The Blue Dogs talk conservative while voting liberal.
The new health care agreement is merely the latest in a long string of Blue Dog sell-outs. My Cato Institute colleague David Boaz wonders if the Blue Dogs will ever bite. He observes:
They call in the journalists, and they moan and complain about their concerns over the deficit and rising federal spending. And when the rubber meets the road, what happens?
They vote for whatever big spending bill is at issue.
The Blue Dogs need to understand that they won’t be able to get away with conservative rhetoric in next year’s election if they vote to nationalize the health care system. The generic ballot preference for Congress has turned Republican. A Blue Dog sell-out will make them particularly vulnerable in any GOP resurgence.
