Posted on 04/09/2008 11:23:48 AM PDT by SmithL
WASHINGTON, (AP) -- Defying the White House, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday the House will change its rules to avoid a required vote this year on a hotly disputed free-trade agreement with Colombia.
Pelosi said she will bring a procedural change to the House floor on Thursday that would remove the timetable under which Congress would have had to take up trade bills within 90 legislative days after they are received from the White House.
"The president took action" in submitting the Colombia free trade agreement to Congress on Tuesday, she said. "I will take mine tomorrow." Pelosi said that Bush called her Monday to tell her he was sending the agreement to Congress.
White House press secretary Dana Perino reacted sharply. "Speaker Pelosi today did something unprecedented in the history of negotiating trade deals in announcing that Democrats would change the rules in the middle of the game," Bush's spokeswoman said.
Perino said removing the 90-day timetable sets an awful precedent "for all future administrations, both Republicans and Democrats, because countries will not be able to have faith in our word when we're negotiating trade deals."
The White House has aggressively pushed Congress to approve the deal with Colombia, arguing that helping a key ally in South America is in the political and security interests of the United States. Perino accused Democrats of trying to kill the deal "without having to have their fingerprints on it."
House Republican leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said in a statement that Pelosi's proposed rule change "would be cheating." He asked what nation "would conclude a treaty with the United States knowing that Congress can change the rules of the game after it is negotiated?"
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Bring back Gephardt.
Paleos dancing in the streets at the news.
> “Pelosi to Block Vote on Colombia”
Proving, once again that, for the Democrats, it’s not about Democracy, it’s about their communist agenda.
Do they EVER follow the rules?
OK, Nan, drop the pretencse. Who’s paying you to be this dumb?
Piglosi represents her marxist constituents well.
I’m so happy the spineless republicans always played nice when those neutered chumps were in charge.
For the mere crime of electing a president slightly to the right of center, the people of Colombia will be left out in the wilderness by their “friends” in the U.S.
Democrats=Peons of Hugo Chavez
Or maybe she is a Camorra since she used illegals in her business in the anti-American foreign country Joseph Francisco.
How quickly would Pelosi bring such an agreement with Venezuela to a vote, I wonder?
Why doesn’t she just allow it to go to vote? Don’t they have the numbers?
Without using armed force, and knowing that the political system has miserably failed, how in the hell do we get our country out of this mess????
We can’t live out all of these traitors.
live out = outlive
She may want to reconsider this maneuver. If she ticks off enough Republican Senators and they maintain over 45 after the election but a Democrat wins the White House there won't be a single piece of legislation passed because the Republicans will filibuster everything without explanation.
“Without using armed force, and knowing that the political system has miserably failed, how in the hell do we get our country out of this mess????”
A good question indeed sir!
OBSTRUCTION
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.