Rich Neal: “Mr. Speaker, if the famous TV character George Costanza were watching this show today, he would say simply, ``This was a…”

“Mr. Speaker, if the famous TV character George Costanza were watching this show today, he would say simply, ``This was a show about nothing.'' Nothing. It was a show about nothing when the other side demanded the line item veto to cut the budget be applied, and then screamed when the President used it, and they were relieved when the courts rejected it. It was a show about nothing when the other side demanded a constitutional amendment to balance the budget as the only way to solve our deficit problems. When it turned out that the real way to do it was the way the Constitution intended, all they had to do was vote for the President's budget in 1993, or for that matter, vote for George Bush's budget in 1991. It was a show about nothing when term limits were used as a campaign device, the problem being that many of the devotees must have meant that it should apply to somebody else other than to them. This is the latest show here about nothing. What they have got going at this moment is another government-like gimmick. It certainly undermines majority rule. It hearkens back to the Articles of the Confederation which we could not live under. It is even harsher than House rules that the other side passed a few years ago, which they also were not able to live under.”