Via Connie Hair of Human Events comes a report that the Democratic party has yet again decided that their Congressional majority allows them to interfere with Republican constituent communications. To summarize the situation: there is a bipartisan committee called the Franking Commission that effectively regulates what can and can’t go out officially. This oversight is not supposed to be partisan - Jazz Shaw, who is not a conservative, remembers that it wasn’t during the Iraqi liberation - but apparently the Democrats are sufficiently worried about their health care rationing program to ignore that little detail.
They have decided to not only block that existing chart - yes, this one - on the health care rationing bill; they’re now dictating to Rep John Carter of Mars Texas what language he may or may not use in his electronic town meetings. Apparently the mere utterance of of the phrase ‘government-run health care’ is enough to frighten Democrats; would that they were as alarmed at the reality.
The Republican members of the Commission, by the way, are angry about this:
“Does the Majority here believe that controlling the Rules committee which sets the rules, controlling the debate, controlling the rules that come on the floor is not enough? Now they are telling us that they are going to interfere with our ability to communicate with our constituents because they happen to disagree with our interpretation of the facts.
“I thought politics was about the contest of ideas. This is something I’ve never seen before. We now are being told that our words are going to be censored by the Majority because they disagree with us. It goes against what we are supposed to be doing here – debating important issues and communicating with the American people the serious matters facing their Congress.”
So contra AoSHQ I suggest that you only politely contact the Democratic side of things. They’re the ones having difficulty distinguishing between their responsibilities as legislators and their particular social club, after all.
Moe Lane
Crossposted to Moe Lane.
Hmmm...don't seem to remember hearing anything about
eburke Friday, July 24th at 5:09PM EDT (link)this in the MSM.
Wonder if they would have found this sufficiently newsworth if the GOP had done this?
Nah!
“All that need be done for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”
“Dead fish go with the flow” ~ izoneguy
“We have a Statue of Liberty not a Statue of Necessity” ~ ColdWarrior
They're too busy with Crowley and Gates
E Pluribus Unum Friday, July 24th at 5:16PM EDT (link)And whatever Britney is wearing (or not wearing) this week.
Carthago delenda est
Do your conservative t-shirt Christmas shopping at EPU Gear. Save the conservative muse, save the world.
She's wearing clothes this week? nt
eburke Friday, July 24th at 5:23PM EDT (link)“All that need be done for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”
“Dead fish go with the flow” ~ izoneguy
“We have a Statue of Liberty not a Statue of Necessity” ~ ColdWarrior
She wears clothes? /snark nt
Xasteius Friday, July 24th at 6:13PM EDT (link)Don’t leave the party, hijack it back!
Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom.
When I grow up, I don’t want to be Reagan. I want to be Art Chance.
~Aaron Gardner
That's a rule just made to be broken
paint_it_red Friday, July 24th at 5:12PM EDT (link)Let’s see them try to enforce that and then see if the MSM ignores the resulting First Amendment free speech backlash against their petty rule.
“It is not good to cultivate a respect so much for the law as for the right. The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think is right.” Henry David Thoreau
“The means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek.” Martin Luther King Jr.
“If you want peace, work for Justice.” Pope John Paul II
Yeah, I don't get it
Ben White Friday, July 24th at 5:47PM EDT (link)I don’t really understand what recourse the Democrats have. They make a rule, Republicans ignore it, then … what?
Anyone know?
Franking Committee controls mailings
Just_Saying Friday, July 24th at 6:37PM EDT (link)If I understand your question, benwhite72, the Democrats (through the Franking Committee) can refuse to allow any representative to send mailings to their constituents at federal expense. That is, the newsletter you usually get from your representative(s) or sentators is sent not using postage but using a frank, which serves as postage to pay to get the communication to you.
So, in answer to your question, unless the Republicans can afford to mail the communications to their constituents using regular postage, the Republicans cannot ignore the Democrats/Franking Committee’s decision.
Of course, on the other hand, the RNC or any conservative organization with enough money for mailings could saturate the entire nation with a well-designed anti-public-health-care message, and include the “chart.”
.
The materials don't go out.
Moe Lane Friday, July 24th at 6:51PM EDT (link)The Franking Commission handles one of the most delicate topics in Washington DC: how to provide information to constituents without turning it into free campaign advertising. With the best will in the world it’s a minefield, and the Democrats decided to go tap-dancing.
