The 'Problem Solvers Caucus' Would Solve a Lot of Problems By Sitting Down and Shutting Up
Now that history's most comical legislative rebellion has been put to bed, and now that it looks like common sense may prevail and Nancy Pelosi likely will be the next Speaker of the House, we should all take a step back and admire how the rookies of the Class of 2018, especially the more progressive members of the congregation, handled themselves through the whole thing. These are some good, tough, smart congresscritters in the making, and they have come away with more clout within the caucus than the whole Third Way/No Labels clown show ever will have.
(And it is here where I stop and admit that I may have been wrong-Wrong!-about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She made some undeniable missteps early; getting involved in the Democratic primary in Kansas against Sharice Davids was chief among them. But since then, she hasn't made a wrong move. She announced her support for Pelosi early. Also, anyone who hasn't been entertained by her dunking on folks like Lindsey Graham all over social media lacks a sufficient appreciation of showbiz. She's making all the right people absolutely crazy. This is a good thing.)
By and large, none of them have put a foot wrong. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts announced her support for Pelosi and then went to Mississippi to campaign for Mike Espy. (It should be noted that Pressley and Ocasio-Cortez defeated a couple of Pelosi's staunchest allies in their respective primaries. Their jumping to her side shows a fine shrewdness about how power works, and Pelosi's willingness to bring them in shows the political shrewdness in her that ought to be beyond question now.) Jahana Hayes of Connecticut said during the campaign that she would not support Pelosi for Speaker, but announced on Tuesday that she would.
These people, many of whom never ran for office in their lives, have shown better instincts than their more veteran colleagues who attempted to ascend to the throne of Big Swinging Congressional Dicks, and who fell on their own in the process. And the punchline is the Commonwealth's own Seth Moulton, whom I believe can still be a decent member of Congress despite his obvious failings as a rebel commander. From Politico:
Some sources close to the group have privately accused one of its leaders, Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, of freelancing - publicly pushing a potential compromise with Pelosi that not all members support or were even aware was on the table. The anti-Pelosi forces have been struggling to regain their footing in the past several days after the longtime Democratic leader picked off two of their members, including a potential challenger. And the conflict over strategy among the group’s dozen-plus members threatens to thwart their plan to deny Pelosi the gavel...
The conflict over their endgame makes it that much harder to stick to a single strategy as Pelosi works on picking off individual members. Rep. Brian Higgins of New York pulled his name from the anti-Pelosi letter after she agreed to work with him on two of his pet projects - infrastructure investment and a lower age for Medicare enrollment. Another Pelosi critic, Rep. Marcia Fudge of Ohio, decided against challenging Pelosi after she was promised a subcommittee chairmanship.
The whole challenge, of course, was an attempt by the well-funded corporate gnomes of the Third Way, and No Labels, and the Problem Solvers Caucus-which is notable in political history for never having solved a single problem-to defang the new Democratic majority before it really gets rolling even in the mildest leftward direction.
Ryan Grim of The Intercept identified the meathead in the woodpile.
They’ve framed their challenge to Pelosi, a California Democrat, in terms of good government and high-minded bipartisanship. Yet the force behind their campaign is one of the most toxic and notorious partisan warriors the Democratic Party has produced in the past three decades: political and corporate consultant Mark Penn.
The Problem Solvers Caucus is made up of 12 Democrats and 12 Republicans; nine of the Democrats have publicly committed to opposing Pelosi on the House floor if she doesn’t meet their demands for House rules changes largely aimed at legislatively empowering Republicans. Combined with the holdouts from the last putsch effort, there would be enough votes to thwart Pelosi.
The Democratic chair of the Problem Solvers Caucus is Rep. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, who has been a protege of Penn’s since the 1990s, when he was just out of college. Gottheimer is one of the nine members making demands of Pelosi. She and the caucus will meet Tuesday afternoon to go over the group’s demands.
Mark Penn is the Typhoid Mary of bad political strategy. He is the Patient Zero of terrible political ideas. This guy couldn't get Jesus elected to a parish council. That he was involved in this cabal is only slightly less surprising than the fact that, because he was involved in it, it augured in after only a couple of weeks.
And, as Grim points out, he's not the only center of red-hot failure in the family.
The caucus was born out of meetings of congresspeople organized by No Labels, which was founded in 2010 as a bipartisan group, backed by wealthy donors, ostensibly dedicated to civility and good government. Nancy Jacobson, Penn’s wife, is the No Labels CEO, and Penn is also closely involved with the group. Gottheimer was elected to Congress in 2016 and co-founded the caucus, with Rep. Tom Reed, R-N.Y., shortly thereafter.
No Labels, of course, is another bag of horribles, and it was drunkenly careening all through the Democratic primary and general election campaigns in 2018. From The Atlantic:
But over the past year, No Labels’ leaders considered primary challenges to at least three incumbent House Democrats-starting with Pelosi, in January 2017. They also discussed running a primary challenge to freshman Darren Soto, a Florida Democrat. He had been elected with No Labels’ support but had in early 2017 accepted a mostly honorific position as an assistant whip for the House Democrats...
But No Labels looked into taking out another Democrat almost a year later. In December 2017, Jacobson sent an email to advisers and people in New Hampshire with the subject line “advice asap” in search of how to respond to Annie Kuster, a Democratic congresswoman, with whom she had just had a call asking her to rejoin the Problem Solvers Caucus. “It did NOT go well. She ended up hanging up on me … She told me our group was offensive … She told me we had accomplished nothing and that she was the true bipartisan,” Jacobson wrote, calling herself “shaken up by her aggressive and hostile actions and speech.”
Ain't beanbag, lady. Oh, and, according to the Concord Monitor, guess what Annie Kuster did on Tuesday.
Kuster, who earlier this month won a fourth two-year term in Congress, had been undecided but was leaning heavily towards backing Pelosi’s bid for speaker. In a statement Monday, the Hopkinton Democrat made it official. “Pelosi’s experience will be valuable as we transition to the majority and will pave the way for the success of future leaders of our party,” Kuster said.
“Nancy Pelosi has demonstrated her ability to shepherd meaningful legislation through the House of Representatives. She has proven her effectiveness as a leader by protecting and strengthening access to healthcare for millions of Americans and I believe that experience is critical as we work to bring down costs and improve quality of care,” Kuster added.
Kuster’s support for Pelosi could pay dividends, as she builds her seniority and moves up the ladder. She currently serves on the Veterans Affairs and Agriculture committees. But she told the Monitor earlier this month that she’s open to new assignments as well, including working on health care policy, energy policy, or the environment.
The centrist gooning is not yet over. There's yet another letter circulating among Democrats who flipped districts in 2018, and demanding the kind of institutional changes that will make Pelosi less effective as a Speaker of the House-in which capacity, these people don't seem to understand, she is under no obligation to "reach across the aisle," or whatever else they find in their Joe Lieberman Starter Kits this Christmas.
The Speaker of the House is a partisan position, and it always has been. The Republicans lost massively this time around, so they can sit for a while. There is no obligation upon the Democrats to find them a comfy chair.
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