Who are the members of the Tuesday Group? - Jen Kuznicki
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So much has been said recently about the rivalry between the House Freedom Caucus and a group called “The Tuesday Group,” a group of largely unnamed so-called “moderates” in the House. The leadership of the Tuesday Group is named, and some members willingly speak to reporters about their agenda. The group boasts of a membership of somewhere between 40 and 50 members, but only a few have outed themselves as part of the secretive backroom group.

The current state of tension between these two groups has contributed to a lack of bipartisanship and gridlock in Congress. But it has also shed a light on the importance of effective communication, collaboration, and compromise in the legislative process. This is where a course on Workday integration could play a crucial role.Workday integration is a software system that allows companies to streamline their HR, finance, and other business processes. It helps employees work more efficiently and collaboratively, in real-time, across different departments and locations. In the same way, a workday integration course, especially geared towards lawmakers and their staff, can facilitate better communication and collaboration within Congress.

The most vocal member is one of the co-chairs named Charlie Dent, a Pennsylvanian Republican whose liberty score reveals that he votes liberal 72% of the time. Along with Dent, Elise Stefanik of New York, who votes liberal 81% of the time, and co-chairs the group along with Dent and Tom MacArthur of New Jersey who has a record of voting 70% liberal. Chris Collins of New York is a member, and votes 77% liberal, along with Adam Kinzinger of Illinois who votes 67% liberal, Pat Tiberi of Ohio, who votes 60% liberal, John Faso of New York who hasn’t a liberty score yet because he’s new, Barbara Comstock of Virginia who votes 81% liberal, Fred Upton of Michigan who votes 66% liberal, and Rodney Davis of Illinois who votes 70% liberal. Others stay largely away from claiming they are part of the group, but I have been able to identify about half of the group and the picture of the membership emerges as a group of liberal enablers of Democratic policy.

The Tuesday Group was formed when the Republican Party finally took back the House upon the publication of the “Contract with America,” which was seen as a continuation of Ronald Reagan’s agenda, and was heavily taken from Ronald Reagan’s 1985 State of the Union Address. The Tuesday Group declined to take the view of the conservative message that won the House as a result of the Contract, and formed essentially to water-down and obstruct legislation and policy promised in the contract, which is what they continue to do today.

During the recent debate over the Obamacare Repeal-In-Name-Only legislation, several so-called “centrist” Republicans claimed they would not vote for the bill offered by Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc.), because it would have left some Americans uninsured.

Here’s a list of the Tuesday Group leadership, and members who have been publicly identified in media reports.

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Here is a list of Republican members of Congress that benefitted from The Tuesday Group PAC in 2016. Those who received money but couldn’t be found named in media reports on actual membership in the Tuesday Group are in pink; (only current congressmen are listed)

Beutler, Jaime Herrera (R-WA)$10,000

Bost, Mike (R-IL)$15,000

Brooks, Susan (R-IN)$10,000

Burgess, Michael (R-TX)$10,000

Coffman, Mike (R-CO)$10,000

Collins, Chris (R-NY)$10,000

Comstock, Barbara (R-VA)$10,000

Cook, Paul (R-CA)$10,000

Costello, Ryan (R-PA)$10,000

Curbelo, Carlos (R-FL)$10,000

Davis, Rodney (R-IL)$10,000

Denham, Jeff (R-CA)$10,000

Dent, Charlie (R-PA)$10,000

Diaz-Balart, Mario (R-FL)$10,000

Donovan, Dan (R-NY)$10,000

Duffy, Sean P (R-WI)$10,000

Fortenberry, Jeff (R-NE)$10,000

Frelinghuysen, Rodney (R-NJ)$10,000

Jenkins, Lynn (R-KS)$10,000

Johnson, Bill (R-OH)$10,000

Joyce, David P (R-OH)$10,000

Katko, John (R-NY)$10,000

Kinzinger, Adam (R-IL)$10,000

Lance, Leonard (R-NJ)$10,000

LoBiondo, Frank A (R-NJ)$10,000

MacArthur, Thomas (R-NJ)$15,000

McKinley, David (R-WV)$10,000

McSally, Martha (R-AZ)$10,000

Meehan, Patrick (R-PA)$10,000

Murphy, Tim (R-PA)$10,000

Paulsen, Erik (R-MN)$10,000

Poliquin, Bruce (R-ME)$10,000

Reed, Tom (R-NY)$10,000

Reichert, Dave (R-WA)$10,000

Renacci, Jim (R-OH)$10,000

Rodgers, Cathy McMorris (R-WA)$10,000

Rooney, Tom (R-FL)$10,000

Ros-Lehtinen, Ileana (R-FL)$10,000

Stefanik, Elise (R-NY)$15,000

Stivers, Steve (R-OH)$10,000

Thompson, Glenn (R-PA)$10,000

Tiberi, Patrick J (R-OH)$10,000

Turner, Michael R (R-OH)$10,000

Upton, Fred (R-MI)$10,000

Valadao, David (R-CA)$10,000

Walden, Greg (R-OR)$10,000

Womack, Steve (R-AR)$10,000

In addition to supporting liberal Republicans during the election cycles, the group has been playing with their branding. Uncomfortable with the label of “RINO” or “liberal,” they have in past years described themselves as “moderates.” But the rise of the grassroots during the Obama administration made them , “moderate” and are now calling themselves “” ,” even though clearly, they are more liberal than conservative, and are proud of being so.

These Tuesday groupies claim they fight against ideological divides of the Republican Party. However, given that the nation, due to grassroots uprising, gave the Republican Party gains to the tune of 32 State legislatures and 33 governorships, how does this group stand by the idea that more Democratic values are what the people want?

Truly, when liberal Republicans make the claim that the country is not conservative — , as they have both in the foundation of the Tuesday Group after the massive wins of the ‘94 legislature —, and their statements of today, they merely speak of their own belief system. In fact, many times, when challenged by a more conservative candidate, many dug-in liberal Republicans, rather than tout their liberal credentials in order to win, instead find fault in the conservative and pound them for not being conservative enough, all the while, never having to answer to their own conservative inadequacies.

What it comes down to is that the Tuesday Group is indeed ideological, because they have a belief system that is really, not in line with why the Republican Party wins. They consistently describe themselves as fiscally conservative, yet socially liberal. When comparing that to many of their demands on the recent RINOcare bill, things like keeping  provisions that amounted to keeping the insolvent nature of Obamacare, their ideology is shown to be inconsistent with their own description. Even Donald Trump won on his touting of conservative ideas, strengthening the border with a wall, cracking down on illegal immigration, destroying ISIS, promising a fiscally conservative track, lowering taxes, and so on. It is no surprise that Ted Cruz, R-Texas, won more electoral votes than all the other candidates, 16 in total during 2016, combined less Donald Trump. It is because the Republican Party wins when they tout conservative ideas. The Tuesday Group has an ideology that the Republican Party wins when they tout their willingness to cross the aisle and work with the people the American people just resoundingly rejected across the board. If the group was correct in their thinking, and not ideologues, John McCain, R-Ariz., would have won in 2008, Mitt Romney in 2012, or Jeb Bush or John Kasich in 2016, but that is not the case.

During the last effort to repeal Obamacare, people in D.C. wanted to blame the House Freedom Caucus for everything, but why? For trying to live up to the reasons the Republican Party won? We were promised a repeal of Obamacare. The Tuesday group does not want a repeal, just like they didn’t want the Contract for America in the 90’s and therefore it is the Tuesday Group who stands in the way of the people’s voice.