John Fetterman, the Bernie supporter and progressive mayor in the Pennsylvania Senate race, called on Debbie Wasserman Schultz to resign as DNC chair in an interview on Pittsburgh TV station, WTAE. He then sent out a tweet (above) endorsing her South Florida primary opponent, Tim Canova. The Huffington Post reported that when he was asked by WTAE anchor Jackie Cain if his opposition to Wasserman Schultz was "a bold move," he said it was more a matter of common decency.
“I wouldn’t call it a bold move. I would call it an appropriate one given her collusion with the sub-prime, payday loan, lending machine,” Fetterman said. “I can’t imagine-- the average interest rate they charge is 309 percent-- as a Democrat, how could you get in bed with those kind of people?”
He also pointed to her campaign’s donors.
“The fact that she would take tens of thousands of dollars from that industry, and the fact that she would try to pass legislation that benefits that industry-- it’s deeply disappointing particularly for the head of the DNC,” Fetterman said.
In a letter to his supporters he wrote that "It’s ridiculous that the leader of the Democratic Party would turn her back on some of the most vulnerable members of society-- the very people that her candidates are pledging to fight for. That’s why today, I’m calling on the Chair to resign. Debbie Wasserman Schultz has made it clear that her values are no longer our values." He asked them to consider signing a petition asking her to resign from the DNC:
Payday lenders lure desperate, mostly poor customers with the promise of quick money-- but the reality is filled with hidden fees and sky-high interest rates.
So why is the leader of the Democratic Party trying to protect this industry by supporting a bill in Congress that seeks to delay the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau's pending rules on the issue?
Tell Congresswoman and DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz: "You have abandoned the values of the Democratic Party and betrayed the most vulnerable members of society who depend on our party to fight for them. I urge you to resign from your position as DNC Chair immediately."
The only other candidates that I know of who explicitly called on Wasserman Schultz to resign are Alex Law, the South Jersey progressive Bernie supporter running for the NJ-01 congressional seat against the Norcross Machine and Syracuse Social Security expert Eric Kingson, who's running against Republican John Katko is a very blue district; also a Bernie supporter. This morning Alex told us that he'd like to see her leave the DNC chair:
"I am calling for Debbie Wasserman Shultz to resign as DNC Chair. She has repeatedly shown that her loyalty is to party insiders rather than the party itself. To me, the Democratic Party is not those in the back rooms, it is all of us, the rank-in-file. We are the party of inclusion, and Debbie Wasserman Shultz has actively worked against that foundational principle. Whether it was the scheduling of debates, data access, registration controversies, or the myriad other legitimate complaints against her, there has been enough evidence for me to truly believe we need new leadership as a party. She may be a great fundraiser, but she has not been a great Democrat, and because of that, we as a party must move on. If I lived in her district, I would enthusiastically vote for her primary opponent, Tim Canova."
This morning Eric Kingson told us he agreed with Fetterman and Law that Wasserman Schultz had worn out her welcome among Democrats. "A corporate Democrat, Debbie Wasserman Schultz is no friend of Labor; no friend of Social Security; no friend of the progressive values and policies that made the Democratic Party great. Time for a change at the DNC. Democrats need to be led by a real Democrat, not a 'third way' clone."
You can find Fetterman, Canova, Kingson and Law together on this ActBlue page of congressional candidates who have endorsed Bernie and are running on his issues, or by clicking this handy thermometer: 
