says-white-house-staff-drove-him-reject-bidens-social-policy-plan-2021-12-20/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">called him out by name</a> in a statement over the bill's delay, said on Tuesday that the Build Back Better bill is <a href="https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook-pm/2022/02/01/manchin-on-bbb-its-dead-00004181" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">"dead"</a> and any negotiations on potential spending programs would have to start from scratch. Biden has said that he hopes to include "chunks" of the original bill in a potential compromise package with Manchin.Last year, Manchin said he supported the drug-price legislation, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-09-23/manchin-questions-medicare-expansion-backs-cutting-drug-prices" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">calling it</a> the "one thing that should be done for sure." But the West Virginia senator <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/manchin-more-interested-in-election-bill-than-biden-economic-plan-2022-1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">appears to be prioritizing</a> bipartisan negotiations to reform the Electoral Count Act over any would-be spending bill, leaving a key Democratic campaign promise in limbo."President Biden supports this plan. We support this plan," the House Democratic group said in their letter. "Every Democratic member of the U.S. Senate supports this plan. And most importantly, the American people support this plan. It is time to enact it into law. Already this year, drug corporations have raised prices on more than 400 drugs. Action can't happen soon enough to make medicines more affordable for the millions who need them."The price increases came after the pharmaceutical lobby <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/11/05/pharmaceutical-industry-drug-price-lobbying/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">shattered its own record</a> for lobbying spending as it rallied around the cause of defeating Biden's legislation. Democrats like Sinema and Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif., two of the biggest recipients of Big Pharma donations, <a href="https://www.salon.com/2021/10/25/not-just-sinema-sen-bob-menendez-took-1m-from-pharma-shoots-down-bill-to-lower-costs/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">led an effort to cut the number of drugs</a> that could be negotiated by Medicare. Even so, the compromise legislation would save taxpayers an estimated $80 billion while capping price increases on certain medications, capping out-of-pocket costs for seniors, and capping the cost of insulin at $35 for people on Medicare and on private plans.Medicare is the only government agency that is barred from negotiating bulk pricing discounts — the result of an infamous scheme hatched by <a href="https://www.salon.com/2021/10/29/pro-pharma-democrats-bill-to-lower-costs--advocates-ask-what-did-they-get-for-that/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Big Pharma lobbyists and a Republican leader</a> who rammed the provision into a bill that required Medicare to cover the cost of prescription drugs, shortly before he left Congress and became the top lobbyist for the industry. A <a href="https://oversight.house.gov/news/press-releases/chairwoman-maloney-releases-comprehensive-staff-report-culminating-the-committee" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">three-year investigation</a> by the House Oversight and Reform Committee last month found that pharmaceutical companies exploit the Medicare program to boost revenues, noting that taxpayers could have saved more than $25 billion over five years if Medicare was allowed to negotiate the cost of just seven popular drugs such as Humira and Lyrica.The investigation also found that drug companies "aggressively raise prices" to hit revenue targets and incentives for executives and have targeted the U.S. market for higher prices while keeping costs lower overseas. The report also concluded that drug companies "abuse the patent system" to suppress competition and maintain monopoly pricing. Drug companies contend that their huge profits are necessary to fund research and development, but the investigation found that the 14 leading drug companies spent $577 billion on stock buybacks and dividends over just five years, $56 billion more than they spent on research and development over that same period.The limited Medicare negotiation bill approved by the House last year would allow Medicare to negotiate the cost of 20 popular drugs and dozens of insulin products used by 8.5 million Medicare beneficiaries, according to a recent analysis by the <a href="https://www.kff.org/medicare/press-release/millions-of-medicare-beneficiaries-use-prescription-drugs-that-could-be-subject-to-price-negotiation-but-build-back-better-act-provision-exempts-many-drugs-with-high-federal-spending/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Kaiser Family Foundation</a>, although many of the drugs with the highest Medicare spending would be exempt.The Congressional Progressive Caucus, which pushed for a more expansive bill that would have saved taxpayers an estimated $450 billion over 10 years but ultimately agreed to back the scaled-down version, set a target date of March 1 to pass the revised spending plan ahead of Biden's State of the Union address."This is both achievable and necessary," CPC Chairwoman Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., said in a statement, noting that in the weeks since negotiations had stalled out, "the case for this legislation has only become more urgent."