“Schoolhouse Rock has taught generations of Americans how a bill becomes a law,” says Rep. ” said Rep. Fortney “Pete” Stark (D-CA), the ranking Democrat on the U.S. House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee in a press release just issued by 11 U.S. Congressmen.
“As most school children can attest,” Stark says, “a bill is just a bill on Capitol Hill until it passes both the House and Senate in identical form and is signed by the President ? or Congress overrides his veto. I’m sorry we’ve had to resort to this lawsuit, but I am committed to protecting our democracy.”
11 ranking Members of the United States House of Representatives will be filing a law suit in U.S. District court on Friday, The BRAD BLOG has learned, seeking a permanent injunction of “Deficit Reduction Act” which George W. Bush signed into law on February 8th of this year, despite its not having passed both houses of Congress.
The BRAD BLOG has obtained an exclusive copy of the suit to be filed tomorrow by Congressman John Conyers (D-MI) and 10 other Democratic law makers, as well as a timeline of the events in the matter as compiled by the House members.
— COMPLAINT IN FULL [WORD format].
— Timeline of the events [WORD format].
“On February, 8 at 3:43 p.m.,” the complaint alleges, Bush signed a bill that “never was passed by the United States House of Representatives.”
The difference in the language of the House and Senate bills, is a clause requiring Medicare to cover rent for “certain durable medical equipment.” The version of the bill pased by the House requires payments for 36 months. The Senate version requires payments for only 13 months.
The difference in the cost of the federal outlays for the two different versions is said to be approximately $2 billion.
The two houses of Congress were never able to pass a joint version of the bill, and yet, House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) and President Pro Tem of the United States Senate, Ted Stevens (R-AK), “signed a statement attesting that the bill signed by the President had been passed by both the United States House and the United States Senate.”
“Once again the Administration is playing fast and loose with the Constitution,” Conyers says in a Press Release (posted in full at the end of this article).
“Anyone who has passed the sixth grade knows that before a bill can become a law, both Houses of Congress must approve it. That the Bush Administration is now saying otherwise underscores the Constitutional crisis we are facing in this country.”
Several other members were equally clear in the press release which excoriates the Bush Administration for yet another Constitutional transgression.
Says Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Committee in the release: “Time and time again the President has sought to discard the Constitution as if it were an old shoe.”
Congressman Charles Rangel (D-NY), Ranking Member of the Ways and Means Committee is quoted as saying, “the Constitution is clear — legislation signed by the President must be passed by both the House and the Senate. In allowing the President to sign a bill that was not passed by the House, Congressional Republicans made a mockery of the legislative process.”
The “FACTS” section of the complaint explains the matter quite clearly…
33. On February 1, 2006, the United States House of Representatives passed a bill purportedly identical to S. 1932, but Section 5101 of this bill set the duration of Medicare payments to rent certain durable medical equipment at 36 months instead of 13 months.
34. This additional 23 months of Medicare rental payments for durable medical equipment in the House-passed bill amounted to an increased federal outlay of approximately $2 billion.
35. The United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate therefore failed to pass identical versions of S. 1932.
36. The United States Constitution requires that in order for a bill to be signed into law by the President and to take effect, the House and the Senate must pass identical versions of the bill.
37. On February 8, 2006, the version of S. 1932 presented to and signed by the President set the duration of Medicare payments to rent certain durable medical equipment at 13 months.
38. United States House Speaker Dennis Hastert and President Pro Tem of the United States Senate, Ted Stevens, signed a statement attesting that the bill signed by the President had been passed by both the United States House and the United States Senate. It is undisputable, however, that the House and Senate did not pass the same bill.
39. United States House Speaker Dennis Hastert, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, and President George W. Bush were all aware by late morning on February 8, 2006, prior to the signing ceremony, that the bill presented to the President reflected the Senate bill but was never passed by the House. On information and belief House Speaker Dennis Hastert, through his staff, had asked the administration to delay proceedings until the problem could be addressed by the House and Senate.
