The House of Representatives ...are there no RULES

[in_cog_ni_to]

and regulations about leaving a 17 minute vote OPEN for 3 f**king HOURS??? Can a vote stay open for as long as the party wants? I just can't believe that would be a House rule. Does anyone know?

[NewJerseyDem]

1. It can stay open as long as they want

Votes always take longer than the amount allowed. They just leave it open until everyone who wants to vote usually. However, thy can also leave it open until they have enough votes to win. The Senate does it as well.

[Yupster]

2. Remember Clinton's first economic tax plan

same thing happened. He was a few votes short and the vote was left open forever while Clinton worked the phones and started to get switches. Luckily Dems had a prety healthy majority so there were lots to work with.

The last switch was Marjorie-Margolis Mezhvinsky of Pennsylvania. She had just a few hours earlier pledged on a local radio show in her Republican-leaning district that she would stand tall against the pressure and not vote to raise taxes.

The late night scene had her being just about carried back to change her vote with a colleague on each arm. The Republican House members sang while she passed "Bye, Bye Marjorie, Bye, Bye, Marjorie, Bye, Bye Marjorie, We hate to see you go." as she voted.

She was voted out of office in 1994.

[bryant69]

3. Interesting question on democracy.

Did she do the right thing by bowing to pressure and doing what, objectively, I would characterize as the right thing. Or did she do the wrong thing by not following the clearly expressed wishes of her district?

Bryant
check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[Yupster]

4. True

In that case it was a pretty clear choice.

Her Party wanted one thing -- her constituents wanted the opposite.

She chose the Party and her constituents replaced her as quickly as they could.

Kind of reminded me of Ed Ross (last Johnson impeachment vote), but in his case everyone was against what he did. He just felt it was right.

[in_cog_ni_to]

5. Is that the Rep

who was crying when she changed her vote?

[Yupster]

6. Ed Ross

was a Radical Republican senator from Kansas just after the Civil War.

He was the last undecided vote on removing President Johnon from office by impeachment. His constituents wanted a guilty vote and so did his party. He said he looked into his own grave and voted not guilty.

He was also removed from office and actually run out of the state as soon as possible.

The difference is that he withstood the double pressure of his constuituents and his party whereas Margolis-Mezhvinsky had to choose between her constituents or her party.

Ross's story is told in "Profiles in Courage."