There's this thing in the United States House of Representatives called a "discharge petition." In a nutshell, a congressman can write a bill and, when the leaders in charge of the House refuse to do anything with it, the congressman can file a discharge petition. The petition, if personally signed by 218 congressmen, forces the House Speaker to put the matter up for a vote by the House.
Why is this important?
Well, every Republican in the House of Representatives and a bunch of Democrats...
Published on June 24, 2010 04:00