Oh Yeah,That Darn Pesky Constitution!
Posted: 28 January 2013 Filed under: Civil Rights, Observations, Politics | Tags: Political Rhetoric, US Congress, US Constitution 6 Comments »Daily we are bombarded with accusations of this or that is unconstitutional….just about everything the Obama utters is claimed to be unconstitutional…….if one mentions the 2nd amendment, then the counter is that whatever is said is unconstitutional, the same with economic stimulus or well the list goes on and on and ………….
Recently the GOP in Congress has introduced a bill that basically says, “No Budget, No Pay”……meaning that if the US Congress does not pass a budget this year then the elected officials will not get their pay. Personally, I like the idea of no work, no pay but I would like it to be about ALL issues not just the issue du jour…….I have written this often….but as much as I like my idea or the GOP idea there is a problem……..
And what would the problem be? The Constitution!
But first, what is this all about?
“No Budget, No Pay” was originally proposed by No Labels, a group of Democrats, Republicans and independents dedicated to the politics of problem-solving. I helped found the citizens’ group in 2010 with Mark McKinnon, Nancy Jacobson, Bill Galston, Lisa Borders, Kiki McLean, David Walker and many others. The proposal was the cornerstone of the “Make Congress Work” plan released last year.
Now Boehner has jumped on this band wagon……The House has passed its “no budget, no pay” bill, which suspends the debt ceiling for three months and calls upon both chambers of Congress to pass a budget resolution for fiscal year 2014 by April 15. Under terms of the legislation, if lawmakers miss that deadline their salaries are withheld. That’s where the “no pay” part of the thing kicks in.
And now the constitutional part of this thing…….the 27th amendment to the US Constitution states……..”No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.”
Oops! You would think that the very person who wanted ALL legislation would be accompanied by a Constitutional verification would do a better job……you would think!
I have called our elected officials morons and idiots and NOTHING they do changes my opinion of them. If anything….I think less of them………
Many conservatives also make the mistake of comparing government debt and spending to that of the common household. It’s not!
The Federal Budget is NOT like a Household Budget: Here’s Why
Larry, I have preaching that for years……and the government cannot be run like a business regardless what Uncle Mitt want us to believe……
Reblogged this on American Liberal Times and commented:
John Liming of “American Liberal Times” says, “Some things are just too good not to share and this post from Opus Libertas is one of those thing in my humble opinion . . . so . . . here it is!
Thanx John for the reblog…..appreciate the consideration…..
Their ‘held back pay’ would go into an escrow account and paid to them in 2015 at the end of the 113th Congress and this is actually a tea bagger thing.
I recall tea party nation having it as one of their Constitutional (surprise) Amendment proposals submitted by (cough) ‘real’ patriots.
Like I said I like the idea of not paying these people until they learn how to do work and not sprinting to the news cameras……the key word in the amendment is “vary”…..Thanx for the visit and I hope to see you often……