John Carney Capitulates On His Democratic Principles, If He Ever Had Any
John Carney, ladies and gentlemen, YOUR Democratic Congressman. You know what John Carney did yesterday? He literally signed away the principles upon which the Democratic Party has been built. Principles that have served working families, the poor, the elderly, and the middle class for over 80 years.
How did he do this? He signed a letter along with 60 Democrats and 40 Republicans to the so-called bipartisan ‘Super Committee’. A letter that once again makes deficit reduction the number one governmental priority, and apparently bipartisanship the number one-A priority, at a time when people have lost their jobs, their homes, are seeing services slashed, and are losing all hope. Read the article and try to wrap your collective heads around the fact that John Carney signed it. Oh, and here’s the letter that John Carney signed. (Warning PDF).
Got that? “…(A)ll options for mandatory and discretionary spending and revenues must be on the table.” Translation: “If you would prettyprettyplease consider some modest tax increases, we’re willing to sell Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, infrastructure spending, you name it, dear ‘bipartisan Rethuglicans’, down the river.” By the way, as soon as the letter was made public, Grover Norquist made clear that tax increases are off the table. How does your ‘bipartisanship’ work for you now, John?
Also: “We understand from other bipartisan frameworks (the Catfood Commission) that a target of some $4 trillion in deficit reduction necessary to stabilize our debt…”. Because, you know, doing things like increasing government spending for creating jobs, building our infrastructure, and protecting those who have fallen through the social safety net never works. Except, of course, during the New Deal when a real Democratic president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt didn’t give two shits about bipartisanship’, and brought us out of the Great Depression. At a time when government spending is desperately needed to throw our middle- and working-classes a lifeline, Carper’s green eyeshade guy John Carney believes that cutting the deficit by $4 trillion is the most important thing government can do.
And John Carney believes that ‘bipartisanship’ is so important that he’ll head right down what even Barack Obama has finally and apparently realized is a dead end.
John, at what point do you realize that you can’t negotiate with terrorists? The Rethugs’ strategy is out there for everybody to see: Screw the economy, let the rich vacuum up any and all remaining wealth in this country, and then blame it on the Democrats. To the extent that there are bipartisan Republicans in Congress, and I doubt that they number in double digits, they’re not calling the shots. Do you really intend to go to the J-J Dinner next week and tell people that you’re fighting for working families. Because, if you do, that would be a lie, a big fat bald-faced lie.
Your actions effectively help sabotage efforts by real Democrats who are trying to help those who need help and trying to help balance the scales between the haves and the have-nots. What you do here is give aid and comfort to the enemy while denying hope to those who are fast losing hope.
This is precisely what we don’t need and can’t have out of a supposed Democratic Congressman. We’ve been stuck with Tom Carper in elective office for almost 30 years now. You’ve been in Congress for less than 2. We can’t afford any more Tom Carper acolytes in Congress, and that means you, if you don’t heed this message. By your actions here, you have effectively proclaimed that you couldn’t care less about the base of the Democratic Party and you couldn’t care less about those most in need of governmental action. You’ve effectively proven that whenever you bring up the working class roots of Ashbourne Hills, from whence you came, you state it as someone who is relieved that he doesn’t have to go back. Maybe you should go back, just to find out how high ‘bipartisanship’ and cutting ‘4 trillion’ from the Federal deficit are valued by people who are trying to care for their families in these terrible times. They’re not valued at all, BTW.
Look, we all know here that Carper is hopeless, a totally-owned subsidiary of those who shovel corporate cash into his campaign coffers. So far, all you’ve proven is that you have a tin ear and a canine-like devotion to Delaware’s Only Elected Robot. It’s not too late, but it’s getting there. Either participate in Congress as a REAL Democrat or get the hell out of the way.
On a related note, from John Carney’s office:
U.S. Rep. Carney Reminds Delawareans of First Nationwide Test of Emergency Alert System
John, for you, and for us, this isn’t a test, it’s a real emergency. Look in the mirror. If you see a reflection, ask yourself what you really hope to accomplish as a Congressman. If you can’t honestly say that you wish to represent the principles of your party, either change your registration or step aside for someone who will represent the heart and soul of Delaware. Because, right now, you’re not representing us.