40. The bill signed by the President, on February 8, 2006 at 3:43 p.m., never was passed by the United States House of Representatives.
41. On February 8, 2006 at approximately 7:30 p.m. the United States Senate passed S.Con.Res. 80 by unanimous consent, stating: “That the enrollment of the bill S. 1932 as presented to the President for his signature on February 8, 2006, is deemed the true enrollment of the bill reflecting the intent of the Congress in enacting the bill into law.” The assertion by the Senate that the bill is law can have no legal effect and has no bearing on such as 13 is not 36 months.
42. The enrollment of bill S. 1932, as prescribed in S.Con.Res. 80, did not take effect as law under the Constitution to render the bill a law since the bill neither had been considered nor voted on by the House of Representatives.
43. The bill presented to the President and signed by him could not become a law.
44. The President, members of his cabinet and federal corporations are treating as a law, a bill that is not the law of the United States.
As remedy in the case, the House Members seek an order from the Circuit Court “declaring that the purported Act is not a law because it does not meet the requirements of Article I, Section 7 of the United States Constitution,” as well as a temporary restraining order and a permanent injunction to stop implimentation of the act.
The complete text press release issued by the House Members filing suit, follows…
Contact: Jonathan Godfrey
Conyers and 10 Ranking Members File Suit to Stop Budget Cuts that Violate Constitution
(Detroit, MI) Congressman John Conyers, Jr., joined by 10 additional Members of Congress, brought legal action to enjoin the implementation of the Deficit Reduction Act.
On February 8, the President signed a version of the “Deficit Reduction Act” that had passed the Senate, but had never passed the House (the House passed version of the bill provided for 36 months of durable medical equipment funding whereas the Senate bill provided for 13 months ? amounting to a roughly $2 billion difference) As such, the version signed by the president should not be considered a “law,” as it does not comply with the constitutional requirement that the same exact bill pass both Houses of Congress. According to public accounts, the Republican leaders of the House and the Senate, as well as the President, were well aware the legislation before the President had not passed the House of Representatives before the presidential signing ceremony.
“Once again the Administration is playing fast and loose with the Constitution. Anyone who has passed the sixth grade knows that before a bill can become a law, both Houses of Congress must approve it. That the Bush Administration is now saying otherwise underscores the Constitutional crisis we are facing in this country,” said House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Congressman John Conyers, Jr. “Over 200 years of legal precedent dictate that such discrepancies can be handled through simply refiling the paperwork, or re-voting the whole bill. Because the bill cuts billions of dollars to the Nation’s most needy, the Republican leadership prevented a re-vote at all costs.”
Congressman John Dingell, Ranking Member of the Energy and Commerce Committee noted that, “this lawsuit points out the evils of combining political expediency and constitutional shortcuts. There is no excuse for avoiding basic institutional responsibilities that the American people expect to be carried out honestly.”
“Republican leaders were in such a rush to ram this bill through Congress and get the President to sign it that they violated the Constitution in the process,” said Rep. George Miller, Ranking Member of the Education and Workforce Committee. “And they were in a rush because this was a very, very bad bill. They wanted to spend as little time as possible having to explain their backwards priorities – like cutting $12 billion from financial aid programs for college students – to their constituents.”
Congressman Charles Rangel, Ranking Member of the Ways and Means Committee explained that “the Constitution is clear — legislation signed by the President must be passed by both the House and the Senate. In allowing the President to sign a bill that was not passed by the House, Congressional Republicans made a mockery of the legislative process. This suit attempts to right the wrong, restoring order to the bicameral process required by the Constitutional drafters.”
Rep. Bennie Thompson, Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Committee added, “time and time again the President has sought to discard the Constitution as if it were an old shoe. During these difficult times, it is imperative that we here in Congress adhere to process set forth by our Constitution to ensure that the American people are getting what they paid for when they voted us into office. I don’t believe that our founding fathers gave the Bush Administration a free pass to only comply when it suits their current political needs.”
