Liberalspeak: “living” and “breathing” equal “morbidly advanced leprosy.”
When I breathe in and out, parts of my body do not fall off. True, there have been times when part of my body has gone numb for one reason or another, but simply inhaling and exhaling wasn’t the cause.
I wonder: do Jonathan Chait and David Dayen concur with that old liberal trope about the Constitution being a “living, breathing document?” And if so, does “living” and “breathing” mean parts randomly dropping off?
Parts like Section 7, Article 1:
All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.
Or Section 8, Article 1, which enumerates the Powers of Congress:
The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;
To borrow money on the credit of the United States;
In my previous post, I mentioned how Chait and Daven want the Obama administration to “declare the debt limit unconstitutional and hope the Supreme Court agrees.”
Right. So. What’s that mean, exactly? What do they expect Obama to do? Incur debt without Congressional approval? Or do they expect SCOTUS to order Congress to incur debt? Neither has the Constitutional power to do either, so if we’re worried about unconstitutionality…
Ha! I crack myself up. They’re not really worried about the Constitution – only about the government getting to spend however much it wants.
Ah, wait, maybe there is an explanation. Dayen writes:
…the Obama Administration simply orders bills rung up by Congress to be paid.
Well, that’s just awesome. Hey, maybe you could throw in a sandwich while you’re at it, Congress!
On the one hand, that’s just embarrassing commentary. Florence Henderson embarrassing, even. Sure, just order the bills paid! Except who, exactly, has the authority to raise the revenues to pay those bills? Assuming, of course, that more revenues have to be raised?
Congress, and only Congress.
On the other hand, simply ordering the bills paid without bothering about how they’ll be paid…that’s kinda how Obama’s been running things all along. Just say more, and everything will be fine!
Maybe Dayen’s angling for a job in the White House.
Previously:
Comments are closed.