Government.
My favorite quotes from this article involve…
Scare tactics.
“Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio countered that, without the bill, the United States would remain energy-dependent on people who want to “fly planes into our buildings.”
Filibusters.
That wasn’t good enough for House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), who delayed the roll call vote by reading page-by-page through a 300-page managers’ amendment Democrats added at around 3 a.m. Friday. Boehner seemed to relish the hour-long stunt, picking out the bill’s most obscure language and then pontificating about what it might – or might not – mean. Republicans laughed along with him and roared with applause when he was done.
Nothing to read.
“Republicans accused the Democrats of ramming the bill through the House. Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.), managing the debate for his party, asked repeatedly if there was even a copy of the current version of the bill anywhere in the House chamber. Democratic Rep. Ellen Tauscher – sitting in the speaker’s chair although she’s already been confirmed as Obama’s undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security — repeatedly dodged the question.
If you want to read, you can’t vote.
“Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), one of the bill’s sponsors, finally rose to say that a single copy of the current version of the bill was available at the speaker’s desk – and on the Internet, which members would have to leave the floor to access.”
Poor planning and games.
“Even as the House raced toward a Fourth of July recess, Republicans unwittingly gave Democrats more time to whip their members Friday by calling for a series of amendments to an unrelated spending bill. When the Republicans realized what was happening, they quickly tried to withdraw the amendments, but the Democrats wouldn’t let them.”
Chocolate bribes.
“Pelosi plied undecided members with chocolate-covered Dove bars in a series of small group meetings. White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel worked the phones, and administration officials whipped members at a White House luau Thursday night.”
If you want to laugh, read the original article…