Washington state Rep. Jim McDermott delivered the following remarks on the floor of the House of Representatives Thursday, April 6.
The Republican majority in the House of Representatives has quietly ushered in a new form of government in America called Repocracy.
For those who believe that Democracy is government of the people, by the people and for the people, Repocracy is the antithesis of this.
Repocracy is government where open debate is replaced by lockstep discipline, and where the rewards for the few become the burden carried on the backs of the many.
Repocracy puts a price on American values and deals only in hard currency.
One need only look at what's not on C-Span to begin to understand the threat Repocracy poses.
For the last six years, the Republican Party has been a disciplined and monotone political machine. Republicans lived by one rule: Whatever the president wanted, the president got.
War in Iraq: rubber stamp approval. Tax holidays for America's rich: rubber stamp approval. Slashing student loans for the middle class: rubber stamp approval. Cutting programs for America's vulnerable children and disadvantaged families: rubber stamp approval. Legislation written by financial institutions and big drug companies: rubber stamp approvals.
It was all so neat and tidy. Republican members of the House voted the way they were told, and leaders would not end voting in the House until their pre-determined outcome was achieved. But that was last year. What's changed? The American people noticed.
The American people put a lot of faith and trust in their leaders. For better or worse, most Americans take the big-picture approach: Trust elected politicians until they betray that trust. Believe that elected leaders will put America's interests ahead of political interests.
Have faith that leaders will change course when something is not working.
In other words, Trust But Verify!
It is precisely because the American people focus on the big picture that Republicans are doing everything possible to replace the image the American people see with a test pattern. The president's ratings are below sea level, and Republicans are counting the number of seats in the lifeboats.
It is simple arithmetic, and the addition has Republicans subtracting. Mathematics requires proof, and there is plenty.
The president bequeaths to a future president any decision about Iraq. His plan takes form: Stay in Iraq until it is someone else's problem.
Invite the embattled president of Italy to address a joint session of the U.S. Congress, speaking in Italian, to use Congress as a political campaign backdrop in an Italian election.
Charge the Iraq War on credit and mask its real impact on the deficit by leaving it outside the annual budget.
The clearest sign of all is the recent change in the House of Representatives to the 2-minute vote. Call it government by stop watch.
A mere 120 seconds to decide the fate of legislation affecting the lives of every American. Under Repocracy, legislation comes to the floor of the House of Representatives only when its passage is guaranteed.
The 2-minute drill forces blind allegiance and stiff-arms Democracy, but that is the intent of Repocracy. The math is the math. Republicans are losing their stranglehold on power. What's a party to do?
Republicans have concluded the best defense is a missing offense, so Republicans have substituted the business of the nation for the business of re-election. Suddenly, House Republican leaders feel an urgent need for recess, after recess, after recess.
The Republican-mandated congressional schedule has nothing to do with the people's business, and everything to do with the Republican reelection business.
The thinking goes like this: if Members are not in Washington, D.C., the national press corps is taken out of the equation. They can't trail 435 House members, so news coverage goes dark.
With Congress out of session, Americans cannot watch C-Span to see for themselves what is happening, or not, on the floor of the House. The curtain closes on the big picture. Mission Accomplished.
The word "Congress" comes from the Latin "con + egresso" which means come together. The idea was for orderly and reasoned debate. Take out a stop watch and clock two minutes - then decide if you think America is governed by a functioning Congress today.
Repocracy is not merely a dereliction of duty; it's an outright threat to Democracy. That's the big picture - the one Republicans don't want the American people to see.
But there's more than one channel, and the American people are watching.
Thank you.
Nine-term congressman Jim McDermott represents Washington state's 7th congressional district.
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