House Rules

This is how House Republicans make sure nothing anyone may or may not support ever gets done. Remember the horse bill? Here come the poison pills...

The House Agriculture Committee attached "poison pill" amendments yesterday to a bill designed to outlaw horse slaughter, potentially damaging the ban's chance of passage.

The committee voted 37-3 to send the bill to the House floor with an unfavorable recommendation. The amended bill would make the federal government financially responsible for thousands of "unwanted horses," require compensation for horse owners who could no longer sell their animals to slaughter plants and establish a pilot project to dump the horses in either Kentucky or New York. The bill's sponsor is Rep. John Sweeney, R-N.Y. ...

Another amendment "grandfathers" in the three existing slaughter plants, allowing them to continue selling U.S. horsemeat to markets in Europe and Japan. About 90,000 American horses, often young healthy animals, were butchered last year, then sold as pricey specialty meats overseas. (Read the full story at the Lexington Herald-Leader)