Posted on 03/17/2016 7:48:28 PM PDT by Citizen Zed
Top Republicans will try to force more transparency at the party’s national convention in July, aiming to scrap their 1,500-page rule book in favor of simpler procedures that they hope will head off arcane maneuvers designed to deny Donald Trump the presidential nomination.
The changes wouldn’t guarantee Mr. Trump the nod but would make it easier for all sides to see what sorts of changes anti- Trump factions are attempting.
Some members of the Republican National Committee want to ditch the massive rule book, which is based on the parliamentary handbook of the U.S. House, and instead use Robert’s Rules of Order to govern floor action at the convention. Robert’s is the standard manual used by entities such as civic associations, county boards and state legislatures.
Those pushing the change are not Trump partisans, but they want to make it hard to forge in secrecy what voters might see as backroom deals to “steal” the presidential nomination from Mr. Trump , the front-runner.
“To make this convention more transparent, I will advocate, at the RNC Standing Rules committee meeting in April, adoption of Robert’s Rules of Order to replace the 1,500-page U.S. House rules to govern the convention,” Oregon RNC member Solomon Yue told The Washington Times on Wednesday.
Kansas RNC member Helen Van Etten, a member of the RNC’s Standing Rules Committee, said she will vote for the change to Robert’s Rules, which “our party’s grass roots have been using to conduct business at the county party, state party and national party levels for many years. Unlike the 1,500-page U.S. House rules, there are in Robert’s no surprises that will prevent the kind of chaos media are predicting.”
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
The whole title, “RNC weighs scrapping convention rule book to head off anti-Trump maneuvers” is subterfuge. Any rule changes would be geared at robbing him. Can they be any more obvious?
NO NO NO . We want the rules!! We want rule 40b. Only Trump will pass the 8 state majority rule. Rules are rules. We don’t move the goal lines during the touch down drive. I smell a rat.
I don’t trust a damn thing anyone in the GOP says.
Trump meets the 8 state test and may well have 1237 on the first vote.
So he will win on their terms.
So look for them to change things so there are new goal posts.
Rule books getting tossed out all over the place cuz of trump. It proves trump is running this election. The GOPe threw out the primary and convention rule book and democrats are throwing away their general election rule book. Things are changing for the good thanks to trump.
DITTO!
Sounds good on the surface, but like most here apparently feel, I don’t trust these swine.
Then again it might be up front, just to protect their own sorry asses.
I don’t believe the check is in the mail either.
By tossing the rule book out goes the 8 state mandate, etc. everything would be motions and votes by the delegates. The delegates are party regulars for the most part meaning they will follow orders. If this were not in the interests of the power brokers it would not be considered.
I think people are misunderstanding.
This is the rules on how they conduct business, as found in Rule 30. The convention, per rule 30 follows that house rules for conducting business. All other meetings of the RNC, per rule 7, follow Robert’s Rules of Order.
This is a good thing in my opinion, avoiding shenanigans via arcane house rules few people know.
So, not a change to rule 40, but a minor change to rule 30.
Please my notes below. I don’t think this is a bad thing.
Denying the voice of We the People.
I think you have a point.
The ‘transparency’ argument to head off anti-Trump shenanigans seems to be blowing smoke.
Using Robert’s Rules is a really good idea rather than the arcane 1,500-page U.S. House rules.
RR is very straightforward and anybody can get a copy from amazon for 12 bucks.
Since you seem to have a good handle on the rules, I would like to ask a question.
Rule 12 sets out the procedure for amendments to rule 1-11 and 13-25 by vote of three fourth of the entire membership of the Republican National Committee but it also specifies that no amendment shall be adopted after September 30, 2014.
I don’t see any provision for amending rule 26-42 by the existing Republican National Committee. Does this mean that any change to existing rules could not be adopted until the new convention is convened and, at that time, would have to be voted on by the newly seated delegates?
I know this whole rule issue is rather confusing and many folks are being unduly upset by all the wild speculation. Any light you could provide would be appreciated.
There’s been a lot of talk that they can change the rules anytime. I believe that’s true to some extent. They simply amend rule 12 first and move on.
The intent as I understand it is that the convention rules are to be adopted by the convention, in advance, so everyone knows how to plan, assign delegates etc.
I believe, but don’t know for certain, that the rules committee would propose a rule change and that they would then need to make that change the first order of business in Cleveland.
I appreciate that some members are rightly concerned about the appearance of impropriety, and are seeking transparency. Whether it works, only time will tell.
Thanks for your insight.
Here are the new Republican Convention 2016 Rules:
1. Presidential nominees must have the formal endorsement of at least ten solid GOPe hacks to ensure party camaraderie and faithfulness.
2. Presidential nominees must accept no less than 50 million dollars in campaign contributions to ensure his complete cooperation.
3. Presidential nominees must swear to forget, ignore, or pardon all prior inhabitants of the White Hut for their treasonous and/or criminal actions.
4. Presidential nominees must agree to embrace the VP that is vomited at them.
5. Presidential nominee must agree to ‘stand-down’ if it is decided that Hilary’s Coronation is overdue.
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Most importantly: The rules that are in place are only legally binding until we decide to change them to suit our needs.
Trump was right again...there would be riots. I don’t think they have a clue how angry we are.
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