the no-vote vote

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Mar 16, 2010

Just read the Fox News headline, and you know something fishy is happening:

Pelosi Plan to Pass Health Care Without Traditional Vote Riles Critics

The word that should capture your attention is "traditional." What's a traditional vote? That, we learn, is the kind of vote in which the Yeas and Nays are counted. The Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, is disinclined to have that sort of vote on the health-care reform package, because she probably doesn't have enough Yeas to win passage. So she's considered a non-traditional vote. That's the kind of "vote" in which the Speaker declares that a bill has passed, and sees if she can get away with it.

Pelosi's objective is to gain--by majority vote if possible, by blatant disregard for the democratic process if necessary--House approval of the bill that has already passed the Senate. The logic is that since the House has already approved a bill that was in some ways similar to the Senate bill, she could just announce that the Senate bill has passed, and we can all move on to the next step. 

"I like it, because people don't have to vote on the Senate bill," [Pelosi] said.

Right. Voting is such a waste of time, when the Speaker can just make all the decisions by herself.