Let's get it right

In listening to NPR this morning I heard about the long standing rule that the U S House of Representatives has followed.  It is that the Speaker of the House will not report a bill out to the full House for consideration unless a majority of the majority (in this case the Republicans) is in favor of the bill.  This rule has followed the philosophy that the bill must help the Republicans (majority) in some way.  

I thought we elected our representatives to do what is best for the country, not for their party!  What an outrage and how self-serving.  

What made this news worthy today, I guess, is that Speaker Boehner created an exception by passing through a bill that did not have a majority of the majority support.  Then it did pass because the Democrats supported the bill in numbers sufficient to pass the bill.  He said that the new rule would be to not pass a bill out without the majority of the majority support when possible.  Kudos to Speaker Boehner !!  Perhaps a little of what the American people have been saying is getting through, at least to Mr Boehner.  Forget crass partisanship and act in a manner that will benefit the country.  Compromise is acceptable, hard lines and hard heads are not.

At this point the issue doesn't matter, but the process certainly does.  We have many challenges facing our country and we need smart people working towards solutions that will help.

That brings me to the Food for thought that I posted today:  

In the absence of justice, what is sovereignty but organized robbery?   Augustine

We need more peace and justice in this country, and in the world, and Mr. Boehner's change is at least a step in the right direction.

What do you think?

Take care