Friday, March 12, 2010

RED ALERT: We Are Now Living Under Martial Law -- House Democrats Appear Set to Pass Senate Bill Without Voting On It

The Washington Examiner reports that House Democrats appear poised to adopt a rule that would pass the Senate health care bill without actually voting on it.

Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) is preparing to pass the health care overhaul through the House of Representatives without a vote, as was originally reported by the National Journal's Congress Daily. Mark Tapscott observes that such a maneuver would be the penultimate refutation of the people's will.

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.

Thus, Slaughter is preparing a rule that would consider the Senate bill "passed" once the House approves a corrections bill that would make changes. Democrats would thereby avoid a direct vote on the health care bill while allowing it to become law!

Constitutional attorney Mark R. Levin asks, "They're going to present a rule, issued by her committee as chairman, that says that the House already adopted the Senate bill when we know it didn't?"

U.S Constitution, Article I, Section VII, Clause II.

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...

According to Levin, James Madison himself gave special care and attention to this clause in the Constitution.

Levin: And do you want to know why? Because this clause goes to the heart of this Republic.

This clause goes to the heart of how our representative body, that is Congress, makes laws. And so I want you to [observe] how particular the Framers were... They have to pass a Bill to present it to the President...

This is one of the most exacting clauses in the Constitution.

And, to the best of my knowledge, which extends over three decades, no Congress has previously tried to institute policies without actual statutes.

Here we have the President of the United States and Congressional leaders actually talking about the possibility of a brazen and open violation of one of the most fundamental aspects of our Constitution and Republic! How we actually make laws!

Let me be as clear as I know how. If this is done, this will create the greatest Constitutional crisis since the Civil War. It would be 100 times worse than Watergate.

...It would be government by fiat... meaning there would be no law... the mere discussion by officials in this government is such a grotesque violation of the actual legislative function of Congress [that it] puts us... at the brink. At the brink.

This is why we conservatives revere the Constitution. This is why we stress the Constitution's words have meaning and historical context and must be complied with. Because otherwise we have anarchy, which leads to tyranny.

This is a crucial lesson for those of you who... aren't sure what your beliefs are, or if you have any beliefs. Or aren't sure if you even care. We have an effort underway by the one of the most powerful chairmen in Congress, the woman who heads the Rules Committee, ...openly discussing gutting Congress. Gutting Congress.

And if this is done, this is about as close to martial law as you'll ever get... So Louise Slaughter, a Representative from New York, is discussing, in essence, martial law. Now I can tell you, if they pursue this process, and try to impose this kind of a law, without actually passing a statute, that I will be in a race -- with scores of others -- to the courthouse to stop this.

I can't think of a more blatant violation of the U.S. Constitution than this. And the liberal media has essentially ignored it!

...It's not only absurd on its face -- that these power-hungry ideologues, party-first-country-second types, would make the claim that the House voted on something it never voted on... that's not only absurd on its face, it's blatantly unconstitutional!

Please stay tuned for updates to this post as we will provide additional insight from Levin and other Constitutional experts.

Update 11-March-2010 21:03 ET:

Levin: I wanted to bring additional firepower on this subject, my buddy Arthur Fergenson, who is a Constitutional expert and who has argued cases in front of the Supreme Court, including Buckley vs. Valeo...

What do you make of this unbelievable -- that they're even talking about, this chairman of the Rules Committee -- acting as if members of the House voted on something when they didn't actually vote on it?

Fergenson: It's preposterous. It's ludicrous. But it's also dangerous. It's dangerous because, first, ...because [the U.S. Constitution's] Article I Section VII says every bill -- and it capitalized "bill" -- ...it is common sense that the bill is the same item, it can't be multiple bills, it can't be mashups of bills. And, in fact, in 1986, Gene Gressman, no conservative, and one of the experts -- the expert -- on Supreme Court practice... was writing an article that was dealing with a less problematic attempt to get around this section of the Constitution... [Ed: the line-item veto] and he wrote, "By long usage and plain meaning, 'Bill' means any singular and entire piece of legislation in the form it was approved by the two houses."

...the bills have to be revoted until they are identical. Both chambers have to vote on the bill.

If this cockamamie proposal were to be followed by the House and there were to be a bill presented to the President for his signature, that was a bill that had not been voted on -- identically by the two Houses of Congress -- that bill would be a nullity. It is not law. That is chaos.

I cannot recall any circumstance in which that has happened.

...What we have here is a measure, that if Obama signed it, would immediately affect taxation, it would change rules of practice in the insurance industry, it would regulate 17% of the nation's economy, and it would be done without any legal basis whatsoever!

Update 11-March-2010 21:12 ET:

Fergenson: It's like, the closest I can think of is martial law! The President would have no authority -- there would be no law! It's not like it would be constitutional or not. There would be. No. Law.

Levin: What do you make of people who sit around and even think of things like this? To me, they are absolutely unfit to even be in high office!

