Here Are the Minority of House Democrats Who Had the Guts to Vote Against Republicans’ Idiotic and Performative Resolution on ‘Socialism’
AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster
On Thursday, the House overwhelmingly voted in favor of a useless resolution “denouncing the horrors of socialism.” Sadly, the majority of Democrats felt compelled to approve the utterly performative measure, which passed 328 to 86.
Even though most Democrats voted for the resolution, it will not prevent Republicans from continuing to accuse them of trying to enact a full-blown commie takeover of the United States. Even if all 212 House Democrats voted for it, conservatives would continue to roll out the same McCarthyite talking points against their liberal colleagues.
The Republican economic plan to cut taxes for corporations and wealthy individuals, who are often trust fund millionaires and billionaires, doesn’t do much for average Americans. Republicans know this, which is why they feel the need to concoct “socialist” boogeymen like it’s the 1950s in perpetuity.
The term “socialism” has essentially become meaningless in mainstream discourse. It has been bandied about by conservatives as a cudgel to malign any policy they don’t like, even when it has absolutely nothing to do with economics.
As Harry Truman said in 1952, “Socialism is their name for almost anything that helps all the people.”
Again, the calendar has changed, but the Republican song remains the same.
That brings us back to the resolution, introduced by Rep. Maria Salazar (R-FL). It cleverly but wrongly identifies objectively terrible people such as Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, and Fidel Castro as socialists. In reality, they were communists who advocated total government control of economic activity. On the other hand, a socialist system can coexist with capitalism. We see this in western European countries, whose social programs are far more robust than in the United States.
And yet somehow, none of those countries have succumbed to Stalinism.
Anyway, just 86 of the 212 Democrats in the House had the fortitude to vote against the resolution “denouncing the horrors of socialism.”
Here are the 86, followed by a list of notable Democrats who felt the need to join the Republicans’ performative inanity:
Alma Adams (NC)
Becca Balint (VT)
Nanette Barragán (CA)
Joyce Beatty (OH)
Don Beyer (VA)
Earl Blumenauer (OR)
Suzanne Bonamici (MI)
Jamaal Bowman (NY)
Cori Bush (MO)
Tony Cárdenas (CA)
Andre Carson (IN)
Greg Casar (TX)
Joaquin Castro (TX)
Judy Chu (CA)
Yvette Clarke (NY)
Emanuel Cleaver (MO)
Gerry Connolly (VA)
Joe Courtney (CT)
Danny Davis (IL)
Diana DeGette (CO)
Rosa DeLauro (CT)
Mark DeSaulnier (CA)
Lloyd Doggett (TX)
Adriano Espaillat (NY)
Dwight Evans (PA)
Lizzie Fletcher (TX)
Valerie Foushee (NC)
Maxwell Frost (FL)
John Garamendi (CA)
Chuy García (IL)
Sylvia Garcia (TX)
Robert Garcia (CA)
Dan Goldman (NY)
Jimmy Gomez (CA)
Al Green, (TX)
Raúl Grijalva (AZ)
Jahana Hayes (CT)
Brian Higgins (NY)
Jim Himes (CT)
Steny Hoyer (MD)
Jared Huffman (CA)
Pramila Jayapal (WA)
Hank Johnson (GA)
Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA)
Robin Kelly (IL)
John Larson (CT)
Barbara Lee (CA)
Summer Lee (PA)
Betty McCollum (MN)
Morgan McGarvey (KY)
Jim McGovern (MA)
Kweisi Mfume (MD)
Gwen Moore (WI)
Kevin Mullin (CA)
Jerry Nadler (NY)
Grace Napolitano (CA)
Richard Neal (MA)
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY)
Ilhan Omar (MN)
Frank Pallone (NJ)
Bill Pascrell (NJ)
Donald Payne (NJ)
Chellie Pingree (ME)
Mark Pocan (WI)
Katie Porter (CA)
Ayanna Pressley (MA)
Delia Ramirez (IL)
Jamie Raskin (MD)
Linda Sánchez (CA)
John Sarbanes (MD)
Jan Schakowsky (IL)
Bobby Scott (VA)
David Scott (GA)
Brad Sherman (CA)
Adam Smith (WA)
Mark Takano (CA)
Shri Thanedar (MI)
Rashida Tlaib (MI)
Jill Tokuda (HI)
Paul Tonko (NY)
Norma Torres (CA)
Juan Vargas (CA)
Nydia Velázquez (NY)
Maxine Waters (CA)
Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ)
Nikema Williams (GA)
Notable Democrats out of the 109 who voted to play along with Republicans’ performative garbage include:
Pete Aguilar (TX)
Katherine Clark (MA)
James Clyburn (SC)
Josh Gottheimer (NJ)
Hakeem Jeffries (NY)
Ro Khanna (CA)
Ted Lieu (CA)
Zoe Lofgren (CA)
Seth Moulton (MA)
Joe Neguse (CO)
Nancy Pelosi (CA)
Adam Schiff (CA)
Eric Swalwell (CA)
Ritchie Torres (NY)
Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL)
Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), the Democratic leader in the House, railed against the resolution in a fiery press conference. He called it “phony, fake, and fraudulent.”
Despite his protestations, Jeffries ultimately voted for the measure, thus sparking questions about whether he is also “phony, fake, and fraudulent.”
This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.
