Who Were The Missing Democrats On The House Amnesty Vote?

[ThomWV]

One of the TV shows last night mentioned that when that disastrous House Committee vote to give Bush immunity for torture there were 2 democrats next door giving a press conference and did not vote.

Who in hell were those two idiots? Democrats (with the two Republicans who voted against it) could have defeated this abomination if those two had been inside doing their job.

[rodeodance]

1. i heard it passed by one vote (but i may be mistaken)

[adigal]

2. I know one was Debbie Wasserman Schultz

and she is hardly an idiot. She is one of the rising stars in the House, a member of the "30 Somethings," and she said she was giving a press conference on Medicare, which affects her constituents in Florida greatly.

She hurried back as soon as she heard, but it was too late. She is often speaking on C-Span late at night, 10 or 11PM, with the "30-Somethings," and she is smart, somewhat sarcastic, funny and effective. The republicans played dirty - she just got caught in their trap. You can bet it won't happen again to this smart and savvy woman.

[acmejack]

3. They had a "revote" after it had been defeated!

It was Wassermann-Schultz and Schiff & they were set up, I believe. They waited until they weren't there to pull off this bullshit, so I think they were not at fault here. Who ever heard of a "revote"? Wassermann Schultz hauled ass back but they closed the vote before she could back, convenient, eh?

This whole thing was crap, they strong armed the Republican dissenters and then held another vote when they knew they could pass the thing. It was a typical piece of defying the will of the Congressmen.

[City Lights]

7. I suspected it went down as you described.

It really ticks me off that they get away with pulling crap like this! :mad: :grr:

[The Backlash Cometh]

12. I believe it. Republicans are sleazy bastards.

[onenote]

4. wexler and wasserman -- and it wouldn't have mattered

It wouldn't have mattered had they been there because ultimately, using parliamentary procedures to force a reconsideration, Sensenbrenner was able to get his way.

[ThomWV]

6. "It Wouldn't Matter"???????

So, do you think we have lost completely and resistance is now futile?

[onenote]

13. Not what I said

The fact that they missed that vote didn't impact the ultimate outcome because Sensenbrenner played parliamentary games to force a revote. If you don't think that's correct, why don't you explain.

[magellan]

5. The vote was intentionally timed by the Repugs

...to ensure those two Dems were distracted elsewhere. It was a presser on Medicare, I think.

This is nothing new for the Repugs. They practice voter suppression everywhere.

[mmonk]

8. Dems need to skip pressers designed

to make them look good right now and realize this nation is in the fight for its existence as the republic we have known and that republicans cheat, and have no conscience or integrity. We can't out propaganda them, we have to fight tooth and nail and keep a vigilent eye on their activities.

[magellan]

9. I agree generally, but in this case I think they were duped.

A post upthread says the vote was defeated and the Repugs called a revote. I'll bet they waited till those two Dems were in the midst of their presser.

[texpatriot2004]

10. I did not get these 2 Dems were at a press conf. The report I

heard - on Countdown - was that they were at some conference on Medicaid.

[acmejack]

11. 2 Drafted for Vote on Terror Bill

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration's national security agenda lurched forward in Congress on Wednesday after House Republicans narrowly headed off a politically embarrassing defeat for the White House over legislation establishing military tribunals for terrorism suspects.

The tribunal legislation — and a companion bill authorizing the administration's warrantless wiretapping program — remained on track to be taken up by the House next week before Congress recesses. But there were signs that the two proposals might face more resistance than expected from the president's usual allies.

The House Judiciary Committee was forced to resort to parliamentary gimmickry to force a second vote Wednesday hours after the tribunal bill was unexpectedly defeated. The committee reversed itself by a single vote after Republicans rounded up missing colleagues.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-tribunals21sep21,1,920166.story?coll=la-headlines-nation