Frisco Nan Guts Minority Protections In The House

Friday's Wall Street Journal chronicled a quiet change by Frisco Nan Pelosi, Speaker of the House, in the way the chamber will conduct business.

As John Fund wrote,

"Gone are term limits for committee chairmen, a big comeback for seniority over merit. Cost containment measures on Medicare, one of the fastest growing programs, are simply suspended for this Congress.

Tax increases now will be easier to pass, because opponents will not be allowed to offer a simple motion to strike any increase without making up for the "lost revenue." In addition, tax cuts are made more difficult, because they cannot be offset with spending cuts. The new rules will mean that the only way to push for a tax cut will be to propose a tax increase elsewhere.

Democratic leaders said these changes were needed to make the legislative train run faster. "Congress has to accomplish things," said Massachusetts Rep. Jim McGovern of the Rules Committee. "This is designed to help us do just that." "

So much for debate in the People's House, eh? As Fund noted, it wasn't always this way. Only five years ago,

"Mrs. Pelosi used to see things differently. Back in 2004, she unveiled a proposed "Bill of Rights" to protect House minority interests. It called on Republicans to allow more meaningful substitutes to bills, give members enough time to read bills before final votes, and stop holding roll-call votes past the normal 15 minutes. She had a point. In late 2003, Republican leaders held open a roll-call vote on the Medicare drug entitlement for three hours until they bullied enough wavering members into voting aye.


Mrs. Pelosi warned in 2004 that "When we [Democrats] are shut out, they are shutting out the great diversity of America." We want a higher standard." In 2006, just before becoming speaker, Mrs. Pelosi reiterated her plans to promote "bipartisanship" and "to ensure the rights of the minority." "

Now we know that Frisco Nan only likes minorities of the liberal Democratic sort. Other minorities, such as whites or conservatives, have to be blown out of the way of Congressional 'accomplishments.'

Of course, there is a price to be paid. Remember all those centrist candidates from the Heartland that incoming Presidential chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, recruited to run for the House? Well,

"Ironically, some of the biggest losers from the Pelosi rules changes will be fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrats. The "pay-go" rules they fought so hard for two years ago -- to require new spending proposals be balanced with additional revenue or cuts elsewhere -- have been gutted. And no term limits will mean they will have to stand in line for a taste of real power.

"All those nice pro-life, gun-owning young Democrats recruited to run by Rahm Emanuel will never have any real influence now," says Grover Norquist, head of Americans for Tax Reform. "They were useful in getting Democrats a majority but now they'll be in the back of the bus." "

Hhmmm....I wonder how long those new Democrats will be around? Either they'll have to defend the policies passed by Frisco Nan with which they don't agree, or they won't defend them and, what? Switch parties? Be defeated?

This is looking positively delicious for conservatives in the House over the next two years.