“This lawsuit will test the intellectual integrity of those who argue for the literal application of the original intent of the constitution, since the requirement that both houses of Congress pass laws in identical form is one of the least ambiguous provisions in that document,” said Rep. Barney Frank, Ranking Member on the Financial Services Committee.
“Schoolhouse Rock has taught generations of Americans how a bill becomes a law,” said Rep. Stark, Ranking Democrat on the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee. “As most school children can attest, a bill is just a bill on Capitol Hill until it passes both the House and Senate in identical form and is signed by the President ? or Congress overrides his veto. I’m sorry we’ve had to resort to this lawsuit, but I am committed to protecting our democracy.”
In addition to Rep. Conyers, 10 other plaintiffs include the Ranking Members on relevant committees and subcommittees impacted by the Deficit Reduction Act: Rep. John Dingell, Ranking Member on the Energy and Commerce Committee; Rep. Charles B. Rangel, Ranking Member on the Ways and Means Committee; Rep. George Miller, Ranking Member on the Education and Workforce Committee; Rep. James L. Oberstar, Ranking Member on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee; Rep. Barney Frank, Ranking Member on the Financial Services Committee; Rep. Collin C. Peterson, Ranking Member on the Agriculture Committee; Rep. Bennie Thompson, Ranking Member on the Homeland Security Committee; Rep. Louise M. Slaughter, Ranking Member on the Rules Committee; Rep. Fortney “Pete” Stark, Ranking Member on the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee; Rep. Sherrod Brown, Ranking Member on the Commerce Health Subcommittee. The Congressmen are represented by Dykema and Gossett PLLC and Professor Erwin Chemerinsky, a constitutional expert at Duke Law School.
##109-JUD-042706##
OMG Bush is trying to take over the world! Everyone hide under your beds!
I’ve been following this for awhile, curious to see how "the Decider" will respond this.
Wonder if he has the Constititution printed on his toilet paper….
Ricky – yes, I’m sure that’s his wet dream – but regarding the topic, he’s just trying once again to prove once again that he doesn’t have to obey the law.
And we’re not hiding under our beds.
We’re fighting him – and we’re in the majority now.
Deal with it.
Note to self: Proofread dammit *L*
Now THIS is good news. Congress is broken, and they’ve found a way to fix it. Dismantling K Street, leveling it, completely demolishing every last stick, would also be a BIG help. I’d really like my country back, thank you.
If Gonzales said it was OK, it must be OK. Gonzales wouldn’t lie, would he?
Oh, that’s right. I forgot. Cancel the above.
Despot,….. or "Decider"
Despotism : Link
Oh, man oh man! Ricky needs to watch the video at The Old Turk’s link, over and over, and take notes! Hint: You want all the ratings to be as close to Democracy on the Democracy/Despotism scale as possible, Ricky. Practice. Practice. Practice. You can do it.
Jeez… next thing you know they’ll be saying Congress has to declare war before we go to war.
We already posted, where Bush, according to witnesses, said that the "Constitution was just a piece of paper." Like Hitler said about the agreement with Chamberlain, after he invaded Poland and France. The difference, is that I believe in this country we are not going to take it.
Bush seems to have confused "best president" with "most memorable", so he’s doing everything to get in the history books. Trouble is, he and all the Republicans in elective office are making a mockery of the entire Democratic governance system. They’re real revolutionaries and they’re dangerous.
If our election systems aren’t completely worthless then Americans (both Dems and Repubs!) should remove every single one of them from office.
Join a grassroots movement to impeach Bush –
3 states have legislators who have introduced
measures, read up on Jefferson’s revenge.
http://www.impeachbush.tv/index.html
list of states and things you can do to get the ball rolling.
Impeach pac, electing congress to impeach Bush/Cheney
http://www.impeachpac.org/
Tons of impeach/activism links here
http://www.impeachbush.tv/links/impeachbush.html
http://impeachbushcheney.net/
The Filthy dirtbag a. scalia needs to be impeached . . . . . F’im. . .
