The Hastert Rule says

[UCmeNdc]

The Hastert Rule says that the Speaker will not schedule a floor vote on any bill that does not have majority support within his/her party — even if the majority of the members of the House would vote to pass it. The rule keeps the minority party from passing bills with the assistance of a small number of majority party members. 218 votes are needed to pass a bill in the House; if the Democrats are the minority and the Republicans are the majority, the Hastert Rule would not allow 170 Democrats and 50 Republicans together to pass a bill, because 50 Republicans votes is far short of a majority of the majority party, so the Speaker would not allow a vote to take place.[7] However, the Hastert Rule is an informal rule and the Speaker is not bound by it; he/she may break it at their discretion. Speakers have at times broken the Hastert Rule and allowed votes to be scheduled on legislation that lacked majority support within the Speakers own party.

[HeiressofBickworth]

1. This doesn't seem to fit any known description of "democracy"

What it says is that by playing with numbers, there cannot be a House vote on any bill unless the Speaker is guaranteed a result that fits within his party's policy. Sounds more like a dictatorship. If Boehner wants to be the primary ruler of the country, he should run for President. Let the voters of the entire United States give their opinion.

Remember, he is where he is because the 8th congressional district in Ohio keeps voting him back. So in a country of approximately 350,000,000, he was initially voted into office by 99,955 people in his district. In 2012 he ran unopposed and garnered 246,380 votes. He in no way represents the entire country and shouldn't be allowed to dictate what comes before congress for a vote. Bills pass through committees before they go to the floor -- there is ample opportunity for dissenting opinions to be heard. But in the end, only Boehner's decision is final.

This system sucks ......

[Justice]

2. Republican now want to blow up the filibuster - they should blow up the Hastert Rule as well.

[LiberalFighter]

3. Dennis Hastert

In 2003 Hastert said, "On occasion, a particular issue might excite a majority made up mostly of the minority. Campaign finance is a particularly good example of this phenomenon. [But] the job of speaker is not to expedite legislation that runs counter to the wishes of the majority of his majority." During his speakership, he broke the Hastert Rule a dozen times. In mid-2013 he said, "If you start to rely on the minority to get the majority of your votes, then all of a sudden you’re not running the shop anymore." Later that year, Hastert said, "The Hastert Rule never really existed. It’s a non-entity as far as I’m concerned." Reflecting on his time as speaker, he said, "This wasn’t a rule. I was speaking philosophically at the time.... The Hastert Rule is kind of a misnomer."

[Proud Liberal Dem]

4. Did he ever have a sit-down with Boehner to explain this to him?

Forget democracy-building in the ME. Maybe we need to work on restoring/rebuilding democracy here in the US?

[LiberalFighter]

5. I believe this same issue came up last year

and Hastert provided the same info on tv.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

6. Bonehead probably doesn't care

He needs to keep his "base" happy to keep his job even though he is totally incompetent at running the House, largely because of this "rule".

[quadrature]

7. you never heard of a discharge petition? ..nt