7 Questions Regarding What Repubs Taught DEMS on Running Congress:

[Blackhatjack]

Open Letter to Republicans and members of Free Republic:

Since Republicans ran on the platform of restoring moral integrity to government, and since they have held power for the last 6 years, DEMs could assume that the Republican conduct during that time would be instructive for the next Democratic Majority as to how they should run things.

So would you agree that the new Democratic Majority should engage in the following practices over the next 2 years since Republicans provided the examples to follow?

1- DEMs should hold all votes open for any amount of time(hours if necessary) needed to change enough votes, or get absent members of their party to the floor to vote, so that DEMs will prevail in the vote count. Then immediately gavel the vote closed, and announce the DEM position prevailed.
That is ok, right?

2- DEMs should hold conference committee meetings to consider legislation passed by both Houses at times and in places that Republicans are excluded from participation. And if there is some item the DEMs want to insert in the bill that was never considered or voted upon by either House, they should just insert it in the final conference committee bill and don't bother telling anybody else, especially not the Republicans. That is ok, right?

3- DEMs should schedule committee meetings at times which cause conflicts for Republicans who serve on more than one committee, and when the Republican committee member walks out the door the DEM committee chair should immediately bring up matters the Republican opposes and vote on it.
That is ok, right?

4- DEMs should not accomodate any request by a Republican member to use a conference room, and if a request is granted it should be to use only a small room with no accomodation for public or press.
That is ok, right?

5. DEMs should instruct their committee chairs to turn off the microphone a witness is speaking into if that witness testifies differently than the committee chair would prefer. And when a DEM committee chair decides it is time to adjourn a committee meeting right in the middle of witness testimony, he should just bang the gavel, spout some hate filled speech, declare the committee meeting over, and stomp out.
That is ok, right?

6. DEMs should send out letters to all the lobbyists on K Street that unless they restrict their future hiring to only DEMs, then their interests would not be considered. And further, DEMs should provide K Street lobbyists with a list of approved people they should find a position for and hire.
That is ok, right?

7. DEMs should make sure no admendments are allowed on bills that arrive at the floor for consideration that DEMs do not like. And if there is a bill that arrives at the floor for consideration that DEMs do not want to pass, DEMs should amend the bill with an outrageous provision that supporters of the bill could not abide.
That is ok, right?

I must say, that CSPAN coverage, videotape and committee minutes, are wonderful for helping DEMs remember exactly how they should run the new Democratic Majority House and Senate, should they forget how Republicans showed them it should be done.

That is ok, right?

[displacedtexan]

1. Goose, meet gander.

[Blackhatjack]

2. I would hope DEMs have a mental copy of the foregoing, lest they forget....n/t

[radfringe]

3. watch for tomorrow's toon

I did one up with a related angle in mind.. :)

[ShaneGR]

4. If you didnt notice, the public REJECTED what the Republicans had done...

Why on earth would we want to do anything even similar to them? We need to govern in our way. Fairly and openly. Period.

[Zodiak]

7. I think the OP was sarcasm.

The whole subtext was that these things are not okay, and should not be considered okay just when your party is in power. It was addressed to the FR, after all.

Sort of a bitter taste of their own hypocrisy and antidemocratic behavior.

I could be wrong, though.

[Blackhatjack]

9. Nope, you got it! Pull This Out When Repubs Scream About Being Mistreated...

.... I am pretty tired of the 'holier than thou' Republicans attacking DEMs for having no moral integrity.

Every incident cited actually happened, many over and over again.

DEMs will not govern this way, but we sure as heck are not going to be lectured to by a bunch of amoral Republican hypocrites when it comes to acting with moral authority and fairness.

DEMs will set the example. However, be prepared for Republicans and FReepers screaming like stuck pigs that they are being mistreated by the DEMs.

[nolabels]

13. That's okay, there is a dark room in the basement they caucus in

:rofl:

[Blackhatjack]

16. Is that the same one they offered Conyers? .... I'm sure they would not mind(LOL)

[Danascot]

10. Completely Agree

However, I see nothing wrong with publicizing and getting credit by pointing out frequently how we are now running things in contrast to the bad old days and emphasizing our determination never to allow a return to them.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

5. This crap needs to stop now.

As much as I would love to beat the GOP about the head with its own stupid rules, the simple fact of the matter is that their setup seriously impedes the basic functioning of Congress.

On the other hand, the GOP had better be ready to make some concessions to get their minority powers back.

[wicket]

6. K & R

:kick:

[longship]

8. How can Dems make sure that people know about this?

They're not going to run the House this way, but it would be interesting if they tried it for a while.

I would support Democrats turning the screws for the first days of the 110th Congress. The Repukes would scream their heads off and then Speaker Pelosi could have a large press conference listing each and every one of these points, and explain to the people precisely how the Repukes have run the government for the past six years.

Then, she could say, "If Republicans want comity and bipartisanship they had better understand that it's a two way street. Now that the Republicans members are aware of how their leadership treated the minority Democrats for the past six years, the House of Representatives will henceforth operate strictly by the rules and respecting minority opinions. Democrats are reasonable people and will act accordingly."

[Zodiak]

11. Sounds like a plan

And you just know the pukes would fall for it because they are predicatble howlers. They can even amplify their howling through the media. It sure would be nice to see the Dems use their own weapon against them.

They cannot even cry that it isn't fair to new members because they didn't beat ONE of our incumbents. They simply don't have but a few new members from retirements. Most of those subjected to that treatment would be the guilty.

But only for a week or two. Long enough to make the point and get them howling, but not long enough to look petty and vindictive.

[longship]

17. You've got it.

It would be like walking a tight rope for a few days, but it would be a brilliant move on the Democratic leadership's part, the Rope-A-Dope.

The idea accomplishes two things. It informs the world of the extent of the Repuke corruption, illuminating their lies that Dems are the obstructionists. It also shows them how utterly bad an idea it is to treat a minority party like that, and that comity is the *only* way to govern.

[Quantess]

12. We need to learn from their mistakes

The power went to their heads. The corruption consumed them. As the saying goes, those who forget history (even recent history), are doomed to repeat it.
The repukes taught us a lesson in what not to do. Democrats, please don't turn out like Republicans!

[Throwing Stones]

14. Love the sarcasm

Freepers would either claim those 7 actions to be lies or find some twisted justification for each of them (intellectual honesty isn't really their strong point).

It would be great to publicize those actions in some manner, but I think the best thing to do is make sure the dems never, ever, under any circumstances, pull that kind of crap.

[Blackhatjack]

15. You Know they will project their own wrongdoing onto DEMs, ....

... I was just tryin get out in front in my own way before the crying and moaning and fingerpointing began about how bad DEMs are mistreating them, and how they are the only ones with any concept of moral right and wrong.

You know them, it is in their nature.

And you bet there is plenty of CSPAN and videotape coverage of each event.

Nancy Pelosi should have a "greatest hits video of Republican misdeeds", so that it can be used any time they dream up some kind of misconduct by the Majority DEMs.