Rob is Right. (Even Technically.)
When I read Rob's rant, I of course admired the sheer, glorious indignation he displays, but suspected, I confess, that he had placed his foot on a constitutional banana peel. Passing a budget, he asserts, is "the one thing" the House of Representatives is "tasked to do." Yet Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution states only that "All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives." The Constitution, in other words, only tasks the House with raising money, not with spending it.
Or so I thought.
Googling around, I found this little history lesson on the website of the indispensable C-SPAN:
House precedents have defined "revenue measures" to include general appropriations bills, claiming that at the time the Constitution was adopted, "raising revenue" meant "raising money and appropriating the same...." [W]henever the Senate does initiate appropriations legislation, the House practice is to return it to the Senate with a blue piece of paper attached citing a constitutional infringement of House prerogatives. The practice of returning such bills and amendments to the Senate without action is known as "blue-slipping...."
Regardless of one's opinion of the correct interpretation of the Constitutional provision, the House refusal to consider such Senate legislation settles the matter in practice.
What does this mean? That we may all spend the Fourth of July weekend enjoying Rob's rant at every level, right down to the level, for would-be pedants like me, of the technical constitutional question that Rob gets just exactly right.
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Re: Rob is Right. (Even Technically.)
You doubted me? Peter, I'm hurt. I thoroughly research all of my Ricochet posts.
When time permits.
May '10
Re: Rob is Right. (Even Technically.)
Alas, Article 1, Section 1 of the Pelosi Handbook deems (see what I did there?) that any legislation which is both politically toxic and politically necessary be passed on a Friday afternoon. Votes optional. Constitutional considerations... well, let's be realistic here!