SPEAKER BOEHNER IS MAKING AN ASS OF HIMSELF

John Boehner just made an ass of himself.  He did it this way: "The president "is going all over the country holding rallies instead of sitting down with Senate leaders," while, Boehner argued, "We have moved a bill in the House twice." "We should not have to move a third bill before the Senate gets off their ass and begins to do something," he added. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57571323/on-sequester-boehner-tells-senate-to-get-off-their-ass/.

Why, you ask did Boehner make an ass of himself?  Because this is February, 2013 which means we are in the second month of the 113th Congress.  During the 113th Congress has been in session 21 days, http://thomas.loc.gov/home/ds/h1131.html; today will make the 22nd day.  That's right, the 113th Congress convened on January 3rd, now the rest of working America had to suit up and show up for 39 of those 55days.   Assuming they got the two day weekends off. 

 

Boehner would mislead you into believing that the House of Representatives has acted twice in those 39 days.  They haven't.  The bills to which Mr. Boehner referred are the same bills the House GOP spin machine fed Lynn Jenkins to spew out in her email to me.  You recall, H.R. 6365 (a bill by former Representative Allen B. West exempting the military from any budget cuts and H.R. 5652 (that infamous Ryan budget).

So politicians lie, we should expect politicians to lie, and how does this make the Speaker of the House of Representatives an ass, you ask?  Just as Representative West no longer having a vote in the 133th session, so also are all of the bills passed by one chamber but not passed by the other null and void. All bills not passed by both houses of Congress and signed by the President expire.  The authority for those bills to continue through the legislative process lapsed with the termination of the session of Congress.

Well, isn't it time for the Senate to get off its ass anyway?  Maybe, but were the Senators to cease endless gridlock and pass a bill pertaining to revenue it would be a meaningless gesture.  What?  It is that little known document, the great secret that Boehner hasn't yet been able to synthesize into his Speakership.  It is called the Constitution.

Article 1 Section 7 of the Constitution says: "All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other Bills."  It is the job of the House of Representative, of Speaker Boehner, of House Republicans to open up the legislative process and get the ball going on a compromise to avoid sequestration, which is now appropriately called Boehnerquestration. 

 

If John Boehner doesn't know the basics of Article 1 of the Constitution then he is not qualified to be the Speaker of the House.  I suspect he does, he is just making an ass of himself.

THE HOUSE IS GETTING READY TO GET BUSY. COMING UP - 1. H. RES. 1752, WAIVING THE "SAME DAY" REQUIREMENT WHICH TRIGGERS ⅔ SUPERMAJORITY VOTES; SENATE AMENDMENTS TO H.R. 5281; 2. THE DREAM [DEVELOPMENT, RELIEF, AND EDUCATION FOR ALIEN MINORS]ACT, 3. H.R. 3082. THE MILITARY CONSTRUCTION AND VETERANS AFFAIRS AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT OF 2010

It is obvious the House intends to finish the lame duck session of the 111th Congress on a strong note. They are preparing to waive the "same day: requirement which says if a bill is introduced on a given day, and it is brought to a vote on that same day, then it takes a ⅔ supermajority to pass the bill. Time is running out and the House leadership wants to get the business out the door.

H. Res. 1752 has three major provisions. First this will waive clause 6(a) which requires the ⅔ vote on same day bills considered under suspension of the rules. Second it applies the waiver through the legislative day of December 18th. Finally it provides that the Speaker or her designee will consult with the Minority Leader or his designee on matters for consideration by the House under H. Res. 1752. The House is planning to clear the decks and unload the ship. It ought to be an interesting few days.

The DREAM ACT is about to be appended to H.R. 5281, the REMOVAL CLARIFICATION ACT OF 2010. Removal is a legal term of art that says the lawsuit will be removed from one court and placed with another court which has superior jurisdiction. H.R. 5281 provides for the removal of cases from state courts to federal courts under two circumstances. First, any civil action against the United States or a federal agency or officer, or other persons specified by law. Second, in criminal prosecutions commenced in a state court against any of the persons or entities described above.

The DREAM Act is a whole different ball of wax. Several versions of the DREAM Act have been introduced, they are: H.R.6327, H.R.1751, H.R.6497, S.729, S.3827, S.3962, S.3963, and S.3992.

You can read the complete version of the DREAM ACT at the House Rules Committee website: http://www.rules.house.gov/111/rule/dream.pdf, it is on the second page of the pdf.

The proposed provisions apply to children brought to the United States when they were 15 years old or younger and sets a ceiling on those persons now being no more than 29 years old. These persons will be given conditional nonimmigrant status, which sounds like a societal version of equitable adoption. That means we are going to treat them like our own kids. They are excluded from excluded from receiving government subsidies to participate in the health insurance exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act. They cannot get Pell Grants.

They can get benefits by participating, that includes federal work study and student loans as well as social insurance programs to which they have contributed, as this would require them to earn or repay the money they need for their education.

Good behavior is required. Conditional nonimmigrant status must be terminated if the participant fails to continue to meet the conditions for receiving that status, including having good moral character, keeping a clean criminal record, and staying self-sufficient. If they join the military they must be discharged honorably.

After 10 years in conditional status, the Dream Act then gives this limited group of individuals the chance to earn lawful permanent resident status, but only if the applicant meets additional standards such as having paid taxes; having demonstrated the ability to read, write, and speak English and demonstrates knowledge and understanding of the fundamentals of the history, principles, and form of government of the United States.

H.R. 3082 passed the House on July 10, 2010 by a vote of 415 to 3, that was roll call vote 529. It cleared the Senate on November 17, 2009 by a vote of 100 to 0, that was Record Vote Number 348. The Senate insisted on its Amendments and the bill went to conference.

The House is accepting the bill as amended by the Senate and adding the following Amendment.

"The House amendment freezes FY 2011 discretionary appropriations at the FY 2010 level; providing $45.9 billion less than the President requested for the year. Within that ceiling, the resolution adjusts funding between programs and accounts to deal with current demands and workloads and avoid furloughs. Overall, the resolution includes $513 billion for the Department of Defense, $4.9 billion above 2010; $75.2 billion for military construction and veterans, $1.4 billion below 2010; and $501.4 billion for all other appropriations, $3.5 billion below 2010. It also includes $159 billion for the war, as the President requested; prohibits funding for Congressional earmarks; freezes non-military Federal pay for two years, as requested by the President; and allows fee funded programs to continue to be financed from fees.

The FDA Food Safety and Modernization Act grants the Food and Drug Administration authorities it needs to better oversee the safety of the nation’s food supply. The bill includes expanded authority for FDA to inspect records relating to food, and requires FDA to increase inspections of high-risk food facilities. In addition, it provides for the creation of a more accurate registry of all food facilities serving American consumers, improved traceability of the history of food in the event of a foodborne illness outbreak, certification of certain foreign food imports as meeting all food safety requirements, and protection for whistleblowers that bring attention to important food safety information.

The Senate recently passed the Food Safety and Modernization Act with one major problem. Parts of that bill, as originated and passed in the Senate, raise revenue. All bills which raise revenue must originate in the House of Representatives. That is a Constitutional provision found in Article I § 7.