Ah, civility

     Congressman Emanuel Cleaver has been pushing for more civility on the House floor since last year. The previous Republican-led Congress was notable for how it trashed House protocols, like sending bills to the floor without hearings and holding votes open long past deadlines to allow GOP leaders more time to twist arms to get their measures passed.

    Cleaver actually has several proposals to change the tone in the House and got two of them included in the ethics reform package passed today. One bars the practice of holding open votes. The other requires conference committees to offer adequate notice of their meetings. It also guarantees that information about the bills being decided is available to all members, and that reports on legislation won't be changed after everyone has agreed to them.

    "These may sound like small, common sense changes, and frankly they are," Cleaver, a Democrat said in a statement. "However, compared to the way the Congress has been run in the last decade, these measures represent a sea change in the respect given to the minority party."

    Democrat Dennis Moore of Kansas got his two cents into the ethics reform bill with a measure requiring full disclosure of all earmarks. These are projects tucked into bills without review and without attribution to the member who submitted them. They are usually for parochial programs, but all taxpayers pay for them.

Posted by David Goldstein 

Comments

Does this mean Cleaver's colleagues can't bring up his multitude of scandals anymore? Is that what Mr. Tax Avoiding Car Wash Magnate is after?

[Old Drum]

You do have to marvel at Republican chutzpah. Here is the Minority Leader on what HE expects.

"What we really expect out of the Democrats is for them to treat us as they would like to have been treated."

Now we know what Republicans mean by bi-partisanship: don't treat us the way have treated you the last 12 years.

Thank heavens the Republicans are the minority in both houses of Congress.

Old Drum,

You are so correct. It is almost comical listening to Republican politicians in the media speaking about how bi-partisan and friendly they would like to be with Democrats now, after treating them like absolute dirt, while refusing to acknowledge this true. Their behavior was so wrong, divisive and harmful to our entire society. The last almost eight years have caused so much lost of faith in many concerning the goodness of people. Their behavior led much of our societies bad attitudes, behaviors and treatment towards others. It is true that the behavior and attitudes of a country's leadership drives the behavior and actions of that society.

I do not care to see Democrats dishing out this same behavior, even though it would be difficult to restrain, justifiably, but I hope they will take the high road while also at the same time make the Republican Administration accountable for their actions in these last almost 8 years, and do whatever it takes doing for the common good of all citizens irregardless of status quo.

Jeff, give up on the car wash tax story. It is OVER. The taxes were paid and the car wash was sold. Dig up some new dirt.

[Engawyer]

IF THESE THREE PROVISIONS REALLY CAME FROM CLEAVER AND MOORE, THAT IS AWESOME. GREAT JOB TO BOTH!

THESE ARE THREE LAWS THAT GO A LONG WAY TOWARDS PROTECTING OUR DEMOCRACY FOR YEARS TO COME. ITS A SHAME THEIR ENACTMENT IS NECESSARY.

[Wes S.]

"Now we know what Republicans mean by bi-partisanship: don't treat us the way have treated you the last 12 years."

You seem to forget that the Democrats inflicted similar chicanery on the Republicans the last time they were in power...and after the Republicans swept the 1994 Congressional elections and proceeded to play the game by the Dems' rules, the Donks whined just as loudly then as the Republicans are now.

There is no "new civility" in Washington; it's just the same old cycle of political payback. You could just as easily say "Now we know what the DEMOCRATS mean by 'bi-partisanship': it means that they get everything they want, they can be as malicious and spitefully partisan as they want to be, and you just can't disagree with or criticize them because that would be 'uncivil'".

Which, I suspect, is the whole point behind the Dems' sudden embrace of "civility..."

[Wes S.]

As for Moore's attempts to bring transparency to earmarks, that probably doesn't have a chance, either. That is something that has actual, genuine bi-partisan support, particular with the grass-roots of both parties, and I believe that a couple of Republicans tried something similar in the last Congress. Unfortunately, the leadership and senior members of both the Democrats and Republicans are hopelessly addicted to pork...so that idea is probably doomed this time around, too.

[Gentle Ben]

Cleaver is a slime on the body politic. Jamie Metzel would have been a much better representative for Kansas City, although Cleaver is perhaps more reflective of just how corrupt the city is.