bumper sticker
Posted on 05/15/2010 4:10:07 PM PDT by LibWhacker
In an example of Republican obstructionism rendered beautiful by its simplicity, the GOP yesterday killed a House bill that would increase funding for scientific research and math and science education by forcing Democrats to vote in favor of federal employees viewing pornography.
Rep. Ralph Hall (R-TX), the ranking member of the House science committee, introduced a motion to recommit, a last-ditch effort to change a bill by sending it back to the committee with mandatory instructions.
In this case, Republicans included a provision that would bar the federal government from paying the salaries of employees who've been disciplined for viewing pornography at work.
To proceed with the bill and bring it to a final vote, Democrats would have had to vote against the motion to recommit, and against the porn ban.
But they didn't have the stomach for it, and 121 Democrats jumped ship and voted with Republicans to kill the bill.
"For anyone that is concerned about federal employees watching pornography, they just saw a pornographic movie. It's called; 'Motion to Recommit,'" Rep. Bart Gordon (D-TN) said. "It was a cynical effort to undermine an important bill for my 9-year-old daughter, for your kids and your grandkids."
The bill had passed the committee last month with bipartisan support, in a vote of 29 to 8.
"If at any point during the 48 hearings we've held on this bill, the Minority brought up their concerns with isolated incidents of federal employees viewing pornography, or if they had made an amendment in order during any of the three Subcommittee markups, the Full Committee Markup, or the Floor Consideration, I would have been happy to vote for that amendment," Gordon said in a press release after the vote.
"We're all opposed to federal employees watching pornography. That is not a question; but that's not what this was about," he went on. "The Motion to Recommit was about gutting funding for our science agencies."
Democrats pulled the bill off the floor after the motion passed and promised to introduce it again next week.
The bill -- a re-authorization of the 2007 COMPETES Act -- has been supported by interests usually seen as aligned with Republicans, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Hall did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
If it killed funding for anything, especially education, I'm in favor of it.
Once we get a majority in the House, let's remember the pornography trick to defeat funding for healthcare...
The GOP cannot force the Dems to do anything
On the whatever web site where this was published and they are all wailing and gnashing their teeth because the Feds aren't spending enough money, they never explain why the Rats would have been forced to vote the pornography clause out of the bill.
There is no limit to the need for funding as long as the money is coming out of someone else’s pocket. Democrats have engineered the system so that all of the money comes out of the pockets of Republican voters. Republican politicians have gone along because they don’t want to be called meanies by their Democrat collegues.
Yeah, blame the Reps when almost half of the Dems vote with them.
Republicans seem to be more conservative and canny about it when they are in the minority. As a majority they seem to join themselves to other varieties of the Left or just concentrate on lining their pockets while ignoring anything like the Constitution and conservative policies and ideas.
“...the GOP yesterday killed a House bill...”
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You lie!
They do not have the numbers to kill anything.
+1 Nice catch.
At this point as far in debt as the USA is now IMHO all funding needs to be cut except for defending the country because we are out of money. IMHO the kids won’t care about this once they find out how in debt we’ve made them for all eternity. Lets stop most spending now before we are 100% of GDP!
Goverment spending does not create jobs, good to kill the spending bill.
“an important bill for my 9-year-old daughter....” The democrat senator said.
I guarantee you that lying SOB does not need this government program for his daughter.
That makes two of us because I couldn’t understand the logic - or lack thereof - of the motions, amendments and voting.
Let’s just be happy that more money that we don’t have wasn’t authorized to be spent on programs we don’t need.
Death by Parlimentary tactics which are perfectly fine and used by the Democrats skillfuly and often. The Dems are just miffed that the republicans out foxed them this time. Too bad something like this couldn’t have been used on the numerous ghastly bils that have been passed by the current Demorat controlled congress.
Can Hall teach the Senate Republicans how to do this for amnesty and cap-n-tax?
WHAT’S THIS!?! The GOP playing hardball!?! I don’t believe it!
Ya suppose the 12 trillion deficit could have the same effect you idiot?
Rachel Slajda
/bingo
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