From Harvard University's Elizabeth Warren and her team…
Are the Democrats giving up? We’re hearing that Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), the House Minority Whip, won’t be whipping against the bankruptcy bill when it comes to the House floor. That isn’t surprising. Hoyer twice voted for previous iterations of the bill and receives more money from the finance sector than any other industry. He’s also the dean of the House Blue Dogs – the conservative Democrats who publicly expressed their support of the bill to Speaker Hastert.
Though this may not be a surprise, it’s still an outrage. Hoyer is the third-ranking Democrat in the House and a key member of the party leadership. If he fails to whip against this bill, he will shirk his responsibility to the Democratic members that elected him Whip, to the 42,000 Marylanders who live in medically-bankrupt families and the hard-working families who form the heart of the Democratic party.
This issue belongs to progressives everywhere. Too many Senate Democrats showed that they were willing to vote against a basic homestead exemption for seniors, to vote against protection for military families targeted by predatory lenders, and to vote against families brought down by illness and accidents. They showed they were willing to vote against closing the millionaires' loopholes and to vote against waiving conflicts of interest rules for investment bankers who should be investigating the next generation of Enrons and Worldcoms. Why should progressives give up these issues? Why should they let Democrats hide behind so-called "bipartisan support" for squeezing working families while protecting fat cats?
Don’t let Representative Hoyer get away with it. Write to him and urge him to whip against the bankruptcy bill. While you’re at it, write to Representative Pelosi (D-CA), the Democratic House Leader, and urge her to ensure that the Democratic leadership is united and active against the bill. Whether or not its passage is a foregone conclusion, we cannot and should not let our elected representatives neglect their responsibilities to their constituents and to progressives across the country.
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Jessica Clark is a writer, editor and researcher, with more than 15 years of experience spanning commercial, educational, independent and public media production. Currently she is the Research Director for American University’s Center for Social Media. She also writes a monthly column for PBS’ MediaShift on new directions in public media. She is the author, with Tracy Van Slyke, of Beyond the Echo Chamber: Reshaping Politics Through Networked Progressive Media (2010, New Press).
