Whining in the House. Perhaps they'd like a little cheese?

[Bullypulpit]

Even before officially becoming the minority in Congress, Republicans are already whining about having their "rights" respected...

<blockquote>Thirty-one-year-old Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) is not a large man, standing perhaps 5 feet 3 inches tall in thick soles. But he packed a whole lot of chutzpah when he walked into the House TV gallery yesterday to demand that the new Democratic majority give the new Republican minority all the rights that Republicans had denied Democrats for years.

"The bill we offer today, the minority bill of rights, is crafted based on the exact text that then-Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi submitted in 2004 to then-Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert," declared McHenry, with 10 Republican colleagues arrayed around him. "We're submitting this minority bill of rights, which will ensure that all sides are protected, that fairness and openness is in fact granted by the new majority." - The Washington Post</blockquote>

What Representative McHenry neglected to mention was that the Republican majority utterly ignored this request by the Democrats, while blocking Democrat attempts to bring some measure of sanity back to the halls of Congress.

During the years of their majority rule, the Republican leadership showed nothing but contempt for the rights of the Democratic Congressional minority. Representative McHenry, apparently, has no sense of irony with regards to the hypocrisy of his stance. House Majority Leader Pelosi has stated that she will conduct the House with a civility which was absent during the recent years of Republican one party rule. We should take her at her word until she proves otherwise.

 

[dilloduck]

Even before officially becoming the minority in Congress, Republicans are already whining about having their "rights" respected...

<blockquote>Thirty-one-year-old Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) is not a large man, standing perhaps 5 feet 3 inches tall in thick soles. But he packed a whole lot of chutzpah when he walked into the House TV gallery yesterday to demand that the new Democratic majority give the new Republican minority all the rights that Republicans had denied Democrats for years.

"The bill we offer today, the minority bill of rights, is crafted based on the exact text that then-Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi submitted in 2004 to then-Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert," declared McHenry, with 10 Republican colleagues arrayed around him. "We're submitting this minority bill of rights, which will ensure that all sides are protected, that fairness and openness is in fact granted by the new majority." - The Washington Post</blockquote>

What Representative McHenry neglected to mention was that the Republican majority utterly ignored this request by the Democrats, while blocking Democrat attempts to bring some measure of sanity back to the halls of Congress.

During the years of their majority rule, the Republican leadership showed nothing but contempt for the rights of the Democratic Congressional minority. Representative McHenry, apparently, has no sense of irony with regards to the hypocrisy of his stance. House Majority Leader Pelosi has stated that she will conduct the House with a civility which was absent during the recent years of Republican one party rule. We should take her at her word until she proves otherwise.

That should take about 1 hour.

 

[trobinett]

Even before officially becoming the minority in Congress, Republicans are already whining about having their "rights" respected...

<blockquote>Thirty-one-year-old Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) is not a large man, standing perhaps 5 feet 3 inches tall in thick soles. But he packed a whole lot of chutzpah when he walked into the House TV gallery yesterday to demand that the new Democratic majority give the new Republican minority all the rights that Republicans had denied Democrats for years.

"The bill we offer today, the minority bill of rights, is crafted based on the exact text that then-Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi submitted in 2004 to then-Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert," declared McHenry, with 10 Republican colleagues arrayed around him. "We're submitting this minority bill of rights, which will ensure that all sides are protected, that fairness and openness is in fact granted by the new majority." - The Washington Post</blockquote>

What Representative McHenry neglected to mention was that the Republican majority utterly ignored this request by the Democrats, while blocking Democrat attempts to bring some measure of sanity back to the halls of Congress.

During the years of their majority rule, the Republican leadership showed nothing but contempt for the rights of the Democratic Congressional minority. Representative McHenry, apparently, has no sense of irony with regards to the hypocrisy of his stance. House Majority Leader Pelosi has stated that she will conduct the House with a civility which was absent during the recent years of Republican one party rule. We should take her at her word until she proves otherwise.

Fear not, the Democrats will forever be the winner in a crying contest.

 

[Bullypulpit]

Nancy Pelosi, the new Speaker of the House, was the picture of grace and dignity today as she took up her new role. She offered the olive branch of bipartisanship, more genuinely than any Republican in the last six years, longer if you count the time since the GOP took control of Congress.

Denny Hastert, by contrast, was utterly ungracious and undignified. Rather than do as every outgoing Speaker holding a seat in the House has done, and hand the gavel to his successor, he sat it out. Instead, he had John Boehner (R-OH) and now minority leader, carry his water for him. He showed just how he is going to approach the spirit of bipartisanship Speaker Pelosi offered. Denny acted every bit the fat, florid, bitter old man he truly is. He will carry on, as he did since assuming the role of Speaker, by ignoring anything which doesn't comport with the party line.

