More House machinations: those pesky rules
They seem to be going for a straight up or down vote in the House on the Senate bill. Perhaps this means they have the 216 necessary votes—or perhaps they just have more votes for a straight up-or-down than for Demon Pass (otherwise known as the Slaughter solution).
And here’s that noted statesman, Democrat Rules Committee member Representative Alcee Hastings, on the importance of rules:
I wish that I had been there when Thomas Edison made the remark that I think applies here: “There ain’t no rules around here, we’re trying to accomplish something.” And therefore, when the deal goes down, all this talk about rules, we make them up as we go along.
Of course, Edison wasn’t bound by constitutional oaths or his duty to the people he represented or anything as silly as that. Neither are the Democrats, apparently. Leftist ends justify means, don’t you know?
Thomas Edison was actually bound by many rules. He couldn’t enslave his employees, he had to pay them what he promised, he couldn’t steal property from others. But he was talking about adding more rules on top of those rules.
Edison also didn’t have violent power at his disposal, which he could use to extract money from and control the behavior of others.
Do our congressman know they are playing with such power? It almost seems like they don’t. They just want us to have “health care” – they can ignore everything else. Or else they think we don’t understand, so they can say whatever they want.
Damn! Back to that Fools vs Knaves discussion again. I hate that discussion.
James
Alcee Hasting is a former Federal Judge.
He was impeached by the House and convicted by the Senate for corruption sometime in the late 1970s or early 1980s.
Hastings didn’t do so well making up the rules as he went along. He was one of only six federal judges to ever be impeached. He was charged with accepting a $150,000 bribe and perjury but acquitted because his co-conspirator wouldn’t testify (and served time for that refusal). Hastings was impeached by the House in 1988 and removed by the Senate in 1989. The Senate could have prohibited him from ever serving in a federal office again, but declined to do so. His co-conspirator went to jail for again refusing to testify, but was pardoned by Clinton on his last day n office.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcee_Hastings
Res ipsa loquitur
Ah, but the lying, thieving bastard is still good enough to represent a Democrat-dominated district in the Congress.
I’m musing over the possibilities myself.
Are they giving up on Demonpass because they don’t need it, or because they looked out over the ramparts and saw all of the lawsuits being readied that they would spend years defending themselves against?
Did someone take a long hard look at Demonpass and decide it would not pass Constitutional muster?
Did a large enough pool of democrats voice opposition to using Demonpass as a way of passing this legislation – regardless of whether they supported the actual bill or not?
Did someone look at all of the states lining up in opposition and decide that maybe, just maybe, state’s rights was an issue they didn’t want to turn over right now?
Inquiring minds want to know as there are a LOT of possibilities as to why they dropped it – and none of them would have anything to do with Pelosi already having enough votes she didn’t need it.
Then there is the abortion issue that is holding up a couple of dozen democrats from voting for it (sadly, my congress critter isn’t one of them – but I’ll do my best in the campaign against him this November!).
Did they give up Demonpass only to now find they have a different problem with the abortion language in the bill?
Do they really…and I mean REALLY…have the votes to pass this monstrosity?
Scottie: I don’t know exactly why Nancy is giving up on demonpass, either, but I’d like to think your third suggestion is the reason. Even though their leadership is power-hungry, some Democrats still believe that they serve as the peoples’ representatives, not as the peoples’ rulers.
This lady’s grandfather was governor when I was in grade school in South Dakota:
In a conference call with reporters today, Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-S.D.), who is a “firm no” on the bill itself, said the process Democrats are considering would spell disaster for the climate in Congress.
“While deeming, like reconciliation, has been used by Republicans and Democrats in the past, the context in which it would be used in this case leads me to conclude that it would poison an already terribly partisan atmosphere and leave the Congress even less able to find bipartisan solutions to fiscal problems that are on the verge of becoming overwhelming,” Herseth Sandlin said (emphasis added).
Imagine.
If HCR fails it may be forgotten by some in November, if it passes the lawsuits, protests challenges and anger will continue without letup and the wounds will fester, and bleed. Let the Dems have their victories, every new piece of lefty legislation will produce a new crop of opponents. I can’t help thinking of the numerous British victories in the south during the revolution, all of which led to Yorktown.
They are building a fantasy cocoon for themselves; when you at war that is where you want your enemies to live.
We can expect the Obamists next attacks to be aimed at undermining the electoral process. I am sure they are betting on the short memories and indifference of vulgar; the main reasons why it is important that they WIN tomorrow. As Ms. Pelosi said, things are just getting started.
