(Oklahoma City)--In their latest display of legislative hypocrisy, House Democrats today pulled a political stunt designed to derail adoption of the Republican-backed House rules.

Targeting the conference committee process, the ever-shrinking group of Democrat lawmakers argued openness and transparency in their failed bid to convince the House to vote down the newly formed rules.

"Openness and transparency; if only they had cared about such things when they were in power, they might have more than their shrinking minority today," said Oklahoma Republican Party Chairman Matt Pinnell.

"The truth is, the legislature is far more open and transparent today, under Republican leadership, than it ever was under Democratic control. Republicans in the House and Senate have put in place several reforms over the past few years to achieve this, because they value honesty and transparency."

Chairman Pinnell pointed out that under Democratic control, there was an "anything goes" attitude when it came to the conference committee process.

"The Democratic leadership completely abused the conference committee process when they ran the show," said Pinnell. "There was no real limit to what they put in the conference committee reports, and they didn't give the members any time to even read what was in them. But the Republican leaders in the House have done away with those practices, and today the conference committee process is changed for the better."

Chairman Pinnell said the real point of today's Democratic gamesmanship was obstruction, not openness.

"Make no mistake about it: the real purpose of today's political stunt was obstruction, not some newfound devotion to the Republican ideals of open, transparent government. The less relevant they become, the more I think we will see House Democrats move to obstruct the conservative policies of the Republican leadership."

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Tags: Matt Pinnell, obstruction, ok house, OKGOP

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