<div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Patriotic Millionaires</div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/01/wealthy-progressives-back-primaries-against-dems-tanking-party-agenda/" style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">https://www.alternet.org/2022/01/wealthy-progressives-back-primaries-against-dems-tanking-party-agenda/</a></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">cmn dr</div><div style="">A group of wealthy progressives announced Thursday that it will support primary challenges against Rep. Henry Cuellar, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, and other right-wing Democrats who have actively obstructed President Joe Biden's legislative agenda and, in the process, potentially boosted the GOP's chances of retaking Congress."These radical moderates have done more damage to President Biden’s agenda than Mitch McConnell and Ted Cruz combined," Erica Payne, president of the Patriotic Millionaires, said in a statement announcing the organization's endorsements for the looming 2022 midterms—and its plans to back campaigns to unseat right-wing Democrats in this year's elections and beyond."We must stop contributing to and endorsing candidates who are actively sabotaging the president's agenda.""Their outright sabotage of President Biden’s Build Back Better Agenda, likely done on behalf of their donors, left us with no choice—it's time to draw a line in the sand," Payne continued. "It's time for the American people to expect better from Democrats, and for the party to hold its elected officials to a higher standard."Founded in 2010 in opposition to then-President Barack Obama's extension of Bush-era tax cuts for the rich, the Patriotic Millionaires had never waded into the realm of congressional primaries before Thursday, when it officially endorsed Cuellar's progressive challenger Jessica Cisneros as well as Rep. Lucy McBath (D-Ga.), who is taking on Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux (D-Ga.) in Georgia's <a href="https://www.ajc.com/politics/bourdeaux-in-matchup-against-mcbath-says-she-has-incumbents-edge/QVFOF7B7MZDDXJCXOP2USKIKGM/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">newly drawn</a> 7th Congressional District.But the group doesn't intend on stopping there, pointing to a list of 15 congressional Democrats it characterizes as "<a href="https://taxtherich.com/the-problems/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">The Problem(s)</a>." In a <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2022/01/27/patriotic-millionaires-primary-democratic-incumbents" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">press release</a>, the Patriotic Millionaires said they plan to follow the endorsements of Cisneros and McBath with "further challenges to some of the Democrats who have spent the last year sabotaging the Biden agenda at every turn."The group <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/27/patriotic-millionaires-backs-primary-challenges-against-house-democrats-cuellar-bourdeaux.html?source=sharebar%7Ctwitter&par=sharebar" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">told</a> CNBC that its members will be providing financial support to the Democratic primary challengers it endorses.The Patriotic Millionaires' list of Democratic obstructionists includes prominent figures such as Sinema and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who for months have stood in the way of the Build Back Better package and defended the archaic legislative filibuster, which Republicans have <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/01/20/amid-slow-motion-coup-manchin-and-sinema-help-gop-sink-voting-rights" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">wielded repeatedly</a> to block voting rights legislation.Sinema and Manchin are both up for reelection in 2024.Also featured on the organization's list are Democratic Reps. Richard Neal (Mass.), Jared Golden (Maine), Josh Gottheimer (N.J.), and Ed Case (Hawaii)."Our country is becoming unstable, largely due to rapidly growing inequality," Morris Pearl, the chair of the Patriotic Millionaires, said in a statement Thursday. "A small number of radical so-called moderates have stood in the way of even the most commonsense reforms because they are too beholden to a few shortsighted ultra-wealthy people. They have decided to have people who work for a living fall further and further behind to preserve the wealth of millionaires and billionaires."In addition to backing candidates challenging right-wing Democrats, the Patriotic Millionaires endorsed seven Democratic incumbents, including Reps. Katie Porter (Calif.), Andy Kim (N.J.), and Deborah Ross (N.C.)."It's time for Democratic donors to stand up for working people," said Pearl. "We must stop contributing to and endorsing candidates who are actively sabotaging the president's agenda.""If Democrats want to convince voters to support them, they need to show voters that being a Democrat means something," he added. "The people we are endorsing are the tireless champions of working people that the party needs more of. It’s time to focus our support and resources behind candidates like them, rather than ones that will actively undermine their colleagues and the country."Shortly before the Patriotic Millionaires unveiled their endorsements, another progressive organization—Progressive Democrats of America (PDA)—<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2022/01/27/progressive-democrats-america-pda-endorses-14-progressive-superstars-re-election" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">announced</a> its official support for the reelection campaigns of Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Cori Bush (D-Mo.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), and several others who represent the flipside of "The Problem(s).""Nothing is more essential for our movement than returning all of these progressive champions to Congress with resounding victories—just as nothing would please our opponents more than their defeat," said Alan Minsky, PDA's executive director. "They will pour money into any campaign challenging AOC, or Rashida Tlaib, or Jamaal Bowman, et al., but we can defeat them with an avalanche of small donations.""Over the next several days, we will announce endorsements for additional incumbents," Minsky continued. "Many excellent progressives will be added to this already-impressive list, a clear sign that progressive power and influence is growing in Congress and across the country."
---ref  https://taxtherich.com/the-problems/
no lnxThe desperate need in this country coupled with skyrocketing levels of wealth concentration requires bold action. Refusing to address this inequality is counter to everything the Democratic Party claims to stand for and is, frankly, at this moment in history, un-American. 
The President of the United States, who is also the head of the Democratic Party, has called for $3.5 trillion worth of investments and new revenues to match those expenditures. We hope and expect members of the President’s party to support his agenda in its entirety. 
The following Democrats have refused to support the President’s agenda and are actively working to maintain preferential treatment for millionaires, billionaires and corporations:

