Republican Representatives taking a principled stand — NOW!
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The Politico has the details on one of the most principled and gutsy moves by Republicans in a long time. Apparently, Republicans are NOT LEAVING after Pelosi shutdown Congress for a five-week vacation. Then, she turned off the lights, turned off the microphones, turned off C-SPAN, had Capitol police come and try to prevent reporters from covering the event, etc.
This is going on right now.
Rep. Drake also chimed in on this, calling on Speaker Pelosi to call a special session:
“The families and businesses in Hampton Roads and on the Eastern Shore have suffered for months at the mercy of high energy prices and the Democrat Leadership decided they can wait another 5 weeks. I disagree,” said Drake. “I call on Speaker Pelosi to convene a special session to debate and vote on the many innovative and comprehensive solutions put forward. This is not a partisan issue; I joined colleagues from both sides of the aisle in crafting a bill that puts the American people above partisan bickering. The American people want solutions, not five week vacations.”
on 
President Bush can also call Congress into special session on this, BTW.
Not to take anything awy from what Drake and the rest of the GOPers are doing. Nicely done.
I was just about to ask if POTUS is able to do that…
Think he will?
He’s a lame duck. What does he have to lose? He should do it.
Brian Kirwin told me that the POTUS reads Bearing Drift - good thing. Perhaps President Bush will act now in the best interests of the citizens and call a special session of Congress?
Actually, I would like a five-week vacation. One week a year is the best I can manage, and I won’t even be managing that much this year.
“Brian Kirwin told me that the POTUS reads Bearing Drift”
We’re reading it together right now!
Jack…hate to break it to you, but it sounds like your job stinks…at least in getting you time off.
Love those “free speech Democrats” cutting off C-Span and microphones when Republicans speak.
yeah, great.
they wait until everyone’s left the building to be “principled.”
hilarious.
where were these principles when the republican-controlled house and senate were busy getting us INTO this mess?
Actually, they tried when the Democrats were around, but Nancy Pelosi wouldn’t allow any amendments to her bill.
Now the “free speech Democrats” shut off the lights, cameras and microphones in the people’s House.
no, no, brian kirwin, read my question:
where were these principles when the republican-controlled house and senate were busy getting us INTO this mess?
Republicans have been supply-siders all my life.
I don’t remember the Sierra Club backing us, do you?
tick tick tick, brian kirwin, i’m still waiting for you to explain to me where all these “principled” republicans were when they had full control of the house, senate and white house.
all i’m hearing are crickets.
Wow, Karen. You’re a pest. Welcome! It’s great to have you here!
Brian is busy living a life tonight, so, pathetic me will attempt to answer your question.
I can just as easily ask you the question about where were “principled Democrats” when they had a majority in both Houses for forty years?
Or what legislation was proposed by the 107th Congress when the Senate was in Democratic hands?
The reality is that we had gasoline below $2/gal. before Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Barack Obama and the merry gang of Democrats came to power in early 2007 with all sorts of wonderful promises for the 110th Congress. Now we’re over $4/gal. in two short years.
What else have we gotten?
Five-week vacations.
Remember the promises of doing the work of the people? Of not campaigning when there were significant challenges facing the nation?
I wonder what happened to those promises?
Now when Congress can actually do something, Democrats have slammed the door and turned out the lights on the people.
wow, so nancy pelosi, harry reid and the democrats in congress are responsible for the price of oil skyrocketing?
wow, i must be really stupid to think it was as a result of bush and crew lighting the middle east on fire and the deregulation of financial markets by the republicans.
but what do i know. obviously you are just too clever by half.
what have democrats accomplished?
the GI bill, labor laws, including an end to child labor, establishing the 40-hour work week, overtime pay, workplace safety, all of which “conservatives” fought tooth and nail.
how about the marshall plan?
how about environmental laws so that your air and water are fit to breath and drink? or would you prefer that we have, say, the pollution that is such a problem in beijing?
how about the national weather service, truth-in-advertising laws, bank deposit insurance, centers for disease control and prevention, consumer safety commission?
is that enough or shall i continue?
perhaps you can provide a list of things conservatives have done for this country besides whine endlessly about “government interference.”
if you people are so offended by government, perhaps you should all move somewhere that doesn’t have one and stop screwing this one up.
“now when congress can actually do something”?
what are you talking about? what is it you believe congress has been prevented from doing? aside from impeaching george bush, dick cheney and the rest of the crew?
JR, I’d be careful about harping to heavily on the 5 week vacation theme when we’ve got a republican president in office who has spent 1/3 of his presidency “on vacation”.
“is that enough or shall i continue?”
