Sadly, only one third of the Democrats in the House of Representatives supports this bill, the rest have declined to sign their names as cosponsors.

14 members of New York State’s delegation have not supported the Respect for Marriage Act. 11 of these 14 are Democrats. They are

Timothy Bishop
Steve Israel
Carolyn McCarthy
Joe Crowley
John Hall
Scott Murphy
Michael Arcuri
Brian Higgins
Louise Slaughter
Eric Massa

These Democrats who have declined to support the repeal of DOMA could be effectively targeted by the Green Party in the 2010 congressional elections through a focus on LGBT equality on marriage and other issues. The Green Party of New York State supports equality for all people, regardless of sexual orientation, without equivocation.

The Obama for America infrastructure has remained silent, even as it was supposed to be morphed into a new form, Organizing for America. An Upstate New York example of this stunning silence can be seen in Representative Michael Arcuri’s congressional district.

The district stretches from the Adirondack mountains, through Utica and Auburn, down to the Catskill Mountains and all the way over to Trumansburg in Tompkins County. With such a big district, you would think that some local Democrats, somewhere, would be involved in the Organizing for America organization. However, there’s no evidence that’s the case.

President Obama says that he’s going to push for health care reform, though his speeches are increasingly thin on the details of what kind of reform he’ll offer. That’s because Obama’s health care reform itself is growing increasingly thin, under the repeated blows of the right wing Blue Dog Democratic Coalition.

Congressman Arcuri is a loyal member of the Blue Dogs, and as a part of that caucus, Arcuri has been an opponent of meaningful health care reform. Arcuri and his Blue Dog colleagues have even threatened to vote against health care reform unless it is weakened, and made more acceptable to pharmaceuticals companies and health insurance corporations.

So, although Barack Obama has said that he is going to organize a grassroots push for the passage of health care reform legislation, there isn’t a single Organizing For America event in favor of health care in Arcuri’s 24th congressional district. If you think about it, that’s not so much of a surprise. After all, the Democrats in the 24th district have been supporting Mike Arcuri for years. It would be awkward for them now to push for the health care reforms that Arcuri opposes.

Here in New York State, we’ve got just one Blue Dog Democrat in the House of Representatives: Michael Arcuri. Congressman Arcuri has taken, in just two election cycles, $106,547 in donations from this sector.

Are we really supposed to believe that these Blue Dogs are offering a health care reform plan that’s in our best interest?

The Green Party is not funded by the corporate medicine. The Green Party’s health care agenda focuses on people, not profits.

Other Upstate Democrats voted against the American Clean Energy and Security Act, but did it for all the wrong reasons. Eric Massa said he voted against it because he’s worried that fighting climate change will hurt farmers, but the fact is that many agricultural activities in the region, such as dairy and maple syrup, are being negatively affected by climate change, and inaction will hurt farmers. Michael Arcuri says that he’s worried that the bill will result in energy price increases that will cause businesses to leave Upstate, but the Congressional Budget Office has debunked GOP claims of huge energy cost increases, and because the legislation is national in scope, it won’t discourage businesses from operating in any particular region in particular.

Clean, green energy was a clear mandate of the 2008 election, but the Democrats have shown themselves incapable of following through on the issue. The American Clean Energy and Security Act was flawed from the start, as a timid, half-hearted bill, and only grew worse as lobbyists were allowed to insert special favors for their polluting clients.

The stakes are too high for this kind of failure. The science of climate change is clear: We need strong action to change American energy policy now, not an industry-approved show bill that does too little too late.

The lesson is clear: When you want environmental action, don’t send a Democrat to do a Green’s job.

This week, Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank introduced a bill to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Representative Frank has 117 cosponsors for this bill. That’s how members of Congress show their support for legislation.

The thing is, a whole lot of Democrats are not supporting this anti-discrimination bill. Among these are a large number of New York State Democrats. The following members of the House of Representatives from New York State are not cosponsors of Barney Frank’s legislation:

Tim Bishop
Gary Ackerman
Gregory Meeks
Ed Towns
Mike McMahon
Charles Rangel
John Hall
Scott Murphy
Paul Tonko
Maurice Hinchey
Mike Arcuri
Dan Maffei

Why should these New York State Democrats be re-elected, when they won’t even protect their own constituents from discrimination on the job? We’ve come to expect this kind of indifference and bigotry from Republicans. Sadly, we’re coming to expect it from Democrats too.

Let’s take the issue of mortgage renegotiation as an example. In Upstate New York, as with the rest of the country, a large number of people are being forced to default on their mortgages. Most of these people are not, as the Republicans say, selfish and stupid people who bought houses they could never have afforded to keep. Most of the people forced to default on their home mortgages as part of bankruptcy settlements are hard-working and responsible citizens who have lost their jobs because of mistakes made by their employers, and because of the economic wreckage created by the Wall Street meltdown.

For the wealthy, there’s no problem. Wealthy Americans have been able to renegotiate the terms of loans for their vacation homes and luxury yachts for a long time. But average, working families have had no such option. Banks don’t have to renegotiate mortgage terms for the homes of low and middle income Americans.

The Helping Families Save Their Homes Act was written to remedy this discrepancy, creating the option for homeowners going through hard economic times to keep their homes by renegotiating the terms of their mortgages as part of bankruptcy proceedings. It’s an idea that’s pro-family, pro-community, and pro-bank.

Pro-bank? Yes, this legislation was a win-win for working families and for banks. You see, when people have to completely default on a mortgage, the bank that holds the mortgage suffers a nearly complete loss on the investment. Keeping a homeowner in a mortgage, on renegotiated terms, saves banks a lot of money.

So, what’s not to like about the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act? Go ask U.S. Representatives Arcuri and Massa. They joined with 167 Republicans to vote against the legislation.

Families going through hard times in New York’s 24th and 29th congressional districts might as well have Republicans representating them in Congress, their U.S. Representatives are so far to the right. Mike Arcuri and Eric Massa are two Blue Dog Democrats who need to be challenged from the left, by credible Green Party candidates in 2010.