The Slaughter Diversion

“Better to illuminate than merely to shine, to deliver to others contemplated truths than merely to contemplate.” – St. Thomas Aquinas

Home » Democrats, Health, Health Care, Politics

14 March 2010 2 Comments

BY: NCViking

From the Washington Examiner:

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives have never before been asked to pass legislation by “deeming” it approved under a House rule instead of following the process required by the U.S. Constitution in which they actually vote on the proposal itself, according to a senior aide to House Republicans.

The procedure – dubbed by critics as the “Slaughter Solution” – is the brain-child of House Rules Committee Chairman Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-NY, who, at the request of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, is trying to fashion a rule that would allow the House to move toward passage of a health care reform bill without a recorded vote on the Senate version.

Its simple: reconcile and create one bill, vote on it in the House or Representatives and Senate … if it passes with a proper majority, send it to the President to sign. You cannot ‘deem’ a bill to pass without a vote in any house of congress. Doing so would mean that this bill would be unconstitutional, or in essence not be a real law. It doesn’t matter what rules are developed. Once signed by the president, no one would be obligated to follow it because it is not a law. Remember Schoolhouse Rock? Apparently Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) need to watch this cute little grammar school cartoon again …

U.S Constitution, Article I, Section VII, Clause II

Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively…

Why would Democrats want to do this? The only reason I can determine is to avoid the hard issues of either pulling the giveaway crap or abortion provisions (which upset some Pro Life Democrats) out of the Senate version and risk further delays, or voting on it and it not passing. “When the going gets tough … the tough cheat?” This legislation is monstrous and far-reaching. Doing the ‘Slaughter Solution‘ would be a Hail Mary pass surely to get contested in the courts and overturned, thus generating chaos. I can’t believe that this is actually a serious consideration, so I am not going to get too worked up about it. It is likely just a diversionary tactic to get hounds criticizing the bill to gnaw on this ridiculous red meat as further ugly deals are cut under the cover of its smoke.