Thursday, September 23, 2010

Contract for America

The Republican "Pledge to America" is of course a muddle of contradictions: You can't reduce the deficit by extending the Bush tax cuts (and it doesn't bother to explain otherwise) and you can't ensure access to health insurance for patients with pre-existing conditions without mandates (and it doesn't bother to explain otherwise.

But one little remarked on pledge stands out to me: The promise to provide a constitutional justification for every bill passed. I realize that -- especially for major legislation -- this is generally vetted in advance. Nonetheless, isn't there the potential to politicize the judiciary by inserting it into the legislative process? After all, the only federal judges can truly give a constitutional thumbs up or down to a bill. Or perhaps the intent is the opposite: To render the judiciary irrelevant by determining constitutionality in advance.

Of course, there's always the possibility that this is an insincere nod to teabagger ignorance of the meaning of the separation of powers, and it won't actually go anywhere...

I must say that I resent the title of the pledge: I'm an American and I certainly am not signed up for this nonsense. I suppose, though, that since I don't see it precisely their way, the 'baggers question that I am an American...

More fun from Stan and Ollie:

16 comments:

Unknown said...

"This used to be a pretty good country before they loused it up." That's my feeling today. The contract on America has me down; the impending election debacle has me down. But I still love Laurel & Hardy--thanks for that!

Tao Dao Man said...

They are playing fiddle to a dwindling base, and they know it.
The tea baggers are on their ass, and they know it.
Let them eat each other.
This 'Pledge to America' is nothing more than the same old Kamo Korpocratic Kleptocracy in action.

Foxessa said...

Ah, the strange world of grad school looms. There is nothing quite like grad school, is there?

Love, C.

Roy said...

I've seen the "Pledge to America" renamed the "Plague on America"; that sounds about right to me. Thank goodness it'll never be carried out.

Steven said...

These people also say that they want to take 'their country' back. Well, it happens to be my country and they can't have it back because it was never taken from them...they simply left it during a snit. Juvenile Republicans!

Anonymous said...

And what Old Yeller forgot to mention is that he's really just biding his time until they can take another run at privatizing social security. Pressed repeatedly by media heads he finally conceded that all of their agenda isn't actually in there. Oh and their so=called pledge was written by a career AIG Exxon Pfizer lobbyist, Brian Wild. Puh-leeeeze.

Anonymous said...

Please refer to Rep Boehner in any further work as either Old Yeller or Agent Orange, his name is too hard to pronounce...

Roy said...

Rastamick - most of the people I know in Ohio call him "Boner". There are so many ways to take that, and they all fit him to a T!

K. said...

November may be tough, but there will be other Novembers. What gets me every 2-4 years is the reasons why some people vote the way they do. I read some blog comments the other day blaming the Democrats for losing the 2000 election because they nominated a boring candidate, and that these guys didn't vote for Gore for just that reason. I thought to myself, "You get to vote for president once every four years and your criteria has nothing to do with positions taken or competence demonstrated -- instead, you vote for who bores you the least." People like that deserve what they get. But why should the rest of us suffer?

Foxessa, it's been almost 30 years since I was last in grad school. I was worried about atrophied study skills, but so far so good.

injaynesworld said...

I've just barely skimmed through this new Republican platform, but so far it seems like all their other platforms, just a bit more vague. But when you look at the morons they're trying to appeal to, I guess vague is better. Welcome back. Your voice has been missed.

Ima Wizer said...

I just never know what they are going to say/do next....desperate measures for desperate people! They must be quite worried to have come up with this!

K. said...

Now, the R's are just playing ball control by telling the base what it wants to hear.

They've boxed themselves in on health care, though. The base won't settle for anything less than repeal, but I don't see how they can pull that one off. Should they take the House, I would not be surprised if there were a government shutdown over the health care law, and I don't think that that will play well at large.

Taradharma said...

and don't you just love their preamble, stating that they, the GOP, are not going to do anything differently than they've done before. So much for the party of new ideas. Idiots.

K. said...

That just might be the scariest part, since it implies pre-emptive war, an unregulated financial sector, huge deficits, and a general disinterest in any kind of economic policy.

K. said...

John: Catch-22! I knew that sounded familiar! But what did they louse it up with?

Darlene said...

It boils down to the same old, same old that got us in trouble. They never give up. Gaaah!