Republicans pull another fast one

House Republicans, led by--who else?--Tom DeLay, placed HR 163, the long-neglected "draft" bill co-sponsored by Democrat Charles Rangel, on last night's "suspension calendar" for an official vote. The suspension calendar is a little-used device that traditionally contains uncontroversial issues such as renaming post offices or recognizing volunteers. The goal, Republicans admitted, was to show voters that it's Democrats, not Republicans, who want to renew the draft. Readers of this blog know this is a lie: Rangel and cosponsors introduced the bill 18 months ago to raise awareness of who makes up most of the volunteer army and to stimulate debate about the Bush administration's military and economic policies.

Democrats refused to take the bait and the bill was defeated, 402 to 2.

We agree with Rangel: "It is so darn hypocritical for the Congress to come forward and put a [controversial] bill on the suspension calendar. "It's a shame that...this legislative body is being used as a political tool on the eve of elections."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9479-2004Oct5.html