Rep. Ryan gets it wrong
At least one Congressman has flipped his flop on the AIG bonuses. Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan said today that “Now, that I know – which I didn’t at the time – that this is unconstitutional, I wouldn’t have voted the same way.”
He claims he abandoned his sole duty because of time constraints. “Nobody had time to review it”, he said.
Let’s get this really clear. A guy elected to Congress, who has sworn to uphold the Constitution, didn’t know if a bill was Constitutional or not, and didn’t have time to find out? Was there something MORE IMPORTANT going on? Maybe a Wisconsin basketball game to watch?
The bill calling for 90% taxes on execs of firms receiving TARP money wasn’t obscenely long. And the concept is pretty simple. Rep. Ryan – ANY time you see a bill that confiscates money from a person or persons who haven’t been charged with or convicted off any crime, that bill may be unConstitutional. That applies to all sorts of bills, Congress regularly steals our money for reasons that aren’t defined by our founding documents. And the Constitution says basically that any right not defined specifically for Congress, doesn’t belong to Congress.
Somebody find this guy a copy of the Constitution, and get him out of my sight. The GOP needs to be better. We’re not supposed to pass laws that make people feel better, we’re supposed to pass laws based on what’s legal and what’s not legal.