Check out my new blog at http://moelane.com/.
http://twitter.com/moelane
My (blogging-related) wish list.
May they step on a mine
lkdavis Friday, July 24th at 7:04PM EDT (link)if only the people would actually notice how the Democrats try to cover up the truth.
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When you can’t make them see the light, make them feel the heat.
Ronald Reagan
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It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people’s minds.
Samuel Adams
The chart?
mnut Friday, July 24th at 5:15PM EDT (link)That chart is so blatantly wrong it’s almost criminal. First, why is the department of defense on the chart? Nothing is going to change in the way the VA operates.
Next, would the IRS and the Treasury department be on display in a Republican chart on the wastes of the defense department? That’s still where the money comes from. It would be on a chart for EVERYTHING the government does.
Lastly, 90% of the chart exists today so the whole thing really is a blatant lie about “the bureaucracy. There is no less of a complicated chart in your average private insurer.
inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale
E Pluribus Unum Friday, July 24th at 5:19PM EDT (link)You’re hyperventilating.
Even in the event that the chart was wrong or even misleading, it’s not the place of the Democrats to censor it.
Period.
Carthago delenda est
Do your conservative t-shirt Christmas shopping at EPU Gear. Save the conservative muse, save the world.
G'bye
Neil Stevens Friday, July 24th at 5:19PM EDT (link)Criminal huh? At least you’re admitting your fascist desire to make all those who disagree with the President (dissenters?) into political prisoners.
Want to run for conservatives? Give.
There Is No Crisis
Dissent is
mbecker908 Friday, July 24th at 10:57PM EDT (link)1. the highest form of patriotism.
2. the highest form of treason.
The definition changes from time to time. Guess what time it is now.
Yay, government-approved "truth"
seandparnell Friday, July 24th at 6:02PM EDT (link)This is one of the more blatant efforts I’ve seen to control political speech those in power consider “false.” Remember when dissent was patriotic? I guess only if it’s “true” according to those that set themselves up to decide such things.
If you want to see a bit more about government-approved truth and the resulting carnage to the First Amendment, check out this story in WI from last year: http://www.campaignfreedom.org/blog/detail/turning-wisconsin-into-a-first-amendment-free-zone
Or this, from MN last year: http://www.campaignfreedom.org/blog/detail/senator-al-franken-friend-or-foe-of-broadcast-freedom
Sean Parnell
President
Center for Competitive Politics
http://www.campaignfreedom.org
With the Democrats dissent is only patriotic
lkdavis Friday, July 24th at 7:17PM EDT (link)when you are bad-mouthing America to our enemies or trying to slander a Republican administration. With a Democrat administration, we supposed to
sit in the corner and keep our mouth shut.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
When you can’t make them see the light, make them feel the heat.
Ronald Reagan
……………………………………………
It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people’s minds.
Samuel Adams
I hope "Franking" isn't a verb form related to
Tbone Friday, July 24th at 6:58PM EDT (link)Barney Franks, is it?
Envisioning when all that is Left is the Right.
Re: Franking
briann Friday, July 24th at 7:07PM EDT (link)At first I thought it was an attempt to get around the site decency rules.
Most everything in congress goes through a Franking committee. Heh.
-Bri
Since the Franking Committee is 3 R and 3 D ...
Martin Knight Saturday, July 25th at 6:37AM EDT (link)Why not have the Rs block any and everything?
Rules are there for a reason. The Democrats are violating them - Republicans should follow suit.
To me, “consensus” seems to be the process of abandoning all beliefs, principles, values and policies. So it is something in which no one believes and to which no one objects … There are still people in my party who believe in “consensus” politics. I regard them as Quislings, as traitors … I mean it.
- Margaret Thatcher
NOTE: “consensus” = “Bipartisanship™”/”Centrism™”
rules are for chumps...
jah666 Saturday, July 25th at 2:13PM EDT (link)That’s the way Dems/Leftists look at rules and laws. THEY expect US to live by them and point to any infraction as another example of how bad Reps/Conservatives are. THEY, on the other hand, expect any rule to be a “living document” for them, to be shaped, bent or broken, without scrutiny or consequence.
Oh, well…