The Big Cheat: House votes to bar welfare for illegal aliens: 215 yes, 213 no; but Democrats say the no’s have it

The Republicans won the vote, 215 yes to 213 no, amending an Agriculture spending bill, H.R. 3161, with a motion that would prohibit federal spending to employ or house illegal aliens.

The U.S. House adopted the measure three days ago (Aug. 2). In the end, the 215-213 vote blinked up on the House electronic scoreboard, which also flashed the word “FINAL,” according to Congressional Quarterly.

Within seconds, however, the Democrats denied the vote ever happened. They lied.

The Hoyer-McNulty lie. Congressman Steny H. Hoyer, the Democratic House majority leader whose Maryland district of federal employees guarantees he’ll be re-elected the rest of his life, lied about the vote. Congressman Michael R. McNulty, a New York Democrat and speaker pro tempore, also lied about the vote.

Hoyer and McNulty declared falsely that the vote really was 214-214, a tie that, if true, would kill the ban on subsidizing illegal aliens.

But everyone in the House knew Hoyer and McNulty were lying. Everyone knew that the motion had passed. But Hoyer and McNulty kept on lying.

“Shame! Shame!” the Republicans yelled.

Forget democracy.  When Republicans demanded that parliamentarians rule on the vote, Hoyer silenced the parliamentarians, shouting:

“We control this House, not the parliamentarians!”

Two days ago, Hoyer agreed to allow an investigation into how he and McNulty violated the Constitution and lied about the Aug. 2 vote. A committee will look into the Big Cheat and issue a final report by Sept. 15 of next year. That’s right, next year! They’re willing to surrender in Iraq faster than they’re willing to explain one rigged vote.

Allow real vote? “There was no mistake made last night,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday (Aug. 3), joining in on the lie.

The Republicans say an investigation and report are not good enough. They say the real 215-213 vote should be honored. I’d say the Republicans have a good case.

By the way, why do Democratic leaders feel the need to lie and cheat to give U.S. taxpayers’ dollars to foreigners who are here illegally? Whom do they serve?

Frank Warner

Update: Just to be clear, the "motion to recommit" that passed was not only about banning federal aid to illegal immigrants. It also adopted several procedures that gave Republicans an advantage in shaping the final version of the Agriculture spending bill. In any case, the measure passed, and yet the Democrats denied it passed.

Note: House Res. 611 provides for the investigation of the tampered Aug. 2 vote. Another House Res. 611, adopted in Dec. 19, 1998, impeached President Clinton.

Comments

[Nicholas]

"Whom do they serve?"

Why, themselves, of course!

Not you. Where would you get that impression?

[Frank Warner]

Good point. It's almost as if they believe the illegal immigrants vote. Do they vote?

Are there any rules?

[Nicholas]

Sorry for being so cynical, but what I have seen of your political system over the last few years is very worrying.

I think the main rule is "don't get caught". And as someone pointed out at Captain's Quarters, the media is generally sympathetic to the Democrats, which means they can get away with a lot. This won't generate much outrage, partially because it will be rationalized away by Democrat supporters, and partly because it won't be repeatedly shoved in their face over the next 72 hours, like it would be if it happened in, say, Iraq.

I'm sure the media would emphasize how it is the end of the world as we know it, if that were the case.

[Carl]

More from the culture of corruption that is the Democrats. When Nancy Pelosi talked about draining the swamp, she didn't mean of Democrats, just Republicans.

The theme here is that Democrats have a problem with numbers, especially in counting. They couldn't seem to count the votes fast enough or to their liking in the 2000 election in Florida as they tried to steal the election from George W. Bush after Al Gore had conceded and reneged on his concession. Now they can't count a close vote correctly where only hundreds of votes are involved.

These are the same people who probably don't know how to count the billions of dollars we will have our taxes raised in their new spending giveaway programs.

This crap is definitely NOT what I voted for in last November's election.

[Christopher Taylor]

Well it's not exactly a MISTAKE that the vote turned out that way, so she's not technically lying. They did it on purpose.

[jj mollo]

I think this is an extremely important issue. In a democracy procedure is more important than the laws themselves because procedure is the fragile compromise that makes democracy possible. Laws can be voted and reversed, but the traditional adherence to common values, once lost, may be lost for good.

Cheating cannot be tolerated, and even the appearance of cheating should be thoroughly investigated. I'll not be happy about this until some leading Republicans confirm it.

[Frank Warner]

"I'll not be happy about this until some leading Republicans confirm it."

What do you mean, JJ? Happy about what? Confirm what? I think I missed something.

[Carl]

Republicans Angry Over House Vote
http://tailrank.com/2357548/Republicans-Angry-Over-House-Vote

[jj mollo]

There is a chance that the Democratic leaders are correct. There may have been an equipment mixup or someone pushed the wrong button by mistake. I don't know what can happen, but it sounds very fishy. I'm going to assume that it was a deliberate violation of protocol until the Republicans say they're OK with it. Meanwhile I think there's every reason to condemn the Dems. I don't know how they can get away with it! Can you picture a sale going through on Wall Street and then somebody says -no, no, it wasn't really a sale.

At the very least they should bring it up for vote again.

[Frank Warner]

Bringing it up for a vote again certainly would give the vote to the Democrats.

In fact, the whole problem was that the Democrats effectively did bring it up for a vote again, by letting more Democrats vote after the final gavel.

In this case, the Republicans won the vote only because the Democrats didn't care enough about the motion to watch it closely. The Democrats were outmaneuvered.

The minority party can't do that very often, because the majority will watch votes more carefully after each such surprise. Nevertheless, when it wins, the minority has a right to keep what it's won.

[jj mollo]

If that is the tradition, it should be honored. I have written my Congressman about the subject. It makes me think about the way Tom DeLay used to do things. The Fight Club attitude is apparently still infecting Congress.

[Frank Warner]

Right. Lots of people are bringing up Tom DeLay now. He was notorious for letting voting continue until he had enough to win.

I'm not sure, however, if he ever actually altered a final vote.

[Christopher Taylor]

It's almost as if they believe the illegal immigrants vote. Do they vote?

Sometimes, yes.

[Preevyet]

Dems claim the GOP did it to them when they were in control, now it's their turn. Problem is, McNulty admitted it was a mistake.

This democrat led congress has succeeded in getting the lowest approval rating of any congress in history, passed no substantive bills, and basically has done nothing but go on witch hunts since winning the majority in 2006. Least productive congress EVER. Thanks to all who voted in their favorite democrat, hopefully you will vote them out next go round.

[Christopher Taylor]

Personally I like a lame duck congress, the less they do, the less damage they do.

[Frank Warner]

I can't find anything that says McNulty admitted cheating or even "a mistake."