Quote: The House as an Anti-Democratic Institution

If you think it's just the Senate's Republicans gumming up the works of the nation's government, consider this, from the NYTimes editorial page this a.m.:

"This anti-democratic tactic, now known as the “Hastert rule,” helped turn the chamber into a one-party institution that utterly silenced the minority. A post-9/11 intelligence reform bill, urgently sought by President George W. Bush, was bottled up by Mr. Hastert and his allies, who knew it would pass if Democrats were allowed to vote. 

"This was not a rule used by Democrats. Speaker Tom Foley allowed the North American Free Trade Agreement to pass in 1993 on mostly Republican votes, and when Nancy Pelosi took the job in 2007, she repudiated the Hastert rule, allowing both parties to vote together on legislation. For example, she allowed a bill to pass paying for the Iraq war over the objections of most Democrats." 

Republicans, whether in the minority (Senate) or the majority (House) refuse to allow the Democrats to take part in the government, even though the big majority of votes in the most recent election went to Democrats (though because of Republican gerrymandering, those votes didn't keep Republicans out of office). We've had our form of government totally appropriated by people who don't believe in it and who don't trust us as Americans. It's time to vote the Republicans out of office.  We can start with the three who represent our region: Goodlatte, Griffith and Hurt, who are members of the notorious "Gang of 67" radicals in the House.

(Graphic: williamreesecompany.com)