Posted on 03/28/2020 6:06:50 AM PDT by Kaslin
During the debate on the $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill, one of the most consequential pieces of legislation in contemporary history, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) did something appalling.
With the agreement of both Republicans and Democrats in House leadership, the Speaker blocked a recorded vote on the bill. It is an old leadership trick to protect members from controversial votes by not forcing them to take a position.
In retrospect, this is going to be one of the most important votes the sitting members of Congress will ever take, yet they came up with excuses not to have to cast a recorded vote. History seems to be repeating itself. When the House was forced back in 2008 to vote on the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP), that vote inspired a rebellion and the creation of Tea Party.
Although the coronavirus economic disruption was caused by government, not bad private-sector mortgage loans, Congress took great liberties to load up this bill with pet projects and inflated appropriations. While every cultural center in America has suffered from the coronavirus economic mess, the Washington, D.C. based Kennedy Center was given a special $25 million bailout, as were the National Endowment for the Arts and other projects that have strong support of congressional insiders.
This is not how Congress is supposed to work. Representatives are actually paid to draft up and vote on legislation without self-dealing. For all the faults of the Senate, they took a recorded vote on the legislation and did their job.
The cancel culture of our day has extended to politics and now targets Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) for political cancellation. Politico reports, “Thomas Massie might be the least popular man in Washington. The Kentucky congressman attempted unsuccessfully on Friday to require House members to take a recorded vote in order to pass a $2 trillion coronavirus relief package.” One of the stated objections to a recorded vote is “his efforts nonetheless forced scores of lawmakers to travel to Washington amid a pandemic to stop him.” Notwithstanding the fact that they have to travel to Washington every week when they are in session, for some reason this forced travel was the primary reason used to push back on Massie.
Rep. Massie drew the ire of some on the MAGA right like President Donald J. Trump to liberals like former Democratic candidate for President John Kerry. In the end, the leadership of both the Republican and Democratic parties in the House held hands and denied Massie the right to ask Congress to record the vote. They even prevented him from giving a speech opposing the bill as punishment for daring to request the roll call vote. The Speaker opted for a “voice vote.” The voice vote protects double-speaking politicians so they can later roll out their list of complaints about this legislation and claim they held deep reservations when the vote was quickly held.
Former failed Democratic candidate for president, John Kerry, Tweeted that Massie “tested positive for being an ***hole” and he’s given new meaning to the term #Masshole.” I grew up in Massachusetts and think that that term better describes the sanctimonious Kerry than Massie. It should raise alarms in the liberty movement when the Kerry-Clinton wing of the party openly supports this piece of legislation.
The size and scope of this relief bill is unprecedented. The bill is being marketed as a $2 trillion relief package, yet, if you add in the new authority for the Federal Reserve to backstop loans, the bill clocks much higher. The $750 billion TARP program caused a rebellion on the right and left creating the Occupy Wall Street and Tea Party movements respectively. This bill may cause an even bigger rebellion if this appropriation leads to a long-term government intervention in the private sector.
Rep. Thomas Massie was a profile in courage for standing up and demanding a roll call vote. Congress could use more members like him who show courage and are willing to stand up for the Constitution – even in the face of opposition coming from prominent members of his own party. Congress should be able to handle dissent and the possibility of a member not voting for a bill, instead of fake outrage and bullying dissenting members into supporting a bill that everybody agrees is loaded with nonsense.
The fact that the bill was going to pass anyway is what made Massie’s move such a questionable one.
L4 labs remain open. Softkill continues...
Massie literally should have contacted PDJT first …
Why?
Are there not THREE branches of government?
...
You misread my reasoning...not for permission, bc, teamwork is better, unification...
I may still vote for Trump and Republicans as the best of bad choices.But I really think this example of bipartisanship is terrifying.
The fact that JUSTIN AMASH wouldn’t even stand up and oppose this bill is all anyone needs to know about the awful political optics here.
Massie should be given a medal for being a hero.
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Heroes accomplished something. Did Massie accomplish anything?
They don’t have to put their names to a DECLARATION of WAR (hardkill). Why should softkill legislation be any different?
If ever there was another List of Grievances drawn up, this piece of crap and the poopsters who passed it should be noted.
BOLO
Politically astute.
Nancy was Public Enemy #1.
In 1 minute Massie tookk Nancy’s position on himself.
Republicans should focus on the few Purple state Congress Critters who went for the most egregious examples of pork unrelated to the virus.
the Washington, D.C. based Kennedy Center was given a special $25 million bailout
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I thought Trump’s defense of this made sense and opened my eyes to at least considering opposing views.
“Rep. Thomas Massie was a profile in courage for standing up and demanding a roll call vote.”
Agreed
Recorded vote is required for history.
Now, they can all deny responsibility.
I’d like to see that defense, if you have a link.
More importantly ... was Massie even CAPABLE of accomplishing something in this matter. He was doomed to be on the wrong side politically even if he was 100% right on the facts.
The legislative branch of government is broken.
The Senate no longer represents the states. It has become an elite country club for pompous politicians.
The House is full of professional politicians who pander to interest groups and big donors, not the voter.
The people vote to reelect incumbents. Therefore most Senators and Representatives have life tenure if they want it.
The political parties control the pipeline of candidates for Congress. Therefore it is virtually impossible for the people to throw the bums out in mass and replace with citizen legislators.
The political parties control the power structure within Congress - committee assignments, committee chairs, leadership positions.
The “ethics” committees are a joke. Congress does not throw out the bad apples within its ranks.
Almost all Congressmen and Senators are attorneys. Attorneys add no value to society, they are consumers not producers. Attorneys have no commitment to equal justice under law. In today’s world attorneys are hired guns committed to influencing outcomes and moving money from one pocket to another.
“The fact that the bill was going to pass anyway is what made Massie’s move such a questionable one.”
Wrong.
Going to pass is precisely why we needed the vote. Document which Pols wanted it and which did not.
Socialism is Legal Plunder - The Law; Frederic Bastiat 1801-1850.
http://bastiat.org/en/the_law.html
But, unfortunately, law by no means confines itself to its proper functions. And when it has exceeded its proper functions, it has not done so merely in some inconsequential and debatable matters. The law has gone further than this; it has acted in direct opposition to its own purpose. The law has been used to destroy its own objective: It has been applied to annihilating the justice that it was supposed to maintain; to limiting and destroying rights which its real purpose was to respect. The law has placed the collective force at the disposal of the unscrupulous who wish, without risk, to exploit the person, liberty, and property of others. It has converted plunder into a right, in order to protect plunder. And it has converted lawful defense into a crime, in order to punish lawful defense.
U.S.S.A. United Socialist State of America LOCKDOWN their slaves, hold the republic HOSTAGE.
We are watching the Constitution being shredded before our eyes with hardly a whimper from those who swore to protect and defend it.
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