Rep. Louise M. Slaughter

Ranking Member, House Committee on Rules

Representing New York’s 28^th District

PRESS RELEASE

Slaughter Unveils “Grand Old Pretzels” Scale to Untangle GOP Contortionism
                                                                                                 
Unwillingness to compromise has forced GOP to “twist themselves into a political pretzel”

Scale to hold them accountable this year

WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (NY-28), Ranking Member of the House Rules Committee, today released the following statement on the first edition of her new scorecard, “GOP: the Grand Old Pretzels.”
                        
Slaughter and the Rules Committee Democrats will regularly issue the “Grand Old Pretzels” index to rate, on a scale of 1-5, the level of contortions House Republicans will go through to twist their bills through the House. The more contortions, the more Pretzels they will be awarded.

Today she penned a blog on the new rating system that can be viewed here.

“One year ago the GOP took the Speaker’s gavel with grandiose promises of a new era of openness and transparency. They sold us a bill of goods in their ‘Pledge to America’, committing to job creation and a return to regular order.

“After a year in power, it is clear that the only thing the GOP was really ever committed to was an unwillingness to compromise, come hell or high water. This unyielding Republican recalcitrance manifested itself in the near constant threat of government shutdown, default, and even a downgrade in American credit.

“It also manifested itself in some curious procedural contortions. Time and again, House Republicans were forced to twist themselves into a political pretzel in an attempt to thwart the compromises they so desperately sought to avoid. For acrobatics like this, the House Republicans should consider charging admission to the House Gallery this year, and bill itself as the greatest show on Earth.”

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United States House of Representatives
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