Ricky, to paraphrase a quote I made many ages ago:
‘Tis better to be silent and have people believe you’re a jack-ass, than to make comments, such as yours here, and remove all doubt!
Another example of how these criminals act like everything’s all right just because they say so. Kudos to our hero John Conyers for catching this one, and again doing something to stop these creeps.
Bush: He’s a DIVIDER not a DECIDER.
When is John Conyers going to wake up and realize he’s living in the Wild West!
Bush don’t need no stinking constitution!
Let’s ask Orrin if this right was somewhere in the new Patriot Act. (Nobody reads these things, you know!)
"We’re fighting him – and we’re in the majority now.
Deal with it. "
K. Umm. Reps control both houses, the White House and the Supreme court? We havent lost an election since 2000.
Which majority do you control? I know you libs would like to get rid of the voting process and just declare the majority, seeing as you cant win an election. But too bad, you control nothing.
The only place you are in the majority is on this blog.
I CANT WAIT TILL NOV.
Why can’t I catch any whiff of this in the mainstream media???
Oh, I forgot…
Thanks Brad!
When is a leak not a leak
when is a law not a law
and:
"When the truth is found to be lies
and all the joys within you dies
don’t you want somebody to love
don’t you need somebody to love
wouldn’t you love somebody to love
you better find somebody to love"
(Jefferson Airplane).
Ricky – I’m sorry, I forgot who I was posting to. Let me try to put it into words even you can understand.
"WE are fighting him – and WE are in the majority"
"WE", in the context of what I said, means those of us who don’t approve of George W. Bush – "him".
Though that does include some in Congress and the Supreme court, they are a VERY small percentage of the population.
In other words – the majority of the people in this country, MOST of whom are NOT members of Congress or the Supreme Court, and who are NOT President or Vice President, do not like or trust George Bush, and want him out of office.
Does that help? Do you understand now, or do I need to break it down even further?
BTW, "YOU" – not meaning you personally, but meaning the neo-cons who have taken over the Republican party – lost the last TWO elections.
And I know that’s a bit too complicated for you to understand, but it would take too long for me to explain, and I’m not sure even then, you could grasp the concept.
Just stay out of our way, and know that we’ll take care of things and fix what’s broken (I was going to say "for your children and your children’s children", but most of us here hope with all of our hearts that you’ll never grow up and procreate)
Do you even know how republics work?
Ricky, the issue here is do you know how they do not work?
How often do you come out from under your bed Ricky?
For Ricky et al…this is how bush & co. take care of our troops:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/042706C.shtml
Honestly, Ricky, and without meaning any insult or aspersion, you have things exactly backward.
You’re probably too young to remember Richard Nixon. I do. He tried the same "silent majority" approach you favor, i.e., "…liberals do all the complaining, meanwhile the majority remains silent and supportive of brave conservatives who uphold American ideals."
It worked for a while. Nixon was re-elected in 1972 in a landslide, thanks to good news (manipulated) from the Paris peace talks (Vietnam War) and McGovern’s problems, including Eagleton and G.O.P. swift-boating of his own positions on issues.
Then people caught on. Nixon went downhill fast, just as Bush is going downhill now. And the parallels go beyond Nixon and Bush…both men had vice presidents who were in deep doo-doo, and both had press secretaries who lost control of their own previous explanations of things that couldn’t be explained away to begin with.
On Nixon’s worst day in office, he was vastly superior to Bush on foreign affairs. He was also about 50 points higher on the I.Q. scale. Bush does have two advantages over Nixon, true. Both houses of Congress are Republican, and the Supreme Court is conservative. But to say, "I can’t wait until November" is to say that nothing Bush has done or might do, no matter how heinous, will be considered by voters who already disapprove of him by a 2-1 ratio. You’re saying Americans are arrant fools and don’t know their own minds.
