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By Erick Posted in Congress | Culture of Corruption | Steny Hoyer — Comments (2) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Witness Steny Hoyer's transformation into that which he hates.

House rules dictate that votes will last 15 minutes. The GOP famously held open controversial votes for longer than that to reverse what looked like defeat. Famously, the vote on the Medicare Prescription Drug bill was held open for three hours while Tom DeLay twisted arms and made demands to get the bill passed.

Hoyer and the Democrats used that issue to highlight the culture of corruption. In fact, so adamant were the Democrats that they'd never do such a thing, when they took over the House they passed a rule prohibiting the extension of time for votes.

Now in the majority and facing their first close vote with the $124 billion wartime spending bill, House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) is leaving open the possibility that Democrats might extend the vote beyond the usual 15 minutes.

Asked Wednesday night whether Democrats would keep to the time limit, Hoyer paused, then pointed out that many votes can run a few minutes longer for various reasons. Pressed further by a reporter who pointed out that Democrats themselves had often criticized Republicans on this very point, Hoyer said, "It won't be open three hours. How about that?"

"How about 30 minutes?" the reporter asked.

"I won't guarantee it," Hoyer replied.

And so he becomes that which he hated.