Posted on 04/15/2011 1:23:24 PM PDT by Monitor
The House floor erupted into a chaotic scene Friday as House Democrats tried to upset Republican plans to pass their 2012 budget resolution.
Democrats unsettled Republicans by voting "present" in a vote on a more conservative budget than the official GOP proposal put forth by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), almost enabling that bill to pass.
In the end, it failed in a 119-136 vote, with 172 Democrats voting present.
Several Republicans, including Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier (Calif.) and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Wash.), a member of GOP leadership, switched their votes to ensure the more conservative budget backed by the Republican Study Committee did not win approval.
The drama erupted when Democrats began to shift their votes to "present," with Democrats and Republicans alike standing to shout at one another and the presiding officer in a scene more akin to the British Parliament than the U.S. House. A majority of Republicans initially voted for the RSC bill, likely in anticipation that Democrats would oppose it.
As the presiding officer tried to close down the vote, about a dozen more Democrats asked to switch their vote from "no" to "present," which nearly allowed the RSC bill to pass.
“Democrats, vote 'present!' ” House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) shouted at his colleagues, who tried, one by one, to switch their "no" votes to "present." Ryan, the architect of the official GOP budget, shouted “Shut it down!” in an effort to close the vote and count the tally before Democrats could switch enough of their votes to advance the amendment.
At one point, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) stood on a chair and pointed at the presiding officer to keep the vote open.
The RSC's alternative budget resolution would cut even more deeply into spending than Ryan's bill, and was not expected to be approved by the House.
In the end, only one more Republican voted against the RSC budget than supported it, 119-120.
“Well, I thought I was paid to actually cast a vote, not just show up,” Rep. Jeb Hensarling (Texas), the chairman of the GOP conference, chuckled as he left the chamber.
Hensarling voted for the RSC budget and said he would have been fine had the Democratic maneuver worked and the GOP adopted the more conservative plan.
A spokeswoman for Hoyer said the maneuver was his idea and that Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was aware of the plan before the vote. A second Democratic source said the plan was hashed out in a leadership meeting earlier in the week, without staff present.
"This vote will show which budget Republicans support — the Republican budget that ends Medicare as we know it and cuts investments while giving tax breaks to the wealthiest, or the extreme RSC budget that is the GOP budget on steroids: ending Medicare as we know it and going even further in decimating investments in our future," a whip notice from Hoyer's office said. "With Democrats voting present, Republicans are solely responsible for passage or failure of the RSC budget."
But Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) said the plan to have members switch their votes was apparently concocted by Hoyer on the floor.
Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.) said if the plan had succeeded, Republicans would have moved Ryan's budget resolution as a substitute amendment.
The Republican whip, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), laughed at the Democratic maneuver. Of the 'present' votes, he told The Hill, "I guess they learned that from Obama in the Senate."
Earlier, the House also rejected a budget plan from the Progressive Caucus, in a 77-347 vote with no support from Republicans. A proposal from the Congressional Black Caucus was defeated in a 103-303 vote, again with no Republican support.
See: “Conservatives unveil alternative budget with $9.1 trillion in cuts”:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2701879/posts
The Republican Study Group plan is a conservative alternative to Ryan’s leadership backed plan. The RSG plan would cut $9.1 trillion instead of Ryan’s $5.8 trillion over 10 years. And the RSG plan would balance the budget in 10 years (by 2020) rather than 30 years (2040) under Ryan’s plan.
'Nuff said.
At least they didn’t run off to Ill
WOW.
The democrats really are children aren’t they!
What? These DemonRATs are slacking! They failed to stage a mass vomit on the House floor. What’s the matter with them?
/sarc
This is a necessary thing. It is better when it occurs slowly. That is not the current situation.
The hypocrisy of both “major” parties on full display.
The RSG vote was supposed to be a symbolic vote to provide political cover to Republicans who wanted to be able to claim they supported much deeper cuts than Ryan proposed. "See, we voted in favor of these really, really deep cuts!" Of course, they didn't actually want to pass the bill. They just wanted to be able to claim they voted for it.
So the Dems called their bluffs by voting present, meaning that Republicans may have passed a bill they really didn't want to pass in the first place. That forced a bunch of the GOP people who voted in favor of the bill to change their votes to "no", which makes them look ridiculous.
I hate stupid symbolic votes like that, and the GOP got exactly what they deserved. Now hopesfully, we can move on from stupid gams and symbolic votes and actually try to accomplish something.
My preference would be tying a lifting of the debt ceiling to votes by both houses of Congress for a Constitutional Amendment for either a balanced budget or debt ceiling cap.
It’s nothing - Lenin and Trotsky had their little tiffs, too.
Sorry but if they supported tougher legislation they should have passed it then and let the dems twist in the wind! Obviously some in our caucus don’t stand for what they profess to believe.
Badabing.
LLS
You are correct... the others thinking otherwise are not.
LLS
So this ruckus was about an alternative to Ryan’s proposed budget?
Possibly, Ryan’s plan is much more realistic and possible than the dramatic grandstand proposed by the RSC. We need to actually get things DONE, not just make “statements” with symbolic impossible gestures. The monstrosities in our government were not created overnight, but over time. And they were created by Dems always closing ranks on crucial votes, something that some elements of Republicans have not learned. We will never make lasting gains on our side until we learn to unify and move in the same direction. There are always disputes over which leadership to follow at which time.
Great. Go over the cliff at 98 instead of 99 miles per hour.
ya know what??? we have just been done a tremendous favor....all we need is a list of those so called pubs that oppossed this bill, and we have our list of targets to shoot down in the next election....for once I can say, thank you liberal socialist scum...now, who has the list of who voted which way?
That’s a great point.
Republicans need to wake up and understand that Democrats will do anything legal OR illegal, unethical, or immoral to thwart responsible government.
Simply put, they despise the notion of a successful, prosperous citizenry that is not utterly dependent upon them.
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