Hat tip Krizic and SDAP!
Congresswoman Kristi Noem has bleated regularly about her determination to protect us from unconstitutional laws. As usual, Kristi's principles only apply when they don't stand in the way of getting what Kristi wants. On April 1, Rep. Noem did what Speaker Boehner told her and voted for HR 1255. It's a short bill, so Rep. Noem may actually have managed to read the whole thing. HR 1255 is nothing less than a legislative coup, declaring that HR 1, the GOP's destructive budget resolution, would become law without Senate approval.
Fifteen Republicans, including Rep. Ron Paul, had the good gosh darn sense to vote Nay on this trampling of the Constitution. But our gal Kristi put her little cowgirl bootprints all over Article I, Section 7.
Rep. Noem's Tea Party supporters remain silent on this clear violation of the Constitution and Noem's oath to support and defend it. They're evidently too busy trying again to refer PPACA to a public vote.
Bonus Backtracking: Maybe Rep. Noem can explain her vote against the Constitution in her next glossy, oversize mailing filled with leading questions and mailed at taxpayer expense, which wouldn't break another Noem promise... would it? Heavens to Betsy, no! Not if we send Joshua Shields out for more verbal gymnastics and close parsing of inconvenient campaign rhetoric.
Update 08:52 CDT: Minnehaha County Commissioner Jeff Barth announces he plans to run against Rep. Noem in 2012! Go Jeff!
Boy Cory, this is probably the most condescending thing I've ever read from you...
But, one quick thing. HR 1255 isn't unconstitutional at all, rather, far from it. What the House did was "incorporate by reference". What does that do? HR 1255 is a bill that incorporates another bill (HR 1) by referencing it, meaning that if HR 1255 had been passed, it would also mean that HR 1 would be considered already passed, and the Congress can take language from HR 1 and apply it to HR 1255. This isn't illegal, it doesn't bypass the Senate or the Presidency, and it's been done no less than 13 times previously. (http://patterico.com/2011/04/04/whoops-that-horribly-unconstitutional-bill-passed-by-house-republicans-is-probably-constitutional-after-all/)
Congressman Rob Woodall (R-GA) sums it up better than I can:
"There is no deeming in this bill. This bill says one thing and one thing only about H.R. 1, and that is, that if the Senate cannot act, we are going to give the Senate some cover. If the Senate doesn’t want to commit to H.R. 1 for the remainder of the year, we give them the opportunity to incorporate the language of H.R. 1 into this bill, send it to the President’s desk for his signature, make it the law of the land, while we continue to work to sort out our budget differences."
What is he saying? The Senate still has to vote on it, and the President still has to sign it.
Sorry Cory, one more attack that isn't going to work...
Come on, Tyler. If Nancy Pelosi had tried to pass health care reform by this method, you'd have gone ape with the tyranny talk. You are having to work far too hard to rationalize Noem's incompetence and disregard for the Constitution.
I for one do not like Josh Shields at all and it bothers me that Kristi Noem hired him and runs around town with him on her leash.
This blog is ten times what the DWC is with 5 bloggers. I wish the DWC was up to snuff again. Tyler is working on getting there but the content is very small at DWC.
The people Noem has working for her are the kind of people who feel entitled to do whatever they want. Campaign promises don't mean anything but they pile up and she is breaking a lot of them.
100 Billion, 61 Billion, 38 Billion...
Shields and Christensen are poor people for her to rely on. Jon Lauck wannabes.