By Congressman Thomas Massie (R-KY)
* * * * *
Washington is broken, and the public knows it. Many have
attributed our government’s dysfunction to factors such as campaign financing,
gerrymandering, lack of transparency, career politicians, disregard for the
Constitution and hyper-partisanship.
I concede all of these contribute to the problem. But
after coming to Washington, I discovered a bigger, less obvious source of
congressional dysfunction. The House of Representatives has devolved into a
theatrical stage for congressmen to perform for their constituents, while most
legislative power is vested within the office of speaker.
To understand the power that today’s speaker wields
requires understanding how the House works. All legislation ostensibly passes
through committees. The chair of each committee should in theory have the
authority to make decisions regarding which bills will pass through his
committee and receive a vote on the House floor.
However, pursuant to current House rules and procedures,
the speaker is the sole and final authority regarding who becomes the chair of
each committee, and which bills are allowed to be voted on by the full House.
If a chairman refuses to conform to the speaker’s wishes, the speaker has the
power to bypass that committee completely.
Our country deserves an orderly legislative process.
However, the 113th Congress frequently followed anything but an orderly
process. Witness the recent CR/Omnibus: This 1603-page bill was written behind
closed doors, introduced two days before the vote with little time for debate,
and contained numerous legislative riders irrelevant to the funding of the
government. It was the speaker’s decision to create a fiscal crisis on the last
legislative day before Christmas vacation.
This irresponsible brinksmanship was designed to give
congressmen a choice between spending their Christmas vacation in D.C. or
rubber-stamping the legislation without reading it. Those members who voted for
the bill have aptly defended their vote, but I know of none who will strain
their credibility by defending the process the speaker employed to pass it.
Numerous but less publicized examples of legislative
malpractice exist. For instance, on March 27, 2014, our leadership suspected it
did not have support to pass an unfunded $10 billion Medicare spending bill.
After delaying the scheduled vote twice that morning, they told members the
House was in recess. Then, after members dispersed to their offices, in the
course of less than 53 seconds, our leadership gaveled the House back in
session and passed the bill on a voice vote with less than a dozen members present.
Nearly every member of Congress resents this abuse of the speaker’s power and
none will defend it.
So why would 434 members perpetuate this centralized
autocratic rule when they have the constitutional power to choose a new speaker
Tuesday? Because for many members, this choice is an illusion. Voting against
the speaker means jeopardizing your committee assignments, your fundraising
opportunities, and literally your political career. Critics may call my vote
unwise for these reasons, but I challenge them instead to defend the
undemocratic manner in which the speaker has moved legislation through the
House of Representatives.
Rather than defend their own vote for the current
speaker, some will choose to spread misinformation about my vote. It is untrue
that a vote for anyone other than the current speaker will cause Rep. Nancy
Pelosi to be elected. To become speaker of the House, one must receive a
majority rather than a plurality of the votes cast for candidates.
* MY FRIENDS... THIS MAN - CONGRESSMAN MASSIE, REPRESENTING THE FOURTH DISTRICT OF KENTUCKY - IS A TRUE AMERICAN HERO FOR PUBLICLY LAYING IT ON THE LINE AS HE HAS.
* ANY MEMBER OF THE HOUSE... CONGRESSMAN... CONGRESSWOMAN... WHO VOTES TO RE-ELECT JOHN BOEHNER AS SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE SHOWS THEIR TRUE COLORS IN A SINGLE VOTE AS NO OTHER VOTE COULD SO UNMASK THEM.
* I PRAY TO GOD MASSIE'S WORDS WILL BE HEEDED BY HIS COLLEAGUES, BUT IF NOT... REMEMBER... THIS ONE, SINGLE UPCOMING VOTE WILL TELL YOU EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE INDIVIDUAL CASTING IT.
3 comments:
http://gohmert.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=398171
Rep. Louie Gohmert (TX-01) released the following statement today regarding his decision to buck the status quo and challenge John Boehner in the race for House Speaker:
“After the November elections gave Republicans control of the Senate, voters made clear they wanted change. There have been numerous examples of problematic Republican leadership, but we were hopeful our leaders got the voters’ message.
However, after our Speaker forced through the CRomnibus by passing it with Democratic votes and without [giving Republicans - or Democrats for that matter] time to read it, it seemed clear that we needed new leadership.
There had been much discussion. But, until yesterday, no one had stepped up.
I applaud my friend Rep. Ted Yoho for putting his name forward as an alternative to the status quo. Ted is a good man for whom I could vote, but I have heard from many supporters and also friends in Congress who have urged me to put forward my name for Speaker as well to increase our chances of change. That is why I am also offering my name as a candidate for Speaker.
There is false information being floated that any Republican candidates in addition to the current Speaker will split the vote and give the Speaker's gavel to Congresswoman Pelosi. This is nothing but a scare tactic to keep the current regime in power.
As long as Republicans vote for an adult American citizen for Speaker, no Democrat can win. Only if 59 Republicans voted “Present” would there be a chance for a Democrat to win.
To win the Speaker’s race, an adult American citizen has to get a clear majority of all Members of Congress on the House floor voting for an eligible person. Voting “Present” simply reduces the number of votes required to win a majority. If no one wins a majority on the first ballot, then we go to a second vote, then a third, until someone gets a majority.
At this point, the Speaker’s election is not about a particular candidate. It is about whether we keep the status quo or make the change the country demands.
