House Rules: Fix Country First, Then Be Nice
This really frosted my cookies. Kos said it better than I could (emphasis mine):
House GOP salivating at Dem patsies
So Pelosi and House Democrats have decided that they’re not going to stifle the minority party in the House, changing the very rules that kept Democrats marginalized and irrelevant for the last decade.And how do Republicans repay this completely unnecessary act of kindness?Republicans are hoping Democrats stick to their guns and allow the minority a stronger voice on legislation. The opposition leadership said it would take the opportunity to put forward initiatives that could be potentially troublesome for newly elected Democrats in Republican-leaning districts who within months will have to defend their hard-won seats.
“There are going to be days when we will offer alternatives in ways that are going to be very appealing to Democrats in districts the president carried just two years ago,†said Representative Roy Blunt of Missouri, who will be the second-ranking House Republican in the 110th Congress.
Republicans see the ability to force tough votes — which they avoided in the majority by stifling Democratic alternatives — as having two potential benefits: It can put vulnerable Democrats on record with positions that might not be popular at home, or it can fracture the untested Democratic majority. Mr. Blunt noted that even senior Democrats who served in Congress when Democrats held control had no experience dealing with a relatively thin, 16-seat majority that will not allow many lawmakers to avoid tough votes.
That’s not to say all Democratic rollbacks are bad — 15-minute voting periods will actually stay open 15 minutes. That’s good. As will the notion that lawmakers have time to read legislation they will be voting on.
But on collegiality — If Pelosi and company are just blabbing about “cooperation” for PR purposes, that’s fine. But it should be nothing more than rhetoric. We’ve already seen that Blunt and Company can’t help themselves and even bother reciprocating the empty platitudes. They respond to them with insults and threats of political gamesmanship.
This is an era of hardball politics, and the GOP clearly has no intention to play nice. They aren’t even going through the motions or pretending to be more collegial. So while our side can talk nice, their actions should reflect the current political reality.
And this isn’t just about politics. Politics, IMO, isn’t even the most important part of this. This is about the fact that for the last 6 years, unchecked GOP control of all branches of government has led to disastrous, self-serving, idealogically-driven changes. Our country is hemorraghing, a train way off track and heading off a cliff. Off the top of my head:
* Where is a comprehensive energy policy that stops lining oil companies’ pockets and starts creating new jobs, tech, lower energy prices, and self-reliance through sustainable energy?
* Where is a comprehensive healthcare policy that stops lining insurance and pharma pockets and starts helping everyday Americans with spiraling health costs? (Hint: how about single-payer, universal health care so we can catch up with the rest of the industrialized world?)
* Fill in your own here. To type out a full list of the ways we need to quickly, decisively get back on track would give me carpal tunnel.
Bottom line: We need to do everything we can to stop the bleeding and get back on track, not give the GOP whatever it needs to continue putting party over people, party over country. Let’s take 2 steps forward first, please, before allowing them to take a step back.
Hey, I heard my congresswoman is involved somehow with that House Rules thang. Wonder what she thinks?
Oh, and does this part sound familiar to anyone?
*cough* Monroe County Leg *cough*
I’m not sure it will matter. Let the Republicans obstruct health care, the roll back of tax cuts for the wealthy, minimum wage increase or any of the other intitatives the Dems have promised.
The Dems will have a stronger, more compelling story to tell the American people in 2007 and subsquently in 2008.
Truth is for all the victories in November, the Democratic majority is one aneurism or Lieberman appointment to a cabinent position away from losing the Senate. Yes, 15 seats is a nice majority in the House but it doesn’t overrde a veto from the Whitehouse.
What conrol of the Senate and House do is control investigations which lead to additional information that sheds light on how corporate centric the existing administration and Republican party has been at the expense of the American people.
Your point is valid– as long as the media pick up that narrative, and not whatever right-wing talking points they get fed. I could see, instead of “GOP obstructs health care, rollback of tax cuts for the wealthy, etc.”, the message being, “Well, these bi-partisan senators (e.g. 20 republicans and Lieberman) proposed these AWESOME bills, and the Dem majority REFUSED to VOTE for them!!! Here to talk about why the Dems hate america so f-ing much, is our bi-partisan panel of Bill O’Reilly and Rush Limbaugh. Gentlemen, welcome…”
How long did it take the media to pick up the narrative that the country needed a direction change? I think they got the only message after the election.
Re the noise machine - well, it doesn’t matter they are going to say what they are going to say. Truth is, Our side has its own media outlets and they are growing as well. The message is getting out. Still a ways to go but we are making progress and moving in the right direction.
There’s a great piece today on tpm muckraker about the plea from House GOP members for a “Minority Bill of Rights” The commentary slams the hypocrisy of their request, especially in light of Haster’s refusal to even acknowledge a similar request from Nancy Pelosi in 2004, when he was speaker and she was merely a lowly member of the minority. The article goes on to note that on close review the GOPpers are asking for much more in the way of concessions than Pelosi had requested, and further suggests that under Louise Slaughter the Rules committee will likely reestablish the kind of fair play that Pelosi had sought in ‘04. I can only imagine how Steve M and the GOP gang in the Leg would react to such a request. Here is the tpm link: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002257.php