[Editor’s Note: An exclusive interview with Progressive House Congressional Caucus Co-Chair Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) on The Hutchinson Report Newsmaker Hour on KTYM radio, broadcast last Friday.]
The Hutchinson Report: Many are not familiar with the Progressive House Caucus. How big is it?
Ms. Woolsey: We had 83 members before the election. It is bicameral with House and Senate members. It’s by far the largest caucus in Congress. We lost four members this election. But we also gained a couple of new members. We will not have less than 80 members in the next Congress. The Blue Dog Democrats lost almost two-thirds of their members.
THR: What are the major issues that the Caucus will press Congress and the Obama administration on?
Ms. Woolsey: It is clear we represent the heart and soul of the Democratic Party. The first item is jobs. We have to have a robust jobs bill. One that we should have had when President Obama first took office and his popularity was at its height. He had a big majority in the House and Senate. We would have doubled the amount of money allocated for the jobs bill that came out of the House, which the Senate cut to the shreds. The other priority is combating the notion that the timetable for ending the Afghanistan war is 2014. The war is killing our budget, killing our people and killing our relations with our allies.
THR: What does it take to make that happen?
Ms. Woolsey: None of this is going to happen until we get money out of politics, get a bigger control of the media, and that means diversifying ownership beyond the three corporations.
THR: The headline article in the Washington Post, Nov.11, was “Liberals plan to push Obama not to compromise with GOP.” Will the Progressive Caucus take the lead in pushing the President not to “compromise” with the GOP?
Ms. Woolsey: We were the most productive House in recent legislative history in getting key pieces of legislation passed. Unfortunately, it was not enough. We were in such deep economic hemorrhaging. We stopped that. But to do more we have to be even bolder in our actions. We’re going to push the White House to come forth with bold steps. It’s not too late now. But it will be in two years. So we’re hoping he recognizes that.
THR: White House advisor David Axelrod was quoted to the effect that Obama would compromise on the “big issues.” Did that set off alarm bells with you and the Caucus members?
Ms. Woolsey: I and Caucus co-chair Raul M. Grijalva sent the President a letter (last Friday) that we totally support rolling back the Bush tax breaks for the wealthy. And no cuts in other programs such as food stamps that benefit the poor and needy.
THR: White House press secretary Robert Gibbs blasted liberals and progressives as the “professional Left” for continuing to criticize the President despite what he’s tried to accomplish.
Ms. Woolsey: I totally disagreed with him. I’ve won office with 70 percent of the vote, and there is a large base of voters that are progressive. This is America, and they do have the right to express themselves. And criticism or not of us, we’re not going to stop our criticism on policy issues we disagree with. In fact, in line with the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the House Pacific Asian Caucus we will represent a good majority of the Democrats who remain in the House.
THR: So no compromise on the core issues?
Ms. Woolsey: Any idea that we’re going to reach across the aisle and surrender our democratic ideals on jobs, health care, education, and fighting for working people and not the wealthy is not going to happen. We’re not going to compromise our votes to support programs just to appear that we’re compromising. We’re not going to start from the right of center and go further to the right. That’s not what the nation needs.
THR: There were reports that during the healthcare debate the White House shunned the Progressive Caucus. How accurate is that?
Ms. Woolsey: No, we were not shunned. I still hear the President saying, “Lynn, what’s our agenda on health care? And what’s to be done to secure passage.” We took groups of representatives to the White House more than once for meetings. We always had an open door relationship to work with the President and the House leadership. We intend to continue to work with the President. He will have a hard time getting anything done if he doesn’t have us with him. He knows that. But we’re not going to compromise with the right on some lukewarm programs that should have been much bolder. The public option in the healthcare fight was a good example of that. We still feel it was given away before the healthcare debate really began. So we’re not going to roll over. Most of our members won re-election. In some ways, we’ll have an even bigger voice in the next Congress.
THR: Nancy Pelosi wants to stay in the House Leadership. Do you support her?
Ms. Woolsey: I’m one hundred percent behind her. None of the accomplishments in this past Congress would have happened without her leadership. They label her as some wild-eyed liberal. That’s just name- calling. She’s an effective leader. The administration knows that. I’m confident that she will be our Minority House Leader.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson is a nationally acclaimed author and political analyst. He has authored 10 books; his articles are published in newspapers and magazines nationally in the United States. Three of his books have been published in other languages. He is also a social and political analyst and he appears on such TV programs as CNN, MSBC, NPR, the O'Reilly Show, American Urban Radio Network, and local Los Angeles television and radio stations as well. He is an associate editor at New America Media and a regular contributor to BlackNews.com, Alternet.com, BlackAmericaWeb.Com and the HuffingtonPost.com. He does a weekly commentary on KJLH-FM radio (102.3).
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