People, I think we’re witnessing the dawn of Pay-Per-View politics.
GOOOOOD BLESS AMERICAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
So -
[ul][li]Democrats walk out of a committee hearing in protest, because they can’t get their way[/li][li]A Democrat who remains behind begins issuing the sort of school yard taunts I grew out of in fourth grade[/li][li]Democrats issue some puerile insults[/li][li]It is all the Republicans’ fault[/li][/ul]You know what? I don’t want to believe that liberals are all hypocritical morons, but I am not getting much help.
Regards,
Shodan
I think we should have a special Collounsbury Address Congress day.
… es. Address_es_.
The Democrats insisted that this piece of legislation that was over a hundred pages be read. Usually, they skip this procedure but apparently, according to the rules, they can require the bill to be read from beginning to end. This guy Stark objected to the motion to skip the reading. He was told to shut up. Then the name-calling started. The Democrats did not leave the meeting in protest initially. They went to a room so they could have a chance to review this document. The Republicans, or the chairman of the Ways and Means Committe, called the police to have the Democrats pitched out of the meeting room.
That’s their story. Much different from the way the other side tells it. I am guessing the truth is somewhere in between.
The NERVE of following due process.
People get the government they deserve …
“Let me call you fruitcake
I’m in looove…with…yooooou…”
Catchy lyrics, but the beat leaves something to be desired.
As to the pre-Civil War beating of Congressman Sumner by a southern lawmaker, that incident supposedly galvanized John Brown and his band to commit a series of murders of pro-slavery settlers (in Kansas?), and thus may have been one of the sparks that helped ignite the Civil War.
The Stark-McInnis exchange just comes off looking like a second-rate Jerry Springer outtake.*
*If Ohioans are nutty enough to elect Jerry to the Senate, we might be in for some really wild times.
Beating with a cane? Child’s play! Back in 1850, Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri and Senator Henry S. Foote of Mississippi had a much more serious exchange.
While Benton was advancing on Foote (and being restrained by his colleagues), Foote pulled out a pistol. Benton is said to have shouted defiantly, “Let him fire! Stand out of the way! I have no pistols! I disdain to carry arms! Stand out of the way, and let the assassin fire!”
The pistol was confiscated before it could be fired, and order was eventually restored.
It was the republicans who didn’t want to follow due process. they snuck a bunch of new shit into a bill right before a vote and then tried to prevent the dems from reading it. The dems were following due process by reading it (and how ethical would it be for to vote on a bill without reading it?). Stark tried to prevent the dems from following due process and was properly told to shut his fucking yap. I think he could have been more appropriately told with a boot to the fucking head but this is congress after all, we must maintain some sense of propriety.
That’s not a due process issue. Bills get modified at the last minute all the time.
It happnens more often than you’d care to know.
Stark is a Democrat. And he didn’t try to prevent Democrats from doing anything. He tried to object to the chair waiving further reading.
Committee chairs have lots of power. Sometimes the minority party objects to how they get treated in committee. The GOP said it was the same way when they were in the minority. What amazes me is the number of people willing to condone and support behavior like Stark’s.
I got the name wrong, whatever. Whoever tried to prevent the dems from reading the bill deserved a boot to the head. The dems had a right to read the bill. The pubs needed to shut the fuck up.
Are House Dems screaming fucktards? Do they need to read aloud to each other, like in the 1st grade? Dems could have read the damn addons themeselves. They were trying to spin for time.
You are quite the shameless apologist when it comes to Dems.
I’m not a Democrat, I’m an Independent. I think the Dems are a bunch of nutless little weenies who don’t have the guts to call Shrub for the criminal that he is.
They still had a right and a duty to read the fucking bill, though…and what the fuck is wrong with stalling for time? Who knows what the fuck kind of hideous abortion the pubs had tried to turn the bill into? It needs to be read aloud to facilitate discussion and debate.
Are House Dems screaming fucktards? Do they need to read aloud to each other, like in the 1st grade? Dems could have read the damn addons themeselves. They were trying to spin for time.
The Democrats are saying they were given a bill that was significantly different than the original bill at the very last minute. Apparently, the rules allow for this pattern of doing business. Fine. However, the rules also allow for them to require the bill to be read out loud, word for word. Both of these rules seem to be in poor taste. The opposition needs to have an opportunity to review legislation so changes can be made or, hey, they may choose to support it as is. Regardless, nobody wants stuff getting passed without informed discussion. Just because something is allowed, doesn’t mean that it should be done.
Didn’t they agree to send it back to committee so everybody could discuss and debate what should be changed and so forth? It was indeed like a comedy. But on another level, it isn’t funny. It makes you think that our legislators really are pretty closed off. They do not wish to pursue what is good and best for the people. They just want their way. If you have a good piece of legislation, it should appeal to representatives on both sides. If it can stand up for debate and discussion, it must be a weak position.
Are you fucking stupid?
The Democrats could not have read the the add ons themselves before the vote. That was the point of having it read aloud. To buy time before the Republicans forced a vote to read the Republican changes. Stark was kept back to prevent the Republicans from having another vote to end the reading of the bill and forcing a vote before the Democrats could look at the changes.
This is where things get hazy. Stark was in the wrong for his actions, and whoever provoked him on the other side of the aisle was wrong, too.
But the Republicans were wrong to send in the fucking police to remove the Democrats from the library when they weren’t doing anything wrong (only Stark was being a dick and he was back in the hearing room). Another attempt by them to prevent the Democrats from looking at the bill before the vote.
What are the Republicans so afraid the Democrats will see?
Everytime I hear about our “respected” politicians, I can not help but think that locking them all in cage with weapons (thunderdome style) and letting them have it out would be the best for all of us.
-Rev Bloodytoe
That would make C-SPAN must see TV during budget season.
The assmonkey Democrats left during the reading of the bill.
(bolding mine)
Link.
Like the Texas Democrats, it seems that House Dems are now resorting to the basest tricks, attempting to use procedure to weasal their way around. The People’s Commitee for All Things Stupid and Leftist has already come out in defense of the Dems, but at least admit to yourselves that the Dems were wrong.
So the Democrats left during the reading of the bill, so that they could not know what changes had been made. And Stark is the first to start issuing threats and insults. And every left-winger on the SDMB is leaping to the attack on Republicans, misrepresenting the facts, and screaming.
And this is the fault of the Republicans, too.
Do you people do this kind of stuff on purpose? Do you really enjoy looking like morons that much?
Regards,
Shodan
With all due respect Shodan you don’t seem to have thought this through. Among people of all stripes on the Hill this imbroglio is regarded as a mostly Republican hissy fit. I see it this way and I am most assuredly not a Democrat.
If you were asked to digest a long document how would you prefer to do it? Have someone read it out to you word for word, or retire to the library and read it yourself.