A string of electoral defeats and the great unpopularity of ObamaCare can't stop Democrats from their self-appointed rendezvous with liberal destiny—ramming a bill through Congress on a narrow partisan vote. What we are about to witness is an extraordinary abuse of traditional Senate rules to pass a bill merely because they think it's good for the rest of us, and because they fear their chance to build a European welfare state may never come again.This paragraph particularly interested me.
President Clinton preferred to use reconciliation to pass HillaryCare in the 1990s, but he was dissuaded by West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd, who argued that it would be an abuse of the process. Mr. Byrd, author of a four-volume history of Senate rules and procedures, told the Washington Post last March that "The misuse of the arcane process of reconciliation—a process intended for deficit reduction—to enact substantive policy changes is an undemocratic disservice to our people and to the Senate's institutional role," specifically citing health reform and cap and trade.If only current Democrats were as principled as President Clinton and Sen. Byrd. [ed note: writing that made me gag a bit]
Read the rest of the editorial here.
I've almost aways disagreed with Bob Byrd's politics, but never have I seen a more clear-eyed defender of the Constitution. He has been an opponent worthy of his hire. When he leaves, America will miss him.
ReplyDelete"Gentlemen of the Congress, I say ye Robert Byrd!"