100 amendments to squelch homeland security

That's how McHenry and his Republican cohorts tried to interfere with fellow NC Congressman David Price's homeland security appropriations.

From the News and Observer. You really should follow the link and read the whole article but I've cut and pasted some tidbits here:

Hours of late-night debates. Parliamentary shiftiness. A last-minute rush of votes on the House floor.

. . .

Days of partisan gridlock clogged progress on the bill this week, as Republicans slammed Democrats with words and parliamentary stall tactics over their new treatment of earmark transparency. Twice, the House stayed at work until 2 a.m.

. . .

Democrats had pledged to bring more transparency to earmarks, which are specific spending projects requested by members and tied to congressional districts. But party leaders also said they would not insert earmarks until spending bills were through the House and Senate and headed for closed-door conferences.

So outraged Republicans stymied House proceedings.

Republican members repeatedly extended the debate and called for time-consuming votes.

The arguments continued Wednesday and then overnight Thursday, including several speeches from GOP Reps. Patrick McHenry and Virginia Foxx of North Carolina. Republicans submitted more than 100 amendments.

. . .

In the end, the House passed, by a 258-150 vote Friday morning, the Homeland Security spending bill -- all $36.3 billion of it -- that has been Price's project since January.

McHenry (again) uses procedural rules to screw around on the House floor*

According to the Winston-Salem Journal, dear old Pat is at it again:

A handful of Republicans, including [Virginia] Foxx [R-5th] and Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-10th, have used procedural maneuvers to block consideration of the $36 billion Homeland Security bill.

North Carolina Democrat David Price isn't taking it from his little neighbor:

Rep. David Price, D-4th, is the chairman of the appropriations subcommittee on homeland security. It’s his bill that Republicans are trying to block. He said that there will “probably not” be any earmarks in this bill when all the details are finished, and that Republicans are playing politics with important legislation.

“I think it is very poor, even reckless, judgment on the part of right-wing Republicans to delay this bill … just for their political purposes,” Price said.

He added that the bill, which continued to be debated late into last night, needed to be passed now because Congress has the other appropriations bills to address this summer.

The procedural shenanigans is supposedly for a good cause. Republicans want to stop the earmark process they say Democrats pledged to end. Interesting how Republicans want to end earmarks right after they spend 6 years personally benefiting from them in the reelection game.

I applaud Ginny and Pat's interest in ending earmarks and expect them not to accept one thin dime for their districts if they ever are in the position to receive them.

*Let's not forget his fun with Barney where he tried his darnedest (but failed miserably) to use procedure to point out something he thought we all should know about American Samoa.