Communist Party Manipulates US Congress

I have written several posts on the way the Communist Party USA uses Democratic Party sympathisers and/or secret Party members to advance the CPUSA's agenda in the US Congress.

I have specifically named House Judiciary Committee Chair John Conyers, Dennis Kucinich and Barbara Lee as the three congressman most obviously associated with the CPUSA.

The CPUSA makes no bones about supporting the Democrats and ensuring US defeat in Iraq.

The party is also strongly promoting the HR 676 United States National Health Insurance Act.

While campaigning in the recent past to impeach Bush and Cheney, the CPUSA has recently abandoned that as impractical and has switched emphasis to winning legislative victories in congress.

Note how well their lackeys in Congress follow the CPUSA line.

I quote CPUSA political Action Committee Chair Joelle Fishman, writing in Political Affairs April 2006

The 2006 elections are the people’s exit strategy from the far-right Republican disaster. The results of this election will either strengthen or weaken the ability of the Bush administration to hold sway over Congress. If the Republican grip on Congress is broken, it will be much harder for the White House to stay in Iraq and carry out a permanent war program. If the Republican grip on Congress is broken, there will be no barriers left to bring forward the articles of impeachment on Bush and Cheney.

Our Party has much to offer in this great battle. Our leadership and vision is greeted in the crusade to change the course of our country.

There is a shift taking place in our country. There is a great searching, and it is our responsibility to walk through the newly opening doors and expand the Communist Party in the midst of and as part of helping to build the broad all-people’s movement for a mass upsurge to win the elections in November and change Congress.

The message is that voters are looking for candidates with a strong program to meet the crisis. In this context, the growing momentum for action is significant, as is the growing support for HR 676 United States National Health Insurance Act as a comprehensive and realistic solution. Candidates who address the need for universal health care in general in the election can be won to support HR 676 and other progressive legislation in a new Democratic majority Congress.

Our strategic goal is to change the balance of forces in Congress. A Democratic majority can hold the Bush administration accountable. It will strengthen the peace movement. The best path to end the war and bring the troops home, the best path to impeach Bush and Cheney, is to elect a Democratic majority and keep up the mass pressure. There is also a need to search out and elect more advanced fighters for peace and human needs at every level including Congress.

With a Democratic majority in Congress, John Conyers would chair the Judiciary Committee. He would bring forward his bills for impeachment, and reauthorization and expansion of the Voting Rights Act.

We will develop a national campaign, working with labor and community forces, in target races in each state. To date, there are ten targeted Senate races, twenty-six targeted House races and ten Governor races.

Every week counts in the next 35 weeks until Election Day, Tuesday November 7. The number of new voters we register, the number of doors we knock, the number of copies of People’s Weekly World/Nuestro Mundo we bring, the number of calls in phone banks, the unions and organizations we coalesce with, the number of new Clubs that we build and new members that join the Communist Party—all will go a long way to determining our future and the future of democracy in our land.

This article in the latest People's Weekly World, also by Joelle Fishman, I believe adds weight to my thesis.


Rep. John Conyers has probably done more than anyone in Congress to expose the depths of the constitutional crisis in our country and to fight to protect and restore civil rights and liberties. He is a champion of the broad people’s alliance to defeat the ultra-right.

As ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee under the ultra-right Republican majority, Conyers commissioned a complete study of the Bush administration’s activities. The 300-page report, “The Constitution in Crisis: The High Crimes of the Bush Administration and a Blueprint for Impeachment,” was issued in 2006. A second edition was published this year after the newly won Democratic majority named Conyers as Judiciary Committee chair.

The work led by Conyers laid the groundwork for the various congressional hearings investigating abuse of power by the Bush administration. As a result, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales may face impeachment.

The dean of the Congressional Black Caucus, representing Detroit, the autoworker city, with a strong union background, Conyers has been a constant champion on every issue of concern to African Americans and all working people. His position as Judiciary chair is critical for immigrant rights. He is the principal author, with Rep. Dennis Kucinich, of HR 676, the universal single-payer health care bill.

Conyers and other progressives in Congress gained new leverage when the unity of labor, African American, Latino, women and youth voters elected a Democratic majority to Congress last fall.

The balance of forces shifted dramatically. But it was not enough to rout the ultra-right’s ability to obstruct.

The continuing war in Iraq and the inability of Congress to override Bush’s veto of a measure that would have cut funds for the war has given rise to frustration and impatience.

Unfortunately, that frustration was turned against Conyers in July. He was charged with “betrayal” by some peace activists during a civil disobedience action in his Capitol office because he did not agree to bring impeachment of Bush to the House floor.

Obviously there has never been an administration more deserving of impeachment than this one. Their criminality is plain to be seen. However, Conyers and his progressive congressional colleagues have determined that the votes are not there for impeachment. They are working to break through the ultra-right’s obstruction by pursuing legislation for people’s needs, emphasizing the importance of the 2008 elections to complete the job.

It is the obstructionist votes of the Republicans in Congress and those Democrats who have continued to vote with the Bush administration that must be changed. That is where the heat must be placed, to get the necessary votes that will increase the leverage of Conyers and the Progressive, Black, Hispanic and Asian-Pacific caucuses.

Whether or not there is agreement on every legislative tactic, distinguished allies such as Conyers are not the enemy. Attacking them weakens the movement to end the war or for other progressive steps. It splinters the labor and people’s alliance and diverts efforts to hold the Bush administration and Republican leadership in Congress accountable.

For several decades the people’s movements have been forced into a holding action, unable to forge ahead. It is up to labor and its allies, left and progressive forces, to develop new tactics for today’s conditions.

Urging activists to reach out more broadly, Rep. Barbara Lee told the recent Take Back America conference, “We are winning.” Six weeks later her bill to prohibit permanent bases in Iraq passed the U.S. House overwhelmingly. The tactic of progressive members of Congress as well as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is to keep bringing bills forward, even if they are voted down or vetoed, as a way of breaking through. As the right wing cracks under pressure, legislative victories can be won.

The Bush administration and the ultra-right are responsible for the Iraq war, for undermining democracy in our country and for fanning racism and bigotry. They will not give up easily in 2008.

The battle for the future of our country will be won in the precincts, voter by voter. Maximum unity is required. The target must be the ultra-right. The results could open a whole new era of struggle for progressive gains.