Posted on 09/22/2013 11:10:57 AM PDT by Jim Robinson
Sen. Rand Paul conceded Saturday that congressional Republicans have little chance of stopping Obamacare.
“We probably can’t defeat or get rid of Obamacare,” the Kentucky senator told reporters at a gathering of Michigan Republicans, according to the Associated Press.
Paul acknowledged that time is running out for Congress to pass a government funding bill, however he said House Republicans’ efforts to defund Obamacare in its government funding bill could lead to a compromise.
~~snip~~
Reid has said any bill defunding Obamacare would be dead on arrival, and Sen. John McCain said Thursday that it was “not rational” to think the Senate would pass anything defunding the program.
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
The House can definitely deny funds for obamacare or any other unconstitutional, runaway, big government boondoggle it wishes to deny by simply not funding it.
The senate has no say. The president has no say. If the House does not pass an appropriations bill for the program, there is no bill for the senate to alter or for the president to sign, and no funds for the project.
It's in the Appropriations Clause.
Excerpted from the Heritage Foundation:
No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.
ARTICLE I, SECTION 9, CLAUSE 7
The Appropriations Clause is the cornerstone of Congress's "power of the purse." It assigns to Congress the role of final arbiter of the use of public funds. The source of Congress's power to spend derives from Article I, Section 8, Clause 1. The Appropriations Clause provides Congress with a mechanism to control or to limit spending by the federal government. The Framers chose the particular language of limitation, not authorization, for the first part of the clause and placed it in Section 9 of Article I, along with other restrictions on governmental actions to limit, most notably, executive action.
In The Federalist No. 58, James Madison described the centrality of the power of the purse's role in the growth of representative government and its particular importance in the Constitution's governmental structure:
"The House of Representatives cannot only refuse, but they alone can propose the supplies requisite for the support of the government. They, in a word, hold the purse—that powerful instrument by which we behold, in the history of the British Constitution, an infant and humble representation of the people gradually enlarging the sphere of its activity and importance, and finally reducing, as far as it seems to have wished, all the overgrown prerogatives of the other branches of government. This power over the purse may, in fact, be regarded as the most complete and effectual weapon with which any constitution can arm the immediate representatives of the people, for obtaining a redress of every grievance, and for carrying into effect every just and salutary measure."
Much more at link, including the power to change, suspend, or rescind prior funding bills. The funds still have to be appropriated by the current House of Representatives before they can be spent. And the House can deny funding for any department, agency or program it wishes to defund without even having to pass a bill.
http://www.heritage.org/constitution/#!/articles/1/essays/67/appropriations-clause
Dear Republican Congress:
Hold the line!! The House has the power of the purse and the power to deny funds!!
Use your constitutional power to deny ObamaCare!!
When Obama/Reid and the demonrats come to you begging for money to fund the government, say here it is and present your prepared appropriations bills — with zero funds for obamacare — and let them know straight up that there will also be NO debt limit increase and, throwing Obama’s own words back at them, there will be NO negotiations!!
If they say no or refuse to go along, reject what the senate demonrats send back to you and begin passing “clean” appropriations bills one by one funding each essential department with no amendments allowed. Double dog dare them to deny funding to each department, one by one!!
The House holds all the constitutional cards in the appropriations game.
The only power Obama and Reid have is a mean-spirited attempt to try to shutdown the entire government in retaliation for the House denying funds for the president’s pet, unconstitutional, nation-wrecking, Marxist spread-the-wealth-around boondoggle -- a jobs-killing boondoggle that the American people do not want. But that (the shutdown) won’t work either. The essential parts of government will go on. The military will be paid. Social security checks will go out. Critical obligations will be paid.
The main effect of the Obama shutdown will be a whole lot of non-essential employees (excess baggage) from the bloated federal government get laid off. Whoopee.
Keep up the good work and the defunding battle all the way to Nov 2014 if necessary. We the people have your backs!!
It’s your constitutional power and duty to control the UNCONSTITUTIONAL runaway government.
Obamacare, if allowed to stand, is the death knell of our constitutional republic. Obamacare sets the precedent, approved by the Robert's Court, that there are no constitutional limits on what government can demand of the people. This bad ruling will be overturned eventually, but in the meantime, it's up to we the people to stop obamacare and we've elected you specifically to do that.
Gentlemen and gentlewomen, Do your duty!!
Paul is becoming a defeatist.....it is sickening.
“We can’t do this, we can’t do that”.......stop being the party “we can’t” and the party THAT STOPS IT!
I like Rand Paul. But he doesn’t seem to be a fire-in-the-belly fighter like Ted Cruz.
I think I know where my primary $’s are headed.
Ted and Sarah are the team!!!!
This defeatist attitude must stop!
Shut your cake hole Paul!
It is good to see actions ahead of elections - I believe that Ted Cruz is our best hope after seeing the efforts. I also hope my miserable senator, John McCain gets defeated and goes into retirement.
Too much of Ron Paul in Rand’s playbook!
In a related story, “RAND PAUL ABANDONS 2016 RUN HOPES”.....
....and not enough Sarah Palin's free testosterone!!!
If it doesn't then it will be up to the people to take the next step in 2014 and replace the democrats and republicans who refuse.
Long past time to send that old warhorse out to pasture. Don’t understand why the people keep re-electing these feeble-minded old farts to sleep and die in office.
Honestly think it's a political attitude on Rand Paul's part.
He sees Ted Cruz as his biggest challenge to the GOP nomination.
Anything he can do to diminish Cruz now is a help to him.
People like Paul are not stupid, he knows the House can defund and render OBozocare useless with no power to enforce.
He is playing politics on his own behalf to the determent of the country.
He should be behind Cruz and the country on this, he's not.
Look, he is saying that it probably can’t be defeated this year. The goal is to get the bill into conference and try to delay the implementation for as long as possible.
Only a republican president can defund Obamacare.
If the federal government is shutdown, Obama can still fund Obamacare through discretionary spending.
Attacking Rand Paul over this is the wrong way to go. I’m sure Cruz would disapprove.
Now let’s see how many republicans in the senate will join the filibuster to shutdown the federal government. I predict maybe 20 and Rand will be one of them.
And don't forget playing poker!
Amen. We the grassroots elected these guys to do a specific job, block obamacare. If they refuse to do so or if they instead vote to fund it, then I don’t see any reason to re-elect them.
On the other hand, if they do all they can possibly do and fight the good fight without compromise, then they’re just the stuff we’re looking for in 2014/2016.
Turncoats, defeatists and weak-kneed, spineless RINOS need not apply.
The House must defund this abortion law, 0bamacare. Everyone here on FR has to make our voices heard to our Congressmen and Congresswoman starting right now.
“He sees Ted Cruz as his biggest challenge to the GOP nomination.’
That’s not what this is about. It’s very unlikely that Cruz will run in the next election. He is pretty much falling on his sword right now. It’s all part of a bigger plan. Rand, Cruz and Lee have strategy sessions every morning. They know what they are doing.
Ted and Sarah are the team!!!!
He’s right. With capitulating RINO’s working with the Democrats... Nothing WILL change.
I respectfully disagree with your assessment, though you stated it well. Paul’s statements are devastating cryptonite at this point in the debate, and don’t count out the Paul family’s ability to be astonishingly cynical and political, even as their drones pretend they are neither.
He is on the wrong side of history with these comments, even if there is some technical merit to them.
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