Bludgeoning Democracy Posted by Lorelei Kelly

We won the vote before we lost it.

If anybody thought that Delay's demise might reveal a more deliberative, responsible Congress then guess again.  On Friday afternoon, the hooting on Capitol Hill could be heard from the House Floor and throughout the halls of the Rayburn House Office Building as the majority leadership once again torpedoed democratic deliberation.

The so called   "Barton Bill"  (HR 3893) was brought to vote ostensibly to help reconstruction in the wake of hurricane Katrina.  But this thoughtless boondoggle instead actually damages prospects for security and public health.  It is full of failed policies that didn't make it into the energy bill passed earlier this year.

Policy zombies, excavated from the oil and gas industry talking points graveyard-now live to haunt us once again.  Let's hope the populist dictators of Central Asia and Latin America aren't CSPAN geeks. It would be awful if they decided to emulate us these days.  This vote was held open by the frazzled looking Rep. Michael Simpson despite the fact that all members present had voted, and the bill had lost.  210 yeas, 212 nays.  Yet no gavel fell.  The only possible reason to keep a vote open like this--when every vote has been cast-- is for the majority to dragoon Members, twist their thumbs, and make them return and change their vote to the leadership's liking.  I have no idea what actually happened.  But somehow, with the anti-democratic over-time, the bill squeaked by.

The good part here was that the minority fought back, vocally, and with parliamentary inquiries.  Members of Congress, Bernie Sanders, Barney Frank, John Dingell and Nancy Pelosi, among others, didn't let this abusive behavior go unremarked.   The minority is feeling its oats.  Hopefully it is the start of a trend.

Comments

[doc]

"Members of Congress, Bernie Sanders, Barney Frank, John Dingell and Nancy Pelosi, among others, didn't let this abusive behavior go unremarked."

...i'm sorry to harp here, but if all that happens is that the minority party 'remarks' on this blatant abuse of A) democracy and B) its long suffering citizens, HR 3893 will sidle on through: it's not, after all, as if most of the members of the Senate aren't also bought.

and you know what? even if ALL the top newspapers in the land make this their lead, page 1 - HR 3893 will still pass. why? my sense is that everything and everyone important to running the cohtry id bought and paid for...

...what's it gong to take, folks?

[John Penta]

My one remark:

While it was fun to watch (regardless of however ineffective it might have been), if we're going to have a really active minority, could we kindly change the rules of the House to a more Commons-like set?

The current rules are, so far as I understand, rather cumbersome for such an atmosphere.

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could we kindly change the rules of the House to a more Commons-like set?

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