posted March 21, 2010 05:12 PM         

What is the Rules Committee?
Posted: Saturday, March 20, 2010 4:13 PM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under: Congress

From NBC's Shawna Thomas, Luke Russert and Mike Viqueira

As we all sit enthralled by the House Rules Committee hearing, we offer a primer. The Rules Committee considered to be an arm of the speaker's office, and is an instrument by which the majority, whether it be Republicans or Democrats, exercises control over the House process. As many of us are learning lately, if you control the process you control the substance.

Its job is to design a package of rules by which most legislation is considered on the floor. The duration of debate, how many amendments, which amendments, etc. That package is debated on the floor and then must be approved by means of a vote. If it passes, then the underlying legislation is taken up.

The partisan committee ratio of 9 to 4 is a belt and suspenders approach to making sure there is no funny business and that the majority party always gets it's way. The legislative geeks refer to the House as a "majoritarian" body. In the words of a famous speaker of the 1880's, the job of the minority in the House is to "make a quorum and to draw its pay." In other words, sit down and shut up.

Today, for example, we will see a parade of Republicans before the committee asking that their amendments be allowed for floor consideration tomorrow. They will be ignored and outvoted. There will be no amendments allowed on the floor tomorrow, save those that are absolutely necessary for democrats pass to health care reform. But we will get to see a lot of people letting off a lot of steam, which is also a function of your U.S. House.

Schoolhouse rock, this isn't.

As has also been noted, Republicans operated in the same way when they were running things. In fact, the Rules Committee has been this way since the 19th century, and its power and influence have increased since the time of Henry Clay. Today, assignment to the committee is considered a special perk to many members. http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2010/03/20/2234577.aspx

posted March 22, 2010 12:48 PM         

You will notice this comment is made by Alcee Hastings...an impeached federal judge who was caught taking bribes for favorable decisions issued by his court...namely him.

posted March 22, 2010 12:52 PM         

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This video accurately depicts the lawlessness employed by Socialist Progressives.

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posted March 22, 2010 11:31 PM         

Committee rules are agreed to and fixed with each new Congress and are not subject to change or override by bloviating airhead chairwarming Socialist Progressives.

Their actions are exactly the kind of lawlessness one would expect from Socialist Progressives and one so corrupt he got himself impeached for taking bribes when he was a federal judge.

posted March 24, 2010 12:13 PM         

Of course the majority make the committee rules...at the beginning of each new Congress, at the beginning of each new committee meeting.

What is it you don't understand about committees and their committee chairs violating their own committee rules?

Making the rules up as they go along is not accepted or acceptable process and committee rules ARE all about process.

Socialist Progressives are the petty little tyrants I say they are and their actions prove it.

posted March 24, 2010 12:33 PM         

Democrats are NOT the tyrants you'd like to make them out to be.

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What is it you don't understand about committees and their committee chairs violating their own committee rules?

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There's no evidence that committee chairs are violating their own committee rules, nor has there been any discussion of any such thing in this thread.

quote:

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Making the rules up as they go along is not accepted or acceptable process and committee rules ARE all about process.

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Making up the rules of a bill's debate prior to that bill's debate is precisely what the Rules Committee does. It is both accepted and acceptable as it was during the Republican majority. Educate yourself.

posted March 24, 2010 03:09 PM         

Yet, here you are attempting to defend the indefensible yet again.

posted March 25, 2010 09:40 AM         

Logical, reasonable, rational people don't dispute the evidence of their eyes and ears.

"There ain't NO rules here."
"We make up the RULES as we go along."

In other words acoustic....the ends justify the means.

posted March 25, 2010 11:49 AM         

I'd say further, this idiot let it slip that radical Marxist Socialist Progressives will break any rule, including those in the Constitution to pass their trash legislation and that to them, The Ends Justify The Means.