Ted Deutch: “Speaker Boehner says that the Hastert rule demands that he only allow votes on bills that are supported by a majority of…”

“Speaker Boehner says that the Hastert rule demands that he only allow votes on bills that are supported by a majority of his own party instead of a majority of the whole House. Last weekend, a constituent asked me where the Hastert rule came from. I did a little research. It doesn't exist. Not a single page of this book--the House manual of rules and procedures--contains the Hastert rule. That is because bills in the House need votes from a majority of all Members, not by a majority of any party. The Speaker, himself, knows that the Hastert rule is no rule at all. That is why, whenever extremists bring us to the brink of default or insist on a costly government shutdown, the Speaker brushes it aside and relies on support from reasonable Republicans and Democrats. The Hastert rule is only used to prevent votes Americans actually want. They want us to pass reasonable gun laws, to pass ENDA, to protect LGBT Americans from discrimination. They want us to pass commonsense immigration reform, and they want us to pass a minimum-wage increase. This week, the GOP reminded us that it has no agenda. Don't use the nonexistent Hastert rule to block the agenda of the American people. ____________________”