Ethics? Cleanest House in history? Bah!
A new House ethics panel, which for the first time includes non-House members, was approved last night. But the back story involves the same old dirty, above-the-rules double-dealing that Nancy Pelosi promised to end. Ethics? Cleanest House in history? Bah!
After a dramatic and controversial vote that included charges that Democrats broke their own rules, the House approved the creation of a new “Office of Congressional Ethics” Tuesday night. It marks the biggest change in House ethics rules in more than a decade: For the first time, non-members will be involved internally in reviewing the activities of sitting lawmakers and staff.
Republicans, backed by 18 Democrats, thought they had won a parliamentary vote prior to consideration of the new ethics office, a victory that would have derailed the proposal. But Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the Democratic leadership held the vote open for 16 minutes beyond the alloted 15-minute deadline and, in that period, convinced several Democrats to switch their votes. The final vote on the parliamentary procedure was 207-206. The Democrats who changed their votes were Reps. Sanford Bishop (Ga.), G.K Butterfield (N.C.), Emanuel Cleaver (Mo.) and Bart Stupak (Mich.), according to Democratic and GOP members and aides.
The final vote, which changed House rules in order to implement the OCE, was 229-182. Almost 30 Republicans, fearing that they would be caught on the wrong side of the issue come Election Day, threw their support behind the Democratic plan at the last moment, giving Democratic leaders a solid margin of victory on final passage.
But Republicans, and some Democrats, charged that Pelosi and the Democratic leadership “stole” the vote on the parliamentary procedure, technically known as “ordering the previous question.” In response to GOP manipulation of votes during their years of control, Pelosi promised at the beginning of the 110th Congress that floor votes would last only15 minutes, and that “no vote shall be held open to manipulate the outcome.”
Pelosi, however, appeared to go back on that promise during the “previous question” vote, which was open for for a total of 31 minutes before it was gaveled closed. Republicans stood on the floor during the dramatic 16-minute period following the official end of the vote, clapping and cheering, occassionally breaking into chants of “Rules of the House!”
John Boehner’s office e-mails:
Boehner: House Democrats Don’t Live By Their Own Rules
Majority Blocks Investigation of Speaker Pelosi, Dem Leaders After They Violate House Rules by Twisting Arms to Ensure Passage of Faux Ethics Proposal
WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) today expressed disappointment after House Democrats turned back a resolution he authored to launch an immediate investigation of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and other House Democratic leaders after they violated their own rules and refused to close a House vote on a faux ethics reform proposal until they had twisted enough arms to ensure its ultimate passage. The bipartisan investigation would have been conducted by the House Ethics Committee and a Select Committee created last summer after the Majority stole a vote last August in order to give illegal immigrants taxpayer-funded benefits. Boehner issued the following statement:
“The Rules of the House specifically state that the Majority cannot hold a vote open solely to change its outcome. This rule was clearly violated last night, and the Majority must be held accountable for it. The fact that Democratic leaders are not willing to own up to their behavior demonstrates to the American people that they simply aren’t willing to live by their own rules. In a Congress the Majority has promised would be the most fair, open, and honest in history, this is particularly disappointing – and hypocritical.
“The American people expect their leaders in Washington to work together on their behalf, without regard to party affiliation. Until we do that, the bonds of trust between Congress and the men and women we represent will never be repaired. What happened last night broke down those bonds even further, and the House is worse off for it. It’s another promise broken by a Democratic Majority that simply isn’t willing meet the standards it set for itself at the outset of this Congress.”
NOTE: The House Democrats faux ethics proposal, which creates a new outside congressional ethics panel to further sweep misconduct in the House under the rug, passed by a vote of 207-206 after Democratic leaders held the vote open for additional time beyond what House rules state is permissible in order to influence Democrats to change their votes in favor.
House Rule XX, clause 2(a) in part states “A record vote by electronic device shall not be held open for the sole purpose of reversing the outcome of such vote.” The rule was implemented by Democratic leaders at the beginning of the 110th Congress. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) campaigned on the rules change, including it in her 2006 campaign document “A New Direction For America” on page 24, which states that “Floor votes should be completed within 15 minutes. No vote shall be held open to manipulate the outcome.”
And natch: Congressional approval ratings down again.
David Freddoso reports: “Republicans have been protesting their behavior by holding dilatory votes on the House floor all morning — so far, the Clerk’s tally on the Internet includes two Republican motions to adjourn so far today and a privileged motion.”
See what others have said
Note from Michelle: This section is for comments from michellemalkin.com's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that I agree with or endorse any particular comment just because I let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with my terms of use may lose his or her posting privilege.
Trackbacks
- Right Voices » Blog Archive » Pelosi Holds Vote Open To Change The Outcome After Implementing The Rule: No vote shall be held open to manipulate the outcome
- Dems Pass Ethics Bill - Unethically
- DPGI v.3 » the (D) party: We tell you one thing. And then do another.
- The Democrats Want Your Money To Fund Their Dirty Government « Tai-Chi Policy
- Michelle Malkin » Pelosi: We need more back-scratching Big Govt hacks in skirts like me!
