The Patrick Henry Democratic Club
Apparently the House Ways and
Means Committee, responsible for initiating all financial legislation
in Congress and overseeing the federal budget, does not think that
demeaning our financial obligations is of interest to the people of
this country. (For a public official to comment disparagingly
about U.S. financial obligations is a violation of the Fourteenth
Amendment.)
Here is House Resolution 170, proposed by Congressman Dennis Kucinich
to call Bush to account for his disparaging remarks about "there is no
Social Security trust fund" (source: http://thomas.loc.gov/,
search for "H
RES 170"):
HRES 170 RH
House Calendar No. 29
109th CONGRESS
1st Session
H . RES . 170
[Report No. 109-58]
Of inquiry requesting the President to transmit certain
information to the House of Representatives respecting a claim made by
the President on February 16, 2005, at a meeting in Portsmouth, New
Hampshire, that there is not a Social Security trust.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 17, 2005
Mr. KUCINICH (for himself, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. WATSON, Mr.
JACKSON of Illinois, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. CLAY, Mr.
CLEAVER, Mr. STARK, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Mr. SANDERS, Mr.
PAYNE, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. LEE, Mr. OWENS,
Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. NADLER, Mrs. MALONEY, Ms. WATERS, Mr. FARR, Mr.
RAHALL, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. MEEKS of New York, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr.
MCDERMOTT, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Mr. HONDA, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Ms. BALDWIN,
Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Mr. FILNER, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. BROWN of
Ohio, and Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California) submitted the following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means
April 27, 2005
Reported adversely from the Committee on Ways and Means, referred to
the House Calendar, and ordered to be printed
RESOLUTION
Of inquiry requesting the President to transmit certain
information to the House of Representatives respecting a claim made by
the President on February 16, 2005, at a meeting in Portsmouth, New
Hampshire, that there is not a Social Security trust.
Resolved, That the President is requested to
transmit to the House of Representatives, not later than 14 days after
the date of the adoption of this resolution, information in the
possession of the President that provides specific evidence for the
following statement that the President made on February 16, 2005, at a
meeting in Portsmouth, New Hampshire: `And by the way, there is not a
Social Security trust'.
House Calendar No. 29
[End of report]
"Reported adversely" because of the 41 members of the committee, 23
voting (!), only one, Rep. Sander Levin (D-MI) voted for it. I
guess no other Democrat on the committee feels the Constitution is that
important either. Here is the committee membership list:
| Bill Thomas, CA Chairman |
E. Clay Shaw Jr. , FL
Nancy L. Johnson, CT
Wally Herger, CA
Jim McCrery, LA
Dave Camp, MI
Jim Ramstad, MN
Jim Nussle, IA
Sam Johnson, TX
Rob Portman, OH
Phil English, PA
J.D. Hayworth, AZ
Jerry Weller, IL
Kenny C. Hulshof, MO
Ron Lewis, KY
Mark Foley, FL
Kevin Brady, TX
Thomas M. Reynolds, NY
Paul Ryan, WI
Eric Cantor, VA
John Linder, GA
Bob Beauprez, CO
Melissa A. Hart, PA
Chris Chocola, IN
|
|
Charles B. Rangel, NY
Fortney Pete Stark, CA
Sander M. Levin,
MI
Benjamin L. Cardin, MD
Jim McDermott, WA
John Lewis, GA
Richard E. Neal, MA
Michael R. McNulty, NY
William J. Jefferson, LA
John S. Tanner, TN
Xavier Becerra, CA
Lloyd Doggett, TX
Earl Pomeroy, ND
Stephanie Tubbs Jones, OH
Mike Thompson, CA
John B. Larson, CT
Rahm Emanuel, IL
|
So why is this such a big deal? Let's see what the Constitution
says about it:
Making disparaging remarks about the public debt, like by saying that
there is no Social Security trust fund, is clearly a violation of this.
Isn't that a more impeachable
offense than telling a lie about a consensual act between two adults?
Home
Young Dems