U.S. SENATE DEMOCRATS
SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV)Email using this link!
Or call: 202-224-3954
Manchin wants to begin with rolling back the TCJA and moving from there.

SEN. KYRSTEN SINEMA (D-AZ)Email using this link!
Or call: 202-224-4521
Sinema refuses to state what problems she has with the bill and what size package she would vote for. She has met with President Biden several times with no immediate action steps.
U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRATS
REP. RICHARD NEAL (D-MA), Chair of House Ways and MeansEmail using this link!
Or call: (202) 225-5601
Neal has neglected to put a strong revenue-raising package together through taxes exclusively on millionaires, billionaires, and corporations, despite the majority of the Ways and Means committee being in favor of such a plan.

REP. CAROLYN BOURDEAUX (D-GA)Email using this link!
Or call: 202-225-4272
Bourdeaux has concerns about the elimination of the stepped-up basis. She is more supportive than she lets on publicly though.

REP. ED CASE (D-HI)Email using this link!
Or call: 202-225-2726
Case is worried about eliminating the stepped-up basis loophole and does not want to tax unrealized capital gains.

REP. LOU CORREA (D-CA)Email using this link!
Or call: 202 225-2965
Congressman Correa says we need to “pause” efforts to ensure multinational corporations pay their fair share of taxes.

REP. JIM COSTA (D-CA)Email using this link!
Or call: 202-225-3341
Costa won’t support regressive tax increases and is concerned about inflation. He is fearful of voting for a bill that will die in the Senate.

REP. HENRY CUELLAR (D-TX)Email using this link!
Or call: 202-225-3341
Cuellar has said he does not want to vote for bill that will fail in the Senate. He is also unhappy with the targeting of oil and natural gas industries in the bill.

REP. JOSH GOTTHEIMER (D-NJ)Email using this link!
Or call: 202-225-4465
Gottheimer mostly wants to make sure BIF gets passed, and passes before the larger reconciliation package. He insists on only passing a bill that will also pass cleanly in the Senate. He also wants to see SALT amended in reconciliation.

REP. STEPHANIE MURPHY (D-FL)Email using this link!
Or call: 202 225-4035
Murphy has issues with raising taxes. She wants to tackle climate change but doesn’t think we need to change taxes to do it. She toes a complicated line between being ‘fiscally responsible’ and focused on ‘tax fairness,’ yet she somehow doesn’t support amending our tax structure. She will not vote for a bill that is not agreed upon with the Senate.

REP. TOM O’HALLERAN (D-AZ)Email using this link!
Or call: 202-225-3361
Congressman O’Halleran says we need to “pause” efforts to ensure multinational corporations pay their fair share of taxes.

REP. SCOTT PETERS (D-CA)Email using this link!
Or call: 202-225-0508
Scott Peters voted against allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices, which would immediately lower drug prices for seniors. He has intimated that he may be a “no” on the entire package.

REP. KATHLEEN RICE (D-NY)Email using this link!
Or call: (202) 225-5516
Rice voted against allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices, which would immediately lower drug prices for seniors. 90% of her constituents and 80% of all Americans support allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices. Approximately 100% of Pharmaceutical companies do not support allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices, on the other hand, and they give campaign contributions to politicians who support their position.

