Conservative Republicans in Congress may out-numbered but they may still be in the majority.<\/p>\n
The real fiscal policy battle is going to be among liberal and conservative<\/em> Democrats, the “Blue Dogs” as they are known, and they seem to think Barack Obama is one of them.<\/p>\n “Barack totally gets it<\/a> . . . He is smarter than Bill Clinton and disciplined.” So says Tennessee Democratic Congressman Jim Cooper on the Thursday before Mr. Obama’s inauguration.<\/p>\n Sitting in his office a stone’s throw from where the festivities will take place, I ask about his role in the big transformation coming to Washington. He’s one of the leaders of a gang of moderate Democrats called the Blue Dogs. They’re meeting their first Democratic president in a while, and Mr. Cooper may have a big effect on the agenda. He smiles gently and says, “If we were to ally with the Republicans, we could swing any vote in the House of Representatives.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The Blue Dogs gang is growing and is made up of a number of Democrats that didn’t vote for the first Stimuless Package, or the Big Three (…Two…One) Bailout, are against tax increases and actually favor “targeted” tax cuts.<\/p>\n So far they want to play nice with Lefty Pond Scum like Frank ‘n Beans, Pelosi and Reid, but this could be the makings of a surprise and possibly epic battle for the high ground.<\/p>\n If they are inclined to wrangle with Nancy Pelosi and the more liberal contingent in the Democratic Party, they will drive policy, especially as a check on spending. “Ideally the White House will see things our way, so they will present legislation on the Hill that we find acceptable,” Mr. Cooper says. “If they stray too much from that or if a certain part of Congress strays too much from that, then we may have to object.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n But is<\/em> Barack one of them?<\/p>\n Obama To Hold Fiscal Responsibility Summit<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n