Without Delay

15May09

This video of Rep. Luis Gutierrez arguing against further delay of H.R. 627 (Credit Card reform) is from David Waldman at Congress Matters:

Rep. Luis Gutierrez:

Members of the House, a consistent argument that we hear from the other side is about the alleged lack of transparency and bipartisanship in this House. Yet it was only five minutes ago that we received this motion to recommit. How seriously can we take this? It is a motion to delay.

You could give a similar speech about any number of recent Republican procedural decisions and even their policy statements which often seem riddled with poison pills or impractical alterations of the existing proposals.

Climate Change: I’ll vote for it, but only if it’s written exactly this way.
Health Care: I’ll vote for it, but not to fund it.
DC Voting Rights: Only if we undermine DC self determination
And everything is not being debated or understood well enough to voted on yet.

The essential feature of the last 8 years was delay in the face of growing challenges. We didn’t face the changes in the economy, health care, the environment, or much of anything that didn’t require dropping bombs or cutting taxes. We can’t afford delay. Avoiding delay and obstruction should be the defining goal of the present.

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Tags: Congress, Luis Gutierrez