Accused

New York Times

WASHINGTON, Oct. 7 - It took more than 40 raucous minutes of pleading and cajoling, bargaining and begging on Friday. But House Republican leaders managed to squeeze through an oil refinery bill in a tumultuous floor vote that severely tested a leadership team rocked by the indictment of Representative Tom DeLay, Republican of Texas.

...

Democrats attacked the substance of the bill and the process that the Republicans employed to force it through. The Democrats accused the majority of abusing House rules by stretching what should have been a five-minute vote to deliver a bill that Democrats said would benefit profitable oil companies but do little for American drivers.

Wow, that's a pretty serious accusation. I mean, we're talking about a breach of House rules, an abuse of power by the majority leadership, in order to strong arm lawmakers into voting for a bill that is against the best interests of the American people.

Maybe the Times should hire somebody who's job it is to, you know, report as to whether there's any truth to that or not. I mean, accusations are one thing, anyone can make accusations. But surely there would be a way for someone to determine wheter or not the Speaker of the House and the Majority Leader in exile broke specific, defined House rules. But I guess we'll never get to the bottom of this.