David Broder in a Washington Post column republished in today's Raleigh, NC News and Observer describes John Boehner's thoughts on the need for reform in the House. Boehner, a Republican representative from Ohio and the current minority leader, would seem to be the odds on favorite next Speaker of the House.
Broder outlines some of his thoughts that seem to boil down to the need to allow the House to actually debate more issues, instead of allowing the process to shield members from hard votes. This is the sort of structural debate that is needed to improve our political system's ability to address the big issues.
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In the past couple of changes of power, the incoming House majority (former minority) have had numerous "reforms" to make the process more fair, more transparent, and to provide more good government practices. An example is the rule that a bill must be published 48 hours before any vote. But then crunch time comes, getting 218 votes becomes tough, and time is scarce. The majority will often vote to waive the rule, as a House majority can do. The other side screams foul, but that is the way it goes.
ReplyDeleteIn the Senate, you can only waive the rules by unanimous consent. But you know where that gets you ... one Senator can shut the place down by making the clerk read every word of a 2000 page bill.
So choose your poison.