The Hill’s Blog Briefing Room » Dingell: Waxman ‘Anti-Manufacturing, Left-Wing’ Democrat

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November 11, 2008

Dingell: Waxman 'Anti-Manufacturing, Left-Wing' Democrat

@ 3:16 pm by Hill Staff

Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) has called his challenger for the chairmanship of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), an "anti-manufacturing, left-wing Democrat".

Dingell, who is in the process of whipping up support from colleagues to retain support of the influential committee, told a Detroit radio show last week that Waxman lacks a concern for the manufacturing industry, particularly the auto industry (workers in which populate Dingell's southeast Michigan district).

"At a time when the auto industry, American manufacturing, American industry needs somebody who understands these things in that particular spot to look after them and see that they are fairly treated," Dingell said, "he wants to put in an anti-manufacturing, left-wing Democrat."

Dingell also denied the battle was a proxy battle against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) over leadership. "As of this particular time, Nancy is not in this particular race. And we don't want this to get to be a race between us and her," Dingell said. "And I don't think that it is. And if I have any say, it will not become so."

Dingell called the battle between him and Waxman a "long-standing fight" over the policy direction of the committee, but promised that he would win the votes to stay on as chairman.

Listen to the audio of the interview here.

-Michael O'Brien

Archived under: Lawmaker News, News

32 Comments »

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Hahahaha. Pot (Dingell) calls Kettle (Waxman) black! Indeed, pigs have taken flight, fish are walking about on the streets and democrats are being truthful!

Comment by Schratboy — November 11, 2008 @ 3:28 pm
"anti-manufacturing, left-wing Democrat".

It takes a Democrat to understand a Democrat

Comment by BobbDobbs — November 11, 2008 @ 3:28 pm
Wake up John - it's the DEMOCRATIC PARTY!

Comment by Wally Kalbacken — November 11, 2008 @ 3:29 pm
Dingell must not have had enough of the Kool-Aid. Better lead him back to the DNC punch bowl

Comment by Red State Dweller — November 11, 2008 @ 3:29 pm
Six days and they are starting to eat their own. If it wasn't so pathetic I'd be rolling on the floor. $2 trillion deficit next year?

Comment by Richard Brown — November 11, 2008 @ 3:31 pm
Oh No! A Dem. attacking a Dem. Say it ain't so!
Who does he think he is, Lieberman?

All Thinking as One is Good!
All Hail the United Collective!
All Hail the Great Leader!

Comment by Chacmool — November 11, 2008 @ 3:33 pm
Unfortunately "anti-manufacturing" can be applied to the whole democratic party, and even some, dare I say, most, "moderate" republicans (see McCain).

Comment by Mike — November 11, 2008 @ 3:33 pm
What will destroy the Democratic Party is winning. They now have no one to blame, no vague, menacing force keeping them down. They cannot even pull the race card any more. Their in-fighting will cause monumental gridlock which they will try to spend their way out of. My bet is that they eventually start a huge war, not with the thought of winning, but instead to have someone to blame for their upcoming monumental failures. Stay tuned for Gulf of Tonkin II.

Comment by Bryan — November 11, 2008 @ 3:41 pm
Have you heard of the great new fruit being sold by a new company set up by John Dingell in the past few years?

The product is a unique new fruit that is actually a hybrid of blueberry, raspberry, and strawberry.

It's called the Dingellberry.

da-dum, tshch!

Seriously, though. Dingell kind of sucks, Waxman sucks a whole lot. They do the sucking–but We The People are the suckers.

Comment by James — November 11, 2008 @ 3:42 pm
Screw Dingell. A few years back Firestone was locked in a battle with Ford over numerous Explorer rollover incidents. Dingell's own daughter was in one such incident, where no tire failure was cited. Yet because he gets heavy campaign contributions from Ford, he sat in congressional hearings and defended Ford and their tragically flawed piece of crap Explorer. This resulted in two outcomes. Firestone closed it's Decatur IL facility, putting 2000 innocent people out of work. Shortly thereafter, Ford lost multiple lawsuits over similar incidents, thus beginning their slide into their current financial disgrace.

