“Mr. Speaker I understand we are under Martial Law as declared by the speaker last night,"

[Rajiv]

The Blackmailing of a Nation...

September 28, 2008- Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX) reports from the floor of the House that the Republicans have been cut out of the process and called unpatriotic for not blindly supporting the fraudulent bailout. He says the only debate has been about what talking points to use on the American people. The most ominous revelation is when he claims the Speaker has declared martial law.

“I have been thrown out of more meetings in this capital in the last 24 hours than I ever thought possible, as a duly elected representative of 825,000 citizens of north Texas.” Said Congressman Burgess.

Burgess asks the Speaker of the House to post the bailout bill on the internet for at least 24 hours instead of passing the largest piece of legislation in US financial history in the “dark of night.”

The most frightening part of Rep. Burgess’ one-minute floor speech is when he says, “Mr. Speaker I understand we are under Martial Law as declared by the speaker last night."

Regardless of the context in which facts lie, Martial Law declared on the American populace or Martial Law declared on Congress as a rule of procedure, they are our elected representatives and this is a very grave situation.

Here is the current "martial law" resolution applied through Sept. 29:
http://rules-republicans. house. gov/ShortTopics/Read. aspx?id=220

To report the martial law rule waiving a requirement of Clause 6(a) of Rule XIII with respect to consideration of any resolution reported from the Rules Committee, through the legislative day of September 29, 2008. It does not apply to any specific measure, but rather grants blanket autho
rity. Motion offered by: Summary of Motion Vote Tally
Dreier To specify that the provisions of the rule only apply to a bill addressing the current financial crisis or a bill relating to the extension of tax credits.
Defeated 4 to 9
Dreier To provide that the House shall not consider any rule on the same day it is reported from the Rules Committee, pursuant to this resolution, unless the Majority Leader has given at least 6 hours notice.
Defeated 4 to 9
Dreier To provide that the provisions of the rule only apply to resolutions reported unanimously from the Rules Committee.
Defeated 4 to 9
McGovern To report the martial law rule waiving a requirement of Clause 6(a) of Rule XIII with respect to consideration of any resolution reported from the Rules Committee, through the legislative day of September 29, 2008. It does not apply to any specific measure, but rather grants blanket authority.
Agreed to by voice vote
This is a Congressional procedure and it has happened before.

[WDCRob]

Re: “Mr. Speaker I understand we are under Martial Law as declared by the speaker last night,"

Quick question...

When a baseball team executes a 'suicide squeeze' how many people die?

[Rajiv]

Re: “Mr. Speaker I understand we are under Martial Law as declared by the speaker last night,"

In a suicide squeeze, the runner takes off as soon as the pitcher begins to throw the pitch, before releasing the ball. If properly executed, a play at homeplate is extremely unlikely. However, if the batter fails to make contact with the pitch, the runner is likely to be put out at homeplate (hence, "suicide"). Therefore, the suicide squeeze usually requires a skilled bunter who can make contact consistently, even on poor pitches.

[sn1p3r]

Re: “Mr. Speaker I understand we are under Martial Law as declared by the speaker last night,"

some more info on martial law rule for congress

http://www.cbpp.org/7-28-06bud-stmt.htm

[Judas]

Re: “Mr. Speaker I understand we are under Martial Law as declared by the speaker last night,"

Quick question...

When a baseball team executes a 'suicide squeeze' how many people die?

The same amount as when martial law is declared: zero. Words don't kill. Its the effect of the words down the road that kills. Its the erosion of rights that leads to the trouble, not the words themselves. One shouldn't get hung up on terminology.

As much as this isn't the "troops in the street" version, it still means unread, unvetted laws are being put into place by politicos in the dark of night. This is not a good thing.

[sn1p3r]

Re: “Mr. Speaker I understand we are under Martial Law as declared by the speaker last night,"

This sounds like taxation without representation in its early form....

[D-Mack]

Re: “Mr. Speaker I understand we are under Martial Law as declared by the speaker last night,"

Burgess asks the Speaker of the House to post the bailout bill on the internet for at least 24 hours instead of passing the largest piece of legislation in US financial history in the “dark of night.”

CNN was flashing this website yesterday all the time


http://financialservices.house.gov/

[D-Mack]

Re: “Mr. Speaker I understand we are under Martial Law as declared by the speaker last night,"

The same amount as when martial law is declared: zero. Words don't kill. Its the effect of the words down the road that kills. Its the erosion of rights that leads to the trouble, not the words themselves. One shouldn't get hung up on terminology.

As much as this isn't the "troops in the street" version, it still means unread, unvetted laws are being put into place by politicos in the dark of night. This is not a good thing.

Reminds me of Ron Paul and the Patriot Act

by James A. Hardin

March 11, 2002


In an interview with Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), The Beacon has uncovered at least one Congressman that admits that Congress sometimes passes unconstitutional laws. Furthermore, Congressmen know that these laws are unconstitutional at the time that the bills are passed. In addition, Rep. Paul revealed that laws are sometimes passed without the bills being available for reading and that often bills are passed on a "voice vote" (not a roll call vote) so that people back home will not know how a specific Congressman voted.


A recent example cited by Rep. Paul is the USA Patriot Act. This bill violates several constitutional protections and defines a "terrorist" as anyone who opposes a federal government program or policy. According to Rep. Paul, this means that a person who differs with the government on issues such as abortion, gun control laws, Free Trade Agreements, the United Nations, or any number of programs and activities could be defined as a terrorist and investigated by the government even though no crime is committed. The USA Patriot Act also gives the government the authority to establish a National ID Card for tracking and surveillance.

http://hubpages.com/hub/Ron_Paul_Pat...e_it_was_voted

[Slimprofits]

Re: “Mr. Speaker I understand we are under Martial Law as declared by the speaker last night,"

An explanation about Congressional Martial Law from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, written in 2006...

Under the martial law procedure, longstanding House rules that require at least one day between the unveiling of significant legislation and the House floor vote on that legislation — so that Members can learn what they are being asked to vote on — are swept away. Instead, under “martial law,” the Leadership can file legislation with tens or hundreds of pages of fine print and move immediately to debate and votes on it, before Members of Congress, the media, or the public have an opportunity to understand fully what provisions have been altered or inserted into the legislation behind closed doors. This is the procedure that the Leadership intends to use to muscle through important bills...

[..]

That House rule (Rule XIII(6)(a)) provides that a resolution (called a rule) reported by the Rules Committee cannot be considered by the House on the same legislative day that the rule is reported (except by a two-thirds vote of the House). This is supposed to ensure that Members of the House and the public have at least one day to examine and analyze what is in legislation before they have to debate and vote on it.

To maneuver around this House rule and rush the three proposals discussed above to a vote before they have been fully examined, the Rules Committee reported a rule late Thursday afternoon (H.Res. 958) that would waive the application of Rule XIII(6)(a). Instead, it would allow the Rules Committee to wait until the last minute and not to report the rules governing the consideration of these bills or to release the text of the bills themselves until immediately before debate and votes on the bills, and on the rules governing their consideration, commences.

This extraordinary procedure is known as a “martial law” rule because it suspends the normal procedures and safeguards and allows the House Leadership to operate in a more authoritarian fashion. It enables the Leadership to seek to ram a bill or conference report through before the Members have the opportunity to fully understand what they are voting on.

[The Outback Oracle]

Re: “Mr. Speaker I understand we are under Martial Law as declared by the speaker last night,"

As per my opinion in "It didn't pass", I believe that the Martial law provision was done so that this Legislation would fail. There is a plan of some kind in motion. Don't ask me what the hell it is!