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Old 30th December 2012, 06:17 PM   #22
Meadmaker
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Originally Posted by Ladewig View Post
I agree with theprestige.

Also, there is a flaw in your plan. If anyone could call for a vote of the entire body, then a party might try to game the system by introducing 20 or 30 votes everyday.
Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Anyone should be able to demand a roll call vote on anything, anytime. Obviously, that's the only possible alternative to the unlimited vote blocking ability of the Speaker of the House, and it's the only possible alternative to the no-fuss filibuster on any bill introduced.




Prestige noted that there were reasons to block votes even if the bill might pass, but his example isn't exactly one that makes the average person declare it a beneficial use of Congressional power. Someone might not want a vote because they are afraid that voters might be mad at them for voting that way. Well, folks, that's too bad. If you don't vote the way your constituents want you to vote, I guess that could become a problem for you at reelection time.

Congressional rules aren't exactly the sort of issue that gets people all riled up at the ballot boxes, so I guess no one is going to punish those who support rules that let a few members of the leadership wield stunning amounts of power. In order to get those rules changed, the people with the power would have to give it up voluntarily and, curiously, that doesn't seem to happen. It looks like we might at least get some filibuster reform. Maybe.


The first time I really noticed this vote blocking thing was during the impeachment debate in 1998. The Democrats wanted a censure resolution, and the Republican leadership wouldn't allow the vote. Why not? Because it would have given Republican legislators the opportunity to express dissatisfaction with President Clinton, but without the need for a ridiculous impeachment proceeding. It would have passed, and impeachment would have been off the table. Goodness knows why Hastert and friends thought that was a bad idea, but for some reason they really wanted that trial, and they made sure they got it.

Now we have something similar going on. Boehner has to work on a plan that gets nearly unanimous Republican agreeement, because otherwise it might look like an Obama win. Boehner can't put forward anything that isn't pure Republcian. I'm really confident that there are enough congressmen that would vote for a bill that avoids the fiscal cliff, if they could get it to a vote, but a true bipartisan bill would look Boehner look bad, so instead......I guess we'll see.

I just don't know what's going on in an awful lot of payroll processors these days. How much should they withhold for checks issued on Tuesday?

Last edited by Meadmaker; 30th December 2012 at 06:21 PM.
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