The Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which is made up of 24 members (23 Dems and one Independent), is reportedly threatening to withhold its support of healthcare reform unless the White House also promises to take up immigration reform this year. If true, that’s a freakin’ huge ultimatum. So: Imagine if the Congressional LGBT Caucus (which doesn’t exist, but would likely comprise of just three members), threatened to do the same unless Obama took up gay rights legislation?
Haha, nothing. If Reps. Tammy Baldwin, Jared Polis, and Barney Frank all turned their cheeks, Obama’s big healthcare overhaul wouldn’t be dead in Congress. Now if we had a trio of gay senators …
T2inDC
The House doesn’t need the LGBT votes. Having 3 members from our community doesn’t make any difference at all.
Our equality will never be created by politicians.
ChristopherJ
Let’s not do this.
Brian NJ
If the Hispanic Caucus can manage to get bumped up on the White House to do list, why can’t we use any leverage?
Gay Inc. is like Obama’s great, super-nice customer service perfect neighbor, while the Hispanic Caucus is like the neighbor who leaves the music on all night. One makes a killer apple pie, and the other gets heard. One gets a thank-you note, and the other gets what it wants — delivered on time.
It is the White House Netflix, and we keep getting moved to the bottom of the Queue. The irony is that in Gay Inc.’s efforts to be a nice, welcomed insider, they are becoming more and more of an outsider; like the ugly girl who brings gifts and snacks to the party hoping it will earn her favor. It does just the opposite.
Same Crap
Your math is off. They need 218 votes to get HCR, or anything, passed. There are currently 257 Democrats in Congress. How are those three votes going to affect anything?
Mike
There is an LGBT Equality Caucus. It actually has 14 members, although only 3 of them are gay.
See: lgbt.tammybaldwin.house.gov
FakeName
Not every Democrat is voting in lockstep on health care “reform”. The bill that’s made it through the House passed by three votes. If the three openly gay Dems withhold their votes, the measure fails on a tie vote. I think it’s a fine idea, because the bill the House is currently considering is a piece of shit. If it fails we’re no worse off than we are now and the insurance industry doesn’t get a multi-billion dollar gift from the national coffers.
wondermann
Same Crap is right, the math and logic is way off. Plus it would be a terrible ploy on our part. This type of foolishness would mark us as enemies, myopic and just stupid. Then, the GOP will run this to the ground, noting how selfish we were in this process.
Healthcare affects us too, you know.
Same Crap
The vote margin that HCR passed with in the House is misleading. Nancy’s goal was to get 218 votes. That’s it. Once she got that, she let the Blue Dogs in conservative districts vote against that for political cover.
Cam
Barney Frank would say that the gay community are all whiners and that we could just get what we want if we lobbied and donated much more money to he and other congressmen for the next 20 years.
T2inDC
Politics is NOT the answer. One day we’ll learn. In the meantime we continue to waste millions of dollars and we get is “false hope.”
terrwill
“Now if we had a trio of gay senators …” I am sure we
already do : P
Paging Miss Lindsey Graham………………
McShane
Actually a Healthcare Bill without a public option is better if it’s not passed: it’s just a huge boon to the Insurance Industry:, who basicaklly wrote it. I don’t support it in it’s present form. The Hispanics aren’t risking anying if they reject the Senat version of the bill. It’s not what Obama promised and is a joke. When the bill passed the Senate, insurance stocks immediatelty rose from approx $5 to $30, Glen Grenwald reported individual figures. The hispanics are smart enough to know that it only helps the Corporations, not thier people.
If there was a decent bill with a public option, that did something that would be different. Just quashing something unusually good would be tantamont to shooting people on the streets if some people don’t get their way. The fact is that the more we pursue a compassionate democracy the better off we are.
FakeName
Nancy’s goal was to get 218 votes. That’s it. Once she got that, she let the Blue Dogs in conservative districts vote against that for political cover.
And you think that those same dogs won’t still need the cover if/when a final bill comes out of conference?
InExile
Ofraud took us off the agenda or more like we were never on the agenda to begin with. Remember it is all about him and MEchelle not us.
Same Crap
HILLARY WILL NEVER BE PRESIDENT, InExile. Never. Never. Never.
Schteve
@No. 5 · Mike, the LGBT Equality Caucus actually has 77 members (one of which is a Republican!!!). Not that any except the three gay ones would withhold their vote for that reason.
Robert, NYC
Brian, NJ…..leverage? We already have it if we send a loud and clear message to the Democrats that in 2010 and beyond, “don’t expect to take our votes and our money for granted.” The love affair is over for now and we have to mean it. No more excuses from any of them should be tolerated or accepted as Joe Solomonese of HRC has done. It doesn’t work, it never has and it never will.
FakeName…I agree with you on the health care reform bill. It stinks. Its been watered down so much that there is very little left that would be called “change”. First came single payer during the campaign, now gone. Then came the public option, now gone, then the medicare buy-in, now gone. What’s left? Health insurance companies will circumvent the pre-existing condition clause by jacking up rates to force many of us out of their plans. I also am strongly opposed to a fine for anyone who doesn’t buy insurance and I’m fed up with insurance companies delivering any kind of health care, period. Its absurd! This bill doesn’t even resemble universal health care, we’ll be no better off than we were before as long as insurance companies are part of the picture. There will still be roughly 11-23 million people not covered under this bill. Totally unacceptable.
Brian NJ
Robert NYC
LOL! You are so right! The only pressure our gay leaders have on Rahm Emmanuel is not not yelling, “Pound me harder! Harder!” -or- “Wow, Joe must be really really angry! This year there was no Bergdorf in the gift basket!”
Robert, NYC
Brian, LOL! Rahm Emmanuel is a thorn in the side of Obama’s administration, a very unwise choice to put it mildly. I detest Emmanuel and everything he stands for. He’s also againt LGBT equality too. Lieberman can go fuck himself, over and over. What a bunch of wusses the Democratic party has become. He should have been booted out long ago from any caucus and committee, the same goes for Landrieu, Nelson, Baucus, Stupak and others. They should join the GOP, they’d be a lot happier.
Michael Letterman
OH Congress, please, please, please, please, please, please do this, please with sugar on it!
You won’t have to do it forever just do it long enough for the elections to pass and the new congress reshapes and remolds the health-care act until it resembles something that makes some sense.
But in reality BHO is more interested in breaking this country then in anyone’s rights gay or straight. He has proven this time and again and now as time ticks away we can sit and watch the ruination of our country.
chris
well if youre sade about the ruination of this country then feel free to leave any time. In fact, I’m sure nations like Saudi Arabia, Iran, Libya, Iraq and other lovely countries like that will welcome you with open arms.
OH! and those neo nazi’s would just love you Mikey.
Well have fun! Don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out, oh, and try not to let a dick hit your ass at the airport bathroom in between flights.
Michael Letterman
chris: You see that’s what is so wrong with this nation fortunately our founding fathers arranged things so that people who see the country moving in the wrong direction don’t need to leave, they can stand up and make the changes to get the nation back on the right path. And that is exactly what I am doing and have been doing for quite awhile with a great deal of success I might add.
Oh and any dicks hitting any part of me are subject to removal from said dick owner. Our group is of the belief if you are willing to wave it around and touch people who don’t want you to then you shouldn’t be allowed to keep it. I am very serious about that.