Mitch Chooses Civility Over Liberty
It’s a sad day when people like Mitch McConnell throw in the towel rather than fight for our liberties:
The Senate will now hold the last of the procedural votes on health care, to cut off the last Republican filibuster of the bill, on Wednesday afternoon.
The vote on the debt limit will allow a temporary two-month increase, long enough to prevent the country from defaulting, but guaranteeing that there will be another angry debate over fiscal policy in the early part of next year.
The scheduling agreement, between the majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, and the Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, will allow the Republicans to say that they pushed the vote right up to Christmas Eve without having to ruin the holiday travel plans of senators and their aides, not to mention the staff in the Capitol that takes no sides in the various legislative fights but often takes a beating at times like this.
Mitch McConnell is part of the problem with the GOP. In fact, he’s typical of what’s wrong with DC Republicans. While TEA Party activists are calling for a peaceful revolution across the nation, Mitch McConnell is playing nicey nice with ruthless, power-hungry Democrats.
Anyone thinking that the Democrats’ health care legislation isn’t the biggest power grab in U.S. history is kidding themselves. That’s what it’s primarily about. The good news is that there are some Republicans who haven’t waved the white flag of defeat. Senators like Jim DeMint and Lindsey Graham (yes, you read that right) are challenging the legislation’s constitutionality:
But the Nelson deal swiftly drew the ire of Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who has asked his state’s attorney general to give the issue a legal review. He told Fox News on Tuesday that other states can probably bring a “constitutional challenge” over the issue. He said it’s unfair for one state to get special treatment while others pick up the tab.
“I don’t believe most senators believe this is OK,” Graham said. “I think it stinks. I think it’s sleazy.”
Graham said his state could file an equal rights suit under the Constitution. The Constitution calls for “equal protection” of all citizens.
Sen. DeMint is upset with a different aspect of the legislation:
Still another challenge is coming from Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., who on the Senate floor raised concerns about a section in the health care bill that appears to say that the Senate cannot make changes to it in the future.
“It shall not be in order in the Senate or the House of Representatives to consider any bill, resolution, amendment, or conference report that would repeal or otherwise change this subsection,” the section says.
DeMint said he found that “particularly troubling.”
“We will be passing a new law and at the same time creating a Senate rule that makes it out of order to amend or even repeal the law,” DeMint said. “I’m not even sure that it’s constitutional.”
Sen. Reid’s aide tried downplaying things this way:
The overall section the senator referred to applied to the creation of an Independent Medicare Advisory Board.
But a senior Reid aide noted that the language restricting the repeal of the measure only applied to one subsection, a subsection dealing with the manner in which the proposal for the board is introduced and considered in Congress. The aide said the language DeMint found “troubling” did not apply to board or its duties as a whole.
Plus the aide noted that the language can be waived by a 60-vote majority in the Senate.
I’m not a constitutional scholar but I can’t imagine legislation that explicitly says that Congress can’t change the legislation is constitutional. That language essentially gives the provision more protection than the Constitution. At least the Constitution can be amended. Sen. Reid’s language, if taken literally, doesn’t provide for amending.
It’s time for old-fashioned politicians like Mitch McConnell to resign their leadership positions. They’ve put a higher priority on comity than on fighting for liberty. That’s unacceptable and it shouldn’t be tolerated.
Technorati Tags: Surrender, Mitch McConnell, White Flag, Harry Reid, Constitution, Jim DeMint, Lindsey Graham, Republicans
Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog