The behavior of the Republicans majority leadership in the House reminds me of the last paragraph in Animal Farm.  “Twelve voices were shouting in anger, and they were all alike.  No questions, now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.”

Instead of using their majority to leverage good legislation against the Senate, House leadership has been coercing its members to rubberstamp Democrat bills that pass the Senate.  Last month, McCarthy once again whipped up support for a radical VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) bill using a majority of Democrat support.  If you think that was the last time leadership plans to pass Democrat bills, think again:

asked on CNN Sunday if more breaches of the Hastert rule on topics including gun control and immigration reform are possible if bills come over from the Senate, McCarthy didn’t answer the question directly, pointing to Boehner’s comments earlier in the week.

“The speaker says he wants to, if you listen to his press conference the other day, he will pass bills that the House passes,” said McCarthy on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “He’ll pass bills that the Republicans are moving forward.”

The House in recent months broke the Hastert rule three times in passing bills to avoid the “fiscal cliff” by raising tax rates on some earners, Hurricane Sandy relief, and the Violence Against Women Act.

If McCarthy is recalcitrant to categorically rule out passing amnesty or gun control without a majority of Republicans in support of the bill, they have truly shown themselves to be Republicans-in-name-only.  It’s amusing to go back in time and recall how these same people inveighed against the Pelosi Congress for bringing legislation to the floor under closed rules (no amendments allowed).  Now there truly is no difference between the men and the pigs.

For this election cycle, I’ll be working to find men who are willing to fight back in this civil war waged by the establishment.  As Erick noted last week, we need men (or women, just not pigs) who are willing to take down rules when leadership foists on them bad legislation.  That is the only way to stop this insidious pattern of passing bills with Democrat votes.  Congressman Matt Salmon, a veteran of the class of ’94, is leading the way.

Later this year, there will be a bipartisan push to raise the debt ceiling, pass gun control, amnesty without real immigration enforcement, an extension of federal transportation programs, a farm bill, and an extension of student loan subsidies that are creating a massive education bubble.  Undoubtedly, leadership has every intention of passing whatever Obama and Reid will support.  If conservatives in the House harbor any sense of intellectual honesty, they will pledge to vote against the rule on any resolution that brings a Democrat bill to the floor.  Otherwise, they as may as well join the pigs.

Cross-posted from The Madison Project