Louie Gohmert: Democrats Are #39;The Party Of No #39;
GOP Rep. Louie Gohmert said President Barack Obama #39;s admission that he relied on Harry Reid to block unfavorable legislation from the Republican-led House me...
By: Secular Talk
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Louie Gohmert: Democrats Are 'The Party Of No' - Video
Returning to Washington with fewer numbers and increased doubt about their direction in the new Congress, Democrats are pushing President Obama to pursue a more aggressive economic agenda that lays the groundwork for a political rebound in 2016 by focusing sharply on helping the middle class.
In interviews and public speeches since voters delivered an electoral gut-check in November, Democrats have offered a range of ideas for how the president should approach his final two years in office, ranging from specific policy proposals to suggestions for changing the way he works with both parties in Congress.
Democrats worry they lost ground to Republicans due to the absence of a clear economic message that balances claiming credit for progress since the 2008 recession with a call to expand benefits for middle-class families that still need help. Many lawmakers have concluded the presidential bully pulpit will be critical in framing the debate.
"In the minds of a lot of voters, economic fairness and the Democratic brand have in some ways separated, which is really tragic because that really is what we stand for," said Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), co-chairman of the House Progressive Caucus. "The president can help rebuild that brand."
Democrats acknowledge the need for Obama to show he can work with Congress' new Republican majorities, be it on tax reform, trade or the push to improve infrastructure that appears to be gaining steam.
But many, particularly those in the more progressive wing on the party, say the president needs to fiercely stand his ground on party priorities such as energy, healthcare and Wall Street reform.
"I think he knows where to draw the lines and he will," said Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). "He'll have plenty of support here to do it."
Democrats hope the president will craft a more consistent and disciplined economic message than he did last year, when political pressures from the midterm election and a series of unexpected crises at home and abroad posed constant distractions.
"I think he really has to decide what's most important to him and the country, and then he's got to work very hard to put an edge on those issues," said George Miller, the just-retired veteran Democratic congressman from Martinez. "You can't just do that with a single speech. You can't just do that with a meeting or having a group of people to the White House. Every day you've got to put your long pants on and go to work."
Obama's relationship with his congressional allies has always been complicated, whether Democrats enjoyed significant majorities, as they did at the start of his first term, or after Republicans took over the House in the 2010 election.
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Congressional Democrats have a list of resolutions for Obama
The death of former New York governor Mario Cuomo Thursday triggered an immediate and laudatory recollection from Democrats of his fiercely delivered 1984 keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention, with many party figures calling the address a touchstone moment that reinvigorated weary liberals during the Reagan years.
On social media, hundreds of stunned Cuomo admirers quickly shared a YouTube video of the speech upon learning of his passing, including Jon Favreau, a former speechwriter for President Obama, who wrote in a Twitter message, the speech is in my top five of all time.
Also on Twitter, Keith Boykin, a former aide in the Clinton White House, called it one of the best political speeches ever delivered.
Cuomos speech, given on a July night at the Moscone Center in downtown San Francisco, was originally crafted as a response to Ronald Reagans frequent and cheery description of the United States as a shining city on a hill. Cuomo took that image and turned it, urging Reagan to look closer at the countrys condition.
This nation is more a tale of two cities than it is just a shining city on a hill, Cuomo said. There is despair, Mr. President, in the faces you dont see, in the places you dont visit in your shining city.
The late former New York governor gave a keynote address at the 1984 Democratic National Convention that launched him into the spotlight. (CSPAN)
In the decades since, the speech has become a beloved text in Democratic politics, cited as an electric example of liberal vigor and hope, months before Democrat Walter F. Mondale would go on to lose to Reagan in a landslide and eight years before Bill Clinton would win the presidency.
On Twitter Thursday evening, Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor of the Nation, a liberal magazine, described the speech as prescient.
Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), in a statement, heaped praised on Cuomos soaring oratory that stirred the very soul.
The approximately eight-minute speech was also the culmination of the political pitch Cuomo had been honing in the years before, and adhered to his long-held belief that lyrical persuasion was critical to politics, as much as the policies. At its core, there was a strong emphasis on the need for government, at both a state and federal level, to operate as a family, with care and compassion for those whose were in need.
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Cuomos 1984 speech stirred Democrats, then and for decades
By Humberto Sanchez Posted at 1:39 p.m. on Jan. 2, 2015
Schumer warned Republicans against any effort to politicize the Congressional Budget Office. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)
Sen. Charles E. Schumer and five other Senate Democrats raised concerns in a letter Friday that Republican leaders will replace the current Congressional Budget Office director as part of an effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
We strongly object to any effort to politicize this important office, the letter said.Appointing a new CBO Director on the basis of ideology would fundamentally compromise the integrity of an institution that has served as a trusted scorekeeper.
The Democrats also called for current director Doug Elmendorf to be allowed to stay on.
Director Elmendorfs record and the importance of continuity in such a critical position are compelling reasons why he should remain in the position, and we hope very much that you will reach that conclusion, the letter said.
The letter was addressed to incoming Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, incoming Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., and incoming House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price, R-Ga.
Signatories of the letter included Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., who is chairman of the Democratic Policy and Communications Center, and DPCC vice chairman Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who is DPCC strategic policy adviser, and Sen. Mark Warner, who is DPCC policy development adviser, also signed on to the letter. Both were added to the Senate Democratic leadership ranks in reaction to the loss of the majority in the 2014-midterm elections.
With control of both chambers, Republicans are entitled to pick a new CBO director. The House speaker and the Senate president pro tempore jointly appoint the CBO director after considering recommendations from the House and Senate budget committees.
Listen Story audio 4min 4sec Peterson, Franken, and WalzScott Takushi / The St. Paul Pioneer Press via AP
Some Minnesota congressional Democrats seem surprisingly optimistic about losing power.
Republicans will control the U.S. House and Senate next year and no politician wants to be in the minority. But members on both sides of the aisle expect a degree of stability now that the GOP will run both houses. That may open new opportunities to work together.
The GOP plans to look for issues that at least some Democrats are likely to support, said 3rd District GOP Rep. Erik Paulsen.
High on Paulsen's list is a repeal of the medical device tax that's part of the Affordable Care Act.
Even though Democrats generally oppose making changes to the law, undoing the tax is one provision that's gathered bipartisan support.
"I think the philosophy that our leadership has is that we're going to start producing legislation and looking for opportunities to show that we can govern and get some things done," Paulsen said.
As the recent vote to fund the government made clear, there are deep splits within both parties deep enough that some DFLers see an opening.
"Sometimes in the minority you actually have more leverage than you might otherwise," said 1st District DFL Rep. Tim Walz. He thinks GOP House Speaker John Boehner may try to push legislation that won't have the support of tea party-allied Republicans.
"They're going to need some moderates to help them out on some things, and I think that's a role that we play well," Walz said. "That's what my constituents want me to do."
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Out of power, MN congressional Democrats see room to maneuver