The Senate gets all the attention these days. It's where the
confirmation battles happen, it's where the real action is on
legislation over bankruptcy and lawsuit reform, and it's where the
numbers game of majority rule plays itself out most starkly. With just
100 members, it's easy to keep track of who's who -- and how Joe
Lieberman or Olympia Snowe or some other centrist of the hour may be
selling out to the other side.

The House of Representatives just isn't that sexy. And if you need
proof, consider the veritable silence that greeted House Democrats'
release of a 150-page report this week documenting abuses of power by
House Republicans. The Washington Post dumped it into a short piece on
page A13. The New York Times seems to have ignored it entirely.

Here's what you're missing. The report, compiled by Rep. Louise
Slaughter, the ranking Democrat on the House Rules Committee, says that
House Republicans have become "the most arrogant, unethical and corrupt
majority in modern Congressional history," turning their backs on
promises they made, when they took control of the House in 1994, to
ensure a "full and free airing of conflicting opinions through hearings,
debates and amendments for the purpose of developing and improving
legislation deserving of the respect and support of the people."
Specifically, the report argues that Republicans have turned frequently
to the majority tools they once criticized, especially the use of
"closed rules" that prevent either debate over or amendments to pending
legislation. In the most recent Congress, the Democrats say, Republicans
imposed "closed" or "restrictive" rules on nearly 80 percent of all
legislation.

It's not exactly scintillating reading, but the report does paint a
picture of a Republican majority that won't tolerate debate from House
Democrats. Why isn't it getting more play? Part of the problem is the
Democratic House leadership's failure to make the report more
"bloggable" -- as Markos Moulitsas notes today at Daily Kos, the
Democratic House leadership doesn't have much of a web-friendly news
operation, and it posted the report only in link-unfriendly PDF format.
It's a small thing, but when you're in the House and you're out of
power, small things can make a difference.

Tim Grieve -- Salon