REP. KURT SCHRADER (D-OR)Email using this link!
Or call: 202-225-5711
Schrader says the reconciliation number is too high, and he won’t support it unless it’s under $1 trillion. He is one of the votes we are most likely to lose in the House.</div>=<a href="https://www.alternet.org/wrong-way-democrats-will-blue-dog-blue-wave-pave-way-future-disaster">https://www.alternet.org/wrong-way-democrats-will-blue-dog-blue-wave-pave-way-future-disaster</a>5/18Congressional primaries in California are less than a month away, with

at least seven Republican-held seats seriously in play this November

(according to <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180503164709/https://www.cookpolitical.com/ratings/house-race-ratings" target="blank">Cook Political Report</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/swingleft/status/947184991598936070?lang=en" target="blank">targeted by Swing Left</a>),

the most of any state. Four of those seats are in or adjacent to Orange

County, once the home of Richard Nixon and the epicenter of

conservative power, where Democrats now hold a numerical advantage.But

there's a perverse twist. Thanks to California's nonpartisan "jungle

primary" -- in which the top two candidates advance to the general

election, regardless of party affiliation -- Democrats could conceivably

be shut out in as many as three of those races. Two Republican

incumbents are retiring -- Rep. Darrell Issa and Rep. Ed Royce -- while a

third, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, faces a serious GOP challenger. With an

overcrowded field of Democrats, it's possible that Republicans could

finish first and second in those primaries. For those reasons and

others, these Orange County races provide a miniature study in the

struggles inside the Democratic Party today.On one hand, there's a

hyper-energized progressive base producing significant changes among

presidential hopefuls and other national figures. Jeff Spross argued

recently that “<a href="https://theweek.com/articles/769073/bernie-sanders-conquered-democratic-party" target="blank">Bernie Sanders has conquered the Democratic Party</a>,” at least as far as key policy proposals are concerned, given the broad support for <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-single-payer-bill-major-support-senate_us_59b87dc1e4b02da0e13d465f" target="blank">Medicare for All</a>, a <a href="https://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/335227-sanders-democrats-introduce-15-minimum-wage-bill" target="blank">$15 minimum wage</a> and <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/3/20/17124080/brian-schatz-debt-free-college-plan-senate" target="blank">debt-free college education</a>, and growing support for various versions of a national job guarantee from such diverse figures as <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/why-democrats-should-embrace-a-federal-jobs-guarantee/" target="blank">Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York,</a> <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/4/20/17260578/cory-booker-job-guarantee-bill-full-employment-darity-hamilton" target="blank">Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey</a> and, less surprisingly, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/04/23/bernie-sanders-to-unveil-plan-to-guarantee-every-american-a-job/" target="_blank">Sanders</a>. It's somewhat reminiscent of the way the 2008 campaign advanced the single issue of health care reform....==<a href="http://www.electionreturns.state.pa.us/ElectionsInformation.aspx?FunctionID=13&ElectionID=45&OfficeID=11">PA-12, PA-17</a>: The biggest news from Pennsylvania's primaries on Tuesday night may be the losses of two different Blue Dog Democratic House members: Jason Altmire in PA-12 and Tim Holden in PA-17. Altmire lost to fellow member Mark Critz by a 54-46 margin; the two of them were forced into the same southwest Pennsylvania district by a Republican-drawn map. The majority of redrawn PA-12 is on Altmire's turf, but Critz managed to eke out the victory thanks to aggressive labor backing and huge turnout in his own smaller portion of the district (in the Johnstown area). Critz is no liberal either, but is considered more labor-friendly than Altmire.

The other loss was Holden in the 17th, which was redrawn dramatically to be a Democratic vote sink for the cities of northeastern Pennsylvania. Holden has had great success fending off Republican challengers in GOP-leaning districts for the last few decades, but ran out of luck when put into a Dem-leaning district and facing an opponent from the left. (Also a big problem for Holden: less than a quarter of his new constituents were in his old district, so he was effectively a blank slate to most of them. His opponent, Matt Cartwright, is a well-known local trial lawyer in the Scranton area, and may have actually had the name rec advantage despite not having an incumbency advantage.)

wiki:

<div id="jump-to-nav" class="mw-jump">Jump to: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dog_Coalition#mw-head">navigation</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dog_Coalition#p-search">search</a></div>

The Blue Dog Coalition, commonly known as the Blue Dogs, is a group of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Congressional_Representative" title="United States Congressional Representative" class="mw-redirect">United States Congressional Representatives</a> from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Party_%28United_States%29" title="Democratic Party (United States)">Democratic Party</a> who identify themselves as moderates.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dog_Coalition#cite_note-0">[1]</a>

It was formed in 1995<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dog_Coalition#cite_note-1">[2]</a> during the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/104th_United_States_Congress" title="104th United States Congress">104th Congress</a> to give more conservative members from the Democratic party a unified voice after the Democrats' loss of Congress in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections,_1994" title="United States House of Representatives elections, 1994">U.S. Congressional election of 1994</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dog_Coalition#cite_note-2">[3]</a> Blue Dog Coalition membership for the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/112th_Congress" title="112th Congress" class="mw-redirect">112th Congress</a> is 26 seats, down from 54 seats in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/111th_Congress" title="111th Congress" class="mw-redirect">111th Congress</a>.

<h2>Contents</h2>

</div>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dog_Coalition#History">1 History</a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-2"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dog_Coalition#110th_Congress">1.1 110th Congress</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-3"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dog_Coalition#111th_Congress">1.2 111th Congress</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-4"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dog_Coalition#112th_Congress">1.3 112th Congress</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-5"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dog_Coalition#113th_Congress">1.4 113th Congress</a></li>

</ul>

</li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-6"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dog_Coalition#Ideology">2 Ideology</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-7"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dog_Coalition#Funding">3 Funding</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-8"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dog_Coalition#Political_relationships">4 Political relationships</a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-9"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dog_Coalition#New_Democrat_Coalition">4.1 New Democrat Coalition</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-10"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dog_Coalition#Liberals">4.2 Liberals</a></li>

</ul>

</li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-11"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dog_Coalition#Membership">5 Membership</a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-12"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dog_Coalition#Members_in_the_112th_Congress">5.1 Members in the 112th Congress</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-13"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dog_Coalition#Members_who_didn.27t_run_for_House_re-election_in_2010">5.2 Members who didn't run for House re-election in 2010</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-14"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dog_Coalition#Members_defeated_in_2010_election">5.3 Members defeated in 2010 election</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-15"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dog_Coalition#Former_members">5.4 Former members</a></li>

</ul>

</li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-17"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dog_Coalition#References">7 References</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-18"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dog_Coalition#External_links">8 External links</a></li>

</ul>

</td></tr></tbody></table>

<h2>History</h2>

<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama" title="Barack Obama">Barack Obama</a> meets with Blue Dog Democrats on February 10, 2009</div>

</div>

The term "Blue Dog Democrat" is credited to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas" title="Texas">Texas</a> Democratic Rep. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Geren" title="Pete Geren">Pete Geren</a> (who later joined the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidency_of_George_W.Bush" title="Presidency of George W. Bush">Bush Administration</a>). Geren opined that the members had been "choked blue" by "extreme" Democrats from the left.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dog_Coalition#cite_note-3">[4]</a> It is related to the political term "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_Dog_Democrat" title="Yellow Dog Democrat" class="mw-redirect">Yellow Dog Democrat</a>," a reference to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_South" title="United States South" class="mw-redirect">southern</a> Democrats said to be so loyal they would even vote for a yellow dog if it were labeled Democrat. The term is also a reference to the "Blue Dog" paintings of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cajun" title="Cajun">Cajun</a> artist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Rodrigue" title="George Rodrigue">George Rodrigue</a> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lafayette,Louisiana" title="Lafayette, Louisiana">Lafayette, Louisiana</a>, as the original members of the coalition would regularly meet in the offices of Louisiana representatives <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Tauzin" title="Billy Tauzin">Billy Tauzin</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Hayes" title="Jimmy Hayes">Jimmy Hayes</a>, both of whom later joined the Republican Party; both had Rodrigue's paintings on their walls.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dog_Coalition#cite_note-bluedog.time-4">[5]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dog_Coalition#cite_note-5">[6]</a> An additional explanation for the term cited by members is "when dogs are not let into the house, they stay outside in the cold and turn blue," a reference to the Blue Dogs' belief they had been left out of a Party that they believed had shifted to the political left.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dog_Coalition#cite_note-6">[7]</a>

