Posted on 08/07/2007 4:34:58 AM PDT by IrishMike
Seven months have passed since I handed the gavel to Nancy Pelosi, formally returning control of the House to Democrats for the first time in 12 years. In my remarks to the House that day, I offered a bit of advice to the members of the incoming majority. I told them:
“A congressional majority is simply a means to an end. The value of a majority lies not in the chance to wield great power, but in the chance to use limited power to do great things.
“The [American] people don’t care which party controls it; what they want is a government that is limited, honest, accountable, and responsive to their needs. The moment a majority forgets this lesson, it begins writing itself a ticket to minority status.”
It didn’t take long, and there is no mistaking it: the Democrats’ ticket was punched last Thursday night when they stole the 215-213 vote on the Republican motion denying taxpayer benefits to illegal immigrants.
This vote was about far more than just arcane parliamentary process. It was an act I believe will eventually come to symbolize this majority and its myriad broken promises. In fact, in one telling instant seen by millions of Americans via the Internet and other means, the Democratic majority revealed it is willing to break any rule, trample on any precedent, and run roughshod over its own members to defend a left-wing, big government agenda most Americans utterly reject. Then it compounded the gesture on the House floor by stifling Republican efforts to debate the majority’s handling of the incident, and erasing the evidence of its iron-fisted actions from the public record, much as it did with the 215-213 vote itself.
The stolen 215-213 vote wasn’t about us. It was a breach of trust between the Democratic majority and the American people the current majority swore it would work in an open, bipartisan, accountable manner to serve.
The severity of this breach hasn’t even occurred to every Democrat, at least as yet. As the Washington Post revealed, there is disagreement within the Democratic leadership ranks as to whether Thursday night’s stolen vote action was even a mistake at all. Majority Leader Hoyer acknowledged on the floor that it was a mistake, and apologized. But Speaker Pelosi brushed Leader Hoyer’s comments aside, saying there was no mistake, and calling the incident something that was just an “inconvenience” for the Republican minority.
Leader Hoyer has it right. It was a mistake -- a mistake that will grow in infamy with each day the Democratic leadership allows it to stand. The stolen vote wasn’t just “inconvenient” for Republican politicians; it was an affront to the millions of Americans we were representing when we offered legislation to stop the Democratic majority from allowing taxpayer dollars to go to individuals who violate the laws of our country.
Nonetheless, according to the Washington Post, a “defiant” Speaker Pelosi brushed aside this disgraceful moment in democracy by asserting that Republicans were frustrated. We simply have been “deluged by the success of the Democrats on behalf of the American people,” she said.
The Deluge of Success
Since January, the current majority has had the opportunity to use its power to do great things for the American people. That opportunity has been utterly and tragically squandered. Instead of doing great things, the Democrats have taken actions that make all of us look small, and “deluged” the American people with bad public policy:
• They stuck pork-barrel spending for peanuts and spinach on a bill meant to fund American troops in harm’s way.
• They created slush funds for secret earmarks, attempting to spend billions of taxpayer dollars without transparency.
• They jammed “green pork” accounts into the energy tax bill, allowing taxpayer funds to be used to subsidize things like Lexus Hybrids in Beverly Hills and putting copies of Al Gore’s book in children’s classrooms.
• They voted to look the other way when the Speaker’s own choice for majority leader broke House rules by threatening a Republican member who dared to challenge an illegitimate earmark.
• They stonewalled lobbying reforms that require lobbyists to disclose taxpayer-funded earmarks for which they’re lobbying Congress, repealed Republican reforms requiring earmarks in tax and authorizing to be publicly disclosed and subject to challenge on the House floor, and killed legislation requiring taxpayer-funded state and local government lobbyists from following the congressional gift ban as they lobby for pork.
• They trumpeted passage of a lobbying reform bill largely indistinguishable from the one Republicans passed through the House last year -- the bill Democratic leaders condemned at the time as a “sham.”
REPUBLICANS RISING
In January, Republicans vowed to use our time in the wilderness of the minority to reconnect with the principles that unite us as a party and have broad appeal with the American people. We vowed to present the American people with a clear choice. There is no question we’ve made progress toward this difficult goal.
