Nemo me impune lacessit

No one provokes me with impunity

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No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.

Article 1, Section 9, Constitution of the United States

If this is the law of the land...why in a republic (little r) and as republicans, do we allow mere POLITICIANS to the right to use a "title of office" for the rest of their lives as if it were de facto a patent of nobility. Because, as republicans, this should NOT be the case...just saying...

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Saturday, March 13, 2010

Constitutionality of the "Slaughter Rule"

Over at the Volokh Conspiracy is a very lively discussion of the constitutionality of the so called "Slaughter Rule."   The Slaughter Rule is a solution proposed by NY-D Congresswoman, Louise Slaughter,  to break the impass on the Obama adminstration's desire to seize for the government, control of the US health care industry. 
In the Slaughter Solution, the rule would declare that the House "deems" the Senate version of Obamacare to have been passed by the House. House members would still have to vote on whether to accept the rule, but they would then be able to say they only voted for a rule, not for the bill itself.
Basically, in my opinion, if the House of Representatives passes such a rule...it would be unconstitutional.  But, thankfully, I'm not a lawyer...so my opinion is moot.  On the other  hand, if the House were to pass such a "rule" would be extraordinarily dangerous...not just that using such a "rule" to extralegally pass legislation without actually voting on it, but a large majority of the country wouldn't take setting aside the Constitution lightly.  It would either see the destruction of the Democratic Party...or would be the start of a revolution.  It could go either way.

Here is Article 1, Section 7 of the United States Constitution:
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; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively.
That seems rather straight forward...but, go to the Volokh Conspiracy and read ALL of the comments.  They are very interesting.  Also take a look at the blog entry at Redstate as well.

Hat Tip:  Instapundit

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