TAPPED brought my attention to this new report by the Democrats in the US House (TAPPED's posts on it are here and here). Quite apart from the very serious basic problems that this behavior (the considerable increase in the use of closed rules that tightly limit what members of Congress have the opportunity to vote on since the Republicans took power in the House) raises in what's supposed to be the most open and majortarian arm of our government, this also makes clear that the Republicans in Congress who are bemoaning the use of the filibuster are hypocrites of the highest order. Even if you believe that the proceedings in the Senate should be as majoritarian as those in the House (though given the history and design of the two chambers there is no reason to think that should be expected), how can someone who's supposedly principled and sincere on this matter argue for more open floor votes in the Senate if at the same time they are doing all they can to ensure that such moves are blocked in the House? Posted by armand at March 10, 2005 09:09 AM | TrackBack | Posted to Politics