So it's funny that Dingell lied to protect corporate interestes that were clearly guilty of negligence, put 2000 union workers out of jobs, and now wants to proclaim himself "Champion for all things Manufacturing".

That said, I don't care to even know about this idiotic spat. Whoever wins the outcome will be the same. We'll get some lying scumbag, who'll say one thing, then do whatever other thing lines his pockets best. Just like old times…

Comment by Derek D — November 11, 2008 @ 3:51 pm
Waxman shouldn't get the chair simply because he is the single most physically unattractive human being to ever spill out of the moment of conception. The dude is literally one chromosome shy of looking exactly like a baboon�s arse. Except a baboon�s arse can at least be reconciled by ones brain when observing it. Waxman�s face, however, takes a strong stomach. The urge to look away equals that we get when staring into a mid-day sun.

Comment by JDW — November 11, 2008 @ 3:56 pm
It takes a Democrat to understand a Democrat!
or
It takes logical economics to know socialistic one!

Comment by bozz — November 11, 2008 @ 3:59 pm
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=henry%20waxman&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

A coke-dealers wet dream! And a coke-sharers worst nightmare. The last thing a coke-head wants to hear from Henry when his white lines are on the table is "can I hit that?"

Comment by Jason Watkins — November 11, 2008 @ 4:00 pm
Socialist???? Gee I must have stumbled upon a Republican whiner page. Hey you lost, remember??? Someone has to clean up the mess you've made….control of House and the Senate from the mid 90s to 05 and the White House for eight years…not to mention (drum roll please) the STERLING leadership of Tom De Lay! Great job, huh??? See how well all that worked out??? I know just how you feel. I felt the same way on 2000 and 2004 when "W" won.

Comment by sarah — November 11, 2008 @ 4:22 pm
Wait till more than a few democrats figure out what they have in the office of the executive.

I'm betting a lot of democrats in Congress are going to be saying to themselves, "I didn't support him for this nonsense".

Of course they won't be so apt to make their feelings known in public; in fact they might not dare whisper it to their colleagues.

The activity behind the scene during the first hundred days of the new administration�s sweeping reforms will also be the not so visible but ever present phase of �purge and punish� of democrats, and then the rest of us.

There�s a wealth of folks panting for Obama�s promise of hope and change and woe be unto anyone who appears to be an obstacle standing in the door of that building.

Comment by Dave — November 11, 2008 @ 4:29 pm
All that sneering from that small-time racist criminal outfit formerly known as the Repugnant party, the party of Larry "the Wide Stance" Craig, Mark Pedophile Foley and the Klansman David Duke! That's all you know how to do well.

Comment by Unreadable — November 11, 2008 @ 4:32 pm
Dingell's wife, Debbie, was one of the primary people responsible for the snafu involving Michigan's Democratic primary the disenfranchised a large number of Obama supporters.

She then went on to create all sorts of havoc on election day when her paid "volunteers" canvassed the exact same areas with the exact same flyers as our Obama GOTV people were doing. They even stopped by with a van-load of high school kids and raided the food table at our staging area, food provided by real volunteers for other real volunteers.

I'd be happy to be rid of John if it meant that Debbie would be out of the picture, too. I have absolutely no use for that woman.

Comment by Ecl;ectablog — November 11, 2008 @ 4:40 pm
Dingell tried to save the U.S. auto industry by fighting for, and getting, decreased effective CAFE standards for Detroit in the '90's. Thanks for nothing, Dingell.

Dingell is a "Mainstream" politician.

His wife is a lobbyist, a la Daschle. Yeah, Great Democrats.

Comment by John Stanley — November 11, 2008 @ 5:07 pm
As a Michigander I have seen Dingell for years. And do not like him, but I am rooting he retains his seat. Waxman is bad news.

CAFE STANDARDs did not stop people with money from buying the cars they want. Why do have SUVs on the road? So soccer moms have vehicles that make them feel safe while driving their kids. CAFE standards moved them from safe and relatively fuel efficient cars, to gas guzzling psuedo-tanks.

