Stephanie
Diamond Member
- Jul 11, 2004
- 70,230
- 10,864
- 2,040
By: Mark Tapscott
Editorial Page Editor
03/16/10 7:54 AM EDT
She wasn't so keen on "deeming" bills passed when Republicans controlled Congress. (AP / Ceneta)
You've been hearing a lot this week about the Slaughter Solution, the rule devised by House Rules Committee Chairman Louise Slaughter of New York whereby the House would pass an Obamacare reconcilliation bill via a rule that "deems" the chamber to have voted for the Senate version of Obamacare even though no such recorded vote was actually taken.
It's been dubbed the "Slaughter Solution in the media. I prefer to call the Alice in Wonderland way of passing Obamacare.
But put aside the present for the moment and step into my time machine. Dial the date selector back to 2005 when the Republican majority in Congress approved a national debt limit increase. But there was a minor difference between the two chambers' versions resulting from a clerical error.
Guess who went to federal court to challenge the constitutionality of the bill, citing the difference between the two texts? The Ralph Nader-backed Public Citizen legal activists. Here's the argument they made:
"Article I of the United States Constitution requires that before proposed legislation may "become[] a Law," U.S. CONST. art. I, § 7, cl. 2, "(1) a bill containing its exact text [must be] approved by a majority of the Members of the House of Representatives; (2) the Senate [must] approve[] precisely the same text; and (3) that text [must be] signed into law by the President," Clinton v. City of New York, 524 U.S. 417, 448, 118 S.Ct. 2091, 141 L.Ed.2d 393 (1998).
Read more at the Washington Examiner: Pelosi, Slaughter went to court against GOP in 2005 case that exposes Slaughter Solution flaw UPDATED: Heritage's Darling explains it all | Washington Examiner