RESTORING DEMOCRACY….Michael Crowley reports on a CAP forum he attended yesterday:
Barney Frank also said another interesting thing: Republicans have become less prone to holding open floor votes for hours on end, as they notoriously did to pass their 2003 Medicare bill, because reporters have begun flocking to the press gallery to observe the arm-twisting and horse-trading on the floor during such marathon sessions, which can lead to some embarassing reportage the next day. Frank said Republicans leaders understand that they’re now being watched. It’s a start.
I figure Republicans have two choices here: they can either clean up their floor votes and stop the last minute arm twisting, or they can try to figure out ways to keep people from watching while they do it. I wonder how long it will take them to switch from the former to the latter?
