You wanted a vote on impeaching Vice President Dick Cheney? (Some of you out there did, anyway) You got it. Today in the U.S. House, courtesy of the Republicans. I'm not making this up.
It went like this, according to the AP:
House Democrats on Tuesday narrowly managed to avert a bruising debate on a
proposal to impeach Dick Cheney after Republicans, in a surprise maneuver, voted
in favor of taking up the measure.
Republicans, changing course midway through a vote, tried to force
Democrats into a debate on the resolution sponsored by longshot presidential
candidate Dennis Kucinich. The anti-war Ohio Democrat, in his resolution,
accused Cheney of purposely leading the country into war against Iraq and
manipulating intelligence about Iraq’s ties with al-Qaida.
“We’re going to help them out, to explain themselves,” said Rep. Pete
Sessions, R-Texas. “We’re going to give them their day in court.”
Democrats countered by offering a motion to refer the proposal to the House
Judiciary Committee for further study, effectively preventing a debate on the
House floor. That motion passed by a largely party-line vote of 218-194.
Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., voted with his party to refer the resolution to committee.
The White House used the same line Gov. Jim Douglas used about Democrats in Montpelier, saying that Democrats were shirking responsibilities on issues such as children's health insurance “and yet they find time to waste an afternoon on an impeachment vote against the vice president. ... This is why Americans shake their head in wonder about the priorities of this Congress.”
Of course, it would lasted only a short while in the House if the Republicans hadn't weighed in.
- Terri Hallenbeck
