My editorial: Partisan politics were played today and the American people were duped. Most people are not fully aware of how the two party system works. When a 'majority' rules in Congress. When there is 'dissent' there are 'carrots and sticks' that can be used to bring members 'into line.'
95 democrats voted NO on a bill today when Pelosi declined to make the bill a 'party loyalty vote'. By calling this a 'Bush bill' or a 'Republican issue' the Democrats are LYING. The Democratic leadership of the party played political games and didn't do what they usually would do to ensure the passage of the bill. The Democrats did NOT want this bill to pass for a variety of reasons which include the Acorn issue that was removed and this economic mess plays well for Obama. It is ALL about party politics. The Democrats did NOT need Republican approval for this bill and could have passed it if they wanted to. By having 95 of their own party members vote NO they ensured it would not pass NO MATTER WHAT.
From TownHall Beldar: "Another thing about which there can be no disagreement is that what was defeated today was a Democratic bill. H.R. 3997 has had a complicated procedural history that was controlled at every step of the way by Congressional Democrats.
Specifically, H.R. 3997 was originally introduced by Rep. Charles D. Rangel (D-NY) as an amendment to the tax code "to provide earnings assistance and tax relief to members of the uniformed services, volunteer firefighters, and Peace Corps volunteers." By a pair of affirmative votes earlier today, however, a resolution offered by Rep. Louise M. Slaughter (D-NY) effectively converted H.R. 3997 into the "Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008." It too was drafted by Congressional Dems and their staff, varying substantially from what had originally been proposed by Secretary Paulson and the Bush-43 Administration, and incorporating only such requests and suggestions from the House GOP as the Democratic leadership decided to agree to.
This is the Democratic Congress' bill, but when it came to a roll-call vote in the House, the Democratic leadership wouldn't do what it took to get it passed even though (a) they have a huge majority and (b) a full one-third of Republicans in the House went along. Anyone who calls this "Bush's bill" or "a GOP bill" is either deliberately lying or abysmally informed about the basic workings of Congress." (bednar--http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/blog)
— Beldar
Karl Rove: Pelosi played games today.....those that voted NO owed their committee positions to Pelosi....this was a PLANNED Dem no vote today.....she lied, to all of us, and is currently risking the health of the American economic system for partisan political gain