Comment by Brad — November 11, 2008 @ 5:25 pm
Dingell is for the automobile companies, not the workers. As a retired autoworker, I am rooting for Waxman. Dingell has been an enabler to the auto industries addiction to last quarter profits, don't worry about the future. He's almost as bad as the Republicans. Well, that might be going too far.

Comment by John Mangan — November 11, 2008 @ 5:29 pm
Left? There's almost no left in Congress at all! Kucinich, Sanders, maybe a couple more — the some of the left is here: http://www.dsausa.org.

Comment by tenstring — November 11, 2008 @ 5:37 pm
Wake up people. Waxman is in no way 'anti-manufacturing'–and, as far as 'leftwing' goes, what does that mean? Does it mean that he doesn't think kicking workers in the face and moving manufacturing to slave-wage third world countries is bad for our national health?

No, greed and short-sighted thinking brought Detroit down.

Maybe you lame Republicans would like to bring slave wages to the US? Oh, yeah, you're already working on that agenda.

Is it any wonder that the US public kicked you to the curb?

I would be heartened if we could ship you to Iraq–let the people that you think love you so much deal with you.

Yes, I am loving the fact that you rightwingers will not change the way you think–and that the US public is on to your unpatriotic, pathetic worldview.

Waxman is far, far better than Dingell. His worldview is closer to our new President's, and the vast majority of educated people here in the US.

Turn off Limbaugh and Hannity, read some books, do some self-searching and come back to reality Republicans. Pathetic little whiners.

Comment by Steven H. — November 11, 2008 @ 6:08 pm
Give him hell, Harry! Dingell has a lot of nerve. It's the GOP today, and in the past, that is willing to throw away all of those jobs. How dare Dingell call himself a Democrat. Ugh. I hope Waxman wipes the floor with Dingell (metaphorically speaking).

Comment by chrisinCA — November 11, 2008 @ 6:34 pm
I really don't know what all the people above are talking about. Waxman is a man who speaks truly and fairly. He is an aggressive advocate of reform and I am honored he is serving in Congress. He has done a phenomenal job with the Reform Committee. He is someone that cannot be bought. It's time he got an upgrade to something with more meat, so he can help get us out of this hole. The auto industry has dug it's own grave. It's folks like Henry that can hold them and oil companies accountable and help reform our entire energy and transportation policy and infrastructure.

Comment by Steve M — November 11, 2008 @ 7:16 pm
Six days and they are starting to eat their own. If it wasn't so pathetic I'd be rolling on the floor. $2 trillion deficit next year?

Comment by Richard Brown � November 11, 2008 @ 3:31 pm

Hey Stupid…it was Bush that left the 2 trillion dollar deficit, not the Dems. the wars and bailouts that your putz left will be with us for many decades to come. imagine that….after 60 years of building the american empire (the greatest mankind had ever seen), it took bush and co. 4 years to destroy it.

Comment by jimbo jones — November 11, 2008 @ 7:59 pm
Idiots, the Democrat-Republican pot shotting is both retarded, and inane. First and foremost, two wrongs don't make a right, so the whole "…well Clinton/Bush did this" logic is just barely on a level above illiterate. Secondly, in the midst of your rush to obey your programming, have any of you stopped to ponder the real differences between the parties. Are Democrats better because they want to use money you don't have to bail out the auto industry instead of the banks? Are Republicans so much better because they want to fight global warming by building nuclear plants instead of putting up windmills (while Florida has FROST IN OCTOBER)? Are Democrats better because they gave free trade to Mexico but won't give it to Colombia, as if we had any more jobs to lose anyway?

You people are sheep. The pundits tell you what to say and you say it. Meanwhile both parties are gainfully involved in fleecing you with the same scams that only differ by small details. Yet all you idiots can do is beat each other over the head with those details. Yes Obama is a Socialist, probably because this country has been firmly in the grasp of socialism for close to two decades. Yes Bush is a clueless buffoon, does that make it a good idea to elect an equally clueless buffoon to replace him?

You want to point some fingers, point them at the mirror. You are all so out to lunch this country is being stolen from you while you dutifully embrace your ignorance to the whole deal, and instead shout scripted banter back and forth like children.

Get a brain, and some sense and drop this idiotic exercise. YOU ARE RUINING MY COUTNRY!!!!

