Saturday, November 11, 2006
Padding the House Democrat Majority
With a brief exception during 1993-94, only states had a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives. The Democrat's Speaker to be, Nancy Pelosi, has other ideas:
From 1993 to early 1995, [District of Columbia delegate] Norton and delegates from four U.S. territories were allowed to vote on the House floor in most cases. However, if their votes ever provided the margin of victory on a measure, a House member could request a second, binding vote without them. Republicans nixed the limited vote in 1995, after taking control of Congress.
Pelosi's press secretary, Jennifer Crider, said last night that the proposed rule changes would seek a return to those provisions. However, she said, Pelosi had not yet specifically addressed the issue of the U.S. territories' voting rights.
Did I mention that four out of these five delegates are ardent Democrats?
The exception, the delegate ("Resident Commissioner") from Puerto Rico wears the Republican label but represents an island with half the income of America's poorest state. He is also a member of Puerto Rico's Statehood Party, whose slogan is "statehood is for the poor." In other words, think Robert Byrd.
|posted by Jim on 4:52 PM|
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