Although its membership is not exclusively Southern, some<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dog_Coalition#cite_note-7">[8]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dog_Coalition#cite_note-8">[9]</a> view the Blue Dogs as the political successors to a now defunct-in-name Southern Democratic group known as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boll_weevil_%28politics%29" title="Boll weevil (politics)">Boll Weevils</a>, who played a critical role in the early 1980s by supporting President <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan" title="Ronald Reagan">Ronald Reagan</a>'s tax cut plan. The Boll Weevils, in turn, may be considered the descendants of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixiecrats" title="Dixiecrats" class="mw-redirect">Dixiecrats</a> and the "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/States%27_rights" title="States' rights">states' rights</a>" Democrats of the 1940s through the 1960s.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dog_Coalition#cite_note-glossary-9">[10]</a>

The coalition was notably successful in a special election of February 2004 in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentucky" title="Kentucky">Kentucky</a> to fill a vacant seat in the House of Representatives.[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed">citation needed</a>] They were also successful in the November 2004 elections, when three of the five races in which a Democrat won a formerly Republican House seat were won by Blue Dogs.

In 2005, the members of the Blue Dog Coalition voted 32 to 4 in favor of the bill to limit access to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bankruptcy" title="Bankruptcy">bankruptcy</a> protection (S 256).

While the Blue Dog Coalition is made up of House members, the term "Blue Dog" is sometimes used informally for Democratic senators, governors, or state legislators who resemble the Blue Dog Coalition positions based on their politics. Current such Senators include <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Nelson" title="Ben Nelson">Ben Nelson</a> (D-NE) and the newly elected <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Manchin" title="Joe Manchin">Joe Manchin</a> (D-WV)....

Blue Dog membership was nearly cut in half by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections,_2010" title="United States House of Representatives elections, 2010">2010 Election</a>, in which 26 members were re-elected but 28 were either defeated or chose not to run for re-election.

The membership is expected to decline further in the 113th Congress. Membership is already down to 25 with the resignation of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Harman" title="Jane Harman">Jane Harman</a>, one of their more liberal members. Furthermore, two prominent remaining Blue Dogs, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Boren" title="Dan Boren">Dan Boren</a> of Oklahoma and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Ross%28politician%29" title="Mike Ross (politician)">Mike Ross</a> of Arkansas, have announced their retirement; one member, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Donnelly" title="Joe Donnelly">Joe Donnelly</a> of Indiana, is running for Senate (partially due to Republican redistricting efforts); and more members, such as North Carolina's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heath_Shuler" title="Heath Shuler">Heath Shuler</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_McIntyre" title="Mike McIntyre">Mike McIntyre</a> as well as Georgia's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Barrow%28U.S._politician%29" title="John Barrow (U.S. politician)">John Barrow</a>, have been or will be targeted by Republicans in redistricting efforts.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dog_Coalition#cite_note-22">[23]</a> Additionally, the group is likely to shrink further with the defeat of Jason Altmire and Tim Holden in Pennsylvania primary. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dog_Coalition#cite_note-23">[24]</a>

Freshman Blue Dogs in the House are sometimes nicknamed "Blue Pups".<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dog_Coalition#cite_note-bluedog.time-4">[5]</a>

<h3>Members in the 112th Congress</h3>

Bolded names signify a Representative who has announced their retirement at the end of the 112th Congress or was defeated in their 2012 primary.

<ol>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Altmire" title="Jason Altmire">Jason Altmire</a> (PA-4)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Barrow%28U.S.politician%29" title="John Barrow (U.S. politician)">John Barrow</a> (GA-12), Co-Chair for Policy</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanford_Bishop" title="Sanford Bishop">Sanford Bishop</a> (GA-2)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Boren" title="Dan Boren">Dan Boren</a> (OK-2), Blue Dog Whip</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Boswell" title="Leonard Boswell">Leonard Boswell</a> (IA-3)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Cardoza" title="Dennis Cardoza">Dennis Cardoza</a> (CA-18)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Chandler" title="Ben Chandler">Ben Chandler</a> (KY-6)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Cooper" title="Jim Cooper">Jim Cooper</a> (TN-5)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Costa" title="Jim Costa">Jim Costa</a> (CA-20)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Cuellar" title="Henry Cuellar">Henry Cuellar</a> (TX-28)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Donnelly" title="Joe Donnelly">Joe Donnelly</a> (IN-2)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Holden" title="Tim Holden">Tim Holden</a> (PA-17)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Kissell" title="Larry Kissell">Larry Kissell</a> (NC-8)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Matheson" title="Jim Matheson">Jim Matheson</a> (UT-2)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_McIntyre" title="Mike McIntyre">Mike McIntyre</a> (NC-7)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Michaud" title="Mike Michaud">Mike Michaud</a> (ME-2)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collin_Peterson" title="Collin Peterson">Collin Peterson</a> (MN-7)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Ross_%28politician%29" title="Mike Ross (politician)">Mike Ross</a> (AR-4), Co-Chair for Communications</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loretta_Sanchez" title="Loretta Sanchez">Loretta Sanchez</a> (CA-47)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Schiff" title="Adam Schiff">Adam Schiff</a> (CA-29)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Schrader" title="Kurt Schrader">Kurt Schrader</a> (OR-5)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Scott_%28Georgia_politician%29" title="David Scott (Georgia politician)">David Scott</a> (GA-13)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heath_Shuler" title="Heath Shuler">Heath Shuler</a> (NC-11), Co-Chair for Administration</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Thompson" title="Mike Thompson">Mike Thompson</a> (CA-1)</li>

