By Henry Lamb
Rep. John Shadegg has been trying to get a bill enacted for 15 years that would simply require legislators to cite the constitutional authority for any legislation that is proposed. His bill is called the Enumerated Powers Act (HR450). It now has 52 co-sponsors, but there is very little chance that it will ever get to the floor for a vote.
Why? Because the Democrats in Congress will not allow it.
This bill would not be necessary if the Democrats would simply follow their own rules. House Rule XIII (3)(d)(1) requires:
"Each report of a committee on a public bill or public joint resolution shall contain the following: A statement citing the specific powers granted to Congress in the Constitution to enact the law proposed by the bill or joint resolution."
That's right. The rules of procedure in the House of Representatives already require that every bill or resolution cite the constitutional authority for the proposed legislation. This rule is routinely ignored.
Why? Because Democrats control the Rules Committee and the entire House of Representatives, and they routinely "waive" or "suspend" this rule.
Some people remember when Nancy Pelosi stood on her pedestal and proclaimed: "This leadership team will create the most honest, most open, and most ethical Congress in history" (November 16, 2006). Ignoring a House rule is a minor offense, compared to the corruption that Ms. Pelosi readily accepts when it affects her Democratic colleagues.
How quickly did she and her colleagues invoke House rules to condemn Rep. Joe Wilson when he blurted out "you lie" during President Obama's sales pitch to Congress? But when Democrat Alan Grayson uses visual aids to claim that the Republican health-care plan calls on sick people to "Die Quickly," there's nothing at all offensive to Pelosi and her colleagues about the gross lie Grayson speaks.
But even this duplicity is minor compared to the corruption Nancy continues to reward by her failure to take action.
Charles Rangel has failed to report his income from rental property in the Dominican Republic; has used rent-controlled housing facilities for campaign activities to avoid more than $7,000 in rental payments, and much, much more.
John Murtha provides a treasure trove of investigations into all sorts of abuse of power. Murtha's earmark list contains big rewards for the same companies that appear on his contributions list.
Maxine Waters completely ignores the conflict of interest rules by using her influence to set up meetings between the Treasury Department and her friends at OneUnited Bank – which, incidentally, wound up with $12.1 million in bailout funds.
Corruption is not limited to Democrats, by any means; they just seem to be better at getting away with it.
But then, they have a good example. Obama also promised to clean up the corruption in the administration. Then, he proceeded to appoint Tom Daschle and other people who had failed to pay their taxes or, like New Mexico's Governor Bill Richardson, were caught up in some kind of investigation. Obama issued an extremely rigid executive order outlining a high bar of ethics his appointees would have to meet. Then, he proceeded to ignore his high bar and waive the requirements for several appointees.
It is pure corruption to deliberately give the appearance of high ethical standards, and then completely refuse to apply those standards.
What's needed is a tidal wave to wash over Washington to clean out every politician – regardless of party affiliation – who seeks personal power over constitutional compliance or personal profit over public accountability.
Tidal waves often follow earthquakes. And earthquakes often follow ground tremors. Seismic tremors are being recorded in cities across the nation. In nearly every city where a Democrat had the courage to hold a town meeting, the earth rumbled.
All across the land, individuals and organizations are preparing for a tidal wave. They are identifying those congressmen who arrogantly refuse to answer their questions. They are making notes of the votes cast by congressmen who want government to take over health care, energy, and the rest of the market place. They are putting targets on the backs of those elected officials who vote to increase taxes and blindly spend uncountable billions.
While Democrats pretended to look the other way on September 12, more than a million people politely paraded through Washington. These are the people who will take their families and their friends and neighbors to the polls next November. These are the people who are the tidal wave that can clean up the corruption in D.C. These are the people who vote.
