It's been a good two weeks for conservative, Blue Dog Democrats in having their way with the House Democratic leadership.

Last week it was the farm bill. The current Blue Dog districts (we count 48 on their Web site) hauled in $7.7 billion in crop payments over the past three years, fully 22 percent of the national total. Just 13 of those Blue Dog districts got 90 percent of that taxpayer money. House Democratic leaders killed attempts to reform the subsidies and invest the savings to improve nutrition, the environment, organic agriculture, and give taxpayers a break.

Defeat of reform means that over the next five years, the House-passed farm bill will send $5.9 billion in automatic subsidy entitlements ("direct payments") to Blue Dog districts, even if prices and incomes soar, as they’re projected to do for farmers growing corn, soybeans and other crops.

Not a week after House Democratic leaders handed them those billions in crop subsidies, Blue Dogs repaid the favor with some reform killing of their own: namely, a top Democratic priority for energy policy, the first strengthening of automobile fuel economy standards in 30 years (CAFE, for "corporate average fuel economy").

The Blue Dogs sided with the auto industry in favor of a weaker CAFE amendment to the House energy bill to be debated in Congress today. The Blue Dog's defection was a key and highly public factor in a decision by House Democratic leaders to abandon consideration of the much stronger CAFE amendment championed by Rep. Ed Markey and backed by environmental and consumer groups and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. As Justin Hyde reported in the Detroit Free Press yesterday:

In a victory for Detroit automakers, the main backer in the U.S. House of tougher fuel economy standards said late today that he would not push for his 35 mile-per-gallon standard this week.

The move by Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., means automakers and the United Auto Workers now have the August recess to prepare for a larger debate in September, when Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., plans to address fuel economy rules as part of his work on global warming. It also sidesteps what would have been a bruising floor flight between Markey and Dingell as the House Democrats speed through bills ahead of the August recess.

For the past few weeks, Markey has declined to say whether he would try to attach his plan, which would force the industry to meet an average standard of 35 m.p.g. by 2019, to the energy bill the House is scheduled to consider Friday. Markey said in a statement today that while he believed he had enough votes to move his plan, he would instead back the mileage increase that passed the Senate in June...

...Markey's retreat came after weeks of intensive lobbying by Detroit automakers, the UAW, Toyota Motor Co. and dozens of other groups against Markey's plan and for an alternative from Reps. Baron Hill, D-Ind., and Lee Terry, R-Neb. That bill would have required new cars and trucks to meet an average of 32 to 35 m.p.g. by 2022.

The industry has steadily racked up support for the Hill-Terry proposal, adding 141 co-sponsors since it was introduced a few weeks ago. Earlier today, the 47-member Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, a group of conservative Democrats, threw their support behind Hill-Terry.

So Blue Dogs have the House Democratic leadership doing their bidding in defense of the status quo in both agriculture and energy policy.

UPDATE Sat Aug 4, courtesy of Meteor Blades at DailyKos:

Of the 41 House Democrats who voted today to roll over on the eavesdropping amendment that the White House demanded be added to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, 30 were Blue Dogs.