There are somethings in life that are unimaginable to the ideas of partisanship. Warm summer days, sitting by the fire on a cold night, things like that, you know? Well leave it to the Republican caucus in the House of Representatives to shatter that idea. This past Wednesday they decided to take their partisan aggressions out on our nation's mothers.
From The Washington Post:
If Boehner's answer confused you, your not alone. Nothing these people do make any sense. The context of their vote was to waste time (paid by the taxpayers) in the House so that Democrats do not pass any type of meaningful legislation to help homeowners who were victimized by predatory lenders. So at least it wasn't about Mother's Day exactly. Still, there are plenty of mothers, fathers and children who could have been helped by Congress who are terrified at the thought...and reality of having their home being foreclosed. That isn't just anti-Mom, its anti-American.On Wednesday afternoon, the House had just voted, 412 to 0, to pass H. Res. 1113, "Celebrating the role of mothers in the United States and supporting the goals and ideals of Mother's Day," when Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.), rose in protest.
"Mr. Speaker, I move to reconsider the vote," he announced.
Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), who has two young daughters, moved to table Tiahrt's request, setting up a revote. This time, 178 Republicans cast their votes against mothers.
It has long been the custom to compare a popular piece of legislation to motherhood and apple pie. Evidently, that is no longer the standard. Worse, Republicans are now confronted with a John Kerry-esque predicament: They actually voted for motherhood before they voted against it.
Republicans, unhappy with the Democratic majority, have been using such procedural tactics as this all week to bring the House to a standstill, but the assault on mothers may have gone too far. House Minority Leader John Boehner, asked yesterday to explain why he and 177 of his colleagues switched their votes, answered: "Oh, we just wanted to make sure that everyone was on record in support of Mother's Day."
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