Democratic lawmakers flip over the checkerboard

Here's David Karki with "Democratic Congress: A perverse pride in doing nothing"

"If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?"

"If Congress takes tons of votes but passes nothing, has it really voted?"

Congress under Democratic leadership has reduced our legislative branch to little more than a philosophical question, so little has it accomplished in a year. They have passed none of the budget bills the federal government needs to operate, and wasted much time with multiple Iraq withdrawal and S-CHIP bills that they know will get vetoed, just to create issues for the 2008 elections and to curry favor with their lunatic base. They are on a pace to write the fewest new laws in 35 years, since the height of Watergate when President Nixon and a Democratic Congress were bitterly at odds.

The country is operating on a string of continuing resolutions, which are just placeholders for the work of actually passing a budget. And as Roll Call reports (via Q&O), the vexed Democrats are prepared to scrap minority rights in the House:

Exasperated over Republicans' continued efforts - and occasional success - in thwarting the House floor schedule, Democratic leaders acknowledged Tuesday they are reviewing the chamber's rules to determine how to curb the minority's ability to put up roadblocks at critical moments in the legislative process.

As McQ notes, the "motion to recommit" is one of the only tools for the minority in the House of Representatives and has stood untouched since 1822. But just like freedom of speech, the rights for people of the wrong political persuasion are transitory and expendible, especially when you're fightin' for the people.