So Proud To Be A Democrat

The averous and arrogance of the gun manufacturers has finally become too much to bear. Democratic politicians who once cowered in fear over the power of the gun lobby are now standing up. They are telling us in a dramatic fashion that moments of silence and prayers accomplish nothing, and they are issuing a call to action. In the Senate a filibuster by Democrats finally forced a vote on modest gun reform bills, including one that banned the sale of guns to anyone on the no-fly list. The Republican Party, which claims to be the best at protecting us from terrorists, voted almost unanimously to defeat all of those gun reform bills thereby permitting the gun manufacturers to continue arming the terrorists in this country! Arming your enemy, now isn't that a great idea?

In the House of Representatives there is no rule or procedure comparable to the filibuster, and the majority party is free to exert its will on the minority party without mercy. Needless to say that the Republican Party has been treating House Democrats as irrelevant since 2011. The frustration of being a part of the least productive and most destructive Congress since the Civil War combined with the Republican Party's amoral obedience to the gun lobby finally caused the Democrats to resort to desperate measures. Led by a civil rights hero, Congressman John Lewis, the Democrats held an unprecedented sit-in in the well of the House while demanding a vote on two gun reform bills. The first of those bills would ban the sale of guns to suspected terrorists on the no-fly list. The second bill would require universal background checks of gun purchasers. The Republicans adamantly oppose bringing those measures up for a vote before a national election because most Republicans have sold out to the gun lobby and they are afraid the latest massacres will make their constituents realize that the safety of our citizens and the deadly greed of the gun manufacturers are mutually exclusive!

The Democrats demanding a vote on those gun reform bills are defying the will of the majority party and are putting the Republicans in a very difficult political position. Furthermore, those Democrats have already broken several House rules by staging the sit-in, filming the sit-in, holding up signs and pictures of the victims of gun violence, and by shouting slogans even after Speaker Ryan called the house back into session after a recess. Those are classic civil disobedience tactics designed to create martyrs if the Republicans over-react and do something as stupid as trying to forcibly remove the protesters. So what is a rich gun lobby lackey to do? Speaker Ryan decided to try to defy the protesters by conducting some normal business.

So in an almost unbelievable display of political tone deafness the Republicans brought to the floor a measure that is the perfect example of Republican Congressmen representing money interests at the expense of their constituents. The Labor Department's Fiduciary Responsibility Rule protects investors from being deceived and cheated by investment firms and investment advisers. President Obama had vetoed a bill by the Republican controlled Congress that would have weakened the protection of pensioners, trusts, and other investors by removing the Fiduciary Responsibility rule, and Paul Ryan was now bringing up a bill to override that veto. Ryan might as well have held up a sign saying “we are morally and intellectually bankrupt but are doing quite well financially thanks to our rich friends.” Just look at what he and his party did all in one night. They demonstrated beyond doubt that they think the profits of the gun manufacturers are more important than lives and that they, the Republicans, think it should not be so difficult for investment firms and investment advisers to deceive and cheat unsuspecting investors!

I am really proud of the Democratic Senators standing up to the gun Lobby and the Democratic members of Congress holding the sit-in. I know the sit-in was not a rash decision. It sets a difficult precedent, but what is at stake here are lives. I hope this is part of the movement to rest control of our government from the grasp of the wealthy and return it to the people!