Our unity has aided us immensely in this process. The past months have been a humbling experience for us all; we’ve gone through it together. But it’s also been a healing experience. We’ve acknowledged mistakes that contributed to the loss of our majority, and vowed to hold ourselves to a higher standard. We’ve agreed Republicans must work together for a new and better American future, based on security and freedom -- principles that unite all House Republicans and define us as a party. We’ve learned to listen more closely to each other, and to listen more closely to our constituents. We’ve agreed on the need to return to our core principles, and the need for restored trust between the American people and their elected leaders.
We’ve also been effective -- “unusually effective,” to borrow the term used recently by Fred Barnes of the Weekly Standard. Sticking together, we’ve forced the majority to deal with us and acknowledge the views of the millions of Americans we represent.
• Unprecedented Floor Victories. We’ve successfully passed 15 Republican motions-to-recommit -- 16 if you count the immigration vote stolen Thursday night -- leaving our imprint on many of the major bills brought to the floor by the Democratic leadership. That’s more than House Democrats passed during the entire 12 years in which they were in the minority.
• Protecting Americans at Home and Abroad. Led by our colleagues Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.) and Heather Wilson (R-N.M.), we insisted that the Democrats work with us to pass legislation closing the terrorist loophole in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) -- and it now appears we’ve won. Similarly, led by Peter King (R-N.Y.) and Steve Pearce (R-N.M.), we forced the Democratic leadership to pass the “flying Imams” legislation ensuring Americans can’t be hauled into court for responsibly reporting suspicious activity.
• Fighting for Fiscal Responsibility. We forced the Democratic leadership to restore transparency requirements for appropriations earmarks, restoring GOP reforms that allow earmarks in appropriations bills to be challenged openly on the House floor. We lined up against the largest tax increase in American history, and vowed to support President Bush when he vetoes any spending bill that threatens the goal of a balanced budget by 2012.
• Supporting Our Generals and Our Troops. We stopped the Democrats’ “slow bleed” plan to cut off funding for American troops in Iraq, giving General Petraeus and the brave men and women of our armed forces the chance they deserve to implement Operation Phantom Thunder and defeat al Qaeda.
AUGUST AND BEYOND
Republicans will use August to talk to our constituents about these matters -- not for the purpose of making them more cynical, but to make certain every American realizes what is at stake.
That there are devastating consequences for American families and small business owners when Democrats control Congress. Our freedom and security are at risk, subjected to death by a thousand cuts by a legislature that believes the answers to our problems lie in bigger government and higher taxes. An undeclared war on American jobs is being waged. The size and scope of the federal government is being expanded by reaching into the pockets of hard-working American families and taking more of their money.
We know we can’t solve Americans’ challenges in health care, retirement security, and education by taking more of their money and limiting their freedom. When we return in September, House Republicans will resume our task of building a new and better future through freedom and security, not bigger government. We will continue to rebuild and recommit ourselves to the principles of smaller, more accountable government that define our cause, we will not only earn back our majority; we’ll also do great things together for the American people once we’ve got it.
Why do Republicans behave more like Republicans when they are in the minority?
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Power corrupts ?
They forgot who elected them, and why ?
Something in the water an the Capitol area ?
Vast right wing conspiracy took a break ?
an = in
An overly optimistic view from the Republican leader in my opinion. Too many RINOs that side with the liberals to make much of an impact in 2008. It is not what you say at this point, it is what you do. Show us you mean it, get your act together and then we will decide. Our leaders let us down badly when they had the majority and dug the deep hole. We don’t want any more of the same old, same old.
Nancy Pelosi! What remarks! She would have been fit right into many despotic regimes that have risen and fallen in so many moments of history.
Let us hope and pray her words and acts do not escape the spotlight of truth on the American Congress.
Too bad the Pubs squandered so many years of majority. Too bad they act like a dog rolling over with it’s feet up in the air when it comes to handling the RATS.
Too bad they can’t see the forest for the trees.
