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On Friday, the House passed H.R. 5, the Parents Bill of Rights, splitting along party lines with a vote of 213-208. While Republicans are taking a victory lap now, the future of the bill in the Senate looks grim, since the Democrat-controlled Senate will reject it. Plus, even if it passes the Senate, President Biden will veto it.
But that didn’t stop House Democrats from theatrically emoting on the House floor.
Here is a mashup of some of the tantrums of the House Democrats. Grab some popcorn and settle back to enjoy some comedy gold:
Here are some of the most insane moments from Democrats on the House floor testifying against a Parents' Bill of Rights. pic.twitter.com/KglKY7byBX
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) March 23, 2023
It’s always the same, isn’t it: MAGA! MAGA! MAGA! Along with “fascism” (courtesy of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez), and even “bringing guns into schools” (what?).
These people are shameless hucksters.
The panel on “The Five” at Fox News had fun dismantling the hysterics of the Democrats. Meanwhile, the liberal on the panel, talk show host Richard Fowler, flailed about trying to explain why the Parents Bill of Rights is a bad thing. Something about “paying for it” (Seriously? When did a liberal ever care about money?), or problems with enforcing it.
He may not have been as ballistic as his fellow travelers in the House, but Fowler fell flat, offering only weak tea arguments.
For those interested, here is a link to the text for HR 5, the Parents Bill of Rights. Meanwhile, Rep. Mike Flood (R-NB) posted the five main points of the bill at Twitter:
Screenshot: @USRepMikeFlood/Twitter.
However, believe it or not, five Republicans voted against the bill.
So who had this on their Bingo board? Five Republican members of the House voted against HR 5, instead joining with the Democrats. These include: Reps. Andy Biggs (AZ), Ken Buck (CO), Matt Gaetz (FL), Mike Lawler (NY), and Matt Rosendale (MT).
Lawler cited an amendment to the bill for his vote against it. The amendment states that parents have the right to know if a transgender girl is using the same bathroom or changing room that doesn’t correspond with their sex as his reason for voting against it. Apparently that was a bridge too far for him:
Unfortunately, a late amendment to the bill — that unnecessarily targeted certain children — went too far. Our goal as parents, educators, and legislators should be making lives better and safer for our children, and I am concerned that this amendment could do the opposite, putting vulnerable children at greater risk.
Yeah, I’m not buying that. Lawler, a freshman member of the House, comes from a district in New York state which Joe Biden won by 10 points. So rather than standing on parents’ rights, he decided to hedge his bets on being re-elected, and caved.
The other four GOP House members — Biggs, Buck, Gaetz, and Rosendale — all cited concerns about the federal government getting involved with local school districts.
Rosendale tweeted:
The answer to an out-of-control education system is not turning more control over to the federal government!
— Matt Rosendale (@RepRosendale) March 24, 2023
Meanwhile, Buck wrote an op-ed in the Washington Times in which he stated:
The measure has a fatal flaw, however. While seemingly reinforcing parents’ rights, it undermines the critical principle for conservatives: federalism, the bedrock of our liberty ….
More authority for parents in their children’s education is essential and should be the goal of every parent, every conservative and every local government. But expanding the federal government’s authority to usurp local control of education is the wrong way to achieve our goals.
That sounds all nice and federalist, but it doesn’t help parents at all. Meanwhile, moms and dads are looking for support from their legislators on behalf of their children’s education.
The late former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said: You go to war with the Army you have, not the Army you might want or wish you had at a later time.
Likewise, Republican legislators are going to war on behalf of parents and children while being hogtied by a high-level Federal entity: the United States Department of Education. And while the five dissenting GOP Congressmen have expressed a desire to dismantle that Cabinet-level department, it’s not happening anytime soon. Meanwhile, conservatives in Congress have to work around it. They have to fight with what they have.
