More Legislative Double Standards

They win an election, promising to bring honor back to Washington. Now, they break a promise not to hold votes "open" past the alloted time. Some background:

On their first day in the majority in January, Democrats amended the House rules to mandate that a vote "shall not be held open for the sole purpose of reversing the outcome of such vote."

Under earlier GOP rule, Democrats routinely attacked Republicans for extending the voting time, often citing the 2003 vote on the Medicare prescription drug bill that was famously held open three hours. And Hoyer himself was one of their foremost critics.

A quote from Hoyer:

"House Republican leaders proved once again today that they will stop at virtually nothing to win a vote, even if that means running roughshod over the most basic principles of democracy such as letting members vote their conscience and calling the vote after the allotted time has elapsed," Hoyer said.

"They ought to be ashamed of themselves, but when it comes to holding votes open and twisting the arms of their own members they clearly have no shame,’’ he went on. “These back-alley tactics have no place in the greatest deliberative body in the world. They might be the lifeblood of the tin-horn dictator, but not a world leader. It's an embarrassment.”

So what does Hoyer say today?

Asked Wednesday night whether Democrats would keep to the time limit, Hoyer paused, then pointed out that many votes can run a few minutes longer for various reasons. Pressed further by a reporter who pointed out that Democrats themselves had often criticized Republicans on this very point, Hoyer said, "It won't be open three hours. How about that?"

"How about 30 minutes?" the reporter asked.

"I won't guarantee it," Hoyer replied.

Also missing from the Democrats campaign promises-results. Prior to the election, Ms. Pelosi offered 6 things that would be changed by Democrats in the first 100 hours of the new session. To date, the Democrats are 0-6. I recall what a big deal was made about the Democrats getting things thru the House in 50 or 60 hours-but where are they now?

Perhaps we should hold some Senate hearings to see if the Democrats lied to the American people..