The Speaker Speaks, Sort Of

Here's what I got from Speaker Pelosi's office last night: "The Speaker believes passing ENDA is a top priority and hopes that we can bring ENDA up as soon as possible. That being said, the right time to bring the measure to the floor will be when we have the votes."

When I pointed out that, according to my whip count, we have a majority in the House and Senate, I was told that the Committee has not yet marked up the bill, so there is nothing to be whipped. "I would add anytime when asked about unofficial whip counts that it's important to have the Committee product because you cannot accurately whip a hypothetical bill. Whipping a hypothetical bill yields only hypothetical results."

But according to that logic, how can one ever know if there are enough votes to move forward? Oh, I see, we have to first move forward to mark up the bill. But are there enough votes to justify moving forward to mark up the bill? I don't know, and it is apparently impossible to know, because one must first mark it up in order to determine whether there are enough votes to mark it up.

Circular logic. The Oracle at Delphi did better.

Last night on the Rachel Maddow show, Nancy Pelosi appeared for practically the full hour, discussing health reform. She said something that bears significantly on the issue of moving ENDA forward: "Every bill is a heavy lift. There is not one easy bill. And so the issue is, when you have the votes, you take the vote, and you win, but never expect to be easy."

In other words, if we have the votes on ENDA, move forward to a vote. How many times does it need to be said that WE HAVE A MAJORITY OF VOTES ON ENDA. IT IS DOCUMENTED AND CLEAR. MUST WE GO TO SPEAKER PELOSI'S OFFICE AND SHOW HER THE ROLL OF ENDA SUPPORTERS?

Okay, putting that aside, I asked whether the Speaker supports moving the bill forward to a markup now.

"The Speaker has absolute confidence in Chairman Miller to determine the appropriate timing for his committee's work on ENDA."

Okay, great, so I suppose that means that she's ready whenever Chairman George Miller is ready.

Chairman Miller - you have your marching orders - get going on ENDA!

Why The Speaker's Words Are Insufficient To Get Her Off The Hook

It's the Speaker's job to Speak, and she's not "Speaking." I don't mean mouthing words. I mean speaking definitive orders. If the Speaker called Chairman Miller and said move the bill, do you think he would say no?

And if the Speaker says mealy-mouthed things like "I support whatever George Miller decides to do whenever he feels like doing it," wink, wink, who should I point to - Speaker Pelosi or Chairman Miller?

If a business sales department fails to sell its product, and the leaders of the organization fail to take any action to correct that, who's more responsible, the underlings or the leaders?

The leaders. The Speaker. It's the Speaker's job to sell the product.

The holdup is certainly somewhere: Is it Speaker Pelosi? Is it Chairman George Miller? Is it Rep. Barney Frank? It could be all three, but Speaker Pelosi is in charge as a leader down there, and it is her responsibility to move this thing along.

I'm putting my money on the hold-up being in the Speaker's office. Could we have better numbers? Undoubtedly. But a majority is a majority. What do you want, a bow on it?

The Speaker needs to get in there and push, just like she is doing for health reform. If she sits on the sidelines and wrings her hands about how we don't have the votes (even though we do have majorities in favor of ENDA in both houses), well then, isn't she just throwing in the towel?

What is Speaker Nancy Pelosi waiting for?

Why You Should Call Speaker Pelosi Right Now And Every Day Until ENDA Moves To A Vote

It's time for you to stand up for your job rights. You may be sitting pretty with a job now, but it's not going to take much for the Republicans to sweep in and start changing the rules, and when there's another financial shake-up, you could be standing in the rain with cap in hand, begging for a job.

Boys, you may find yourself putting away pictures of your partner and pretending to be straight as an arrow, hiding that gender non-conformity, looking in the mirror and practicing your walk. Girls, you may find yourself starting to look at dresses, buying Cosmo, and hanging out in the makeup department seeking tips from the Sarah Palin lookalike behind the counter.

Wake up people! Act like you deserve your rights! Put away the elitist nonsense about ENDA being so last century, and telling ourselves that there is no more discrimination against us, and we don't need ENDA! Sure, now that Obama's in power, everyone is so "minority-friendly" and so "I love you gay people-ish." But when a host of Bob McDonnells sweep into Congress in November, and a President McDonnell is elected in 2012, it will be YOU who is so last century.

Call Nancy Pelosi and demand that ENDA (HR 3017) move to a vote in the House.

202-225-4965.