It must be sweet being a member of Congress, as opposed to being the "king"

[CTLawGuy]

As a member of Congress you can sit there and whine about how your favorite bill is not being acted upon. Most people will sympathize with you, because you are a lowly congressman with no power. But are you really?

No. Any member of Congress can force action on any bill at any time. It's called a "discharge petition". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discharge_petition. Basically, if any member collects the signatures of the majority of the chamber asking the bill to be "discharged" from committee, it is taken out of the committee and immediately brought to the floor for a vote, no matter what the leadership says.

That means Dennis Kucinich could have forced a vote (or at least tried) on his single payer bill a long time ago. Barney Frank could force a vote on repeal of DOMA or DADT at any time. Instead these people choose to complain as if they are completely powerless to do anything. They choose to attack the president, who has the weight of the world on his shoulders, instead. Don't let them get away with it. Ask why not a discharge petition?

Next time someone posts a story about some member of Congress whining about inaction, ask "where's the discharge petition?"

[Cha]

1. Thanks for this valuble info, CTLawGuy..

Members of Congress aren't the only ones who whine about the President not doing it all.

[quiet.american]

2. "... or at least tried...." I think is the key.

Let's face it, Pelosi had enough trouble rounding up a majority of House votes (218) to pass HCR; there's no way in hell Kucinich was going to get the 30+ conservative House Democrats to sign off on single-payer so that he could have the needed majority to successfully present the petition. However, it is worth asking, "so why don't you get together a discharge petition," just to get to the answer, "the votes are not there." That's a reality from which a "real" conversation on the subject could proceed.

[CTLawGuy]

3. well if Kucinich can't get the votes

why is he complaining that Obama can't? Why are people complaining that he "took single payer off the table"? It's on the table if Kucinich puts it there.

[quiet.american]

4. Exactly. nt