So instead of graciously accepting defeat, and looking to put the nations business, rather than the party's business, first and doing the hard work of putting America back in order and restoring its position in the world, he sat on his fat ass looking as if he was about to stroke out. Bitterness and divisiveness were the hallmark of his speakership and the Republican party for the last six years, to this nation's detriment

 

[Annie]

Nancy Pelosi, the new Speaker of the House, was the picture of grace and dignity today as she took up her new role. She offered the olive branch of bipartisanship, more genuinely than any Republican in the last six years, longer if you count the time since the GOP took control of Congress.

Denny Hastert, by contrast, was utterly ungracious and undignified. Rather than do as every outgoing Speaker holding a seat in the House has done, and hand the gavel to his successor, he sat it out. Instead, he had John Boehner (R-OH) and now minority leader, carry his water for him. He showed just how he is going to approach the spirit of bipartisanship Speaker Pelosi offered. Denny acted every bit the fat, florid, bitter old man he truly is. He will carry on, as he did since assuming the role of Speaker, by ignoring anything which doesn't comport with the party line.

So instead of graciously accepting defeat, and looking to put the nations business, rather than the party's business, first and doing the hard work of putting America back in order and restoring its position in the world, he sat on his fat ass looking as if he was about to stroke out. Bitterness and divisiveness were the hallmark of his speakership and the Republican party for the last six years, to this nation's detriment

LOL! Bully I just love how you do these!

 

[Avatar4321]

since when is telling people they cant even debate on any of the issues extending the branch of bipartisanship?

 

[jillian]

since when is telling people they cant even debate on any of the issues extending the branch of bipartisanship?

Funny... it didn't bother you for the last six years.

 

[Annie]

Funny... it didn't bother you for the last six years.

really, the fillabusters really ticked me off. So did the failure to release nominations from committees.

 

[Avatar4321]

Funny... it didn't bother you for the last six years.

What on earth are you smoking? Democrats were invited to participate in every single major piece of legislation that's been introduced. Heck Ted Kennedy wrote the "No Child Left behind act" (Something he coveniently forgot when he started attacking the President on it) he was also a major contributor to the immigration Amnesty bill which is why it sucked so much.

you have to be living in a dream world if you think Democrats didnt have a say the past 6 years.

 

[Bullypulpit]

since when is telling people they cant even debate on any of the issues extending the branch of bipartisanship?

The issues you are speaking of were debated, if they reached the floor at all under the Republican majority, on a number of occaisions in the last six years. They will now be put to a straight up or down vote. Isn't that what Chimpy wants on issues before Congress?...A straight up or down vote? No. Only when they will line the pockets of GOP backers will he or many of the congressional Republicans argue for such a course of action.

 

[Bullypulpit]

What on earth are you smoking? Democrats were invited to participate in every single major piece of legislation that's been introduced. Heck Ted Kennedy wrote the "No Child Left behind act" (Something he coveniently forgot when he started attacking the President on it) he was also a major contributor to the immigration Amnesty bill which is why it sucked so much.

you have to be living in a dream world if you think Democrats didnt have a say the past 6 years.

He attacked Chimpy because Chimpy conveniently "forgot" to fund the legislation in the budgets he signed after the bill was passed. Or did you conveniently "forget" that little detail?

 

[jillian]

What on earth are you smoking? Democrats were invited to participate in every single major piece of legislation that's been introduced. Heck Ted Kennedy wrote the "No Child Left behind act" (Something he coveniently forgot when he started attacking the President on it) he was also a major contributor to the immigration Amnesty bill which is why it sucked so much.

you have to be living in a dream world if you think Democrats didnt have a say the past 6 years.

As Bully pointed out, No Child Left Behind was an unfunded mandate. But what we're really talking about is PROCESS. The Republicans, for the last six years have released their bills out of leadership, instead of committee, so they didn't have to permit amendments.

Do you really think that the Dems are now going to allow the Republicans to amend their bills to include unpalatable provisions which they know the dems won't vote for? Then they get to turn around and say.... see, the dems had a bill for such and such, but they didn't pass it.

You really don't *get* how it works, do you? For six years the Republicans refused to engage in the slightest bi-partisanship, even refusing to send bills to a vote until they were guaranteed a republican majority. They also refused to allow the dems hearing rooms or anything else they needed. My answer to the whining repubs now is the same we've gotten from the rabid right for the last six years... stop whining, you lost. Get a grip.