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Categories: Corruption
Mudville Gazette
» The five-year plan
Stop The ACLU
» SEALs Charged With Assault for Arresting Top TerroristLegal Insurrection
» Is "Finish the Job" the New "Peace With Honor"?JustOneMinute
» Getting Ready For The TurkeySister Toldjah
» WaPo and NYT to Obama: We love ya, you stylish deep thinkerPundit & Pundette
» Hiding the decline: Deniers made them do itWeekly Standard
» McAuliffe, and Rudy, and Ford, Oh My!
Like Clinton, Reid, Murtha and the rest, Pelosi is a hypocrite. The rules do not apply to these elites.
I am reminded of the “kids in a sandbox” analogy.
But maybe it is more like a litterbox
Clean? Whitewash is more like it! When will conservatives come together and hold the Dem’s responsible. Time is past due for “our” guys to tell the American public what is exactly being said, and done behind closed doors, and who is saying it! Stop protecting these pompous a-holes.
You want to know how a democrap would behave in the Whitehouse – just watch Pelosi.
Obviously, nobody read the fine print, which continues “except in those cases where we need the vote to be changed to maintain the status quo.”
Clean, this bunch? My septic tank is cleaner than this congress, probably smells better too.
L
Isn’t Pelosi busy overseeing Federal reconstruction of SF’s waterfront right near her family-owned real estate? How does she have time to work ethics into her schedule?
Why not start off the Office of Congressional Ethics with case that they can immediately investigate? After all, if they did it right, they would have to conclude that the vote was improper, and eliminate it and themselves. Then you wouldn’t have to worry about an Office of Congressional Ethics investigation in the future.
Are you ever embarrassed by anything? Conservative Republicans are in no position to complain about Democratic ethical shortcomings. Did the past 12 years of Republican slime not happen? Did you lift a finger to stop it?
I guess they’ll put “Nostrildamus” Waxman in charge of this committee too.
Ethics – I don’t believe it’s a word our members of congress understand or have parsed the meaning so much as to make it unrecognizable.
For donkeys, “rules” are much like “free speech”: both are fine as long as you agree with them or the outcome they produce, and both are purely advisory – or can be done away with altogether – if they get in the way of what you want.
This is most definitely a “dog bites man” story. Show me a situation where the donks actually follow the rules or obey the law when doing so doesn’t work in their favor. That would be “news.”
Grrr… I have had it with these clowns. I haven’t seen such an enormous group of time-wasters in decades.
Let’s all vote to put another lock on the Congressional “fridge.” But keep the bolt cutters handy.
Jerks!
lgm,
I think the point of the story is that Nancy P. stated that she was out to stop unethical behavior like this.
Now she does it.
Kinda like The Spitz….
I’ll bite – yes, we are embarrased by your reading skills. You seem not to have noted the hundreds – perhaps thousands – of comments here about the unethical conduct of many in public life, no matter their political affiliation.
They are as clean as a pile of Al Qaeda fecal material.
Hey, American People, is this what you want? Showboat Nancy running the show? Or, perhaps, the lunatics runnin’ the loony bin?
Isn’t it ironic that Nancy had “promised ” to strictly enforce the 15 minute vote rule but when it comes to voting for “what the people want” or in this case a phoney ethics schematic to make it appear cleanup in Washington is actually happening, she breaks her own promise! Wow, Nancy… no wonder your eyes bug out like they do. I’d get that whiplash look too if I changed my mind as much as you do.
Socialist Democrats don’t give a damn about rules, laws, morals, ethics or anything along those lines. They love to be outraged over anything done by the Republicans but they will lie, cheat, and steal to the hilt if it helps them. You can only do that when you have no concious and no shame. Nancy San Francisco and Scary Harry prove again and again their Do Nothing Congress doesn’t care about the American people or the business of running a government.
Have you no shame? Let’s be real here, shall we? You’re pointing out the shortcomings of a political party that is in the minority now. I guess, when it comes to defending your liberal compatriots, lgm, pointing the finger at the opposition suits you better.
I didn’t know that that you or other members of the Troll Liberation Front would crawl under your bridge to make a peep. I see that Nancy still has her admirers. It would figure that trolls are good at flattering her ego.
Hey, lgm, why did you take your profile down? You really looked very “outdoorsy” in your “jogging outfit.” However, you’re frightfully pale, I was worried that you’d reflect too much sunlight and contribute to the hazards of Global Warming. Too much underground lurking can do that to a liberal like yourself, ya know?
#9 lgm said:
That’s what some people used to say about women and blacks. Stop being such a bigot and meet the rest of us on the isues.
White lies, whitewash, & white flags.
These are the trademarks of the Democrat Party.
Pelosi was too busy making sure she added brie to the cafeteria slop list.
Well color me surprised and the MSM will yawn…..
