What is a Blue Dog?

By Rep. DAN BOREN

In eastern Oklahoma, people have heard about or may even know someone that calls themselves as a “yellow dog Democrat.” That phrase helped describe more than one generation of Oklahomans who identified themselves as someone who would rather vote for a yellow dog than a member of the other party.

But in recent years, a new brand of Democrat has surfaced in Congress of which I am a proud member — the Blue Dog Democrats. I am asked quite often, “Dan, what is a Blue Dog exactly?” I guess the quickest way to describe a Blue Dog is that it’s a yellow dog Democrat that has been squeezed blue by the left flank of the Democratic Party.

Founded in 1994, the Blue Dog Coalition includes 52 conservative and moderate Democrats from Congressional districts that are spread across America. Armed with the view that the majority of Americans’ political beliefs are somewhere in the middle, the Blue Dogs have worked very hard to build a bridge of common sense between the left and right extremes in both parties.

One major priority of the Coalition is to fight for fiscal responsibility and against unnecessary spending in Congress. Recently this effort has been demonstrated in two policy battles here in Washington — health care reform and Congress’ “pay-as-you-go,” or “PAYGO.” rules.

During the health care reform debate, as Congress works to address our broken health care system, one side has tried to force a 1,000-page bill through Congress while the other side has used rhetoric to cloud the discussion. The Blue Dogs have stood united in the middle, and have worked with both sides to ensure that any plan put forward is fully effective and does not saddle future generations with a crushing load of debt.

At home, folks tell me that first and foremost that what they want is a plan that will not bankrupt America, or that will restrict their choice of doctor any more so than the private insurance companies already do. They are concerned that if we continue down the path of the current legislation, we will end-up with single-payer health care and overall quality will suffer. Small business owners are worried that their taxes will increase.

Another long-standing Blue Dog priority is the establishment “PAYGO” rules in Congress. In fact, PAYGO, a proven and effective budget enforcement tool that was implemented with bipartisan support in the early 1990’s, has been a top priority for the Coalition for over 15 years. PAYGO essentially requires that any new program or initiative approved by Congress cannot add to the deficit without tightening the belt somewhere else. It is a common sense approach that crosses party lines, geographic boundaries, ideological divides, and requires tough spending choices by the federal government, just like the ones American families face everyday balancing their checkbooks.

If we do not pay for our priorities today, we are merely passing the bill — with interest — to our children and grandchildren. We are putting our economy and national security at risk by allowing so much of our debt to be held by so few. As a result of the Blue Dogs’ work, PAYGO was established as a rule in the U.S. House of Representatives for the last Congressional session. This year it has been passed as the law of the land by the U.S. House of Representatives and will now head to the Senate for consideration later this year.

These two issues are not the full extent of the Blue Dog’s efforts, but they help illustrate the measured, bipartisan, and fiscally responsible approach that the Coalition brings to the challenges facing our nation.

As I travel across eastern Oklahoma, I meet with more and more people that just don’t care about which party is winning the battle of talking points. They just want the work to get done. They don’t want to be taxed again and again, and they don’t want government waste. They believe that leadership is about doing what is right, not what is politically easiest. The Blue Dog coalition and I see it the exact same way.

Rep. Dan Boren, D-Muskogee, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Oklahoma’s Second Congressional District in 2004. He serves on the House Armed Services Committee, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the House Natural Resources Committee.

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