Senator Says Constitutionality of Legislation “Not My Job"

A Semi-News/Semi-Satire from AzConservative ^ | 12 December 2009 | John Semmens

[John Semmens]

Senator Mary Landrieu (D-La) rejected the notion that determining the Constitutionality of pending legislation was part of her job. The Senator’s shucking of this responsibility came in response to a questioner asking her where in the US Constitution is there the authority for congress to force people to buy health insurance.

“My job is to get all I can for my constituents,” Landrieu argued. “Unlike most of my peers, I got $300 million in added benefits for my constituents in exchange for my vote in favor of the health care bill. I’m not going to let myself be bothered by some arcane debate about whether what I voted for is Constitutional or not. Let the courts decide that issue.”

Ultimately, the courts may well decide the issue. However, Senators are required to take an oath to “support and defend the Constitution” before they are allowed to assume their seats in congress. Reneging on this oath in exchange for $300 million in “pork barrel” spending would appear to be a dereliction of duty.

[Gandalf_The_Gray]

“When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.” — Benjamin Franklin

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"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasure. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most money from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's great civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through the following sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, from dependency back to bondage." --Alexander Tyler’s views of the Athenian Republic

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What have we learned in 2,064 years?

"The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance." -- Cicero ( 55 BC)

So, evidently nothing..

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We trained hard, but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form into teams, we would be reorganized. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing. And what a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization.
Gaius Petronius Arbiter
Citizen Of Rome
First Century A.D.

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Some things just never change...

Regards,
GtG

[balls]

The author is just being clever. Don’t take the story too seriously and don’t take the notion of Congressman upholding the Constitution too seriously - they don’t.

[John Semmens]

The sell-out is real.

The voiced justification is guesswork.

[Ronin]

Don’t Senators have to swear an oath? Not that it would mean anything to a Democrat, but still...

[kosciusko51]

John,

Thanks for the reply, and for the satire. It is almost too good. In this day of politics, I could believe they would slip up and be this honest, as they really don't give a rat's @$$ what we think. And the press would tell us they didn't really say what we heard.

-K51