Somehow, I think both will be true.
yeah, i didn’t think you would be able to respond to my question to you, brian kirwin, about what the republicans have done for this country in the past 40 years, because all they have given us is the criminal administrations of george w. bush, george h.w. bush, ronald reagan and richard nixon.
i suppose i would be angry and bitter as you are if i identified with a party which had nothing to offer but hate.
good luck with that.
are you kidding, jeremy hinton? bush didn’t spend 1/3 of his time in office on vacation. that’s a smear by the democrats.
just ask, brian kirwin.
Karen, it is all about power. Many people are corrupted by it. Many can’t handle it when they get it. Some glow brightly for a moment and then flicker to nothingness. Some become micromanaging tyrants.
“Those that go to battle monsters should take care lest they become monsters themselves in the process………As you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you” Paraphrasing Friedrich Nietzche
Our “Eagles” can’t resist peer pressure from all the “turkeys”. Loyalty to the party structure is used to defend vile deeds and prevent upstart freshmen representatives from disturbing the cozy corrupted nests.
Republicans are at their most conservative and firm on principle when there is gridlock or they are in the minority. The Democrats also share the same weakness. Free Speech and Daddy Govt. spying on innocent US citizens is only an issue when there’s a Republican in the White House. When the Clinton’s were in office it was perfectly fine to hide secret documents in your pants or get FBI files on every Republican Congressional Representative. I’m sure Republicans cared about espionage vs. US citizens when their files were being collected. There might be more GOP’ers that could be “outed”.
The party in power always sees reason to be given ultimate control over everything. Nothing they do is wrong. Parties in power rarely accept the reality that the opposition will one day hold their seats. Then what? Thank God that George Washington refused to be king and/or serve more than two terms. That precedent gave us a fighting chance.
You will definitely hear me whining about government interference. Free speech, Property Rights(eminent domain abuse), and tax limitation are always issues for me. No, I’m no longer a Republican. I’m a Libertarian. However, “A rose by any other name will smell just as sweetly.” Therefore, I hold no loyalty to party, only to freedom and my principles. If the communists ever become the champions of freedom, the free market, and constitutional republic style governance, I will gladly join despite the party name.
you still have not provided any accomplishments of conservatives or republicans. i’m still waiting.
unfortunately, the republican party made the choice many years ago to run anyone out of the party who was interested in doing anything other than dismantle those parts of the federal government which they and their friends could stuff in their pockets.
THAT is the legacy of the republican party of which you are so proud. in fact, nixon himself couldn’t get win a republican primary for dog catcher because, for one, he believed in a guaranteed minimum income for everyone, he supported environmental regulation and, horror of horrors, he thought making nice with the communist chinese was a good idea.
“I hold no loyalty to party, only to freedom and my principles.”
if you hate this country so much, what’s keeping you? i’d be glad to kick in a buck or two to pay for your bus ticket.
Well said, Britt. Karen, respectful discourse is a two way street. From a comment in another thread, it sounds like thats something you came here seeking.
This IS a conservative blog. Though our host (JR) has had liberal contributors in the past, the current crop is, i believe, all conservatives of one stripe or another - social, fiscal, and plain ol’ party hacks. Same goes for the majority of the commenters, though a few of us libs hang out here too. There is a lot of sarcasm, insult, and snark thrown around here (though less now that Squeaky is not around as much :). There are also some good discussions. Which one you tend to be a part of depends on how you yourself contribute.
‘ “I hold no loyalty to party, only to freedom and my principles.”
if you hate this country so much, what’s keeping you? i’d be glad to kick in a buck or two to pay for your bus ticket.’ - commented Karen
Wow, Karen. That is quite shocking. You must be confused. I LOVE this country. I would live no where else. This is still the most free of nations and that’s why I’m passionate about the US and freedom.
Judging by your comment do you take my protest of “Big Government” to mean I hate our country? Do I hear a hypocritical liberal calling “Patriotism” in to question here? Simply because I don’t favor a totalitarian government?As to my saying that both parties abuse free speech and individual liberty at their convenience, your comment only adds evidence to that.
Perhaps I misunderstood? Did you mean since I don’t have loyalty to a political party should they stray too far from principles of a constitutional republic, that means I hate my country? That would just make no sense at all.
I passionately love the United States of America. I adore the principles of a constitutional republic and that is why at times I don’t fear saying that, “The Emperor wears no clothes”.
I am certainly not a Bill Clinton fan however, I fervently agree with his statement, “There is nothing ‘wrong’ with America that can not be fixed by what is ‘right’ with America.” When it comes to that, I’m a true believer!
I believe in forgiveness and redemption. I can not rule out returning to one of the dominant parties in the far future. Either one should they take a course that defends freedom. Maybe you don’t like the fact that I am willing to change alliances should old ones turn against what made the US the best nation on Earth. You know what? I can live with that. Enjoy your freedom of speech with my blessing.
What do you mean the Democrats ahven’t done anything? They’ve been extremely busy investigating steroid use in Major League Baseball and referee betting scandals in the NBA. Impportant work the American people demand when there is a banking crisis and oil is $140 per barrel.