Sucker punched
Apr. 15th, 2011 11:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pecuniumThe Rules in the House aren't (quite) as arcane as in the Senate, but they do allow those skilled in their use to pull some interesting maneuvers.
One of those rules has to do with what counts as a majority. It's not, as one might think, the majority of those present, but rather the majority of those voting.
This morning there was a motion on the floor, The Republican Study Committee has an alternate budget plan, one which makes the Paul Ryan fiasco look nuanced. The normal routine for something like this is to make it a stunt, where enough people vote against it to let those who have to vote for it do so (letting them tell their constituents they did all they could, as in the opening of, Magic Incorporated).
But the Dems actually pulled a fast one. None of the voted for it. All 172 in the chamber recorded themselves as, "present", which removed them from the count toward passage/defeat.
This bill was toxic sludge. It's the Ryan Budget on Steroids. It's a Dick Cheney Wet Dream. It's more radical than Bush ever dreamt of trying to pull off (even with his Kill Social Security Tour) The point wasn't to pass the thing, it was to use the Dems voting against it to show they aren't, "serious".
And the suddenly the Republicans were feeling a lot like Wile E. Coyote, standing over the Grand Canyon, with nothing but air beneath their feet. They did what they and to do, they changed the votes. They were for it, before they were against it. They looked at the board and flipped their votes from yes, to no.
It was still a tolerably close vote 119 for, 136 against, but it did a few things. The Republicans who haven't been drinking the Tea Party Kool-Aid have seen what happens if they don't get cover from the Democrats. The "date rape" of "bipartisanship" isn't quite as easy as it used to be (so long as this moment of spine is remembered). The divides in the Republican Party have been shown to more than just people who were looking at the actual differences between the Tea Party Types, and the older hands.
The Tea Party has been shown (if they have the eyes to see) just where they stand. I think they just got some of the focus they will spend in the house races next time around. If they persist n the attempt to kill Medicare, well they ran on the idea of preserving it last time around. It''s not likely it will fly to be championing it's demise.
If the Tea Party want's to piss in the Republican's tent, well it's a caffeinated beverage.
One of those rules has to do with what counts as a majority. It's not, as one might think, the majority of those present, but rather the majority of those voting.
This morning there was a motion on the floor, The Republican Study Committee has an alternate budget plan, one which makes the Paul Ryan fiasco look nuanced. The normal routine for something like this is to make it a stunt, where enough people vote against it to let those who have to vote for it do so (letting them tell their constituents they did all they could, as in the opening of, Magic Incorporated).
But the Dems actually pulled a fast one. None of the voted for it. All 172 in the chamber recorded themselves as, "present", which removed them from the count toward passage/defeat.
This bill was toxic sludge. It's the Ryan Budget on Steroids. It's a Dick Cheney Wet Dream. It's more radical than Bush ever dreamt of trying to pull off (even with his Kill Social Security Tour) The point wasn't to pass the thing, it was to use the Dems voting against it to show they aren't, "serious".
And the suddenly the Republicans were feeling a lot like Wile E. Coyote, standing over the Grand Canyon, with nothing but air beneath their feet. They did what they and to do, they changed the votes. They were for it, before they were against it. They looked at the board and flipped their votes from yes, to no.
It was still a tolerably close vote 119 for, 136 against, but it did a few things. The Republicans who haven't been drinking the Tea Party Kool-Aid have seen what happens if they don't get cover from the Democrats. The "date rape" of "bipartisanship" isn't quite as easy as it used to be (so long as this moment of spine is remembered). The divides in the Republican Party have been shown to more than just people who were looking at the actual differences between the Tea Party Types, and the older hands.
The Tea Party has been shown (if they have the eyes to see) just where they stand. I think they just got some of the focus they will spend in the house races next time around. If they persist n the attempt to kill Medicare, well they ran on the idea of preserving it last time around. It''s not likely it will fly to be championing it's demise.
If the Tea Party want's to piss in the Republican's tent, well it's a caffeinated beverage.
