“Legislation will be more focused, properly scrutinized, and constitutionally sound.”
– Speaker John Boehner’s speech on opening day of the 112th Congress
How quickly the GOP forgets…
Today, House Republicans announced a new “Dream and Pass” principle. On Friday they will bring to the floor a bill that would declare the GOP ‘So Be It’ spending bill law of the land if the Senate doesn’t act before that time. But that is not how the U.S. Constitution says our government works:
US Constitution – Article 1, Section 7, Clause 2:
Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a law, be presented to the President of the United States…
Here’s how this ridiculous proposal is playing in the media:
FOX News:
The proposal outlined Wednesday would be an unusual and likely unconstitutional move…
First, it would effectively deem a prior bill passed, even though it did not clear the Senate or win the president’s signature. Second, it’s unclear why or whether Republicans think the Senate and president would accept the so-called “Government Shutdown Prevention Act” when they didn’t approve the initial House plan.
The GOP plan appeared to be hastily concocted, and aides could not immediately explain how their new bill would solve the crisis or whether they expected the Senate to approve it.
In a practical sense, the bill means very little. The House cannot bind the Senate to pass a bill, and certainly cannot force the president to sign it. In addition, President Barack Obama has already said he would veto the GOP’s original seven-month bill, which is called H.R. 1, if it came to his desk.
Despite GOP claims to the contrary, the Government Shutdown Prevention Act would not become law unless the Senate also approves it and the president signs it into law, neither of which is expected to occur.
Just in case you didn’t hear them the first time, House Republicans said they vote again this week on a spending bill that already passed the chamber…
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R., Va.) said that if the Senate didn’t act, HR1 – the bill number for the House-passed legislation – would become the law of the land.
Of course, it wouldn’t, because the Senate already had a vote on the original measure and it failed to garner the support of a single Democrat.
Eric Cantor, a member of the House Republican leadership, suggested this morning that the House will pass a measure mandating that a House spending bill will become law if the Senate does not pass a spending bill of its own by next week.
How would that happen? Well, it won’t…
Today, House GOP leaders unveiled this new gimmick, which qualifies as creative, in a painfully absurd sort of way. After voting for spending cuts that have already been defeated, the new measure would say the already-failed budget plan would automatically become “the law of the land” — even without Senate approval or the president’s signature — just because House Republicans would say so…
Keep in mind, GOP leaders could be spending time right now on finding a solution to the budget mess. Instead, they’re spending time on a gimmick that makes it look like they’re finding a solution to the budget mess.
They must seriously believe Americans are fools.