Unfortunately for Bush, members of Congress and Supreme Court justices only get one vote each on Election Day. Yes, that’s how republics work, Ricky…one man, one vote. Except, of course, when somebody fiddles around with election machines, which is how Bush was elected twice.
We all know by now (or should) that pRicky is just not worth even responding to. He’s not even CLOSE to being a "decent troll", let a lone a decent human being.
Shrubby has DISapproval rates near 70%.. THAT is the MAJORITY that pRicky can’t get his pea-brain to suck up.. Congress, his "other victory" is at a 22% approval rating.. yet twit-boy thinks there’s something good coming from a group that is pretty much despised by the public.
Here’s how a "republic" is SUPPOSED to work, pRicky.. The PEOPLE elect REPRESENTITIVES who REPRESENT them in the government.. who make the laws and rules.. Our "elected officials" are NOT representing "us", they are representing 2% of the population.. THAT is why it’s "broke", and why their approval rating is in the toilet too.. The only reason it’s over 2% is because there are a lot of people still making damn good money off the "rest of us" while the country is being pillaged. As soon as THOSE folks wake up and see that they will lose next, they will turn on the top 2% as well.
Some day.. Some day, little pRicky will grow up and be able to look at the world like a responsible adult instead of a pathetic greedy little child.. Well.. we can hope, anyway.
Ricky, with all the trouble Diebold is in and the recent indictments related to voting fraud, voter disenfranchisement and intimidation, you must not really read this blog to actually believe what you said:
"I know you libs would like to get rid of the voting process and just declare the majority, seeing as you cant win an election."
You prove the many claims that Bush supporters are not as intelligent or informed as Kerry supporters. Good luck — enjoy your bliss and your credit debt, high gas prices, falling U.S. dollar, lack of future job prospects…well the list goes on and I doubt you have the concentration skills needed to really learn anything.
Off topic,..
More poop hits the fan,…
House Demos arrested by uniformed Secret Service Police,…
Link:
Ricky – I know how a real Republic is SUPPOSED to work – in fact, I’ve taught Civics and American History, and the child I taught scored high enough on the SAT to legally qualify for a college scholarship (except that he was 12 years old at the time, and taking the SAT to qualify for the Duke University Talent Identification Program, not college)
The question is, do YOU know how a Republic is supposed to work?
And do you know how to rig an election? The neo-cons do.
Would you like to learn? Go here:
http://www.chuckherrin.com/hackthevote.htm
Want more?
Let Baxter the Chimpanzee show you how to alter the audit log, using a real Cobb County vote file and the GEMS central tabulator program from Diebold Election Systems:
http://www.bbvforums.org/forums...2197/2368.html
See Ricky? ANYONE can be taught – even someone with the IQ of a CHIMP!!
(Insert Bush jokes here)
Dredd #21
You forgot a line:
"But in your head (Bushy) I’m afraid you don’t know where it is"
Originally broke at RawStory HERE
http://www.rawstory.com/news/20...dent_0315.html
Breaking news at the Journal Gazette 03/24/06 HERE
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/jo...s/14177032.htm
Statement of Henry Waxman HERE
http://www.democrats.reform.hou...0732-44562.pdf
Thank you Congressman Conyers,
You are a true patriot to the American governing system. Accountability to the people IS a patriotic duty when one acts as a civil servant.
I am a firm believer that those in high places MUST be held to high standards. Mistakes like this aren’t mistakes when the decision made was made by the highest paid elected Official of the land.
The Oath of the President requires the president to uphold the law, not thumb his nose at the law, when he sees fit or how he deems it necessary to do so. Just like evidence, the president can not pick and choose which laws he wishes to uphold and which laws to ignore and which laws to remake into his idea of US Law.
BlueBear 2 #31
Tru dat …
FAT SS SMILES
AS ANOTHER PATRIOT
GOES TO JAIL
(Raw Story Here)
Dredd –
Ya – he can laugh the fat pig. He’s not going hungry while others in his country starve to death!
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