Bonnie Kristian writes in The Week today that Michigan Congressman Justin Amash should run for Speaker of the House.
Kristian gives 5 reasons why Amash would do well in the House’s top leadership spot.
>>>Below are excerpts. CLICK HERE to read Kristian’s piece in full.
1. Amash is a stickler for House rules who has never missed a vote.
Yes,literally never. And he kept watch on the House floor during the PATRIOT Act debates this past spring, ensuring Republican leadership couldn’t sneak through an extension of the spying bill while other representatives were out of town…
2. Amash personally explains every vote he casts on his Facebook page.
And again, that’s a lot of votes. If he continued this practice as speaker, Amash could offer Americans an unprecedented look at the internal workings and politics of Congress. This hypothetical transparency upgrade isn’t on the table with any other candidate for the next speaker….
3. He’d make time for lawmakers to actually read the bills they pass.
Among Amash’s peeves about the way Congress is run: Lawmakers are often not given enough time to read legislation — let alone process and research it — before it’s time to vote. “Voted NO on HB 5872 because they gave us no time to read the bill,” he wrote on Facebook after one vote in 2010. “This bill was not vetted in committee nor on the House floor. It may be a good bill but it’s a NO when they dump a bill with no time to read or understand it.”
Amash has backed resolutions to guarantee more time for legislators to prepare for key votes and successfully passed a rule change that makes it easier for Congress (and the public) to understand exactly what effects a new bill will have on existing law…
4. Amash represents a new generation of Republicans — literally.
At just 35 years old and an Eastern Orthodox Christian of Syrian and Palestinian descent, Amash would bring some much-needed diversity to the national GOP.
His ideas are fresh, too: Amash was elected at the height of Tea Party fervor, but he’s better described as a libertarian Republican, more in step with millennials’ concerns about privacy, peace, and personal liberty…
5. John Boehner does not like him.
Boehner is leaving office withextremely low favorability ratings (many conservatives outright cheeredthe news of his resignation), so his history of antipathy for Amash should work in the Michigander’s favor.
In late 2012, Boehner purged Amash from the budget committee even though he’d voted with the committee’s Republican chair 95 percent of the time…”
