Death of Deliberative Democracy

[neoblues]

Old News... "Death of Deliberative Democracy" is part of the name Democrats gave to their "report" last year about Republican abuse in Congress. If you've ever wondered how Republicans have abused Democrats in Congress, the report referred to in the article and linked below gives many of the gory details.

Report by House Democrats Alleges GOP Abuse of Power

By Mike Allen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 8, 2005; Page A13

Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and other revolutionaries used accusations of arrogant and heavy-handed tactics to stir a populist revolt against 40 years of Democratic domination of Congress before the GOP takeover of 1994.

Now, after 10 years of Republican control, House Democrats are making strikingly similar charges against today's Republicans.
...

The 147-page report by Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic staff of the House Rules Committee, called "Broken Promises: The Death of Deliberative Democracy" (see link)... is described on the cover as "A Congressional Report on the Unprecedented Erosion of the Democratic Process in the 108th Congress".

Well, there's the details behind the story... One hundred fourty-seven pages of it. (gulp) Fortunately, after page 46 it's all appendix/bibliography/notes-vote-histories. Even so, I wish it was summarized and easier for a non-Congressman to understand (it wasn't targeted for the average citizen). We need more "stories"/"narratives" for what's being done in our government/politics... and this is a description of events that should be boiled down to make a story in which Republicans are the villains sucking the life out of the minority... (alas, I guess we really aren't much good at storytelling; even as the evil Count Dracu-Rove (bloodsucker) has said).

Still, it would be good if we could educate the public on summary of all the ways Republicans have abused Congressional rules and tradition in their lunge for power.