What a disappointment. He has gone full-blown Carperist, which means that he’ll never have to face threat from the right and probably never have to face a primary opponent.
“..ask yourself what you really hope to accomplish as a Congressman.”
I think it is clear. He wants an easy paycheck from now until he pulls a Bill Roth.
Thanks El Som. I was going to post this yesterday but figured I would just be told I was wetting my pants or something. The letter has lots of plausible deniability for Blue Dog apologists.
Don’t forget this afternoon you can watch Chris Coons talk about Fixing Social Security For The Future and decide for yourself if he is for the 1% or the 99%.
Remember every time you hear “Current retirees won’t be affected” you have to drink. It’s 5pm somewhere, and besides it’s Friday.
Starting at 1pm there are three panels; Coons is on the third panel. The second one is someone from CRI debating some reasonable-sounding professors on Social Security Solvency. Should be fun.
Livestream at http://www.dfmnews.org.
There was an article on Tuesday in the NJ about possible cuts to Community Block grants and how that might effect people in DE. It contained these quotes from Carper and Carney:
Anyone spot the disconnects here? While both of them are spinning out this weak tea about the good these programs do, both of them are on record for the kind of draconian cuts that would make these kinds of programs almost non-existent. We really need NJ reporters (and all national political reporters) to get these guys to reconcile this stuff. They can’t be left to talk out of one side of their mouths about the good these programs are doing and fighting for them, and then talking out of the other side of their mouths about drastic budget cuts that would put these kinds of programs on the chopping block first.
This is part of the completely bi-partisan irresponsibility in talking about the budget. It helps feed the idea that you can have all the government services you want for free. If these two are going to be in the business encouraging the Supercommittee to go at the budget with a machete, then they need to be up front about all of the services that taxpayers will be living without.
“(Carper and Carney) can’t be left to talk out of one side of their mouths about the good these programs are doing…and then talk… about drastic budget cuts that would put these kinds of programs on the chopping block first.”
History says otherwise. Absent a legitimate primary, they are perfectly free to vote in direct opposition to their public statements. It isn’t the NJ’s job to make these guys tell the truth. It is the voting public’s.
If the Republicans were smart, they’d run Mike Castle against him. From a liberal standpoint, what would be the difference?
Not likely to happen, but I’d rather have Castle than Carney, as long as control of the House were not an issue. Shortly we’d be able to start over in an open election, hopefully without Carney.
Now I have to ask myself the same question about Kovach or a teabagger vs. Carney.
I like it. Democrats could stay home in droves, while Republicans atone for their sins. And no net change in voting. Everybody wins.
Carney’s GOP opponent is a lightweight who performed well underpar in the last year on NCC Council. But who doesn’t guess he is guaranteed a war chest for his vote on Stoltz. It all leaves Carney really comfortable in his rightward tilting.
Every election I toy with the idea of voting for the Repub to remove a wayward Democrat. I haven’t done it yet but I am getting closer. Maybe Carney will be the tipping point.
I’m not sure I could do it though; every year the Repubs keep making it more difficult.
The idea of voting for Wade or Urquhart to send a message is a non-starter.
Carney is impervious to messages. I don’t want to send him a message; I want to remove him. Got any better ideas?
Ultimately our entire delegation is following Obama to the right. And in the unlikely event Obama moves left they will follow him that way too.
That is why it was so important to send the message to Obama last year. But all the messengers were shot by their own troops for being “purists.” Now the cows have come home to roost.
It isn’t the NJ’s job to make these guys tell the truth.
A truly functioning media would keep the entire narrative at hand and hold these folks accountable for saying stuff that is on its face contradictory. Accountability for the powerful is supposed to be the business of the Fourth Estate.
“in the unlikely event Obama moves left they will follow him that way too.”
I don’t think so. They’ll move to the left when the banks do.
Puck: How was the message supposed to be sent last year?