</ol>

</div>

<h3>Members who didn't run for House re-election in 2010</h3>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Marion_Berry" title="Robert Marion Berry">Robert Marion Berry</a> (AR-1)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brad_Ellsworth" title="Brad Ellsworth">Brad Ellsworth</a> (IN-8) (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_election_in_Indiana,_2010" title="United States Senate election in Indiana, 2010">ran for Senate in 2010</a>, lost)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bart_Gordon" title="Bart Gordon">Bart Gordon</a> (TN-6)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Melancon" title="Charlie Melancon">Charlie Melancon</a> (LA-3), Blue Dog Co-Chair for Communications (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_election_in_Louisiana,_2010" title="United States Senate election in Louisiana, 2010">ran for Senate in 2010</a>, lost)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Moore" title="Dennis Moore">Dennis Moore</a> (KS-3)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_S._Tanner" title="John S. Tanner">John Tanner</a> (TN-8)</li>

</ul>

<h3>Members defeated in 2010 election</h3>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Arcuri" title="Mike Arcuri">Mike Arcuri</a> (NY-24)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa_Bean" title="Melissa Bean">Melissa Bean</a> (IL-8)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_Boyd" title="Allen Boyd">Allen Boyd</a> (FL-2)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Bright" title="Bobby Bright">Bobby Bright</a> (AL-2)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Carney" title="Chris Carney">Chris Carney</a> (PA-10)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travis_Childers" title="Travis Childers">Travis Childers</a> (MS-1)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathy_Dahlkemper" title="Kathy Dahlkemper">Kathy Dahlkemper</a> (PA-3)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Davis" title="Lincoln Davis">Lincoln Davis</a> (TN-4)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephanie_Herseth_Sandlin" title="Stephanie Herseth Sandlin">Stephanie Herseth Sandlin</a> (SD-AL), Blue Dog Co-Chair for Administration</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baron_Hill" title="Baron Hill">Baron Hill</a> (IN-9), Blue Dog Co-Chair for Policy</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Kratovil" title="Frank Kratovil">Frank Kratovil</a> (MD-1)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betsy_Markey" title="Betsy Markey">Betsy Markey</a> (CO-4)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Marshall_%28Georgia%29" title="Jim Marshall (Georgia)" class="mw-redirect">Jim Marshall</a> (GA-8)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Minnick" title="Walt Minnick">Walt Minnick</a> (ID-1)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Mitchell" title="Harry Mitchell">Harry Mitchell</a> (AZ-5)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Murphy_%28politician%29" title="Patrick Murphy (politician)">Patrick Murphy</a> (PA-8)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Murphy" title="Scott Murphy">Scott Murphy</a> (NY-20)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Nye" title="Glenn Nye">Glenn Nye</a> (VA-2)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_Pomeroy" title="Earl Pomeroy">Earl Pomeroy</a> (ND-AL)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Salazar" title="John Salazar">John Salazar</a> (CO-3)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zack_Space" title="Zack Space">Zack Space</a> (OH-18)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Taylor_%28Mississippi%29" title="Gene Taylor (Mississippi)">Gene Taylor</a> (MS-4)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Wilson_%28Ohio_politician%29" title="Charlie Wilson (Ohio politician)">Charlie Wilson</a> (OH-6)</li>

</ul>

</div>

<h3>Former members</h3>

Prominent Blue Dog Coalition members who have left the House or the coalition include:

