...The office of Rep. Louise Slaughter (N.Y.), the ranking Democrat on the House Rules Committee, also released a video Monday to emphasize Republicans' use of closed rules. The video begins by recalling the inaugural address House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) delivered in January 2011 after Republicans retook the majority.
"We will do these things, however, in a manner that restores and respects the time-honored right of the minority to an honest debate and a fair, open process," Boehner said in the widely televised speech. "And to my friends in the minority, I offer a commitment: openness. Once a tradition of this institution, but increasingly scarce in recent decades, will be the new standard."
The video cuts to a Sept. 30 meeting of the House Rules Committee, hours before the first shutdown of the federal government in 17 years after Republicans insisted on undermining Obamacare in exchange for funding the government. It was later reported that Republicans quietly changed parliamentary rules to prevent any member of the House from bringing up for a vote the Senate's clean bill to fund the government -- thus all but assuring a shutdown…
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