Prominent Hispanic Congressmen Including Cuellar Supporting the Centrist Position for Economic Stimulus
The liberal media is presenting the economic recovery debate as having occurred between a united populist Democratic party with a single coherent plan and Republicans who wanted no stimulus plan at all which is far from a true picture. News has been leaking out all week that the Democrats in Congress are anything but united. Progressive social liberals and more conservative centrists are locking horns more and more. There is increasing tension between Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and her fellow Democrats which is being further wedged by the Obama administration.
Congressional Democrats have become divided into three groups. Traditional urban progressive liberals who have held their seats for decades are still in the leadership positions but are finding increasing dissent from two other groups. Forty-Seven mostly Southern Democrats are fiscal conservatives called Blue Dogs who also tend to support gun rights but tend to avoid outright criticism of liberal social issues. Their membership includes the Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Joe Baca (D-43). Another group called the New Democratic Coalition consisting of 58 members includes South Texas Congressman Henry Cuellar (D-28) has more recently come into focus as a centrist group which is beginning to join forces with the Obama administration in opposing Speaker Pelosi. The New Democratic Coalition has been in existence since 1997 but has been especially active in the 110th Congress. They are promoting business, economic growth, trade growth, and technology. They have distanced themselves away from the primary social focus of traditional urban Democrats. The President’s Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, was an influential member of the New Democratic Coalition when he was in Congress.
Congressman Cuellar announced this week that “the economy recovery bill recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives invests $3 billion in Texas infrastructure: shovel-ready projects that will create jobs today and serve our communities for decades. It includes $7.3 billion for Texas schools: money that will strengthen the economy immediately and improve our children’s lives for a generation. It invests $1.15 billion in land ports of entry, creating jobs in Texas and harnessing the power of trade to jumpstart our economy. And it will cut taxes for 95% of working Texans.”
Speaker Nancy Pelosi was widely criticized in a letter sent to the second highest Democrat in the Congress, Representative Hoyer,(D-MD) by 68 members of Congress from the Blue Dogs and New Democrats. They complained that the usual protocol for discussing and writing legislation was not carried in formulating the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (H.R. 1) which is the same complaint that the Republicans have made. There are many reports that the Obama administration has been encouraging Democratic members of Congress to vote to modify the differences between the House version and Senate version more towards the Senate version in defiance of Speaker Pelosi.
While in his public news conference Obama painted the picture of debate in the Congress as being between Democrats and Republicans many are saying privately the big issue emerging is that Obama needs to get the message across to Speaker Nancy Pelosi that Obama is calling the shots. At a retreat for Democratic lawmakers last weekend as reported by The Hill the Speaker stated the urgency of the situation forced her to rush the legislation but relented in saying that future legislation would be handled correctly. Congressional staffers have written anonymously in Politico.com that less than 10 Democratic Congressman were involved in the writing of the House stimulus plan.
Although the public is still giving high ratings to President Obama and appears to agree in general with his plans, a new Rasmussen poll indicates that 62% of Americans want a stimulus plan with more tax cuts and less spending and that 48% believe that increased spending is bad for the economy. Centrist and conservative Democrats are well aware that their potential for re-election in 2010 may hinge on perceptions of how they handled economy and that many economists have predicted that the economy may not improve by the next election.
Tony Magaña grew up in McAllen Texas, attended Texas A&M University, served as an officer in Army Reserve, and holds a doctorate from Harvard University. The co-founder of Contempo Magazine has participated in Valley business for over 20 years.He is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.
