The People's House

It is only the first day of the new 111th Congress and already we have to ask; are we sliding back into the bad old ways of the House of Representatives?

The Republican minority would have us thinking so. Relying on reports in the press, the House Republican leadership sent this letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

After wishing the Speaker a happy new year and pledging to work with the Democratic Majority and the new President, the writers note:

President Obama has pledged to lead a government that is open and transparent. With that in mind, we are deeply troubled by media reports indicating that the Democratic leadership is poised to repeal reforms put in place in 1995 that were intended to help restore Americans’ trust and confidence in the People’s House. Specifically, these reports note that the Majority, as part of its rules package governing the new Congress, will end six-year term limits for Committee chairs and further restrict the opportunity for all members to offer alternative legislation. This does not represent change; it is reverting back to the undemocratic one-party rule and backroom deals that the American people rejected more than a decade ago.

Of course one could point out that the reforming ways of Newt Gingrich and the "Contract with America" had been somewhat abandoned along the way by the Republicans in the House by their spendthrift ways, but they do have a point.

If the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives goes back to its old ways, then there will be hope for a turnaround in the near future, rather than decades in the wilderness for Republicans.

A hat tip to Connie Hair of the Human Events Website for this item.

Regards -- Cliff