only the House can initiate or originate an
appropriations bill. Not ALL bills gunny, just appropriations must originate in the House.
I had read the reasoning beind this is that the House of Representatives, represent us....the people....no taxation without representation kind of thing...since it is our taxes paying for what they appropriate.
While the Senate or Senators represent the State they come from or the state's government....we did not even elect US senators back then, the State gvt picked them to represent them.
ALL bills must pass the senate and house before they go to the president...this can not be bypassed.
With all bills and legislation or statute, the house or senate can initiate them....according to the constitution, BUT with one exception of appropriation bills, where it says they MUST ORIGINATE in the house of representatives and pass with vote the house of representatives before they send it on to the senate for their tweaking and approval.
I don't think the Senate would have added the bailout to an existing house appropriations bill that had passed if they could have constitutionally, initiated the bailout bill on their own, to send to the house.
what they did, adding this bailout to a recently passed house appropriations bill that the senate was up to tweak, was a slippery slope, and an extreme bending of the constitution if not a flat out slap in the face to it....again, imo!
care