Here is where I write Long Live the Resistance. (Never thought I would write those words with regard to opposing an to what amounts to a one-party dictatorship in the US, life is full of little surprises I suppose.)
Has anyone noticed that we seem to be living an upside down version of Dostoevsky’s The Demons?
Someone on the Rules Committee quotes a 19th century inventor regarding procedure in the US Congress. Not Henry Clay, not John Quincy Adams, not LBJ, but Thomas Edison. Using that cross-disciplinary approach to problem solving, perhaps Representative Hastings will cite the recipe for Senate Bean Soup as a guide for the design of nuclear power plants.
In one sense, one cannot blame Representative Hastings for simply doing what he has always done. Someone who gets impeached from a federal judgeship obviously has a rather large problem with discerning what are appropriate rules and procedures. He should never have been placed on the Rules Committee in the first place. That the Democratic Party leadership put him there shows how pathetic the Democratic Party has been for quite some time.
Erratum: The statement by Herseth was made one or two days ago.
Pingback:Cold Fury » Top Ten Differences Between Thomas Edison and Alcee Hastings
In the history of the US there have been exactly 15 impeached federal judges. You have to be a special kind of dirt bag to be one of them. Glad the Dems put him on the Rules committee.
“We make up the rules as we go along”. How pathetic, and coming from the mouth of a convicted and disbarred federal judge who got elected because of his color, not his ability. How telling as to what we now have in Congress. The second American Revolution is coming, and men like this will find themselves tarred and feathered, at the least; at the worst they will hang from lamp polls like Mussolini did.
It should be clear that overwhelmingly blacks vote race (Obama, Hastings, Marion Berry, William (money in the freezer) Jefferson, etc.). Whites in the south have figured this out. If almost all blacks are voting for “candidate A,” You would be well advised to vote for the other guy if you are not black. Failure to follow this principle has left us in a mess.
Has there ever been a majority black vote in history that supported fiscal soundness over gimme stuff for free programs. I submit there has not. And i’m not sure if thats just confined to North America.
Cap’n Rusty,
Even though their leadership is power-hungry, some Democrats still believe that they serve as the peoples’ representatives, not as the peoples’ rulers.
I am beyond fed up with people who defend these tyrants. What you said is basically a lie. You cannot name a single honest and decent one. Not one.
Let’s not forget: Saint Stupak voted ‘yes’. He’s fine with tyranny, coercion, and socialism – he just doesn’t have Peoli’s anti-scruples about Abortion. My guess is that his was a pose all along. Pelosi has had the votes all along. He’s been given permission to be a diversion, and to win re-election, and to be a con for the many.
There are not any more in America good Democrats. None. Effectively speaking, practically speaking, none. Or perhaps you can name the national or State Dem who has come out four-square against this plan? Just name the one.
Crickets chirping noise here.
Let’s stop pretending. Unless they demonstrate otherwsie on an individual basis – and it is up to them – there are no good Dems. ALL Dems are to be considered rotten.
And we should figth them; fight them as hard as if they were worse than devils – because they are. They are human tyrants, and these are always worse and more harmful creatures than some minor demon.
Cap’n Rusty: like Diogenes, could it be that you’ve found an honest Democratic member of Congress in Sandlin?
I’m sorry to report that most articles in the Chicago Tribune regarding Obama and healthcare tend in the direction of complaining that blacks don’t get enough free stuff from Congress. This is not a good sign.
Blacks in Chicago are going to get a truly horrible surprise when the federal government goes belly-up and the stream of free money stops flowing in.
Right now I’m listening to Billy Eckstein on the radio. For those of you who never heard of him, he was a pop singer from the 1940s and 50s, and he spoke perfect English, not “Ebonics.” The black culture of today, as portrayed in the MSM, has gone into a downward spiral ever since the gangstas took over the airwaves.
Yes, culture can go backwards. Ask the Romans, who went from plumbing to no plumbing. Ditto the Egyptians, who used to be a very inventive people.
SteveH Says:
March 20th, 2010 at 9:55 pm
No. Check out pretty much every country in Africa.
For the first time in my adult life, I am ashamed of my country. I’ve been through Watergate, the Clinton impeachment, and many more less than inspiring events, but never have I seen three branches of government so willing to ignore the rule of law. Never have I seen a president so willing to break faith with our allies.
> I wish that I had been there when Thomas Edison made the remark that I think applies here: “There ain’t no rules around here, we’re trying to accomplish something.”
As usual, take a bureaucrat to an idea, and they’ll leave with the wrong one.
