Dem Agenda Hijacked by Christian Conservatives

The US Council of Catholic Bishops is getting credit for the 11th-hour inclusion of the Stupak-Pitts Amendment in the House health bill last weekend, but the real force is the shadowy alliance of evangelicals and Democratic lawmakers called the Family, Jeff Sharlet writes on Salon. Though Stupak—a Dem and a Catholic—is coy about it, he lives in the infamous C Street house owned by the organization, and Pitt is a member, too. “The Democratic Party is now captive, just like the GOP, to Christian conservatism,” Sharlet argues.

Sharlet calls Stupak a “poster boy" for the group's "culture war strategy designed to take territory within the Democratic Party as well the GOP.” It’s unclear where the amendment originated, “but as a weather vane, Stupak-Pitts tells us which way the wind is blowing.” The Dems are bad at holding an unsullied majority. “Last time the Democrats possessed this much power in Washington, the Dixiecrats tried to hold the party hostage. Now, it's the faith-based Democrats.” (More Bart Stupak stories.)