I am putting forward my name for consideration as Speaker and hope that with a new Speaker, be that me or someone else, we can fight for the ideals and principles that the voters wanted when they elected us in November.”
http://dailysignal.com/2015/01/02/will-not-vote-john-boehner-house-speaker/
By Rep. Jim Bridenstine, represents the 1st District of Oklahoma in the U.S. House of Representatives:
The day after Republicans won the largest majority in the House of Representatives in almost 100 years and won a significant majority in the Senate, our liberal activist president claimed to hear the voices of all the people who didn’t vote. It was another example of stunning obstinacy from this president.
It seemed Democrats were melting down, Republicans were unified, and all we had to do was buy enough time to get our Republican reinforcements to Washington in January.
Like President Obama, Speaker John Boehner must have heard voices that didn’t vote.
Together, President Obama and Speaker Boehner crafted the CR/omnibus, a $1.1 trillion spending bill that funded the government for 10 months and blocked our newest elected Republicans from advancing conservative policy and delivering on campaign promises.
With this vote, Republicans gave away the best tool available to rein in our liberal activist president: the power of the purse.
The power of the purse is Congress’ constitutional strength.
For the next 10 months, the CR/omnibus will fulfill Obama’s ambition of creating an even larger constituency of dependency on ObamaCare. The president’s goal has always been to create as much dependency as possible before enforcing the destructive employer mandate. The CR/omnibus hands the liberals that victory. This is unconscionable after watching the campaign rhetoric that won such decisive victories for the GOP.
Department of Homeland Security appropriations expire in February, when Republicans will supposedly fight to defund the illegal amnesty plan created by the president. Does anybody believe that Obama is concerned about Republicans not funding DHS? Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have already sued the administration for not allowing them to enforce the law.
The Constitution requires the president to faithfully execute the laws of the United States. He has refused to enforce the laws on border security, ObamaCare, illicit drugs and the release of detained terrorists. His activism in his last two years has accelerated to include executive amnesty, initiating international climate deals without a treaty, and establishing an embassy in Cuba without consulting Congress.
When our Constitution is under assault and House Republicans give away our constitutional power of the purse, they share the guilt of abandoning our Founding Principles.
The CR/omnibus legislation sufficiently undermines the checks and balances enshrined in the Constitution that it warrants my pending vote against Mr. Boehner.
The Speaker went too far when he teamed with President Obama to advance this legislation. He relinquished the power of the purse, and with it he lost my vote.
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/01/03/rep-ted-yoho-joins-movement-against-boehner-offers-himself-as-potential-alternative/
Rep. Ted Yoho (R-FL) says he will vote against House Speaker John Boehner’s re-election.
“I ran for Congress in 2012 because I had had enough,” Yoho said in announcing his public opposition to Boehner. “Enough of career politicians, enough of political gamesmanship, and enough of the lack of leadership in Washington. As we enter 2015, we are faced with overwhelming challenges. However, the dawn of 2015 also promises unlimited potential and the opportunity to begin rebuilding America.”
Yoho also said in his statement that he would be willing to stand up as a potential alternative candidate to Boehner, if members feel they need to vote for someone other than Boehner even though the Congressional Research Service report detailing speakership elections says there is no need for an alternative.
Technically, Republicans need just 29 GOP votes for someone other than Boehner as Speaker on the first ballot — at which point the vote would be kicked off to a second or third or fourth ballot. If Boehner is not re-elected swiftly on the first ballot, it is likely that shortly thereafter an alternative would emerge.
Yoho continued, "In order to do this, strong leadership is required. The American people have spoken loud and clear by their choice to elect conservative Representatives to serve them in Washington. It’s our turn now, as Members of the People’s House, to echo their demands by electing a new Speaker. The American people have allowed us to choose who is best suited to lead the House by electing a deep bench of diverse and qualified members. Our Republic is built on choice, and if needed, I would stand up to give our members that option."
Yoho also encouraged members considering voting against Boehner, who may like the current speaker as a person, to not look at it as a vote against Boehner’s personality, but a vote against Washington’s unpopularity with the American people.
“Our vote for a new Speaker is not a personal vote against Representative Boehner – it is a vote against the status quo,” Yoho said. “Our vote is a signal to the American people that we too, have had enough of Washington politics, and that we will stand with the American people. This is a renewed commitment of our Oath of Office, the people we represent, and the Constitution. In 2015, we will take America back, we will restore opportunity for every American, and we will rebuild America.”
Yoho, a conservative from north central Florida, who was elected for his first term last Congress after defeating longtime incumbent now former Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL), voted against Boehner last time. But his forthcoming vote, and potential candidacy for Speaker, against Boehner is significant in that — as Breitbart News detailed before — Boehner used his bill attacking Obama’s executive amnesty as a tool to eventually pass the 1,774-page $1.1 trillion so-called “CRomnibus” spending bill by allowing conservatives to vent about Obama’s action using that bill. A whopping 216 House Republicans voted for Yoho’s bill aimed at Obama’s amnesty, meaning that Yoho can get support from other Republicans party-wide for his initiatives.
Again, however, with just three members coming out publicly against Boehner’s re-election, it’s still not enough momentum to knock Boehner out. They will need at least 29, probably more, to ensure it happens — and in matters like this, the establishment in Washington usually wins... though anything is possible.
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