Blue Dogs - Any Bite Or All Bark?

Bill Smith, ARRA Editor: The issue of the Employee Free Choice Act, or card check, is coming to a head for alleged "Blue Dog" democrat representatives from states like Arkansas. Blue Dogs have claimed to be different than their fellow democrats. But their numbers have been dwindling? So are Blue Dogs all bark or do they have some bite left on their side of the isle. With respect to Card Check which the majority of Arkansans oppose, Arkansas' Senators and Congressmen, blue dogs or not, will face this subject and will be forced to decide weather they side with their constituents or with Big Labor and Sen. Majority Reid or House Speaker Pelosi. David Sanders shares some insight:

Arkansas’ 1st District Democrat told chamber officials a few weeks ago that he wasn’t enamored with the Employee Free Choice Act, or card check. He told them he only voted for the legislation twice because he knew that President Bush would veto it. [Rep. Marion] Berry also recounted a recent discussion between his Blue Dogs and the House Democratic leadership in which they told leadership that EFCA wasn’t a free vote for them anymore and that their constituents were giving them a lot of grief over the issue.

And, he said the Blue Dogs strongly urged House leadership not to bring this bill back to the House floor until the Senate had passed something first. Until last week, no one else had reported on a Democratic member deriding EFCA or that the Blue Dogs had urged Democratic leaders to insist the Senate take up the bill first. . . .

Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said its passage is one of her highest priorities. Berry’s office did not comment specifically about his conversation with chamber officials, except to say the congressman believes the Senate, which has not shown an interest in addressing the issue to date, should consider the legislation first. . . .

[C]ompanies like Wal-Mart didn’t care about Berry’s support of the bill, now they do, which means in the future Berry may be a “pivotal player in stopping it (EFCA) from happening.” . . .

Washington’s Gary Sargent reported on his blog “The Plum Line” about a conversation with a senior Democratic aid who said the House leadership agreed with the Blue Dogs’ request that the House postpone a vote on EFCA until after the Senate voted on it.

If the Blue Dog’s sentiments are, in fact, shaping the House’s legislative calendar, then it underscores that unlike any other group or faction either inside or outside Congress, the 49 moderates hold enormous sway over Pelosi’s 255-member Democratic Caucus. Apparently these Blue Dogs have plenty of bite to go along with their bark.

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Tags: Arkansas, Blue Dogs, Card Check, David Sanders, EFCA, Marion Berry, Wal-Mart To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!