Comment by Derek D — November 11, 2008 @ 8:35 pm
And precisely how well has Dingell's devoted water-carrying for the American automobile industry worked out for, oh, say, the American automobile industry?

Yeah. Thanks for playing.

Welcome aboard, Henry.

Comment by TC — November 11, 2008 @ 8:45 pm
Dingell needs to wake up and smell the coffee, or quit. He's still stuck to the old Detroit way of thinking that has gotten these companies in such trouble. If we'd have had worthwhile fuel economy standards ten or fifteen years ago, Detroit would be in as good a shape as Honda and Toyota, because they would have been forced to learn to produce a good small car. But I guess churning out SUVs and caving to the UAW on benefits was easier.

The Irony of the whole situation is that the UAW figured out before management did that they were in deep trouble. They have been urging the Big Three to take small cars and energy efficiency seriously for 40 years. And last year they took over a huge part of the Big Three healthcare liability. But Dingell goes on enabling brain-dead management even after the union has long since figured it out. Pathetic.

Comment by DBX — November 11, 2008 @ 10:02 pm
All the blogs I have looked at have had commenters rag on John Dingell for not fighting for tougher fuel economy standards. The fact is that there are so many ways for car companies to get around these standards that they are a waste of time for Congress.

John Dingell has led the fight for a lot of important legislation. From the Clean Air Act to the Clean Water Act, his environmental record has been outstanding. He has also been a champion of health care for years, and it would be a mistake to remove him from leadership when we are finally so close to achieving universal health care.

Comment by Michigan Man — November 12, 2008 @ 2:08 am
wow… so many anti-democrat comments. I guess with that kind of article title you'll obviously attract moths to the flame. take your petty potshots when you can for that's all you have as the swing shifts towards the Democratic party. As for calling the Dems socialists… yeah, and its not like AIG is now a government-owned company. Don't think socialism is owned by any political party… left and right alike can be socialists (think Mussolini).

We have had 8 years of bush and 6 of them under a Republican congress. Is it any surprise that the tide has shifted? You may think the Dems are crazy for any infighting… but what about the Limbaughs and other conservatives that attack moderate Republicans?

Comment by Sean — November 12, 2008 @ 7:19 am
Our country has been brought to the brink of disaster by 8 yrs of repub rule. The economy is in the crapper, two wars (one of which was unnecessary), corruption and crony ism throughout the houses, the judicial, and the executive. All of this made possible by blind faith, ignorant, vote the label not the man republican sheep. Yup, you guys effd our country big time and it's going to take President Obama and his team quite a while to bring us back to glory, but we will get there. We tried stupid and incompetent for 8 yrs now, didn't work too well did it. You morons who voted for Bush and then Mccain need to just STFU and let the grown ups fix things now.

Comment by mike — November 12, 2008 @ 9:31 am
Dingel does not carry water for the Auto Execs he carries waters for the Unions. The unions have the companies over a barrel. Did you know that the pension costs for an american auto exceeds the actual labor costs for that auto?
As someone who is laid off from a auto supply job paying $10 an hour I can tell you I would love to work in an auto plant where I make $22 for a job that can be done with a 6th grade education. And this is after the unions have agreed to wage reductions.
Unions were needed when this was an unsafe work enviroment. Since the 80s the Auto industry has been needing to retool. And restructure. Global restructuring is forcing things to be rethought. Jobs that went to Mexico, have moved to Asia. Cheaper to load a freighter then to pay US wages.
The Monkey is on the auto industry's back is pensions. But I agree that it is not far to gut their pensions to what can be realistically supported by the auto industry.
So we are forced to make choices that appear harsh. To solve this problem we need to bust the pension costs, restructure executive pay and bust the current wages. It needs to be all 3 things, and a requirement that there be an investment in research and development. This is what needs to be required if the auto industry is to get a helping hand from the government. To quote Obama's acceptance speech, Fixing this will require sacrifice from everybody.

Comment by Brad — November 12, 2008 @ 11:11 am

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November 11, 2008

Dingell: Waxman 'Anti-Manufacturing, Left-Wing' Democrat

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