Speaker Pelosi and the Democratic congressional leadership have engaged in an all-out strategy to ram through Congress legislation designed to remake America without time for public debate or even for members of Congress to read the legislation they are voting on.
From the failed “economic stimulus” bill to the cap-and-trade energy tax to bailouts of the auto and financial industries to government-run healthcare legislation, Speaker Pelosi is refusing to give members of Congress and the public time to read the final versions of legislation – let alone debate it.
This “trust me, vote now and read it later” approach effectively turns Congress into a rubber stamp for President Obama’s policies and gives Speaker Pelosi and her fellow liberal lawmakers almost unlimited power.
That is why CCAGW has joined 182 members of Congress in fighting for vote on H. Res. 554, which would change the Rules of the U.S. House of Representatives to require Speaker Pelosi to post, without exception, all final versions of legislation on the Internet at least 72 hours before holding a vote.
Here is just one example of why this 72-hour review period is so important.
At approximately 2:45 a.m. on the day the House passed the wildly expensive cap-and-trade energy tax, the liberal leadership of the House mysteriously added a whopping 300-page amendment to the legislation. Congress had spent weeks crafting the bill, and this massive amendment contained new and radical provisions.
One of the worst of the wee-hours-of-the-morning provisions requires you to receive permission from the Environmental Protection Agency in order to sell your home.
Unbelievable, but true! The EPA will review the energy efficiency of your appliances, windows, roof, furnace, air conditioning, and walls to determine if you meet their standards for private homes. If they do not approve of your home, you will be required to make changes, regardless of the cost, before you can sell.
CCAGW is fighting tooth-and-nail to keep this outrageous, authoritarian provision out of the Senate version of cap-and-trade legislation, which is not expected to come up for a vote until next year.
However, we can prevent more radical policies like this EPA home-sale approval requirement RIGHT NOW by stopping Speaker Pelosi and her left-wing minions from being able to call for votes on legislation without time for members of Congress, the public, and policy experts like CCAGW to review the details of a bill.
Not surprisingly, Speaker Pelosi and the ultra-liberal House leadership are blocking vote on H. Res. 554 by bottling it up in the Rules Committee and refusing to let it come to the House floor.
The only way to force a vote on H. Res. 554 is for 218 members of Congress to sign what is known as a Discharge Petition requiring that the 72-hour rule change come to the House floor.
Concerned Taxpayer, as someone who has counted votes in Washington for decades, I can tell you that if this rule change is put to a vote on the House floor an overwhelming number of members of Congress will vote for it – because more than 80 percent of the American people support having all legislation posted on the Internet for 72 hours before a final vote.
Speaker Pelosi’s only chance to block the public and members of Congress from reading and discussing legislation before it becomes law is if she can stop the Discharge Petition from gaining 218 signatures.
As I send you this e-mail, 182 members of Congress, both Republicans and Democrats, have stepped forward to sign the Discharge Petition.
We need just 36 more.
And we have more than enough top targets whom we are heavily lobbying. For example, 24 Representatives co-sponsored vote on H. Res. 554 but have yet to sign the Discharge Petition due to pressure from Speaker Pelosi.
Concerned Taxpayer, we can win these 24 signatures and reach the 218 required, but we urgently need your help.
We must demonstrate in the most concrete manner possible that not only are Americans solidly behind the posting of all legislation on the Internet for at least 72 hours, but that taxpayers are willing to fight for this new rule.
That is why I need you to sign on to the very same Discharge Petition that we are urging members of Congress to sign. We will tabulate your signature, along with the tens of thousands of others, and publicize the results to the members of Congress whose support we are lobbying to secure.
Please, before you do anything else today, take a moment to sign on to the Discharge Petition for H. Res. 554.
Related Reading:
Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress--and a Plan to Stop It@font-face { font-family: "Times"; }@font-face { font-family: "Geneva"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; color: black; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } In an era when special interests funnel huge amounts of money into our government-driven by shifts in campaign-finance rules and brought to new levels by the Supreme Court in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission-trust in our government has reached an all-time low. More than ever before, Americans believe that money buys results in Congress, and that business interests wield control over our legislature.With heartfelt urgency and a keen desire for righting wrongs, Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig takes a clear-eyed look at how we arrived at this crisis: how fundamentally good people, with good intentions, have allowed our democracy to be co-opted by outside interests, and how this exploitation has become entrenched in the system. Rejecting simple labels and reductive logic-and instead using examples that resonate as powerfully on the Right as on the Left-Lessig seeks out the root causes of our situation. He plumbs the issues of campaign financing and corporate lobbying, revealing the human faces and follies that have allowed corruption to take such a foothold in our system. He puts the issues in terms that nonwonks can understand, using real-world analogies and real human stories. And ultimately he calls for widespread mobilization and a new Constitutional Convention, presenting achievable solutions for regaining control of our corrupted-but redeemable-representational system. In this way, Lessig plots a roadmap for returning our republic to its intended greatness.
While America may be divided, Lessig vividly champions the idea that we can succeed if we accept that corruption is our common enemy and that we must find a way to fight against it. In REPUBLIC, LOST, he not only makes this need palpable and clear-he gives us the practical and intellectual tools to do something about it.
Citation Details
Title: Economic "bankruptcy bill": behind the unprincipled politicking going on with the stimulus bill is the sobering reality that the nearly $800 billion price tag will do nothing to stimulate the economy.(ECONOMY)
Author: Charles Scaliger
Publication: The New American (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 2, 2009
Publisher: American Opinion Publishing, Inc.
Volume: 25 Issue: 5 Page: 17(4)
Distributed by Gale, a part of Cengage Learning
How Congress Works and Why You Should CareHow Congress Works and Why You Should Care is a concise introduction to the functions and vital role of the U.S. Congress by eminent former Congressman Lee H. Hamilton. Drawing on 34 years as a U.S. Representative, Hamilton explains how Congress reflects the diversity of the American people, serves as a forum for finding consensus, and provides balance within the federal government. Addressing widespread public misperceptions, he outlines areas where Congress can work better and ways for citizens to become more engaged in public affairs through their representatives in Washington. How Congress Works and Why You Should Care is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the inner workings of Congress, and how all citizens can participate in its unique mission.
(2010)
Fashioning the More Ethical Representative: The Impact of Ethics Reforms in the U.S. House of RepresentativesAn ethics climate of suspicion and concern about conflicts of interest exists in U.S. politics, resulting in efforts to improve ethical conduct for Congress and an infrastructure to enforce them. Herrick examines various effects of the climate and ethics standards on the House of Representatives. The reforms had a positive effect on members' behavior with few costs. The ethics rules addressed behaviors that potentially harm the legislative process and House members altered their behavior to comply with the rules. Members who violate the standards were less likely to leave Congress, although a lack of electoral competition and members' power in the chamber can insolate them from electoral defeat or forced retirement.
As Herrick documents, the concern with congressional ethics increased the number of members accused of unethical behavior and consequently modestly decreased the public's approval of Congress. But, by disciplining members, the new ethics increased congressional approval. Other negative effects include encouraging ethical members to retire, modestly decreasing the number of bills passed, and preventing members accused of violating the rules from carrying out their responsibilities. As a way to understand how to further improve members' ethics, Herrick offers a model that predicts which members were likely to violate the ethics standards. Based on the findings, three recommendations are offered to improve the ethics process: improve congressional elections, create an outside commission to investigate ethics violations, and discourge false charges against members.