 

[roadhouse158]

When are any of you going to pay attention. I keep hearing about the last 6 years. What about the 6 years before that? Anytime you have a party that controls the Senate, House, and also the Presidency you will have this problem. The things everyone complains about is the same that you yourself are doing. Your bashing the other party. When Newt Gingrich and the Republican Congress balanced the budget it was because there was a Democrat in the Presidency. IE opposite party. The reason Congress has sucked the past 6 years is because they had full control. This should piss everyone off. Not just the Democrats. Speaking of...Grow up Dems....If a Democrat wins the Presidency in 08 and they retain control of Congress then the same crap will happen. You want to know why the country is on a steep decline....Hmmmm...This board is a pretty good starting point for your research. Every party has good and bad apples....However when one party has full control, then the bad apples seem to rise to the top.....You know the whole saying....Sh!t floats...... .....

 

[Gunny]

Even before officially becoming the minority in Congress, Republicans are already whining about having their "rights" respected...

<blockquote>Thirty-one-year-old Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) is not a large man, standing perhaps 5 feet 3 inches tall in thick soles. But he packed a whole lot of chutzpah when he walked into the House TV gallery yesterday to demand that the new Democratic majority give the new Republican minority all the rights that Republicans had denied Democrats for years.

"The bill we offer today, the minority bill of rights, is crafted based on the exact text that then-Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi submitted in 2004 to then-Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert," declared McHenry, with 10 Republican colleagues arrayed around him. "We're submitting this minority bill of rights, which will ensure that all sides are protected, that fairness and openness is in fact granted by the new majority." - The Washington Post</blockquote>

What Representative McHenry neglected to mention was that the Republican majority utterly ignored this request by the Democrats, while blocking Democrat attempts to bring some measure of sanity back to the halls of Congress.

During the years of their majority rule, the Republican leadership showed nothing but contempt for the rights of the Democratic Congressional minority. Representative McHenry, apparently, has no sense of irony with regards to the hypocrisy of his stance. House Majority Leader Pelosi has stated that she will conduct the House with a civility which was absent during the recent years of Republican one party rule. We should take her at her word until she proves otherwise.

Shouldn't this be in the humor forum?

 

[pegwinn]

The Dems were a strong minority.

While the Republicans rode roughshod over the dems from time to time, they fractured and so the majority was weak. The Dems almost always voted en bloc and presented a united front.

Now the question is: How will the republicans act over the course of two years. IF they form square and present a united front, the majority will be too slim to do any good unless a perfect party line vote takes place.

 

[UnAmericanYOU]

Ohhhhhhhhhh...payback time! Shoe's on the other foot now!

What should the GOP do now? Bitch and whine, of course, act like they have since...forever. The Democrats should push forward the agenda that they hid but won on, anyways.

Now, THIS is reassuring:

A new Congress convenes today with a narrow Democratic majority lording over a despondent Republican minority.

While the full weight of Republicans' powerlessness sinks in after 12 years of control, Democrats are celebrating the historic election today of the first female speaker of the House.

"We have waited over 200 years for this time to come," Mrs. Pelosi said on the eve of her selection as speaker, a position that makes her second in line to the presidency after Vice President Dick Cheney.

"We will not just break through a glass ceiling, we will break through a marble ceiling," she said. "In more than 200 years of history, there was an established pecking order -- and I cut in line." After calling herself "the most powerful woman in America," Mrs. Pelosi flexed her right muscle like a weight lifter to much applause at an event yesterday titled a "women's tea."

"All right, let's hear it for the power," she screamed as the jubilant applause continued.

When Mrs. Pelosi tried leaving the podium, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, Connecticut Democrat, asked her to stay.

"There is so much love and warmth that's in this room today and that's because of the new speaker," Mrs. DeLauro said. "And that tells you about what the future is all about in the House of Representatives."

Yesterday's event was part of three days of festivities to mark the historic moment. Later, Mrs. Pelosi and special guests dined at the Italian Embassy.

Today will be the official vote by her colleagues installing her as speaker, followed by a "swearing-in celebration concert" in the Great Hall of the National Building Museum.

