55 Dems quit paying dues to their own DCCC ahead of midterms By Monica Showalter
Democrats are running out on their tab.
No surprise there, but according to Breitbart News:
Fifty-five powerful and influential House Democrats are reportedly financially stiffing the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), failing to pay the dues they owe because of the likelihood that Republicans will retake the chamber.
Top Democrats leaders are unhappy and worried because many of their valuable caucus members are not paying their dues to the party committee, according to Punchbowl News. Rules dictate that each member is responsible for dumping a certain amount of cash into the committee’s coffers to be used by the top brass as a part of a national strategy to defeat Republicans. The amount of cash members are to fork over depends on their position in the party.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-SC), and DCCC Chair Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY) reportedly pleaded with members on Tuesday to pay up. But many members are not paying their dues, perhaps because Democrats perceive the 2022 midterm election as a lost cause. “The House Democratic majority is in deep trouble, with both history and the polls against them; and Republicans have overtaken what’s been traditionally a large lead by the DCCC in fundraising, thanks in part to a huge spurt in online fundraising,” Punchbowl noted.
In other words, they’re demoralized. After all, why pay big dues to the DCCC when the GOP is poised to take the House come the 2022 midterms? Money down the drain.
Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi can yell all they like about Democrats retaining the House in November, but figures like this tell a different story.
The DCCC, according to Breitbart, is a sort of slush fund for Democrats to bankroll particular projects to secure Democrat majorities in the House. It’s run by House speaker Nancy Pelosi.
That so many prominent names of bigfoot Democrats with plenty in their own campaign coffers to are refusing to pay is particularly noteworthy:
Many of those who are stiffing the committee are some of the most powerful and influential members in the caucus, such as Oversight Chair Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Cori Bush (D-MO), and Jamaal Bowman (D-NY).
Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-NC) has $685,000 in a campaign account, yet refuses to pay any dues. Others stiffing the committee include Transportation and Infrastructure Chair Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and Natural Resources Chair Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ).
The dues are supposedly voluntary. But the Breitbart piece, citing Punchbowl News, notes that Nancy Pelosi is keeping a list and warning the slackers they’d better be on her good one. Maybe they aren’t so voluntary.
It’s odd stuff, given the powerfulness of the Democrats who aren’t paying their dues.
In the case of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her fellow “Squad” members, this isn’t their first rodeo; they’ve been skipping out on their dues for years based on the Democrats’ “no-primary” policy for incumbents. So in the Squad’s case, they’re deadbeating the DCCC because they are deadbeats.
A trip to the DCCC website suggests that the DCCC is trying to reach voters — and take their money through its fundraising apparat. AOC herself has been warning about an enthusiasm gap in voters and saying the party is a mess.
If Democrats can’t get even their own Squad members to donate to this upcoming midterm election in these dire straits, how can they be expected to persuade others to donate cash for their party, too?
Such are the mysteries for Democrats to solve.
Image: Screen shot from Fox News via YouTube.
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