It feels better to win when you don't cheat.

All last week Democrats in Washington were threatening to use the self-executing rule to ensure health care reform legislation be passed through the House of Representatives. Luckily, by Saturday morning, they decided this act of “ramming” – to use a term often used to describe this situation – the proposed bill was not the right move. This was the smartest move Democrats could have made in this situation.

The first and foremost reason it was smart for Democrats to wipe away the self-executing rule also known as ‘deem and pass,’ ‘Slaughter Rule,’ or ‘Slaughter Solution,’ is that it is way too slippery of a slope when deciding just how constitutional it is. There was such an uproar deciding whether or not using this strategy would be legal that there no doubt would have been even greater pickets and possible riots than there are right now going on outside the Capitol, even though this strategy wasn’t even used. It’s kind of like playing the game Operation when you were a kid – you hope you can pull out the right parts and not hit the outer edge but you always did, and had Democrats tried to pull ‘deem and pass’ off, they would have definitely hit the edge of the Constitution, if not fall completely out of line.
Section 1 Article 7 of the United State Constitution specifically states that, “Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate,” clearly stating that both the Senate and the House must pass it, or vote on it, in order for it to make it to the desk of the president for him to sign it. The bottom line is that this so-called ‘deem and pass’ rule is unconstitutional – combining multiple items to be voted on is not a way around this very specific wording in the Constitution.

Another reason it was a smart move deals with simple morals. Sure, Republicans have been known to use this self executing rule in the past, but does that make it right? For example, Rules Committee Chairman from 2005-06 David Dreier used the self-executing rule more than 35 times. Former Speaker Newt Gingrich used the self-executing rule 38 times in the 104th Congress and 52 times in the 105h Congress, from years 1995-98. Former Senate Majority Leader Dr. Bill Frist justified using this action and ridiculed the minority – Democrats – for calling it the “nuclear option,” yet another name for this type of vote. Just because it’s been done in the past doesn’t mean the Democrats should have done it – two wrongs don’t make a right.

Many Republicans and critics of the health care reform legislation argue that using the self-executing rule for such an enormous piece of legislation, one that will not only affect one-sixth of the American people but essentially everyone, is what would have made it so wrong. But the bottom line is it is unconstitutional. It does not matter the reasons behind using this rule – all that matters is that it should not happen. Would you condemn one child molester more than another because he or she may have preyed on more children than the other? No. You would not allow the lesser of the two evils to get away with something just because one was worse, because no matter to what degree you look at it is wrong.

Democrats, had they used the self-executing rule, would have ruined their credibility in the health care debate. By deciding not to do the two-for-one vote on Sunday, they proved that health care reform was a legit debate, and that they could win it fair and square. What better way to prove you’re right by doing something the legit and right way, and still be able to get it done?

The health care reform legislation is enormous. It is being compared to the impacts of Social Security, the Civil Rights Act and Medicare. Had Democrats chosen to use ‘deem and pass,’ they would have ruined chances at truly being able to be compared with other historic legislations.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi made the right call when deciding to put an end to the possibility of using the self-executing rule. Hopefully it gives Democrats a little more credibility and put them in a little more positive light. By being able to achieve such a historic moment, with something so incredible, the way our Constitution clearly states it should be, President Barack Obama and Madame Speaker Pelosi have shown that hard work and passion truly do pay off.