I’ve mentioned a few times that what we have going on in the House of Representatives on one level involves parliamentary rules. If you’ve never worked within Robert’s Rules of Order or a similar system, it’s difficult to conceive how complex this can be, though it can have enormous sway over events within any legislative body, as we are seeing. This was sent to me by Theresa Garton.
5 thoughts on “A little change in parliamentary rules of the House”
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wow. it’s like a dictator-ship kind of thingy.
Fe: Thank you. Perfect synopsis. Perhaps instead of “speaker defacto”, may we consider “stealth speaker”?
Note: I am not a religious person by any stretch of the imagination (I find religion to be constricting towards the spirit). I’m just saying that in many instances, I’ve found legislation to be as difficult to read as religious texts.
So I usually have to read and reread the legislative text before grasping reasons for concern, but the exchange in the video spelled them out for me.
I almost feel like the Tea Party politicians are attempting a power grab to impose their dystopia on all Americans…:?
I have to say that I realize to what extent legislative readings are comparable to readings of scripture. I had to push myself to understand what was going on, and law can be open to interpretation.
Chris Van Hollen is actually the congressman who represents my district. I am glad he is doing what he can to save social infrastructure, in the face of the Tea Party politicians.
If the Tea Party lawmakers are willing to rig the rules of the game for themselves in order to get what they want, then a system is in crisis, and emergency rules need to be set in place when that happens.
More and more, I am seeing democracy (ok the US could certainly update its notion of democracy, but in some ways, it could be considered a democracy in some form) being undermined by economic interests and politicians who want to get something, even if the majority disapproves.
As if gerrymandering (both the Dems and the Repubs do this), onerous ballot access rules (both the Dems and the Repubs do this), costly media access conditions, and voter ID laws were not bad enough (the Repubs do this), now an open government depends on the opinions of the high-ranking members of the Republican Party, who want to dismantle the nurturing portion of government…
Sooner or later, either Americans should have an inner authority accepting that they have lost on an issue for at least 2-3 years, or an outer authority figure should step in when people try to impose things the majority does not want. Maybe this could set up a bad precedent for tyranny, but I wonder how to balance freedom and responsibility, when to push for an issue and when to drop it.
I have Neptune, Saturn, Uranus and the Moon in the 10th house, so this is on my mind.
The thing about laws is that they need to match the realities of human behavior as much as possible. Laws that fail to recognize how people can behave have weaknesses sooner or later.
I am aware of Robert’s Rules of Order, I can’t say I’m an expert, but I know it is used in board meetings of non-profits.
I have beliefs, but I prioritize my beliefs based on the conditions of an era, and what is best for the country right now. I have set aside some of my convictions and focused on parts of my convictions because there is a crisis stemming from the outrageous misconduct of the Tea Party Republican politicians. I am glad to see some Democratic politicians siding up with the public interest. I think Democratic politicians are beginning to realize that Tea Party politicians cannot be reasoned with…
Of course, even with smart ideas, it takes a lot of fortitude to stomach bullying from Tea Party politicians…So I acknowledge it’s not easy, but I’m glad Van Hollen is taking a stand.
In short the rules allowed the house make any discharge petition impossible to get through. It effectively takes the power out of the Speakers hands and into the hands of the majority leader. Ladies and gentlemen, may I give you the new speaker-defacto: Eric Cantor.