'Self-executing' healthcare - unconstitutional
A congressional analyst says House Democrats would be violating the Constitution if they attempt to approve the Senate healthcare bill without voting on it.
The Constitution requires that a bill has to pass both the House and Senate to become law, but House Democrats are planning to simply "deem" that the House has passed the Senate healthcare bill without members even voting on it, and then send it to President Obama to sign.
New York Democrat Louise Slaughter, who chairs the House Rules Committee, may use a "self-executing rule" to say the Senate bill is approved by the House, even without a formal up or down vote on the measure. The House would then only vote on the "reconciliation" corrections to the bill.
Brian Darling, director of Senate relations for The Heritage Foundation, reports that never in the nation's history has legislation so "monumental" been passed by the "self-executing" rule.
"If the House takes up a bill - the Senate-passed Obamacare - refuses to have a direct vote on it, yet sets up a mechanism to send it to the president and admits as much as Democratic leadership is admitting that the House members do not want to vote directly on the Senate-passed bill, that is a violation of the Constitution, the letter and the spirit," Darling contends. "It's not something that individuals should tolerate. The courts should get involved in this, hopefully."
A vote on the Senate healthcare bill could take place as early as Friday night in the House, and the congressional analyst believes if the bill does not pass this week, the Democrats' healthcare reform plan may be dead for good.
Contact: Jim Brown
Source: OneNewsNow
Publish Date: March 17, 2010
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