John Tierney: “I think he is right, but the one stubborn fact that we cannot avoid here this afternoon is that this bill does nothing.…”

“I think he is right, but the one stubborn fact that we cannot avoid here this afternoon is that this bill does nothing. It is a very stubborn fact that this is a resolution of the House attempting somehow to tell the other body when and how they should act. I think it is probably inappropriate to do that, but it is also a waste of our time and effort, because it is, obviously, going to go on its own schedule. Another fact that is very stubborn that will not go away is the fact that this is filler. We are standing here doing this on this resolution because the majority in this House will not go forward with the rest of the business that needs to get done before the end of this fiscal year: eight spending bills that they are failing to move forward. But the stubborn fact of the matter is there are eight spending bills that have not gone through the appropriations process and gone through the House and been passed along. We could be dealing with that instead of talking about this resolution that is essentially meaningless.”