Tomorrow will feature an "open house for the People's House," a nod to Democrats' professed commitment to the common man. For the rest of the day, Mrs. Pelosi will celebrate her roots with a visit to a statue of her late father, former Baltimore Mayor Thomas D'Alesandro, and later the dedication of a Baltimore street to Mrs. Pelosi.

http://washingtontimes.com/national/20070104-120948-2278r.htm

I bolded the words and phrases I found funny or just plain weird. This doesn't look too good, Nan's reneging:

As Democratic leader in the Republican-run House, Pelosi regularly complained about the way the minority party was ignored and promised to operate differently if her party won control. The pledge was a central part of the Democrats' campaign message this fall and one Pelosi repeated often after the party won control of the House in November.

But as party leaders prepare to push their legislative priorities before President Bush delivers his State of the Union address later this month, they realize they can't meet their pledge to complete their agenda within the first 100 hours if they allow full hearings, debate and amendments.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/01/03/MNGECNBR3D1.DTL

Full steam ahead, promises, promises. The first order of business for the 110th Congress was to formally elecet Speaker Pelosi. The second thing was a procedural change that appears trivial at first glance:

WASHINGTON, Jan. 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/

-- Earlier today, Rep. NancyPelosi (D-CA) was elected as the first woman to serve as Speaker of theHouse. Following that vote the House of Representatives voted on H.R. 5, which sets forth the Rules of the House of Representatives for the 110thCongress. A key taxpayer protection provision, however, contains a significant loophole which will open the door to raise taxes over the next two years.

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/01-04-2007/0004500166&EDATE=

House Majority Leader Pelosi has stated that she will conduct the House with a civility which was absent during the recent years of Republican one party rule. We should take her at her word until she proves otherwise.

Just say when!

 

[Bullypulpit]

When are any of you going to pay attention. I keep hearing about the last 6 years. What about the 6 years before that? Anytime you have a party that controls the Senate, House, and also the Presidency you will have this problem. The things everyone complains about is the same that you yourself are doing. Your bashing the other party. When Newt Gingrich and the Republican Congress balanced the budget it was because there was a Democrat in the Presidency. IE opposite party. The reason Congress has sucked the past 6 years is because they had full control. This should piss everyone off. Not just the Democrats. Speaking of...Grow up Dems....If a Democrat wins the Presidency in 08 and they retain control of Congress then the same crap will happen. You want to know why the country is on a steep decline....Hmmmm...This board is a pretty good starting point for your research. Every party has good and bad apples....However when one party has full control, then the bad apples seem to rise to the top.....You know the whole saying....Sh!t floats...... .....

What you are missing here is that the Executive branch insists on acting as if the Legislative branch is nothing but a rubber-stamp for every misguided policy emanating from the Oval Office. And when it won't do that, he essentially writes his own legislation in the form of his signing statements. You have to have the SEPARATE and EQUAL branches of government adhering to their constitutionally delineated roles for your assumption to be valid.

 

[KarlMarx]

Nancy Pelosi, the new Speaker of the House, was the picture of grace and dignity today as she took up her new role. She offered the olive branch of bipartisanship, more genuinely than any Republican in the last six years, longer if you count the time since the GOP took control of Congress.

Denny Hastert, by contrast, was utterly ungracious and undignified. Rather than do as every outgoing Speaker holding a seat in the House has done, and hand the gavel to his successor, he sat it out. Instead, he had John Boehner (R-OH) and now minority leader, carry his water for him. He showed just how he is going to approach the spirit of bipartisanship Speaker Pelosi offered. Denny acted every bit the fat, florid, bitter old man he truly is. He will carry on, as he did since assuming the role of Speaker, by ignoring anything which doesn't comport with the party line.

So instead of graciously accepting defeat, and looking to put the nations business, rather than the party's business, first and doing the hard work of putting America back in order and restoring its position in the world, he sat on his fat ass looking as if he was about to stroke out. Bitterness and divisiveness were the hallmark of his speakership and the Republican party for the last six years, to this nation's detriment

Nancy Pelosi the pinup girl for the American Left. She'll be gracious and graceful as she and her henchmen raise our taxes and continue mortgaged away our children's, grandchildren's and great grandchildren's financial future to pay for programs the government can't afford and, at the same time, curry favor with the voters and more importantly, DNC contributors.

Also, there is talk of targetting conservative radio and other right wing media. They may bring back the Fairness Doctrine or just use McCain Feingold....

The next two years will be interesting.... I'm certaiin that we'll be treated to a witchhunt the likes of which have not been seen since the McCarthy hearings or the Salem Witch Trials.

 

[Avatar4321]

anyone else notice the only one whining here is Bully?

 

[Annie]

anyone else notice the only one whining here is Bully?

Well when he's not gloating. Then again, I seem to remember some of that in 2004...