Obama has many milestones on his path to the right. At each point he stopped and didn’t hear much protest, so he figured it was OK to keep going right.
It was a long arc to the right with plenty of places where all of us could at least have pretended to be upset with Obama. Or at least stop telling people who WERE upset that they were overreacting.
What were the milestones? I am strangely not interested in war policy or civil liberties; other commenters specialize in that. But nothing works if you keep going the wrong way on the economy:
Public option/individual mandate (OK, Obama gets a pass; first screwup is free, but it was a big one)
Extending Bush tax cuts (totally in his hands; he chose the wrong door)
Tried to get Congress to create catfood commission (failed)
Created Catfood Commission anyway.
Switched tax reform policy from “expire Bush cuts” to “Bowles Simpson tax cut for rich, austerity for the 99%”
First Democrat to put cuts to Medicare and Social Security on the table.
Agreed to Super Congress with goal of austerity w/o shared sacrifice.
Yes, our delegation followed Obama to the right. Chris Coons announced his campaign pledging to let the Bush tax cuts for the rich expire. But two weeks before his election, he flipped to support temporary extension. And strangely Obama publicly flipped shortly after. Which leaves the inescapable impression that Candidate Coons got word the capitulation was coming, and he’d better get on the team.
Carney was not the brightest bulb in the box!Carper runs Delaware and both Coons and Carney. Castle voted with Bush 91% of the time, please. When are the citizens going to understand, both parties are owned and controlled by Corporate America! There is little daylight between them.
I don’t actually know the answer to this, but the $4 trillion reduction is based on projected budgets over the next 10 years (which is a phantom starting point). Does that decade worth of projected/fake budgets include the two main wars that we are fighting? If they do (and they probably do), then how much of that $4 trillion is achieved simply by leaving?
“A letter that once again makes deficit reduction the number one governmental priority,”
The letter said in part: “In addition, we know from other bipartisan frameworks, that a target of some $4 trillion in deficit reduction is necessary to stabilize our debt…”
First, that statement is probably true, so it states the obvious. Second, when I was in school, we were never taught that the term “In addition” meant anything more than “as well as” or “also” or “besides.”
How one interprets that sentence to mean the “number one governmental priority” I will never understand. This letter says almost nothing. I can’t tell you how many of these types of letters I have seen in my federal career. I must admit, I have even written a few of them. It is almost an art to make the appropriate noises while saying nothing that could come back to haunt you later. Much ado…
Dave, see my comment at 10:47 am. You are right the letter says virtually nothing to me. But the recipients got the message loud and clear.
The point is Carney didn’t have to sign it, but he did.
i would have signed it. $4 Trillion is what we need. There is no compromising language or anything that prohibits a tax hike of 4% and 25% in the corporate rate.
Taxes must be raised. If not, then each and every one of those Republicans who put pen to paper are going to hell for violating their oath, that: all options for revenues are on the table…
If the Republican House takes the 4% increase in top marginal rate off the table, takes the 25% increase in corporate rate off the table, and keeps current tax breaks as they now stand, they did not do everything they could. Simply put.
This binds Republican’s feet to the fire, more than it does those Democrats who signed.
It seems that very few of the so called 1% ers would be against an increase that hit them and no one else. Folks from Buffett and Gates on down seem to think they could pay more. Obviously limits are needed and I would be in favor of holding the line on tax rates if we could just find a way to not exempt so much income just because it is not wages or salary. Income is income regardless of the source.
The real problem with signing this is that he joins the group of people who are working way harder at a solution to a problem that is *very* secondary to the problem that millions of Americans are out of work. There is a very great deal of deficit reduction to be had in just getting more Americans working and paying taxes again. John Carney shows himself to be astonishingly more interested in the inside the beltway concerns than in those of Americans who are actually suffering in this economy.
We need Americans to be employed much more urgently than we need deficit reduction.
kavips, you are hypothetically right, but only if you ignore everything else we know about Carney, Obama, and the rest of our delegation.
