When Speaker Fox faced the progressive voters of the East Side in November, they were angry—angry at the bevy of red-state legislation Fox had actively pushed for. Fox promised to change. He promised to sunset the ALEC-backed voter ID law he supported, a law he passed even though the chairwoman of the national Democratic Party called him to beg him to reconsider. He promised to consider not bailing out Wall Street on the 38 Studios deal he helped orchestrate. He promised to work with progressives on scaling back the tax cuts for the rich, tax cuts he had once promised would create jobs. He promised, in essence, to govern like the Democrat he once was. It has now become clear that he does not intend to honor those pledges. Jolting sharply to the right, Fox has launched a campaign against Democratic values. Here is a sample of his recent right-wing moves:
When she was the Executive Director of the Rhode Island GOP, Ann Clanton famously admitted, “We have a lot of Democrats who we know are Republican but run as a Democrat — basically so they can win.” Progressives cannot help but look at Gordon Fox’s recent record and conclude that he is indeed one of those Republicans hiding in the Democratic Party. We urge the General Assembly to stand up for Rhode Island values and stop this conservative onslaught.
We are not the only ones who are angry. We have heard from a large and growing body of furious Representatives that there will be a serious effort to vote down the budget to stop the 38 Studios bailout. If the progressive bloc in the House breaks away from leadership on this issue, we can block this right-wing budget and force something a little more reasonable.
So we call on progressives to vote this budget down. We understand the power of leadership and all the practicalities that entails, but if any progressives are forced to vote against their conscience, we sincerely hope that it is in exchange for a more moderate budget. And we call on Gordon Fox to return to the principles he ran on.
]]>The first warning signs came when Cicilline refused to sign the Grayson-Takano letter pledging not to cut Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid. That sent a shiver of fear down the neck of Rhode Island progressives who worry this is setting up for a vote in favor of a grand bargain that sells out the middle class by cutting these essential programs in the middle of a jobs crisis.
Then he refused to cosponsor the Cancel the Sequester Act. This common-sense initiative of the Congressional Progressive Caucus cancels the sequester. Does not replace it with a slightly less devastating austerity package. Just cancels it. Ends this messy debate with no damage to the economy. It is about the most common-sense progressive initiative you can think of. But Cicilline still has not signed on.
But when I called Cicilline’s office (202-225-4911) last Thursday to ask why he is not standing with the rest of the Progressive Caucus on these basic economic issues, a staffer told me something even more disturbing: Cicilline’s budget plan is not the Progressive Caucus’s budget, the Back to Work Budget. It is the standard House Democratic budget.
Budget votes are a statement of core principles. They are usually the most important vote a legislator will make on economic issues. Not supporting the Progressive Caucus budget would be about as clear a sign as you could make that Cicilline is planning on leaving the Progressive Caucus.
The Back to Work Budget is not particularly progressive. It completely capitulates on the terms of the debate with a fiscally irresponsible focus on deficit reduction instead of jobs or debt in the real economy. Unlike the Ryan budget, which is a conservative wish list, the Back to Work Budget is a compromise package that leaves out most progressive goals. It contains only very limited stimulus, no housing plan, no plan to stop climate change, no Medicare for All, and no private sector debt relief. Instead, it is a compromise designed to attract conservative Democrats. But it is still the only budget actually focused on economic growth. It should be an easy, non-controversial vote.
The Back to Work Budget is coming up for a vote tomorrow. I sincerely hope that staffer was mistaken. Rhode Island will be watching.
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