Edison was ALWAYS bound by the laws of physics, chemistry, and economics, and any imbecile who thought those didn’t matter would not have been in his employ for longer than it took for him to become aware of it.
The problem is that these morons don’t think they, as a government entity, are bound by the laws of economics at all.
The unfortunate reality is that we’re going to wind up paying the bill for cleaning up the absolute chaotic mess they’re about to make as a result.
I really, really am not going to feel particularly discomforted when heads really, really do start to roll as a result, as long as it’s mostly limited to the blatantly empty heads responsible.
> the gangstas took over the airwaves.
If by “the gangstas” you mean the liberal twit victim-sellers who took black anger and turned it into a permanent voting bloc, I’m with you.
If you’re talking about the hip-hop fools, they’re just that — fools.
Gene Taylor, long time Democrat representative from Mississippi, has a better record on fiscal responsibility than many Republicans. Why he is a Democrat I don’t know.
Kamikazes have no rules for execution .They just blindly believe in their cause and dive toward the target. Their behavior is similar to the jihadists that sacrificing themselves. Why would procedural rules bother them? They are going to be politically dead for at least a decade because they are ignoring the will of the majority of voters.
IgotBupkis . . .
By “gangstas” I really meant the liberal twit victim-sellers who took black anger and turned it into a permanent voting bloc.
Part of that sales pitch involved telling black children that they only had to be cool, that they didn’t have to be educated and sound educated.
So now the government is their mommy and daddy. When it runs out of money, they’ll starve.
Oy!
Now all the pundits sound like the Mexican bandaleros in “Treasure of the Sierra Madre”…
The Deemocrats, they deemonized, and we dont need no stinking capitalism, we got marx..
Addendum to my 10:49 . . .
Of course, many of us city dwellers will probably starve when the economy goes haywire, but the cause will be different.
Mike Mc, I have to disagree that there are NO decent Democrats left. I live in Jason Altmire’s district. He believes that we need healthcare reform, but voted against it the first time and plans to again because of the feedback from people in his district.
He has consistently kept us informed by holding numerous townhall meetings and group phone calls, posting the bill on his website and inviting comments, and by frequently giving interviews to the local papers and inviting people to let him know what they think.
He’s one Democrat that I would vote for, and probably will next time.
LisaM,
If Jason Altmire is so decent, why’s he a Democrat?
I do not mean that unkindly. I’ve long questioned why any conservative or principled (?) liberal would associate himself with the national Democrat party, most especially the group on Washington. No matter how conservative any “Blue Dog” might be, when he gets to Washington he will be sucked into the maw, and be under the sway, of Pelosi-Reid et al. Decency will become a moot label with no real value except for its vote-getting power in conservative precincts. Surely Altmire and others of his persuasion must know this.
If Altmire votes against this monster, it will be because Pelosi knows she has enough other votes in favor of it without his. If she didn’t have, he would find himself next up for the thumb-screw treatment.
LisaM:
Oh, puhleeze. Good Democrats are benign enablers of the Bad. He’s a good listener (how nice for you) and that makes him OK. Do give me a break.
It does not matter if the person is decent or not. It only matters if he is a Democrat. All that matters is that if a Democrat wins an election than the leadership of the Democratic party is empowered.
If my neighbor who is a really really nice guy runs for dog catcher as a Democrat he gives the likes of Nancy Pelosi political power. Ergo I will never vote for my neighbor.
Growing up I as taught and believed that you voted for the best man regardless of party. That is no longer the case. Now the only real question is if the person is a Democrat. If the answer is yes than I will vote against him, even if he was the greatest person in the world and has the cure for cancer in hand.
Now some have said vote for a third part to show one’s displeasure to all. I have had that argument before. It is a red herring. A vote for any third party is a vote for the Democrat.
Therefore in future I will always vote the straight Republican ticket. Good, bad or indifferent; I will vote for a bad Republican idea or person before I vote for a good Democratic idea or person. In fact I might not even study the issue, just vote against it if sponsored by Democrats or a Democratic leaning institution.
Period.
Every single democrat on this day will carry a life long burden they cannot yet fathom. Even those voting no will go down in history as complicit by mere association with such an abominable organisation.
Our debt obligations go UP because of Democrats FAILURE to listen and understand that their own bill will increase the debt.
http://hotair.com/archives/2010/03/20/video-ryan-vs-slaughter-on-medicare-reform/#
America is a very forgiving country. As far as I can determine the only person who has not been forgiven, to my limited understanding, is O. J. Simpson.
I wonder if he is now about to gain some company?
LisaM: think of it this way—a vote for Altmire is a vote for Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House.