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Wednesday, Nov 3, 2010 8:04 PM UTC

The sad tale of the Democrats who hated the unemployed

Most of them are now, ironically, jobless

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Topics: 2010 Elections, War Room, Democratic Party, Great Recession, U.S. Economy, U.S. House of Representatives,

The sad tale of the Democrats who hated the unemployedStephanie Herseth Sandlin

Last summer, we met the Democrats who hated the unemployed — the 16 House votes from the majority party against an emergency extension of unemployment benefits. They were:

John Adler, D-N.J.
Brian Baird, D-Wash.
Melissa Bean, D-Ill.
Marion Berry, Blue Dog-Ark.
Bobby Bright, Blue Dog-Ala.
Travis Childers, Blue Dog-Miss.
Jim Cooper, Blue Dog-Tenn.
Joe Donnelly, Blue Dog-Ind.
Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, Blue Dog-S.D.
Baron Hill, Blue Dog-Ind.
Frank Kratovil, Blue Dog-Md.
Betsy Markey, Blue Dog-Colo.
Jim Marshall, Blue Dog-Ga.
Walt Minnick, Blue Dog-Idaho
Glenn Nye, Blue Dog-Va.
Heath Shuler, Blue Dog-N.C.

These brave politicians bucked their free-spending, ultra-liberal party, and cast votes in favor of fiscal responsibility. And for their willingness to oppose Barack Obama’s liberal agenda, nearly all of them were rewarded with early (and ironic) retirement from public service.

Brian Baird and Marion Berry retired. Melissa Bean will probably lose. Of everyone else listed, only Heath Shuler, Jim Cooper, and Joe Donnelly won reelection.

At least they can move on from Congress knowing that they did everything in their power to make paying the rent as difficult as possible for a bunch of unemployed Americans. That’s something to be proud of.

[H/t: Reader W.H.]

Alex Pareene

Alex Pareene writes about politics for Salon and is the author of "The Rude Guide to Mitt." Email him at apareene@salon.com and follow him on Twitter @pareene More Alex Pareene.

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