Republican Double Standard on Minority Bill of Rights
By Anthony | January 3rd, 2007 | 7:32 pmA lot of talk gets thrown around about political hypocrisy and double standards, but this is about as clear cut as it gets: Republicans, now in the minority in Congress, are pushing for a minority bill of rights, designed to give the minority party a little more say in legislation and to safeguard their voice in Congress.
However, this bill of rights is nearly identical to the one originally proposed by Pelosi in 2004 when the Dems were in the minority. At the time it was rejected by Republicans, who refused to even respond to Pelosi’s memo.
Suddenly, now that they are the ones in the minority, it’s a good idea.
This is nothing more than a cheap political stunt of course, but it’s certainly a win-win one for the GOP. If the Democrats reject the proposal, Pelosi will be nailed for being hypocritical (and rightly so). If the proposal is adopted, the Republicans benefit from safeguards they originally denied to the Democrats.
(Hat tip: Ed Brayton)
January 4th, 2007 at 11:07 am
This is another unfortunate example of the Republicans getting away from the roots of the 1994 revolution. This was one of the big sorts of grievances that Republicans had against the Democrats that was remedied after 1994. But the remedy was only to be temporary.
January 4th, 2007 at 8:13 pm
Thanks for the comment Joe. Just to clarify, when you say, “This was one of the big sorts of grievances that Republicans had against the Democrats that was remedied after 1994,” what are you referring to – cheap political stunts, or running roughshod over the minority? Or something else?
January 4th, 2007 at 9:14 pm
I read this today on Digby and I think it aptly describes why I am a Democrat as well:
“I am a liberal because it is the political philosophy of freedom and equality. And I am a progressive because it is the political path to a better future. And I am a Democrat because it is the political party that believes in freedom, equality and progress.”
And if that means giving the other guys a fair shake, then I’m all for that. There is a part of me that wants to stick it to the right as bad (or worse) than they gave it, but that is not the way of morality and civility. Treat others as you would have them treat you.
January 5th, 2007 at 9:03 am
I agree, Kirk. Anthony, I was referring to the practice of “running roughshod over the minority.” This was happening to Republicans for a long time prior to 1994, and it was one of their major grievances. They fixed the problem for a period of time when they attained power, by my recollection; but in more recent years apparently regressed in this area.
January 5th, 2007 at 10:12 am
Kirk: Well said. It’ll be interesting to see how Pelosi handles this.
Joe: Thanks for the clarification. Unfortunately, much of the bad behavior we see is not exclusive to one side or the other.
January 5th, 2007 at 2:03 pm
To be fair, these are different Republicans doing this than the ones who rejected it before. John Boehner is in charge of the Republicans now, not Denny Hastert and Tom Delay. It’s true that certain Republicans have no right to expect this given the way they endorsed the old way of doing things, but that doesn’t mean that it’s ok for Pelosi to say this and then go back on it when she doesn’t want to hold herself to what she expected of others. That’s hypocrisy.
January 6th, 2007 at 9:47 am
Hi Jeremy – thanks for the comment.
“To be fair, these are different Republicans doing this than the ones who rejected it before. John Boehner is in charge of the Republicans now, not Denny Hastert and Tom Delay.”
That’s true, but only to an extent. Pelosi’s proposal was only in 2004. Despite losing seats in the last election, I sincerely doubt the Republican congressional lineup is that drastically different only two years later.
“that doesn’t mean that it’s ok for Pelosi to say this and then go back on it when she doesn’t want to hold herself to what she expected of others.”
Absolutely, and I said as much in my original post. It’s an underhanded ploy by the Republicans, but Pelosi will still be exhibiting a double standard if she refuses the proposal.
January 6th, 2007 at 12:12 pm
The Majority Leader is John Boehner. He was not in leadership in 2004 or 2005. He came in when Tom Delay stepped down. Denny Hastert is also not in leadership anymore. Roy Blunt is still Minority Whip, but the reason for electing Boehner was because he was distanced from the Delay/Hastert regime. He is now in charge, and I think that’s important.
January 6th, 2007 at 1:04 pm
To be completely fair, this is a double standard on BOTH sides. The United States House of Representatives and the 110th Congress once again proven that power and politics dominate Washington, not principle and sound legislation.
The Minority Bill of Rights (H Res. 6), originally proposed by Democrats in the 109th Republican-controlled Congress was opposed by the GOP, of whom had a majority. Now, Republicans being in the minority, proposed practically the exact same bill, of which Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi helped author, voted against it. – Well, they didn’t “vote” against, but they voted not to even discuss it.
Politicians want the minority to have rights when they are in the minority. When they are in the majority – they don’t care. Not one bit.
January 7th, 2007 at 10:22 am
Interesting post…thanks
Find the middle and move forward.
January 8th, 2007 at 9:14 am
Does anyone have access or link to the original MBoR, or a text version of the Republican letter?
January 9th, 2007 at 11:29 am
Jim: I’ve been looking, but haven’t found it yet.
Jeremy: It is important, but only goes so far. For instance, Rep David Dreier was quoted as being “very disappointed” that the Dems haven’t implemented the MBoR yet. The original article I linked to mentioned Dreier:
“Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier (R-Calif.) said in an interview that Democrats are crying about the process because they are losing policy debates over job creation and progress in Iraq. His mission as chairman, he said, is ‘to move our [Republican] agenda, and to do it in the fairest and most responsible way possible. And I do it in that order.'”
So, yes, some of the representatives and leaders in question are different. But many are the same.