By driving a wedge between the Democratic and Republican freshmen, House leaders undercut the Class of 1992 before they had even set foot in Washington. To give freshman Democrats something to do while the Republicans were talking reform, Foley scheduled three regional meetings with the new Democratic members. At these meetings Foley and other House leaders showed little interest in hearing the freshmen's thoughts on House reform. When freshman Luis Gutierrez, a Democrat from Illinois, asked for a few minutes with the speaker to discuss reform ideas he had, Foley brushed him off. At one meeting Foley was blunt about his views on radical reform.
Any jackass can kick it down.
And they were willing to take on their own party leaders and really shake it up. But let's face it, they had nothing to lose. Their leadership really had nothing to offer them. He took the job seriously and told the speaker that his task force would not be able to complete their work by the original deadline. Fingerhut got an extension, but that was the last thing he got.