Ironically, the supposed Democrat ethic "reforms" that Pelosi and Murtha passed earlier this year is making this vote possible. The House Democrats put in effect a rule that prohibits members from threatening to block other member's bills, amendments, or earmarks as payback for any perceived transgression. There are YouTube clips that show Murtha berating a Republican congressmen on the House floor, and witnesses say he was threatening to withhold funding. So it's going to be hard for Democrats to do their usual "the Republicans are lying" shtick.
The AP article does suck up to the Democrats by saying that the GOP "accuses" Murtha and never mentions the videotapes -- but it also includes the fact that Murtha doesn't dispute what happened.
House Republicans angled Tuesday to put Democrats in a no-win position: reprimand a senior colleagues or be seen as blindly excusing legislative bullying for partisan reasons.Democrats are crowing that they have the votes to kill the official reprimand. I invite them to -- it makes for a perfect 2008 election issue. Even if they do not block it, and vote to reprimand Murtha, it's going to be like manna from heaven. Murtha's never going to shut up, a reprimand is just going to make him angrier, and having him in Democrat House Leadership is like having a gift that keeps on giving.
House leaders tentatively scheduled a late Tuesday vote on a Republican move to reprimand Rep. John Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democrat and close ally of House Speaker Hancy Pelosi, D-Calif. The GOP accuses Murtha of making a blatant threat against a Republican who challenged a pet project that Murtha wanted.
Here's the story in this morning's The Politico, which includes the text of the reprimand resolution, and a few other tidbits.
