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Democrats Ignore their own Earmark Rules to Pass SCHIP Legislation
By sage of monticello | September 25, 2007
Under House rule 21(2)(b) all earmarks must be disclosed and accompanied by a promise of the requesting lawmaker that he or she has no financial interest in the requested earmark.
It was pointed out by a Republican on the floor of the House of Represenatives that the bill contained an undisclosed earmarks that were not accompanied by a promises that the unknown requesting legislators had no financial interests in the earmarks.
As is standard procedure the Republican brining light to the illegal earmarks made a point of order to be ruled on by the chair. The chair ruled, that despite the plain language of 21(2)(b) that prohibits undisclosed earmarks, to allow the undisclosed earmarks in the SCHIP bill.
This ruling was appealed and a recorded vote by electronic device was held. The vote fell on party lines, in which Democrats chose to ignore adherence to their own rules.
The reason? Democrats need votes to overcome a likely veto of the SCHIP legislation and sought to do so by means of undiclosed earmarks.
Buying votes with your tax dollars. Culture of corruption indeed…
Topics: democrats, corruption, earmarks |
