Posted by
on Thursday, March 22, 2007 6:59:52 PM
It was only a matter of time before the Democrats lost control of things in Congress, but The Crypt at Politico is reporting just that:
House Democrats pulled a bill to grant voting rights to Washington, D.C., after Republicans offered a motion that would repeal the gun ban for the District.
The move is a clear signal that Democrats have lost control of the House floor on the voting rights issue after minority Republicans presented the Democratic majority with a politically unpalatable motion that their conservative members would be forced to support for fear of angering the gun rights community.
Fifty-two Democrats voted with Republicans on a similar measure to repeal the gun ban in 2004.
That would be more than enough support for Republicans to add a repeal to the voting rights bill - something a majority of Democrats would vehemently oppose.
Republicans have taken great pride in offering motions to recommit during their time in the minority, an often over-looked legislative procedure that has allowed them to amend various bills on the House floor.
Democratic Rep. Ellen Tauscher of California, who served as chair when the House began consideration of the motion, called the postponement at the request of the Democratic leadership, saying the speaker has complete discretion to postpone consideration of any legislation at any time.
Democrats scrambled to remedy the situation on the floor but were eventually forced to pull the bill to begin debate on a controversial wartime funding measure that is expected on the floor Friday.
Republicans could offer a similar procedural motion to slow consideration of that measure whenever it comes to the floor.
The House was expected to approve the bill to grant Washington, DC, a vote in the House by a wide margin, with several Republicans expected to vote in favor of the legislation.
Call it politics if you'd like to, but when the other side isn't playing by the established rules, there are times where certain measures are called for. Call it dirty pool. Call it underhanded. I call it leveling the playing field. The Democrats started in January with a promise to curtail the ability of the GOP to add amendments on the floor. The GOP has responded, knowing ful well that if they don't fight now, that their chances of retaking Congress in 2008 would be less than none.
The issue of the voting rights is neither here nor there. While DC is definitely a part of the nation, there was no provision instaled in the Constitution to give them such representation. Congress, as a whole, made decisions for DC. But with the recent DC Circuit Court decision regarding firearms, this was bound to come up. We first heard about this late last year that a measure was being bounced around the House about giving DC a vote there.
The firearms issue is going to be important. Not just within Congress, but in the USSC, as well. If they accept the appeal, it'll be interesting to see how they rule. (I'm still hedging bets that it'll be 5-4 affirming the DC Court's decision.) But this piece isn't about the legislation or the debate. It's about tactics, and the one utilized by the GOP has shown that the Democrats don't control things as much as they thought.
Of course, we've been waiting to see the Democrats in such a mess. Since the election, these crazy kids have been proclaiming how much power they have. They've been boasting about al the things they'l pass while in power. And since January, they've done exaclty squat. Each war resolution or bil is shot down (either by a concerted effort by the GOP, or by the Blue Dogs). Every time something like the voting rights issue pops up, i.e., something of importance, they're being blocked. It's not that our side doesn't want the debate or the bill. It's the fact that the Democrats keep trying to freeze our side out, and their game plan isn't working. It's failing miserably. It's good to see our side fighting for once. This has been a long time coming. The only thing that bothers us is we only seem to fight when we're in the penalty box, and we can't seem to play with a lead.
That's no way to run the show in Congress. Hopefully being in the minority now will teach our side how to fight when we regain the Congress.
Publius II