THANKS, WE'RE HAPPY TO TAKE THOSE SEATS BACK:

The Blue Dogs bark (GLENN THRUSH & PATRICK O'CONNOR, 2/5/09, Politico)

Many of the 49 members of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition are going public with deep misgivings about the goodie-packed $819 billion stimulus package the House passed last week.

That’s hardly surprising, considering it’s a deficit-spending behemoth that inherently offends their balanced-budget sensibilities. But the Dogs are really growling about the way in which the bill passed the House — how Pelosi shepherded it through, and how she suspended “regular order” during the passage of the $700 billion financial markets bailout late last year.

“A lot of the Blue Dogs were unhappy with the [stimulus] bill and even angrier because they felt they had zero input — like their caucus doesn’t matter anymore because of the padded majority,” said a staffer for a prominent caucus member.

Two years of Pelosi and Reid and the GOP will clean up at the midterm.

Posted by Orrin Judd at February 5, 2009 2:14 PM