I have said in the past that Democrats care more about the appearance of equality than equality itself, as it turns out they also care more about the appearance of ethics than ethics itself. As evidence of this, please see Erica Cantor’s blog which reports that House Democrats violated House rules in order to pass their “ethics” bill:

Only the Democrat House Leadership could find an unethical way to pass an “ethics” bill.

House Democrats had crafted legislation, an ethics bill in name only, that will do nothing to clean-up Washington. In fact, many non-partisan experts believe that it will only further empower the special interests.

Tonight, on the House floor, House Democrats were headed towards defeat. They were opposed by a bipartisan coalition of Members, who wanted to work towards meaningful ethics reform, rather than accept the empty rhetoric offered by the House Democrat Leadership. At the end of the vote, the bipartisan coalition had prevailed; yet, Speaker Pelosi held the vote open and strong-armed less senior Representatives into voting her way. This action violated House rules that were enacted in January of last year.

One thing is clear – House Democrats have failed the American People. They can’t even pass an “ethics” bill without violating the rules.

Blogsforvictory has more:

This “ethics reform” bill will create an unaccountable, supposedly “independent” commission comprised of six people that will serve as personal pit bulls that can bring forth charges against congressmen anonymously without probable cause, with no chance for the accused congressman to face their accusers!

In an interview with Laura Ingraham today, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (MN-6th CD) tells of the “kangaroo court” that this bill will create in the House of Representatives:

I have sent a request to Eric Cantor to provide the bill number in question, in order to confirm the accusations of Michele Bachmann. If true, it would appear the Democrats are setting Congress up for a witch hunt, allowing them to target Representatives for investigation for no apparent reason. This would leave the door open for the 6 members of the commission to use their position to fulfill personal vendettas against Reps who do not vote in line with the majority.

I will follow up on this once more details are known, such as who is responsible for appointing the commission members, and what powers will those members have.

Update Michelle Malkin has more on the vote:

Republicans, backed by 18 Democrats, thought they had won a parliamentary vote prior to consideration of the new ethics office, a victory that would have derailed the proposal. But Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the Democratic leadership held the vote open for 16 minutes beyond the alloted 15-minute deadline and, in that period, convinced several Democrats to switch their votes. The final vote on the parliamentary procedure was 207-206.

But Republicans, and some Democrats, charged that Pelosi and the Democratic leadership “stole” the vote on the parliamentary procedure, technically known as “ordering the previous question.” In response to GOP manipulation of votes during their years of control, Pelosi promised at the beginning of the 110th Congress that floor votes would last only15 minutes, and that “no vote shall be held open to manipulate the outcome.”

Pelosi, however, appeared to go back on that promise during the “previous question” vote, which was open for for a total of 31 minutes before it was gaveled closed. Republicans stood on the floor during the dramatic 16-minute period following the official end of the vote, clapping and cheering, occassionally breaking into chants of “Rules of the House!”

John Bohner’s office emailed her stating:

“The Rules of the House specifically state that the Majority cannot hold a vote open solely to change its outcome. This rule was clearly violated last night, and the Majority must be held accountable for it. The fact that Democratic leaders are not willing to own up to their behavior demonstrates to the American people that they simply aren’t willing to live by their own rules. In a Congress the Majority has promised would be the most fair, open, and honest in history, this is particularly disappointing – and hypocritical.

Speaking of being fair and open, we find this in the text of the bill:

Prohibition on Public Disclosure- (1) No information or testimony received shall be publicly disclosed by any member of the board or staff of the Office. Any breaches of confidentiality shall be investigated by the Office and appropriate action shall be taken.

I always find it distrurbing when politicians feel the need to “prohibit public disclosure”. If the goal of this bill is to promote ethics in the House, why prohibit the committe members from disclosing its investigations to the public?

The one bright side I can find to this bill is with regards to appointments to the committee:

The Office shall be governed by a board consisting of six individuals of whom three shall be designated as appointees of the Speaker and three as appointees of the minority leader.

At the very least this should prevent the committee from become a partisan attack machine, however I firmly believe public disclosure should not only be allowed, it should be mandated!

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