Posted on 09/26/2013 6:03:44 PM PDT by Jim Robinson
Displaying their ignorance of the U.S. Constitution, Democratic bigwigs are excoriating Republican members of the House of Representatives for attaching a condition — no ObamaCare — to a stopgap bill to fund the government.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called it "extortion." Sen. Steny Hoyer labeled it "hostage-taking." Rep. Nancy Pelosi termed it "legislative arson."
In truth, what the House Republicans are doing is not blackmail. It's checks and balances in action. Congress has always had the power to attach almost any condition — including repealing or changing a law — to appropriations. The framers wrote the Constitution that way for good reason.
The nation's first plan of government, the Articles of Confederation, had no president. When the framers gathered in 1787 to write a second, more effective plan, they reluctantly created the presidency.
Reluctantly, because the founders worried that a president would accumulate power and spend flagrantly as they had seen the despotic kings of Europe do. Founders' Checks
To prevent that, the founders created checks and balances. In the words of James Madison, the Constitution's chief architect, each branch of government is "effectually checked and restrained by the others." Congress was given power over the purse — the power to appropriate money and to borrow it or raise it through taxes, because locating the power in Congress would force the president to constantly negotiate with Congress.
Fast forward 226 years to last Friday. President Obama called Speaker of the House John Boehner to say "he will not negotiate" with Congress on raising the U.S. government's borrowing authority. The president, who claims to be a constitutional scholar, needs a refresher course.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.investors.com ...
Yes, they are, Mr. President, though Madison expressed it with more elegance and precision.
"An elective despotism is not the government we fought for," Madison wrote in Federalist 58. A president with the power to borrow and spend at will would be just that. Sadly, large numbers of Americans are at risk of being bamboozled by the Democrats' inflammatory accusations and warnings of a government shutdown.
How can the government make young adults pay a fine if they don’t buy health insurance? What if the government decides to make us pay a fine if we don’t buy a solar panel?
BTTT !
Make Dingy pass a budget.
The Republican house holds all the constitutional cards on this one. We hold the nuts (so to speak). Keep the pressure on so they do not fold the winner.
I am afraid that won’t help due to the fact many of them are nutless.
And this is a surprise?!
That’s the whole ball of wax. If this is allowed to go forward, the SCOTUS precedent is set and it’ll be like Roe v Wade. Damn near impossible to overturn. This one is for all the rest of the constitutional marbles. The House must hold fast. They and they alone wield the constitutional power to defeat ALL of this unconstitutional power grab. Just say no.
No.
They may be personally nutless, but they hold the nuts (impossible to defeat cards) in this hand. They need to go all in and take all the chips.
what...is he a kid....this sounds like some punk on the playground talking....not the prez. well, maybe any other prez.
Yes. He is a petulant child.
Good thread, thanks.
“Constitution? We don’t need no stinkin’ Constitution”. “We Won”.
I really despise Barack Obama and everything he stands for.
I want to thank you Jim for this site. Saved my sanity many times over. I am almost at my 13th year anniversary with FR (although I was a 2 year lurker. Too scared to post, I had seen some newbie flames, lol). What happened to this country with the attempt to steal the 2000 election galvanized me to stop lurking, put on my big girl panties, and start posting. Haven’ regretted it since.
Ever since FDR, the government has changed from an entity that exists “to secure these rights...” into a monster that gives out benefits and freebies and privileges to those they approve of.
And by “approve of”, that means the people and corporations and financiers who help the government stay in power.
To stay in power whatever it takes. By whatever means are necessary.
Anyone who thinks elections can make a peanut of a difference is sadly mistaken. Elections, NO MATTER WHO THE “WINNER” is, only exist to perpetuate the frauds. They have long ceased to make a difference. Look at Roberts and Obamacare.
If the Dems win this time, a few years from now the Pubbies will win. Rinse and repeat.
Both parties are laughing their nuts off. Continuously.
It’s been said that when somebody says anything about anything, they say something about everything. They manifest their thinking.
In the case of Obama, he tells the public he specialized in Constitutional Law at Harvard. If he is so well versed as a legal professional in Constitutional Law, he wouldn’t make such foolhardy statements about Congress.
Which gets back to the above quote. Maybe he really isn’t such a qualified legal expert, lacks knowledge of the Constitutional process, and is continuing to talk about things he really isn’t very qualified to discuss.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.