I, personally, don’t care what party is involved in unethical behavior, and I don’t care about its history. I just see today. Both parties have violated ethics, as well as parties that don’t even exist anymore. How far do we go back to rationalize shortcomings today? Just because it was done in the past, doesn’t mean we forget it today. Any day is a great day to clean up Congress. And, if they won’t clean up their own house, let the people know. Of course, the MSM will be “mum” on the matter. They’re too busy with Spitzer, some murder in some state somewhere, or promoting someone’s movie or book. I doubt many Americans will know of the matter. They certainly won’t learn of it on CBS Evening News.
That’s why we have Michelle and the “New Media.” Doing the work the MSM won’t.
Not surprised of Pelosi’s ethical lapse.
What should bother everyone is what and how the new ethics committee will work.
Soros and company can make a complaint. Anonymously. The person being targeted will never know who brought the complaint or the nature of the complaint.
But the press will run with so-in-so being investigated by the ethics committee without knowing the nature of the complaint either.
Pretty convenient when the house member tries to get reelected.
Pretty convenient that the investigation, when it comes to nothing, won’t be traced back to the democrats. It’s all a political hammer.
I am beguiled – queue crickets chirping….
I love listening to the libtards compare Bush to Hitler and modern day America to Nazi Germany. I love it because they make hypocrites of themselves every time their beloved Dems pull some stunt like this.
As I recall, Hitler did very similar things in his march to wrest control of the Reichstag and, eventually, all of Germany. Talk about Nazi America…freakin’ liberals should look no further than their Democrat gods.
Some how, it seems these words from Suzanne Fields need to be in here some place. “Modern liberalism is based not on reason, evidence or intellect, but on the spurious claim to superior virtue.”
Smart woman Ms Fields.
ROTFLMAO.
I first saw this on Free Republic last night shortly after it happened. I am continue to be disappointed and disgusted with the most ethical Congress every led by Queen Pelosi and Dirty Harry. The bright side is the “do nothing” Congress is not getting much done and every time we see bipartisanship in action it is another attempt to bribe us with our own stolen tax dollars.
I do believe that lgm is into leather, whips, and chains.
He loves the PAIN! LOL!
This will go a long way to keep good honest folks from running for/staying in Congress. The 527 special interest groups will be on a witch hunt. If you stand for conservative causes, you had better have a large legal fund.
Twice in 6 months the democraps have back peddled and ignore their own “most ethical congress” House rules with voting violations. in order to pass a rule. My neck is getting sore from shacking my head. Everyday I see the actions of these self-centered, elitist ba$tard$ take one more chip out of bases of what makes this country so great. They are not freedom loving Americans, they are socialist, left wing, unamercian elitists. What does that tell you about their supporters.
The new office will be a panel of six non-lawmakers — possibly retired judges or former members of Congress or staffers — jointly appointed by the
So basically she developed another layer of bureaucracy which will throw it back to the committee that is accused of doing nothing to begin with. Are we paying for this outside committee?
Gee, just like the DNC finding a way to include FL &? in the delegate count, Spitzer spitting on everyone he has tried to bring down. Murtha, Reid, Kennedy, Feinstein, Feingold, Durbin, Frank, Rangel…….you can see that it has never ended. All cons. All to be mistrusted.
That’s because if they were allowed to serve, their influence would be free. This way they have to continue to bribe – I mean contribute – to members of Congress in order to wield their influence.
Why am I not surprised?
House ethics panel…boy, is that a contraction in terms!
Anybody know how William Jefferson-democrat Louisiana- voted?
LGM I admit that the GOP has done a lot of sins in the last 12 yrs and this is one reason they lost the control of the senate and the house. The main point of this subject is that Nancy promised that this would be the most ethical and sinless Congress in the history of the USA. Nancy has seemed to forget that promise. Libs often can’t see wrong doing as wrong because they see sin as morally relative.
Yes, the Clintons and the Democrat Party! (Thought I’d go ahead and bite since you went to all the trouble of baiting the hook.)
And sir, with all due respect, if you are truly so offended by this CONSERVATIVE site, its hostess, and the conservatives who frequent it, then why do you bother coming here? After all, d-Kos and Huff-Po are just one click away.
Why doesn’t Pelosi just retire?
She’ll never rise to any higher public office (she’s just not the type); she’s ill-suited to hold the position of House speaker (the House is now more disorganized and corrupt under her hand than it was with Tip O’Neill); and she has demonstrated such a shocking disregard for the safety of Americans, with the lapse of FISA, solely for political gain.
In my view, Pelosi should quit now, while she’s still speaker, and retire to the South of France. Once there, the three of them – Pelosi, her husband, and her husband’s millions – could loll away the days sipping some beverage, exploring the French countryside, and shopping for the latest haute’ couture (if nothing else, she is a snappy dresser).
But perhaps the best part of her leaving would be that while the U.S. would be much more secure from terrorists, she’d never have to eat another can of tuna.
I was watching C-Span when this vote was being taken and when the time ran out but votes were still being logged I thought there was something fishy going on.
VERY INTERESTING!!!
Liberal Promise: # 4,871 (this decade)
PELOSI peLoser peRomise
“This leadership team will create the most honest, most open, and most ethical Congress in history” – Speaker-Elect Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Press Release, November 16, 2006
Yes, that is an EXACT quote.