Plus, while Rep. Buck, et. al., say that education should be totally local, what do they say about corrupt local education? Such as in cities where teachers’ unions dominate? After passage of HR 5, for instance, the American Federation of Teachers, under the execrable Randi Weingarten, issued a statement claiming that the bill would “divert their limited resources from teaching, censor education, ban books, and harm children who are just trying to be themselves and live their lives in peace.”
In particular, consider the city of Chicago.
On April 4, Chicagoans will vote for their next mayor. The two choices include the more moderate Paul Vallas, former CEO for Chicago Public Schools. His opponent is Brandon Johnson, a former organizer for the fraudulent Chicago Teachers Union.
As I wrote earlier this month:
If anyone thinks Brandon Johnson will fix the broken educational system in Chicago, they’re dreaming, because Johnson and the CTU are in bed with each other. Illinois Policy warns of “the precedent created when a union and City Hall meld into one. There would be no one left to represent the people.”
Strict federalism sounds noble, but parents are being deprived of their voices now. Their children are stuck in schools that expose them to outrageous, progressive curriculum, while many of them don’t have the financial resources to pull their kids from public schools and place them elsewhere. Or stay home to educate them there.
So let the Democrats rant and rave. And while the Parents Bill of Rights will die in the Senate, this legislation shows just who has the backs of moms and dads with kids in public schools.
Welcome, Instapundit readers!
Featured image: DonkeyHotey/flickr/cropped and altered/CC BY 2.0.
Cameron says: This is not something that should have ever been debated. Parents should have those rights regardless of what the federal government has to say. If we are forced to pay for the existence of schools and the salaries of those who work there, then we get a say in how things are run and we get transparency on what is happening.
And it’s adorable that Donkey Chompers calls this “fascist” when she wouldn’t know what that word means even if it was spelled out in small words.
Mr Frank says: They’re worried about the federal government being involved in local schools…yet the NEA.
Scott says: While I agree completely with everything in the parents bill of rights, I can understand the Repubs that voted against it, at least the ones who are doing it because they don’t want the fed involved in schools. Yes, the NEA already is, but if you’re working to get rid of a fed agency because it’s unconstitutional, the last thing you’d want to do is vote yes on anything that would give that agency any authority on anything, as it could be seen as giving legitimacy to the very agency you’re trying to disband.
Liz says: Looks to me like this is essentially an amendment to already existing legislation. Which offers more transparency for budget and curriculum. Not sure what paint chip is complaining about, below.
A reader says: This bill is moronic and it’s no surprise that you support it. Parents already have these rights. Want to know what your children are reading in school? Ask the teacher for the syllabus! Don’t want your children learning real, accurate history, participating in multicultural celebrations or whatever the current dogwhistle is today? Then have them sit those lessons out. (Hint: Jehovah’s Witnesses did this during the ‘80’s and ‘90’s and it can still be done today!) Want to have a say in the curriculum? Vote and run for school board or just go to the meetings. Want to control what your individual child/ren can read and check out from the school library? Pay attention to what they bring home and speak to the librarian about not allowing certain books home with your individual child! Seriously, the rights have always been there for parents and those who are whining now are either a) interested in political boogeymen and grandstanding and b) are trying to control everyone else. But therein lies the rub: what Conservatives really want is control. The party of supposedly “small government” just wants control over everyone else, which isn’t exactly small. If you don’t want your children or grandchildren exposed to certain things then be parents and pay attention and dictate for YOUR FAMILY ALONE. But don’t dictate to other parents what their children can and cannot do or learn or have access to. That’s what this bill is really about. It’s rule of the minority over the majority. And it’s stupid and makes you look like whiny snowflakes.
Scott says: Settle down Francis, and go back to eating paint chips… You make some good points, but then go off on your rant abut conservatives and shit all over it… More projection than a multi-plex going on there..
Liz says: Did you read this bill?
Looks to me like it simply requires the transparency necessary for parents to actually make those decisions.
