Posted on 08/08/2010 2:10:13 PM PDT by jazusamo
The House will vote next week on a Republican measure that would prevent Democratic leaders from passing controversial policy initiatives during a lame-duck session of Congress this year.
Republican Study Committee (RSC) Chairman Rep. Tom Price (Ga.) introduced the privileged resolution last Thursday in response to reports that Democratic leaders told their base that they could move big-ticket legislation after the November elections and before the new Congress convenes in January.
Price explained that his resolution says that a lame-duck session should not occur unless there were to be a national emergency.
“When [Senate Majority Leader] Harry Reid [D-Nev.] and Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi [D-Calif.] began talking about telling their folks not to worry, about 'card check' [legislation], not to worry about the national energy tax, not to worry about a continued increased spending, that they had a plan to do this in a lame-duck session after the election, we began thinking and talking about what options we had, and this was one of them,” Price told The Hill in an interview on Friday.
Because Price's measure is a privileged resolution, House Democratic leaders cannot block it from receiving a vote.
Both Republicans and Democrats have moved significant bills in lame-duck sessions over the last decade.
Reid has scheduled the Senate to be in session on Nov. 15, nearly two weeks after the mid-term elections. The House has not yet released its lame-duck schedule.
Political insiders predict major GOP gains in the fall, which would make it politically difficult for Democrats to move the hot-button items.
Reid suggested at a conference of liberal bloggers last week that Democrats could pass major policy reforms that have stagnated thus far – like immigration reform – in the short window between Nov. 2 and Jan. 3, 2011, when the new Congress will be sworn in.
A key House Democratic leader recently shot down the notion that his party would move controversial measures after the election.
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) Chairman Chris Van Hollen (Md.) on Friday called the idea “nonsense" during an interview.
“This whole effort to whip up hysteria as if there’s some secret plan to do stuff in the lame-duck session is just nonsense. This is a scare tactic at its very worst, they are trying to spread the notion that there’s a plan to do major legislation in a lame duck session – there isn’t. There just isn’t,” Van Hollen said on a conference call with reporters.
Saying that he hadn’t read Price’s entire resolution, Van Hollen refrained from taking a position on the measure set for a vote on Tuesday, shortly after the House votes on a $26.1 billion bill on education and Medicaid funding.
Some Democrats are concerned that the White House will push for long-stalled trade deals in the lame-duck session.
President Obama last month that said he would submit three controversial trade agreements to Congress “as soon as possible.” The trade deals he wants Congress to pass are with South Korea, Panama and Colombia. Most Republicans back the trade pacts.
Other bills that could come up in the lame-duck session include appropriations, extending some or all of President George W. Bush's tax cuts and food safety. However, Democratic leaders could finish work on these bills in September and early October.
The Republicans are believing all the stories about taking over both chambers, and getting ahead of themselves. I like this, but hope they focus on actually winning the elections. There re too many ‘conservative’ challengers out there splitting the vote, see DE and FL, among others. We may end up with a gloating Nancy and Harry again.
Nothing these sewer-dwellers do would surprise me.Rules don’t apply to them-especially when they have nothing to lose.
The Freakin Republicans had Better grow a Pair between Now and November or they will be stopping Nothing
“Price explained that his resolution says that a lame-duck session should not occur unless there were to be a national emergency.”
They already have some crisis ready to orchestrate at the drop of a hat anyway, so this means not much.
I hear you. They force the vote on this then forget it, if the Dems defeat it it will be on the record. The Repubs had better concentrate on winning seats.
You’re probably right and I don’t believe Chris Van Hollen for a second when he says this lame duck thing is nonsense.
I would like to trust Van Hollen. But we can’t. The Democrats are totally untrustworthy. Most are liars. Most are anti-American. The same can be said for quite a few in the GOP.
Proactive actions have to be taken with the knowledge that Pelosi and Reid are of evil intent.
Handcuff??
I will not settle for anything short of keel-hauling.
I can see November from my house.
The Democrats are never going to let that pass. Everybody needs to corner their congressweasel during recess and ask them if they will vote for x after election day regardless of who wins. See what they say.
LOL! This legislation has zero chance. The Dems plan to finish their agenda in the lameduck session. The only thing that can stop it is united Republican opposition in the Senate and we all know how likely that is.
Concentrate on defeating them at the ballot box and run them out of town. Like cockroaches.
Michael Steele is a huge problem that needs to be addressed.
He is clearly an egotistical self-serving ass who has zero killer instinct.
If the GOP falls flat in Nov, he must be unceremoniously sacked. Better yet, do it now.
Keel-hauling works for me too. C’mon November!
I believe you’re right but if the Dems try this lame duck thing I believe people will be so ticked off it will hold the Repubs together in the Senate.
The OP(formerly the GOP) should not return to D.C for the lame duck session.
My dream at this point is that we can get enough responsible, patriotic Americans into office in both the House and the Senate, that we can hit the deck running with IMPEACHMENT proceedings before next summer.
I do believe that this is within the realm of the very possible.
We just need to make it happen.
For the sake of our country.
I believe it’s a possibility also though a slim one.
I think it depends on gaining enough seats in both houses to get the attention of some patriotic Dems that will support it. Everyone knows there have already been grounds for bringing charges against him.
“I don’t believe Chris Van Hollen for a second when he says this lame duck thing is nonsense.”
Good rule of thumb: don’t believe Chris Van Hollen if he tells you today os Sunday.
For that past 1 1/2 years, I keep seeing things come up and saying to myself "they wouldn't dare" , and then they do.
They are not bound by ethics, not a single one of them. They know full well they can do just whatever they want and the average idiot American will forget before 2012 and Olberman/Mathers and the rest of them will be able to spin their way out of it with relentless propaganda.
At BEST the republicans will kill off the house majority and pickup a few seats in the senate. The votes are split too much and the Republican party will not sign on with the movement, they want to continue doing what they have always done. Only a couple more decades of losses will change their minds as the old and corrupt die off and the party becomes irrelevant. I'm afraid we are stuck here for a while.
Never gonna happen.
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.