Debate in the Senate on bankruptcy--disruption in gallery

[Skidmore]

Did anyone else see that? During Sessions whining about how mistreated the credit companies are. Sounded like a woman and I caught a bit of a sentence "You have no idea how hard it is....". The presiding officer gavelled to order and asked the sargent at arms to restore order in the gallery. Sessions thanked him for allowing the debate to continue with order. No one addressed the woman at all. Pisses me off. Couldn't one of the legislators have acknowledged her concerns?

[Itsthetruth]

1. No

eom

[mcscajun]

2. Not unless they want the Senate to turn into a free-for-all.

People in the gallery are guests of the Senate and are supposed to behave like guests. If the Senators started acknowledging protestors or hecklers, there'd be no end of it, and nothing (*beyond the usual level of nothing*) would ever get done in there.

NOT that I'm saying folks shouldn't protest, far from it. If you want to go protest in the gallery of the Senate, go for it, by all means! Just don't expect anyone down on the floor to acknowledge the effort beyond calling for the Sargeant-at-Arms to have you removed.

[Stew225]

3. I agree with the previous replies, although

I'm still mentally trying to figure out how to spell "sergeant". Hey, I think that's it!

People like this lady hurt the cause of protest. I feel badly for her, but there is a better way.

[reichstag911]

8. WTF?

Protesting "hurt(s) the cause of protest," hm?

[Skidmore]

5. You know, this government has thrown all respect for

the citizens and the law out the window with the bath water. Maybe we need a free for all to get their attentions. I'm sick of the attention to form and decorum, especially when it is accompanied by large doses of dishonesty and thievery. They work for us.

[reichstag911]

6. "supposed to behave like guests"...

...and those clowns (mostly) on the Senate floor are supposed to behave as the people's representatives (at least the states') rather than corporate shills. I'm so tired of our elected officials being treated as some kind of exalted beings when in fact the majority of them are traveling snake-oil salesmen.

[stevedeshazer]

10. Wrong! Senators work for the people.

They serve in the Senate to represent the citizens of the United States, not the other way around. You've got it backwards.

[mcscajun]

14. I never said they didn't work for us.

I've got nothing backwards. If you have something to say to one of them, you write them a letter or you go to their office, or you call; they've got to reply to you then. (OF course, unless you're from their state, expect to wait.)

If you want to sit in the gallery, you need a pass from your US Senator, so you are technically his or her guest. So when you sit in the gallery and you're watching them at work, certain rules of decorum DO apply. If you want to protest in the gallery, your choice. But you will get ejected.

[gulfcoastliberal]

4. God forbid they actually hear from the citizens they are fucking over

This bill benefits no one except VisaMasterCardMBNAmex.

Shame on all of them.

The dems supporting this vile and hypocritical bill deserve defeat. I'd like to see a bankruptcy bill requiring corporations to pay back their debts. Now we will have debtor prisons and indebted serfs working for their feudal corporate lords.

[Supersedeas]

7. Evangelical Version of the Lord's prayer

Our Father which art in Heaven,
Hallowed be thy name,
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,
as in Heaven, so in earth.

Give us day by day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
For we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

St. Luke 11:2-4


So, does the new bankruptcy bill look like or sound like Compassionate Conservatism motivated by the concerns of genuine Christian Conservatives?

Is forgiving debt too Christian for Republicans to handle?

[BlueInRed]

13. That's interesting; did you know that the idea of bankruptcy originates

in the Bible (Old Testament)? In the first five books (I can't remember exactly where now), there is a forgiveness of debts every seven years. The original bankruptcy laws were supposedly based on this Biblical practice. I wonder if these people ever pay attention to that sort of thing.

p.s Thanks for that great quote. :)

[mwb970]

9. Sessions is through now, Durbin on.

Durbin is really good at talking to the C-SPAN camera, isn't he? I always like his speeches.

[joanski01]

11. I love Senator Durbin.

Wasn't he the one who said that this bankruptcy bill was written by the credit card companies for the credit card companies. He said that none of them testified at the hearings, but there were rows and rows of them sitting in the back.

[reichstag911]

12. Me too...

see this thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=1628239&mesg_id=1628239 .

[mcscajun]

15. There sure were — taking notes to bring back to their masters

on who said what (after all, PAC money has to mean Something, doesn't it?)

:grr: