Posted on 06/24/2010 1:16:02 PM PDT by Qbert
Republicans on Thursday said that House Democrats have been less than transparent in bringing their major campaign finance bill to the floor, arguing that key negotiations have taken place behind closed doors.
The House is poised to vote on the bill Thursday, but the ranking Republican on the Rules Committee, Rep. David Dreier (Calif.), said that debate on the Dislcose Act will be unfairly limited.
"Although the legislation was described as 'fundamental to our democracy' by Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi, it will debated for just an hour and only after a brand new manager’s amendment that rewrites the bill is adopted without its own up or down vote," their release says. "One must wonder, why the rush to jam through a bill opposed by more than 400 advocacy groups? It’s not as if the House is working on a budget or anything."
Republicans are largely opposed to the legislation, which slaps disclosure requirements on corporations and unions in response to a January Supreme Court decision that removed limits on their political spending.
But some liberals in the House have also expressed reservations about an exemption designed for the National Rifle Association that was included in the bill.
Republicans pounced on those fears, saying in the release that the negotiations for the provision were held behind closed doors and that lawmakers will not get a chance to vote on the provision independently, among other complaints about lawmakers not having enough time to read the bill.
Vincent Morris, a spokesman for the Rules Committee Democrats, dismissed the GOP's claims as a "stack of baloney."
"As always, the Rules Committee accommodated the minority by providing unlimited time to speak on the Disclose bill during our meeting," he said. "Some of their members didn’t bother showing up to testify or submitted amendments that were non-germane or would have gutted the bill. And the bill itself has been public, posted on our site and available for several weeks. So I think the closed debate charge is a stack of baloney.”
ahahaha closed debate on disclosure... ahahaha!
Let the NRA exemption go!
It will undermine the Constitutionality of the entire bill!
The issue is who has to disclose and who doesn’t. I would imagine a very simple, one sentence law would suffice to satisfy the people. Something like, “those persons or organizations contributing in excess of $5 per person or organization to any candidate, tax-free organization, or political party, shall disclose such donations in full within 30 days of the date of donation.” What’s all the fuss about, have them vote on that.
I believe they could stop this practice cold if they ALL walked out en mass (having alerted the media) and hold a presser on the steps of the Capital.
Then they could argue that what is the used to staying to vote on a Bill they were excluded from crafting or negotiating; not being allowed to offer amendments and limited in the time they have to debate it.
I think it would take only once to put and end to the Queen Bee acting like the tyrant, dictator, she really is.
They’ll pass the bill so we can learn whats in it.
This bill will pass.
Legislate but don’t tell.
“And the bill itself has been public, posted on our site and available for several weeks.”
TRUE. But the devil is in the details:
“it will debated for just an hour and only after a brand new manager’s amendment that rewrites the bill is adopted without its own up or down vote,”
WHICH WILL NOT BE POSTED ANYWHERE FOR ANYONE TO SEE UNTIL AFTER THE VOTE IS OVER.
“...other complaints about lawmakers not having enough time to read the bill”
Another one of those, “You’ll have to pass the bill to find out what’s in it” bills.
This is insane! I’m sorry that the NRA sold everybody out for their issue...interestingly enough, this also enabled the Sierra Club and a bunch of raving liberal nutbag organizations to be exempted...but how in the world can they be passing laws that nobody sees?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.