Boehner sounds like he’s whining.
In the 1930's when massive agricultural collectivization had proven a complete disaster, Stalin backed off the policy somewhat. He wrote an article for Pravda entitled "Dizzy with Success". In the article, he stated that the collectivization had been so successful that many comrades had taken to excesses in the pursuit of such noble goals. He was, of course, blaming others for his disastrous policy.
Nancy Pelosi now seems dizzy with success as well. And yes, she has her own little Stalinist streak. One of Stalin's sayings was something along the lines of, "I don't need to control how someone votes. I just need to control the ones counting the votes." Nancy has learned her lessons well from the master.
Comfort. They resided in the minority for 40 years, and they learned to govern as a minority. When they became a Majority they didn't know how to lead, so they began to emulate the previous majority, and sold out their principles.
Like the old Hertz ad...when you’re number two, you try harder.
This was a good article, thank you.
Speaker Pelosi is delusional.
When they became a Majority they didn’t know how to lead, so they began to emulate the previous majority, and sold out their principles.
PING Good Answer
Cause the have nothing to lose?
IN all seriousness, is this as far as it is going to go? A little blurb?
This needs to be broadcast from every possible vantage point. Buying air time, hammering the talk show circuit, ads in major newspapers (WSJ should be more open to such ads in the near future!).
And I wonder if there is a policy/rule in the congress regarding votes and improper leadership/false vote counting?
And I would imagine that there might be some sort of footage available to back up the claim of the vote and then the changed vote...
But either way, this does NOT need to die and should remain an issue until the RATs are forced out. This isn’t about taxpayer funding for illegal benefits (although that is a huge issue in and of itself). This is about fraud committed by the Dem leadership.
This could be a defining moment for the Republicans - either stand up, or shut up and sit down. Don’t the Repubs have enough members still to shut things down?
And I almost forgot - for GW to even THINK about signing this piece of trash, he is condoning fraud and is a traitor to his party, to voters, and to the US Constitution.
Democrat accomplishments - would make a good campaign ad.
• They stuck pork-barrel spending for peanuts and spinach on a bill meant to fund American troops in harm’s way.
• They created slush funds for secret earmarks, attempting to spend billions of taxpayer dollars without transparency.
• They jammed “green pork” accounts into the energy tax bill, allowing taxpayer funds to be used to subsidize things like Lexus Hybrids in Beverly Hills and putting copies of Al Gore’s book in children’s classrooms.
• They voted to look the other way when the Speaker’s own choice for majority leader broke House rules by threatening a Republican member who dared to challenge an illegitimate earmark.
• They stonewalled lobbying reforms that require lobbyists to disclose taxpayer-funded earmarks for which they’re lobbying Congress, repealed Republican reforms requiring earmarks in tax and authorizing to be publicly disclosed and subject to challenge on the House floor, and killed legislation requiring taxpayer-funded state and local government lobbyists from following the congressional gift ban as they lobby for pork.
• They trumpeted passage of a lobbying reform bill largely indistinguishable from the one Republicans passed through the House last year — the bill Democratic leaders condemned at the time as a “sham.”
They have the video.
- would make a good campaign ad.
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Absolutely.
“The stolen 215-213 vote wasn’t about us.”
The only ones who even know about the “stolen vote” are those who follow politics closely. The media has swept it under the rug, like it never happened. And frankly, it’s because the GOP is not making a big deal out of it. The GOP doesn’t make a big deal out of anything these days.
The Dems are on the talk shows 24/7 pushing their agenda. You almost never see a GOP Congressman on TV these days.
Boehner’s full of it. The pubbies have no backbone. When they gain the majority, they don’t know how to handle it. Like the dog that catches the car he’s chasing.
Brit Hume’s show last night did a fairly extensive segment on this.
What sucks is with everyone in recess, attention shifts away from politics in DC.
If the Republicans had any, when they are back in session the first thing they should do is enter a transcript from CSPAN into the record. The vote should be recorded as it happened and not how Dems think it happened. If the Dems don’t want to do that, all hell should break loose.
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