Update below
Update 2 below
Back on January 16, Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN), a leading Blue-Dog dem was front and center for an op-ed interview piece published in the Wall Street Journal, basically boasting that he and his Blue Dog brothers and sisters were going to hold the democrates hostage to get their way on the stimulus bill.
He smiles gently and says, “If we were to ally with the Republicans, we could swing any vote in the House of Representatives.”
Hugely manipulative? You bechta.
And, in the House, Cooper was one of 11 total dems, and 1 of 6 Blue Dog dems, not to vote for Obama’s stimulus package. Cooper is now trying to say that he is the “lap-dog” of Obama’s staff.
“Well, I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but I actually got some quiet encouragement from the Obama folks for what I’m doing,” said Cooper, one of about 55 House Democrats to sign a letter criticizing Speaker Nancy Pelosi for suspending normal debate and committee rules on the $819 billion package.
Now, I have got to say, there is something very unbelievable to this statement from Cooper. And seriously, pointing his finger and basically saying he is the lap-dog of Obama’s staff is not encouraging in the least, not when Cooper extreacted a promise for a summit for fiscal responsibility to be included in the stimulus bill (and which was) and then basically voted against the concession he got. Cooper is not in Washington to be the lap-dog of the administration (rightly or wrongly), he is there to be the REPRESENTATIVE of his constiuients, who are in need of the very things the bill addressed.
But, there is more to this than meets the eye. In Kleinheider’s original post on Feb. 3, he let’s loose that Cooper is on the short list to replace Daschle as head of HHS. The full short list, a la Politico, also includes TN (DINO) Gov. Bredesen, better known for cutting the hell out of TennCare, which in turn killed a number of ill people. And why the hell is Bredesen even on the short list for HHS, after bad-mouthing Obama, and out and out telling Obama NOT to campaign here in TN?
It appears that the Obama administration is rewarding those that are against him, and that is just not acceptable, in my mind. Now, I’m not sure if this is a case of keep your friends close and your enemies closer, but, we must remember that Cooper is famous for “sinking” the Clinton health plan.
Cooper’s major accomplishment in the field of health and human services was sinking the Clinton plan in 1993, precisely because he objected to employer mandates for universal coverage.
Running a close second, however, was voting against the Americans With Disabilities Act in 1990.
Quite frankly, I’m left wondering where the hell is the hope?
Update: Cooper is eating his words.
Asked about Cooper’s comments Wednesday, one of Cooper’s aides wasted little time Wednesday morning in sending Politico a statement from the veteran congressman – but one in which he didn’t entirely recant his initial comments.
“At no point did any member of President Obama’s staff encourage me to vote against the House economic recovery bill,” Cooper said Wednesday. “I told them I believed that the bill had too much long-term spending and didn’t meet the president’s goal of getting 75% of the money into the economy within 18 months.”
Now, if Obama has any backbone, Cooper will be removed from the HHS list. You lie, there should be no rewards.
Update2: The New Republic weighs in on Bredesen as a pick for HHS
In any event, I can tell you that the Bredesen talk is not completley idle speculation–and that this is not a good thing.
Ezra on the Bredesen consideration
