Melancon to co-chair House’s Blue Dog Coalition

U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-Napoleonville), who has been a member of the House of Representatives’ Blue Dog Coalition since joining Congress in 2004, was appointed one of the group’s co-chairs for the 111th Congress beginning Jan. 6.

The coalition, which will have 51 members, advocates lower federal spending and trimming the budget.

Melancon will serve as co-chair for communications. The Blue Dogs, formed in 1995, have two other co-chairs, one for policy and administration. Melancon’s appointment is his first as a co-chair.

“He was nominated and he happily accepted,” said spokeswoman Robin Winchell.

“He shares the coalition’s values,” she said. “A fiscally responsible budget, responsible government spending, reducing the budget.”

“They are fiscally conservative Democrats,” Winchell said. “He’s always been active. He feels like Blue Dogs share the same values as people in south Louisiana.”

The coalition’s by-laws call for the group to change its leadership every new Congress.

At a Bayou Industrial Group meeting in Thibodaux two weeks ago, Melancon said he would like to see a Blue Dog Coalition established in the U.S. Senate.

“We need to get back to reality, finding ways to pay for things,” he said. “The Blue Dogs are trying to recruit in the Senate. We need them to say, ‘We can’t spend it.’ We have to make sure we don’t spend more than we take in.”

The name Blue Dog was chosen for the group because its members felt their more conservative views had been “choked blue” by the Democratic Party. The name also derives from the post-Civil War Southern Democrats who stated they would vote for a yellow dog before voting for a Republican.

The 111th Congress lasts through Jan. 3, 2011.