By Bill Fike
A few days ago I posted on my Facebook account that the Hastert Rule, used by House Republicans to limit floor votes on certain bills, must be eliminated.
I did so after I learned that the newly elected Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, had the portrait of former Speaker Dennis Hastert removed from the Halls of Congress, after the former Speaker plead guilty in federal court to evading federal banking laws.
Mr. Hastert admitted to the breaking of such laws, and allegedly to paying large sums of hush money, in order to conceal a decades old sexual act with an underage student while he taught at a Yorkville High School, in northern Illinois.
Mr. Hastert by his alleged actions, not only victimized a young male student, but has wronged our entire nation by formally adopting the “majority of the majority” rule in the House, thus causing the dysfunction in the House of Representatives for the past 12 years. Our Founding Fathers are probably “turning over in their graves” with such a Non-Constitutional rule being instituted. Our government was not fashioned to work in this way.
One prime example of the “Hastert Rule” being used to stop important legislation, is when Speaker Boehner refused to allow a simple “yes or no” vote in the House, on a bipartisan Comprehensive Immigration Bill earlier passed by the Senate with an overwhelmingly majority of 68 Democrats, Republicans and Independents. Political pundits from both parties agree, that if John Boehner would have allowed a simple vote on this Immigration Bill, it would have easily passed with a preponderance of votes.
Future historians may point out that if the Republicans loose the Presidential election in 2016, they may very well trace the defeat to Speaker Boehner’s blind obedience to the Hastert Rule, causing the Republican’s failure to win the Hispanic vote. The Hastert Rule must GO!
Bill Fike owned and operated Winnie’s of Bloomington, Inc., (Winnie’s Menswear) from 1973 until his retirement in May of 2009. Bill also owned Churchill’s Formal Wear, LTD. from 1996 until he sold Churchill’s to James Carroll in March 2007. Bill and Cheryl just celebrated 40 years of marriage this past June 12, 2011 and they have one son, Joseph, and one daughter, Carmen. Bill was in the second graduating class of Illinois Central College in 1971, and then went on to Clark School of Aviation-Flight, obtaining both VFR and IFR flight certificates. Bill has been able to trace his family heritage back to his great, great, great grandfather’s family, A.C. Herron’s, (on grandmother’s side), who was one of the original settlers of Bloomington.
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