We
have all heard the expression, “It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it.”Last week I discussed the unofficial yet
strictly adhered to “Super
Minority” rule in the House of Representatives, euphemistically called “majority
of the majority.” Denny Hastert (R-IL), the former Republican Speaker of the
House, unilaterally decided in 2004 that no legislation would go forward (in
the House of Representatives) unless a majority of his GOP House caucus
supported it. Hastert dubbed it the “majority
of the majority” rule. The mainstream media instantly gave credibility to
this inherently undemocratic directive by repeating the term -absent any
context of its true meaning. However, Hastert’s rule is not about a majority, it is about the empowering of a Super Minority in the House of Representatives. In
real numbers, half of the GOP’s House caucus, both then and now, is equal to only
about one third of the chamber’s 435 members. Hastert’s Super Minority edict
represents the most one sided, Machiavellian
rule ever imposed inthe People’sHouse. Due in no
small part to amalleable Washington press corps,
Americans may not fully appreciate just how antithetical Hastert’s "Super
Minority" decree is to our principles of democracy and how it has stymied
progress in congress
to this day.
Nancy Pelosi, House Democratic
Leader, discusses "discharge petition" to evade GOP's Super Minority
rule.
Vote by Mail America contacted House Democratic Leader
Nancy Pelosi’s office and several individual members of Congress to ascertain
if, when in the majority, Democrats used or planned to use Hastert’s rule. Unfortunately, we were
unable to get a definite response. We also conducted an internet search to
discover if House Democrats employed the rule. Our search did not find any
reports of Democrats availing themselves of the Super Minority rule when they controlled the House.
Republicans and Democrats should take to the floor of
the House to denounce governance by Super Minority. As importantly, rather than
continually committing facile journalism that lends credence to an oblique and euphemistic
term, the media, particularly the Washington press corps, should relentlessly expose
the concept of “majority of the majority” for what in practice it really is, an
abhorrent assault on representative government.