Fergenson: You're right, Mark. And I would go back to what caused Gressman to write this... he was asked for his comments by the Senate... because the Senate was trying to do the equivalent of a line-item veto. And, in 1986, you were in the Justice Department under Attorney General Meese... there was a proposal... to take a bill and divide it into little pieces and.. then the President would sign each one or veto each one. That was unconstitutional. A Senate Rules Committee reported it unfavorably.

Update 11-March-2010 21:36 ET:

Levin: You know what's interesting about this... Attorney General Ed Meese considered it unconstitutional even though President Reagan had wanted a line-item veto. And President Reagan agreed that it was unconstitutional without an amendment to the Constitution...

...Speaking for myself, I would tell the people who listen to this program that you are under absolutely no obligation to comply with it [this health care bill] because it is not, in fact, law. Do you agree with me?

Fergenson: I agree with you. I believe it would be tested by the Supreme Court. I believe that, under these circumstances, chaos would reign. There is no obligation to obey an unconstitutional law. The courts are empowered to determine whether it's unconstitutional... it's not a law.

Under this scenario, the various arms of the federal government will be acting under a law that does not exist.

Update: March 16th in Washington: Stop the Constitution Butchers... Stop Pelosi’s Slaughter House.


Linked by: Michelle Malkin, Protein Wisdom, iOwnTheWorld, Theo Spark and VikingPundit. Thanks!

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Maybe this is the Democrats way out of the loss. They do this, they know the Supremem Court will rule it Unconstitutional, and then they can blame the failure on the SCOTUS! I am of the belief that Pelosi doesn't have the votes.

Unknown said...

If this happens, and if we don't rise up against the bastards that countenanced this, we will deserve what ever happens next. For me, I'm ready to take it to the damn streets.

warpsix said...

The sleeping giant will awaken again ,If i have to take the Trash out so be it .This is why the founders gave us the 2nd Amendment .

Anonymous said...

Are the Dems so stupid that they don't think anyone could see through this charade?

robot said...

Well done. I was hoping Mr. Levin would chime in on this.

Linked at MNR http://mindnumbedrobot.blogspot.com/2010/03/slaughter-rule-martial-law-mark-levin.html
and at The Resistance http://the-resistance.posterous.com/slaughter-rule-martial-law-mark-levin

unsquander said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

If Obama signs a bill that is not passed in the House, it would be a "high crime and misdemeanor" and grounds for impeachment, which Replublicans should pursue with all haste.

Anonymous said...

Martial Law as many understand it is a declaration of war on the American people. Let's hope for better things.

Anonymous said...

I really don't think you understand what martial law is.....

sykes.1 said...

Martial law is, in fact, a form of law, and it can be instituted in times of emergency.

What Slaughter and Pelosi are proposing is not law of any kind. It is the rule of brute power, enforced by guns.

If the Slaughter/Pelosi rule is adopted, then the Constitution is dead. The regime in Washington is illegitimate in every sense. And the US military is obligated to arrest and imprison member of the regime, including at the very least all persons in the House supporting the rule and very probably the President who has incited this usurpation and the co-conspirators in the Senate.

directorblue said...

Hey, Sparky -- I think Levin and Fergenson know what martial law is.

Methinks you have just beclowned yourself.

Don't let the door hit you on your fat tush on the way out.

Anonymous said...

If this were the penultimate betrayal of the Constitution, then what was the ultimate betrayal? (check your dictionary) :-) But seriously, this would replace all of the top 10 for sure....

Anonymous said...

Martail Law is the absolute rule over the people by a military officer with his will alone being law – is nowhere enumerated in our Constitution.

The imposition of martial law by the national government over a state and its people, treating them as an occupied enemy nation, is an act of war. Such an attempted suspension of the Constitution and Bill of Rights voids the compact with the states and with the people.

Anonymous said...

directorblue has foot so far up his ass he can taste it.

Anonymous said...

You must give up these outmoded forms instituted by slavers hundreds of years ago. They no longer bind us. Law flows from the people's will, unchecked by racialist institutions, from the governors to the bureaucracy. The living constitution, not the logophallocentric Constitution will triumph. The endgame has already begun: it is too late for talk.

sofa said...

Dems will lose one or both Houses on Congress in mid-term elections.
Simple majority in either House or Senate can ‘deem’ impeachment. Can ‘deem’ that every action of previous Congress in ‘undone’ by ‘deeming’ the result for both Houses. Can ‘deem’ to remove Supremem Court Justices, impeach Czars. Can they ‘deem’ presidential appointments too?
Excellent!

Anonymous said...

It isn't just the Democrats, kids. We've been l.living in an oligarchic tyranny for over sixty years. It's only a tripartite constitutional government in name and form, only.

btw. Welcome to the dark side. You've just learned that some of those crazy conspiracy theorists have been right all along.

The Machiavellian said...

Locke was right. At some point governments are in open rebellion against the people and at that point, the people have the option to reform or restate the social contract.

Passing a law without voting on it is the left in rebellion against our natural rights.