“If the Republican House takes the 4% increase in top marginal rate off the table, takes the 25% increase in corporate rate off the table”
Except that neither of those options is on the table, nor are they going to be. Chris Coons is supporting Bowles Simpson, with its 29% top marginal rate, and a reduced corporate tax rate (paid for by loophole unicorn).
Neither party has put tax increases on the table. Both Democrats and Republicans would take food out of an old lady’s mouth before they would publicly call for a tax increase.
Great post, El Som. Carney has got to go. Carper has got to go. I just received the Dem fundraising mailer yesterday and the party I supported for 25 years ain’t going to see a dime until these asshats get their walking papers.
What Carney is doing with this letter is telling the Commission “Go ahead and cut the safety net – we’ve got your back.”
There will be enough Bachmannites voting against the Grand Deal that passage is not assured. They will need Dem votes to assure it passes. The Commission wasn’t sure they had House support for “austerity without shared sacrifice”. Now, thanks to Carney, they have that assurance.
It will come down to this. This is nothing new. The same scenario took place this summer. They whittle down the cuts, then do the math so see how much revenue will be needed to meet their target. Then politics sets in. As long as they follow the math, it should align itself with $3 Trillion in cuts, $1 Trillion out of the 1%….
It looked for a week in August like that would happen, then Cantor pulled the plug after getting word back, doing an about face and walking out.
What that did, was give everyone a ball park figure where we’d aim, and then use the “Super Committee” to shield both sides from the spew by special interests. especially Eric Cantor.
I see by some of the comments that many are beginning to see the light. How much difference is there really between the two corporate parties? Carney and Coons think by the time their elections roll around we will forget how the voted to screw us.
If we really care about these elections we should be spending time looking for some good, common sense people who have worked for the citizens and get them to run. Lets stop the Peter Principle or whose turn is it in the democratic party to take a congressional seat. I wonder if Carney even knows what the democratic principles are?
Carney has also sent a message to once and possibly future Speaker Pelosi that he won’t have her back. Just what we need, Carney and his ‘ilk’ setting themselves up as the quote sensible unquote center that keeps the Democratic Party from governing as Democrats.
And, Kavips, please. Before the e-ink was dry on the e-letter, Grover Norquist, who controls the House more than John Boehner, said that tax hikes were off the table. If John Carney didn’t see that coming, then he was likely the only one.
We KNOW that both parties essentially do the bidding of the corporatocracy in our state. I say that this has to change. I believe that a majority of Democrats, and quite likely Delawareans, believe that this has to change. That in itself is a change, brought about by the dawning realization of just how screwed we are and how our elected officials have screwed us. If John Carney can’t change, then we need to get rid of him pronto.
El, you spent time in a legislature. You probably know better than most, that Grover will be treated politely, but he really hasn’t any power. Looking for a good analogy, he’s the kinda guy who will be given lip service, but dismissed as irrelevant when voting time comes. The only reason he’s still relevant is because reporters have been too overworked to clean our their rolodexes… lol Sort of like Greg Levelle is today.
And a hearty hear, hear to the fact both parties are beholden to corporate money… Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with corporate money…. if it gets used correctly. That correct use is it’s reinvestment into the economy creating new products, new services, and new ideas. If Carney capitulates, instead, succumbing to the spell of the ring of fire, let us hope there’s creepy guy willing to jump on his back and bite off his finger…. (LOTR ref.)
“Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with corporate money…. if it gets used correctly.”
WTF are you talking about? I can’t find one single thing in this last comment that’s correct.
I called Carney’s DC office as soon as I heard about this letter. The staffer claimed she didn’t know about it, put me on hold a couple of minutes, then came back with “the letter he signed was just asking for more revenues”. I told her she had her facts wrong and that he was acquiescing to social safety nets cuts championed by the R’s. I also said that I was disappointed in his actions and that I was a bit surprised that he took less than a year for him to turn into a Castle/Carper clone who sure as hell did not stand for Democratic principles.
I hope you all called his office to express displeasure!
It turns out Chris Coons as well as Carper signed basically the same damn letter last March (to the President):
Obama needs to move left, and our delegation is pushing him to the right.