It took me (and my fellow Freepers, I'm sure) all of a nanosecond to know that it was blatantly unconstitutional!
If he's a lawyer (and he probably is), he got this one in Constitutional Law I his first year in law school.
How the hell did you not know? How did every bone in your body NOT scream “UNCONSTITUTIONAL!” when this madness was proposed????
My opinion of this guy sure slipped big time over this comment.
Such utter cluelessness in a Congressperson is something I expect from the leftist loons.
No wonder the GOP is adrift if this is one of the better people we have.
I'm a little less irritated at him. But he ought to have checked on this before he voted.
Every congressman takes an oath of office to preserve and defend the constitution. Voting for an obviously unconstitutional tax is a violation of that oath. Mr. Ryan cannot take his vote back now. He voted with his emotions and he violated his oath. He should be removed from office.
What an embarrassment. This guy should resign in disgrace.
Wasn’t Ryan paying attention during the debate?
I can’t blame someone for “not knowing”, but the tenor of the discussion was pretty much unprecedented and would make any alert individual reach for the constitution as congress never did anything like this before.
If this was not so serious it would be hilarious.
It took me (and my fellow Freepers, I'm sure) all of a nanosecond to know that it was blatantly unconstitutional!
I like Paul, but this is part of the job description of his staff. It makes the GOP look stupid. Maybe the first question of all this legislation should be whether it violates the Constitution or not.
Congressmen should all be informed before they vote. All of them, no matter what party. This Congress is a joke, and not a funny one.
Ryan, you're an idiot. Of COURSE it is unconstitutional.
Sheesh! Another dumbazz or liar or both.
Earth to Ryan....WAKE UP AND DO YOUR JOB.
A sixth grade civics question shouldn’t need “legal scholars” to decipher.
Prime example why we are in this mess. My 3 year old grandson would make a better Congressman than this guy and about 90% of the others.
BRILLIANT!!!
His PRIMARY job in serving his constituents is to KNOW whether what he is about to vote in favor of is unconstitutional. He needs to read Article One of the U.S. Constitution (something he has probably never done).
But, since he can't seem to figure it out I have THREE simple "rules of thumb" he can follow in his future endeavors in congress:
"Rule of Thumb #1: If a democrat is proposing it, it is PROBABLY unconstitutional.
"Rule of Thumb #2: If a republican is proposing it, it is PROBABLY unconstitutional.
"Rule of Thumb #3: If you do not see a specific provision for it listed in Article One of the Constitution, then it IS unconstitutional.
Pretty simple, eh?
I’d rather here a simple “I was wrong and I regret it” than the ignorance defense. Was he totally impervious to hearing the arguments on the other side—or is he simply being disingenuous?
I think Ryan’s one of the Pubbies’ brighter lights in Congress, but as with Cantor his principle compass isn’t strong enough. Bachmann doesn’t get all the details right, but she’s got the right principles through and through.
Secondly, why the h*ll do the Republicans NOT know the Constitution???
My Congressman had one of his aides call the two nights ago in response to a letter I wrote concerning Posey's bill. He didn't know the Constitution either, especially the part about citizenship and Natural Born Citizen. I finally gave up and told him thanks for calling. I stomach has hurt ever since. I was so frustrated at the time I didn't think to ask if my Congressman actually knew what the Constitution says since his aide didn't.
Shoot, why not just read the Constitution, instead of waiting for “legal scholars” to tell you?
Dumb ass. How could he not know? He should be impeached for ignorance.
Actual reason is that he stuck his finger in the wind and found that the wind shifted.