HOW DEMOCRATS CAN OVERTHROW THE HOUSE

quote[The chaos among Republicans over ethics was sweet relief to House Democrats, whose victories in recent years have been few and far between. While Republicans comprise a mere 53 percent of the House, they afford the House's 201 Democrats virtually zero power. Although Republicans promised to bring glasnost to the House when they toppled a heavy-handed Democratic majority in 1994, today they rule with an iron fist. Floor debates are kept to a bare minimum. Democrats have almost no role in writing legislation and are rarely allowed to offer amendments, even when--especially when--their proposals enjoy majority support. Republicans think nothing of ramming through huge bills that have just come back from the printer. "It's crazy what's going on here," says Democrat Jim McGovern of Massachusetts. "Christ, you've got bills coming to the floor that no one reads." Republicans sometimes treat Democrats as if they don't really belong in the House at all. In one defining 2003 moment, House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas, doing his best impersonation of an East German commissar, actually summoned the Capitol Police after a dispute over procedural fairness led Democrats to walk out of a hearing. Things have gotten so bad that even former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who led these Republicans to power a decade ago, has urged them to "loosen up" the legislative process and allow Democrats more say.]

Good God, even Newt Gingrich is telling the repugs to loosen up!