[ale] [OT] congress vote history

[SanMillan, Todd]

Well, it being Congress, there are all sorts of Byzantine rules.  If someone
thinks the voice vote is too close, they can challenge the chairs ruling and
request a roll-call vote.  Then they vote on whether to have a roll-call
vote.  Normally, a voice vote only flys when the mood of the chamber is
obvious and considering that the Senate voted 99-0 on this issue, I say it's
a pretty fair bet that your rep voted for this.

The rules and actions are of Congress really pretty amazing.  I took a year
off and stayed home and took care of my daughter when she was 1 and used to
watch C-SPAN.  What is happening out on the floor has very little to do with
passing legislation.  Something will be obviously about to pass and 50 reps
will rise in vehement agreement with the proposal and then request that
their (staff prepared, pages and pages of) remarks be read into the record
as though they actually said them.  Just so they have something that their
supporters can wave around next election cycle. 

-----Original Message-----
From: Swantje Willms [mailto:swillms at mail.sis.pitt.edu] 
To: ale at ale.org
Sent: Friday, October 18, 2002 4:31 PM
To: Irv Mullins
Cc: ale at ale.org
Subject: Re: [ale] [OT] congress vote history


They could still do secret voting (no recording of names) by counting
pieces of paper that say "yes" or "no" or something like that. So, nobody
will know who votes how, but at least the counts will be accurate...

On Fri, 18 Oct 2002, Irv Mullins wrote:

> 
> It's not at all stupid - if you're a politician who doesn't want your 
> constituents to know how you voted. Better, it lets them lie about 
> how they voted to suit the occasion.  
> Friends of the Earth meeting?  "I voted to prohibit logging...."
> Lumbermen's Association meeting: "I voted to support logging..."
> 
> Irv
> 
> On Friday 18 October 2002 04:00 pm, Swantje Willms wrote:
> 
> > This seems like a pretty stupid way of doing things. Those with the
louder
> > voices win?
> >
> > On Fri, 18 Oct 2002, SanMillan, Todd wrote:
> >
> > <snip>
> >
> > > "During a VOICE VOTE, members say 'aye' aloud as a group, followed by
the
> > > group saying 'no.' The presiding officer decides which group prevailed
> > > and announces the result. No names are recorded "
> 
> 
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