Liz says: “But therein lies the rub: what Conservatives really want is control”
Conservatives aren’t the ones who forced people to get an EUA “vaccine” or lose their ability to feed and house their families. They didn’t force children to wear masks and prevent them from socializing for months. It is a really bad time for a liberal to complain about Conservative control.
Liz says: Please point to the offending sentence/sentences/paragraphs you find objectionable and unnecessarily “controlling” in this bill that you claim is “moronic”. I’ve read it twice. Could be I’m missing some portion but I suspect you haven’t bothered to read it at all.
Kim Hirsch says: “Ask the teacher for the syllabus! Pay attention to what they bring home! Speak to the librarian!”
Parents have been doing exactly that — why do you think they’re angry at what their kids are being exposed to? Why do you think they’ve been showing up at school board meetings (which we have often covered, BTW).
“Vote and run for school board!”
Again, parents have been doing that. Where I live, conservative Republicans have been running for local and state boards of education. They’ve also run for the state legislature! And guess what? A lot of them are winning! A lot of them are angry moms and dads, too! Doing just what you said!
But then — you don’t expect them to want control when they win offices? Let me explain to you slowly — you win elections, you gain some level of control.
You could’ve saved yourself a lot of time ranting and just said, “You conservatives need to shut up and sit down!” Because that’s what you want, isn’t it?
Mike Rios says: I was sentenced to a facility 47 years ago for some crimes that I committed. By the grace of God my life was turned around. It was a church based program reaching mainly teenagers and young adults who were in trouble with the law and or involved with drugs and alcohol.
At that time the program was in a pitch battle with the State of Texas over the basic premise of the government’s interest in a child’s safety and the depth of a parent’s rights. I learned a PHD’s worth of an education about the absolute lack of respect that governments hold for parental rights. Remember, this was almost 50 years ago and you can take it to the bank that there has been no let up in the belief of government minions that parental rights have no place among parents. It’s an immutable, irrefutable
ordinance of communist dictum that children are the express property, and under the strict oversight of the collective. ( In plain common man lingo, parents have zero rights nor interest in the raising, education, and discipline of children born to any family.)
I witnessed the State go to unbelievable and unimaginable lengths, tell any lie or story, and make any promise that the gullible will hope is true, in order to appropriate their supposed ownership of any and all children. Thus, it’s a very correct assumption and observation that any challenge to leftist abdication of any and all children will be met with violent screaming, stomping of the feet, and large fires of nappy, fleecy, shaggy, feathery, leftist hair waves in absolute disbelief that actual parents would absolutely and vehemently, with the conviction to the death, to refuse to surrender their parentage, care, and responsibility to their hereditary heritage one fingernail to such an irrresponsible and unfit parent as the government in any way, shape, or form. Let it burn baby burn!
I miss America.
Kim Hirsch says: Well said. Thank you for your insightful comments.
Liz says: This may sound off topic at first, but please bear with me:
My spouse has had to sign some disability paperwork as his condition precludes employment until it is resolved.
One paragraph at the end mentioned that ALL of his personal information, upon signing, could at any time be released to ANY third party and the company has no obligation or liability in the matter and the third party can use it however they wish.
He called the company and explained that he was happy to release all of the health information pertinent to the condition for which he was filing for disability, but had reservations about releasing all of it and giving any unknown 3rd party carte blanche access without good reason. The person on the phone explained about HIPPA protection and all that…to which he read her the paragraph that contradicted her claim. She seemed to have no idea what the policy of her company was, and she is the person entrusted to answer policy questions.
They allowed him exemption for signing that portion as long as he released to them the healthcare information needed. But it seems his refusal was very very unusual…unusual enough no one seemed to have ever come across this refusal before (my spouse also contacted a lawyer to make sure he was reading the policy correctly before refusing).
Moral of the above story is….I think people are being conditioned to agree with everything (or disagree, depending), without reading. It is even true of our representatives….I’m sure the politicians screaming about the fascism of this legislation haven’t bothered to read a word of it.
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