The Hill today says "Blue Dogs on Hoyer’s FISA leash":
"Our hope is to pass the bipartisan Senate-passed FISA bill," said Michael Steel, spokesman for House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio).
Steel said that would happen if Republicans collected 218 signatures on the petition or came close enough to put pressure on Democratic leaders to act.
Republicans will focus their efforts on Blue Dogs, especially the 21 conservatives who signed a January letter to Pelosi announcing their support for the Senate intelligence bill.
"Any Blue Dog on record as one of the 21 who signed the letter to Pelosi should sign the discharge petition," said Steel.
Hoyer is counting on his strong ties to Blue Dogs and their participation in talks about a compromise to forestall defections.
Vulnerable freshman Democrats and Blue Dogs say the issue demands action.
"Overall, it’s very important," said Rep. Chris Carney (D-Pa.), a freshman member of the Blue Dog Coalition who often votes against his leadership.
Note that Chris Carney is the only freshman to speak up here. And, in fact, some of the supposed vulnerable Dems have, in fact, specifically denied that they are joining with the Republicans in demanding action:
"I am not going to sign it," said Rep. Tim Mahoney (D-Fla.) a member of the Blue Dogs. "I just don’t think it is necessary."
Fellow Blue Dog Rep. Michael Arcuri (D-N.Y.) agreed with Mahoney, saying he would not subvert the rules process by signing the petition.
"I like the House version of FISA better than the Senate bill anyway," added Arcuri.
So the question is, who's doing the tugging here, the frosh Blue Dogs or Hoyer? Obviously, the majority of the Blue Dog coalition can be controlled by leadership. They were back in March when only five of them defected on supporting the much better, telco amnesty-free House bill.
So why in the hell does this puny group of freshman concern trolls have a say in this at all? Why is Hoyer bending over backwards to find a "compromise" that will appease them?
We know it's not because it's a real national security issue. We know it's not because it's going to be an election issue--Bill Foster's victory already proved that. Could it be because Hoyer is trying to help out his Senate buddy Jello Jay in carrying the Protect AT&T Act?
