Ah, nothing like the stench of hypocrites in D.C. They are all over I'm sure, but definitely reside mostly within the Republican party. The Republican majority in the past ran roughshod over the Democrats for twelve years and now they are complaining that Democratic freshmen want to clean up the place and remove the status quo. Old school Democrats are also complaining about the new rule as well.
From The Hill:
Republicans began their assault in the mid-afternoon after hearing that the Democratic leadership allegedly planned to change the germaneness rule, which would limit the ability of the minority to challenge provisions in a bill on the floor.
“This is an astonishing attempt by the majority leadership to duck accountability for tax-and-spend policies the American people do not want,” said House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio). “The majority leadership is gutting House rules that have been in place for 185 years so they can raise taxes and increase government spending without a vote. House Republicans will use every tool available to fight this abuse of power.”Stacey Bernard, a spokeswoman for House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), said the Republican antics were counterproductive and that they had not even seen the content of the bill they were protesting.
“They are delaying a bill that is critical,” she said, referring to the defense authorization bill that was scheduled to come to the floor. “They don’t know what they are doing.”
Republicans not knowing what they are doing? I would never have thought such a thing. The GOP leadership is threatening to bring down the House because they fear that if lobbying as it is done now gets curtailed, they will lose all willingness to be there in the first place. They hate government unless it pays them well. If corruption is attacked by new, tough rules, what is the point of being a Republican in Congress?
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