Welcome to one-party rule

A guest column from Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, about the disturbing beginning for the 111th Congress as Democrats move to consolidate all power and exclude any Republican input:

'What's Democratic about Pelosi's Rules?'

So much for a spirit of bipartisanship. While President-elect Obama pledged to make the government "open" and "transparent," House Democrats are making it virtually impossible for him to keep that promise. Today, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) kicked off the 111th Congress by stripping Republicans of any input in the legislative process.

By a vote of 242 to 181, Democrats reversed a set of fairness rules that dated back to Newt Gingrich's Contract with America. As a result of the vote, House Republicans can no longer offer substantive alternatives, propose certain amendments to Democratic bills, or force a free and open debate.

This is a significant development given the big ticket items on Obama's agenda that will cost taxpayer's trillions of dollars and potentially chart a new cultural course for the country.

By shutting down the opposition, Democrats will have a blank check to fast-track some of the most controversial policies of our day. Although minority leaders strongly protested the changes, they were powerless to stop them. As the GOP leadership wrote to Pelosi in an open letter yesterday, reverting to "undemocratic one-party rule" is especially dangerous now, as the government is experiencing an "unprecedented expansion of federal power and spending."

Liberals may see this as reprisal for their unpleasant stint in the minority, but playing a game of political keep-away affects millions of Americans who deserve a voice in the legislative process.

Publicly, the Democrat's have tried to position themselves as uniters. This latest move by Speaker Pelosi would suggest their spirit of cooperation was nothing more than campaign rhetoric designed to dupe voters into handing over the keys to Congress to a party with no appetite for accountability.

Contact Speaker Pelosi at (202) 225-4965 and remind her that Democrats were sent to Washington to represent popular interests not partisan ones.