Blue Dog Democrats, Staunch Bush Allies

A tightly-knit group of self-styled moderate and conservative Democrats in the House of Representatives known as the Blue Dog Coalition supported controversial legislation granting the Bush administration expanded powers to spy on Americans. The group was instrumental in passing legislation that was opposed by a vast majority of Democrats.

According to their web site, the coalition named themselves Blue Dogs because "their moderate-to-conservative-views had been 'choked blue' by their party in the years leading up to the 1994 election." They have had some success taking seats from Republican incumbents. According to their web site, 24 Blue Dogs won elections against Republican incumbents since 1996.

The Blue Dogs pride themselves on being a fiscally conservative group intent on balancing the national budget and paying down the almost $9 trillion national debt. Tim Mahoney, who became the Representative for the 16th district of Florida after disgraced Republican Mark Foley dropped out of the 2006 election, recently became a member of the Blue Dogs. When he joined up, Mahoney described the coalition as a select group with an agenda. "We're hawks on national defense, we're pro-business, especially small business, and we believe in balancing the budget," Mahoney said. According to Mahoney, he faced a thorough vetting process before being accepted into the group. "You have to be interviewed and accepted by the group. You have to be able to demonstrate that you're ideologically supportive of being fiscally conservative. You show them speeches and statements you've made in the past," Mahoney told the Charlotte Sun, a local paper from his district.

The Blue Dogs have apparently informed the Democratic leadership in the House that they support the ongoing occupation of Iraq. According to Mahoney, he met with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and told her "The president should be free to maintain troops in Iraq, if the purpose is to thwart terrorism."

Mahoney's description of the Blue Dog's hawkish stance is not officially part of their platform, according to their spokesperson and their web site. The group does not issue press releases on national defense votes, although they have played an instrumental role in passing controversial bills that have been framed by the Bush administration as legislation intended to prevent terrorism.

The Blue Dogs have provided key votes on controversial bills backed by the Bush administration. In September of 2006, 31 Democratic representatives voted with the Republican majority in the House to pass The Military Commissions Act. The controversial act empowered Bush to designate individuals as "enemy combatants," and deny them certain legal rights. Twenty-three of the Democrats who supported the bill were Blue Dogs. At 10:20 PM on Saturday, August 4, 2007, with the help of 31 Blue Dogs, the House Republicans passed the Protect America Act, a bill that altered the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and weakened safeguards against domestic warrantless wiretapping. The bill, a replica of a proposal by the Bush administration, passed with a 44 vote margin, with 227 Yeas and 183 Nays. Despite comprising 76 percent of the Democratic support for the bill, communications director for the Blue Dogs, Kristen Hawn, said that the Blue Dog Coalition took no official position on the bill.

Despite the fracture among Democrats, Pelosi allowed the Republican bill to come to the floor for a vote. After it passed, she went on record saying that the bill "does violence to the Constitution of the United States."

Earlier in the week, a FISA revision proposed by the Democrats as a compromise with the Bush administration was placed on the suspension calendar by the Speaker. This procedural move made the bill safe from amendments but also significantly raised the number of votes required to pass it. Because of the move, the bill required a two-thirds majority vote, a margin the Democrats were unable to achieve. The Democratic leadership was faced with a choice: allow the President's bill to come to the floor, or defy the President's demand for action and take their summer recess without updating FISA. Pelosi's office did not return phone calls for comment.

Michelle Richardson, Legislative Consultant for the ACLU in Washington, D.C., said that legislation left many issues unresolved and open to interpretation by the Bush administration. "The FISA bill is an absolute embarrassment. The idea that Congress would pass legislation, in this day and age, that would allow the government to spy on Americans with out any independent review from the courts or Congress is unbelievable."

According to Richardson, the bill does not address vital spying protocol issues. "We don't know how information will be collected, who has access to the data or how it can be used. The next bill should put specific and explicit controls on whether and how to collect or use the US phone calls and emails that are collected," Richardson said.

Democrats have vowed to revisit the legislation after the Congressional recess. In a letter to the Chairmen of the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees, Pelosi asked for new legislation to be crafted. "Many provisions of this legislation are unacceptable, and, although the bill has a six month sunset clause, I do not believe the American people will wait that long before corrective action is taken."

For the final vote tallies on the Protect America Act visit this link.
The Blue Dog Coalition consists of 47 members. The 31 who voted in favor of the "Protect America Act" are in bold.

Mike Arcuri (NY-24)
Joe Baca (CA-43)
John Barrow (GA-12)
Melissa Bean (IL-08)
Marion Berry (AR-01)
Sanford Bishop (GA-02)
Dan Boren (OK-02)
Leonard Boswell (IA-03)
Allen Boyd (FL-02)
Dennis Cardoza (CA-18)
Christopher Carney (PA-10)
Ben Chandler (KY-06)
Jim Cooper (TN-05)
Jim Costa (CA-20)
Bud Cramer (AL-05)
Lincoln Davis (TN-04)
Joe Donnelly (IN-02)
Brad Ellsworth (IN-08)
Kirsten Gillibrand (NY-20)
Gabrielle Giffords (AZ-08)
Bart Gordon (TN-06)
Jane Harman (CA-36)
Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (SD)
Baron Hill (IN-09)
Tim Holden (PA-17)
Nick Lampson (TX-22)
Mike McIntyre (NC-07)
Tim Mahoney (FL-16)
Jim Marshall (GA-03)
Jim Matheson (UT-02)
Charles Melancon (LA-03)
Mike Michaud (ME-02)
Dennis Moore (KS-03)
Patrick Murphy (PA-08)
Collin Peterson (MN-07)
Earl Pomeroy (ND)
Mike Ross (AR-04)
John Salazar (CO-03)
Loretta Sanchez (CA-47)
Adam Schiff (CA-29)
David Scott (GA-13)
Heath Shuler (NC-11)
Zack Space (OH-18)
John Tanner (TN-08)
Gene Taylor (MS-04)
Mike Thompson (CA-01)
Charles Wilson (OH-06)

Matt Renner is an assistant editor and Washington reporter for Truthout.

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