Voting Records Show Exactly Why Primaries Are So Crucial For The Democratic Party
- Howie Klein
- 5 hours ago
- 6 min read
Too Many Democraps Are Embracing A Corporate Agenda Pushed By Trump
Maya Miller’s report for the NY Times over the weekend, Republicans in Congress Use Obscure Law to Roll Back Biden-Era Regulations is mostly about how Republicans are pushing their agenda by getting around the Senate filibuster that requires 60 votes to pass anything. “In recent weeks,” she wrote, “the GOP has pushed through a flurry of legislation to cancel regulations on matters large and small, from oversight firms that emit toxic pollutants to energy efficiency requirements for walk-in freezers and water heaters. To do so, they are employing a little-known 1996 law, the Congressional Review Act, that allows lawmakers to reverse recently adopted federal regulations with a simple majority vote in both chambers. It is a strategy they used in 2017 during Trump’s first term and are leaning on again as they work to find ways to steer around Democratic opposition and make the most of their governing trifecta of the House, the Senate and the White House. But this time, Republicans are testing the limits of the law in a way that could vastly expand its use and undermine the filibuster, the Senate rule that effectively requires 60 votes to move forward with any major legislation. Because resolutions of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act need only a majority vote, they are some of the only legislation that can avoid a filibuster in the Senate. This allows them to circumvent the partisan gridlock that stands in the way of most significant bills. So far this year, Trump has signed three such measures: one overturning Biden-era regulations on cryptocurrency brokers, another canceling fees on methane emissions and a third doing away with additional environmental assessments for prospective offshore oil and gas developers. Another five, including one that eliminates a $5 cap on bank overdraft fees, have cleared Congress and await Trump’s signature.”
But Miller missed the conservative House Democrats who have been working with the Republicans to pass these shitty congressional disapproval resolutions for Trump. Miller wrote that “Now Republicans are trying to go much further with the law, including using it to effectively attack state regulations blessed by the federal government. The House this week passed three disaproval resolutions that would eliminate California’s strict air pollution standards for trucks and cars by rejecting waivers from the Environmental Protection Agency that allowed them to take effect. The move would also permanently prevent federal regulators from writing a similar rule in the future. Both the Government Accountability Office and the Senate parliamentarian, who is in charge of enforcing the chamber’s rules, have said that the E.P.A. waivers do not constitute federal regulations and thus are not subject to the Congressional Review Act.”
The House passed 5 disapproval resolutions last week. The first overturned a rule limiting the use of off-road vehicles in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area of Arizona and Utah. There were just two right-wing corporate Blue Dogs who voted with the GOP on this one, Marie Gluesenkap Perez (WA) and Don Davis (NC). The next day was when the conservative Dems started going wild. It was the first truck emissions resolution. Republican Brian Fitzpatrick (PA) crossed the aisle to vote with the Democrats, but on the way across, he got trampled by 13 right-wing corporate Democratic whores:
Sanford Bishop (Blue Dog-GA)
Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX)
Don Davis (Blue Dog-NC)
Laura Gillen (New Dem-NY)
Jared Golden (Blue Dog-ME)
Vicente Gonzalez (Blue Dog-TX)
Susie Lee (New Dem-NV)
April Delaney (New Dem-MD)
Marie Gluesenkap Perez (Blue Dog-WA)
Kristen Rivet (New Dem-MI)
Hillary Scholten (New Dem-MI)
Tom Suozzi (New Dem-NY)
Gabe Vasquez (New Dem-NM)
The came the one to disapprove specifically of the California waiver on truck pollution. Again, Fitzpatrick voted with the Democrats. There were 10 of the very worst Democraps voting with the Republicans:
Sanford Bishop (Blue Dog-GA)
Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX)
Don Davis (Blue Dog-NC)
Jared Golden (Blue Dog-ME)
Vicente Gonzalez (Blue Dog-TX)
Susie Lee (New Dem-NV)
Marie Gluesenkap Perez (Blue Dog-WA)
Kristen Rivet (New Dem-MI)
Gabe Vasquez (New Dem-NM)
Marc Veasey (New Dem-TX)
On Thursday, the House voted another California dissaproval, this one from the Wildlife Service to keep the longfin smelt from going extinct. Fitzpatrick voted with the Democrats again and just \3 mangy Blue Dogs voted in favor of extinction:
Jim Costa (Blue Dog-CA)
Jared Golden (Blue Dog-ME)
Adam Gray (Blue Dog-CA)
The last in the series was another attack on California new auto pollution standards. 35 of the worst Democraps in the House, some who take pay-for-play bribes, crossed the aisle to vote for pollution:
Joyce Beatty (OH)
Sanford Bishop (Blue Dog-GA)
Nikki Budzinski (New Dem-IL)
Janelle Bynum (New Dem-OR)
Luis Correa (Blue Dog-CA)
Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX)
Sharice Davids (New Dem-KS)
Don Davis (Blue Dog-NC)
Shomari Figures (New Dem- Crypto-Cartel)
Laura Gillen (New Dem-NY)
Jared Golden (Blue Dog-ME)
Vicente Gonzalez (Blue Dog-TX)
Steven Horsford (New Dem-NV)
Julie Johnson (New Dem-TX)
Marcy Kaptur (OH)
Tim Kennedy (New Dem-NY)
Greg Landsman (New Dem-OH)
Susie Lee (New Dem-NV)
Joe Morelle (New Dem-NY)
Jared Moskowitz (New Dem-FL)
Frank Mrvan (New Dem-IN)
Marie Gluesenkap Perez (Blue Dog-WA)
Josh Riley (New Dem-NY)
Pat Ryan (New Dem-NY)
Kristen Rivet (New Dem-MI)
Hillary Scholten (New Dem-MI)
Terri Sewell (New Dem-AL)
Darren Soto (New Dem-FL)
Tom Suozzi (New Dem-NY)
Shri Thanedar (New Dem-MI)
Bennie Thompson (MS)
Gabe Vasquez (New Dem-NM)
Marc Veasey (New Dem-TX)
Eugene Vindman (New Dem-VA)
George Whitesides (New Dem-CA)
In its plea to members to vote down the legislation, the League of Conservative Voters noted that it attempts “to block the state preemption waivers provided to California by the EPA under the Clean Air Act for setting stronger than federal tailpipe pollution standards for cars and trucks. Eliminating these waivers would undermine critical cleaner vehicle standards that help to reduce health-harming transportation pollution, reduce the cost of operating a car or truck, and address the climate crisis. Illegally attempting to use the CRA to eliminate this waiver granted to one state would also open the floodgates for other attempts to block state rights as members of Congress could attempt to remove other state waivers, such as the hundreds provided to states for various portions of Medicaid, using a similar, illegitimate, co-opted CRA process. For nearly 50 years, the Clean Air Act has granted California the ability to set cleaner vehicle standards that meet or exceed the federal standards because they had and continue to have such unique and challenging air quality problems. Other states with challenging air pollution also are allowed to follow California’s standards, and around a dozen have done so, helping clean their air and deliver more cost-saving vehicle choices for their residents and businesses, too. Attacking California’s waivers would subsequently damage these states’ clean air efforts as well. Cleaning up cars and trucks is essential to cleaning up our air and reducing associated health problems like asthma and mitigating climate change. Cars and trucks are a major source of health-harming pollutants like particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) that also form smog. Exposure to these pollutants increases health problems like asthma attacks, strokes, heart disease, cancer, and premature death. Cleaner cars and trucks standards also help to expand consumer choice by building an expanded marketplace of more fuel-efficient vehicles and more drivetrain options. According to Consumer Reports, efficiency and emissions standards for cars have delivered $9,000 in fuel savings to consumers when fueling up their vehicle. Eliminating these standards would not only block these savings— it would make vehicles more than $8,000 more expensive to fuel compared to if existing standards stay in place.”
The GOP understands power— and how to wield it. They aren’t afraid to break norms, exploit obscure laws or bulldoze their agenda through any available crack in the system. Meanwhile, too many Democrats still act like decorum is a strategy, clinging to a status quo that no longer exists. As Republicans gleefully dismantle what’s left of the regulatory state, Democrats tiptoe around the feelings of donors and pundits, terrified of rocking the boat. It’s a losing strategy— not just electorally, but morally.
That’s why the Democratic Party must embrace competitive primaries. Not the hollow theater of “safe” challenges, but real, insurgent contests that force the party to choose between serving corporate interests and serving the people. Without the pressure of a vibrant progressive flank, the party calcifies— drifting ever rightward, led by consultants and Super PACs instead of grassroots energy. Robust primaries aren’t a luxury; they’re a lifeline. They remind the establishment that power flows upward from voters, not downward from the donor class. If Democrats want to avoid being steamrolled by a GOP that’s weaponizing every tool in the box, they need a base that’s awake, angry and unafraid to demand more. Primaries are how we sharpen our tools— and our spine.
The Democrats have never used this power when they had the trifecta; only Republicans do. Hopefully in 2029 the Democrats will erase the entire Trump presidency on day one. I know— I’m dreamin’ but… “[E]xperts warned that Republicans may come to regret reading the statute so broadly,” wrote Miller. “Michael Thorning, the director of the Structural Democracy Project at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a nonprofit think tank, said doing so could hand Democrats a powerful tool to undo regulations that they dislike when they one day return to power. ‘The more you stretch and expand these processes, you really just undermine those to the point that they could eventually become meaningless if taken to the extreme,’ Thorning said.”