<ul>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brad_Carson" title="Brad Carson">Brad Carson</a> (OK-2) (retired from the House to run for the Senate in 2004, losing to Republican <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Coburn" title="Tom Coburn">Tom Coburn</a>)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Condit" title="Gary Condit">Gary Condit</a> (CA-18) (defeated by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Cardoza" title="Dennis Cardoza">Dennis Cardoza</a> in 2002 Democratic primary)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bud_Cramer" title="Bud Cramer" class="mw-redirect">Bud Cramer</a> (AL-5) (retired from the House in 2009)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Ford_Jr." title="Harold Ford Jr." class="mw-redirect">Harold Ford Jr.</a> (TN-9) (retired from the House to run for the Senate in 2006, losing to Republican <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Corker" title="Bob Corker">Bob Corker</a>)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabrielle_Giffords" title="Gabrielle Giffords">Gabrielle Giffords</a> (AZ-8) (retired from the House in January 2012 to recover from injuries sustained in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Tucson_shooting" title="2011 Tucson shooting">2011 Tucson shooting</a>)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirsten_Gillibrand" title="Kirsten Gillibrand">Kirsten Gillibrand</a> (NY-20) (appointed to Senate in 2009)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parker_Griffith" title="Parker Griffith">Parker Griffith</a> (AL-5) (became a Republican in 2009, defeated in 2010 Republican primary by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mo_Brooks" title="Mo Brooks">Mo Brooks</a>)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Hall" title="Ralph Hall">Ralph Hall</a> (TX-4) (became a Republican in 2004 and is still a member of the House)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Harman" title="Jane Harman">Jane Harman</a> (CA-36) (resigned in 2011)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Lampson" title="Nick Lampson">Nick Lampson</a> (TX-22) (defeated by Republican <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Olson" title="Pete Olson">Pete Olson</a> in 2008)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Lipinski" title="Bill Lipinski">Bill Lipinski</a> (IL-3) (retired from the House in 2005)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Lucas" title="Ken Lucas">Ken Lucas</a> (KY-4) (retired from the House in 2005)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Mahoney" title="Tim Mahoney">Tim Mahoney</a> (FL-16) (defeated by Republican <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Rooney_%28politician%29" title="Tom Rooney (politician)">Tom Rooney</a> in 2008)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Minge" title="David Minge">David Minge</a> (MN-2) (defeated by Republican <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Kennedy_%28politician%29" title="Mark Kennedy (politician)">Mark Kennedy</a> in 2000)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_D._Phelps" title="David D. Phelps">David D. Phelps</a> (IL-19) (defeated by Republican <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Shimkus" title="John Shimkus">John Shimkus</a> following <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_United_States_Census" title="2000 United States Census">2002 redistricting</a>)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owen_Pickett" title="Owen Pickett" class="mw-redirect">Owen Pickett</a> (VA-2) (retired from the House in 2001)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Sandlin" title="Max Sandlin">Max Sandlin</a> (TX-1) (defeated by Republican <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louie_Gohmert" title="Louie Gohmert">Louie Gohmert</a> following <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Texas_redistricting" title="2003 Texas redistricting">2003 Texas redistricting</a>)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Stenholm" title="Charles Stenholm">Charlie Stenholm</a> (TX-17) (defeated by Republican <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Neugebauer" title="Randy Neugebauer">Randy Neugebauer</a> following <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Texas_redistricting" title="2003 Texas redistricting">2003 Texas redistricting</a>)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Tauzin" title="Billy Tauzin">Billy Tauzin</a> (LA-3) (became a Republican in 1995)</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Turner_%28politician%29" title="Jim Turner (politician)">Jim Turner</a> (TX-2) (retired from House following 2003 Texas redistricting)</li>

</ul>

</div>

vote on contempt for eric holder: http://peaceandjustice.org/article.php?story=20120629085031114

The roster of Democratic shame (updated thanks to David Nir; asterisks denote members of Blue Dog coalition):

Jason Altmire (PA-04, lost primary in PA-12) *

John Barrow (GA-12) *

Dan Boren (OK-02, retiring) *

Leonard Boswell (IA-03) *

Ben Chandler (KY-06) *

Mark Critz (PA-12)

Joe Donnelly (IN-02, running for IN-Sen) *

Kathy Hochul (NY-26)

Ron Kind (WI-03)

Larry Kissell (NC-08) *

Jim Matheson (UT-02, running in UT-04) *

Mike McIntyre (NC-07) *

Bill Owens (NY-23, running in NY-21)

Collin Peterson (MN-07) *

Nick Rahall (WV-03)

Mike Ross (AR-04, retiring) *

Tim Walz (MN-01)

</div>