Dear GOP: a Daily Kos staff reminder on the constitutional process for changing the law

by Linda Beale

Dear GOP: a Daily Kos staff reminder on the constitutional process for changing the law

The Tea Party/GOP coalition has often talked about the importance of the Constitution, but one can’t help wondering if the recent extortionist behavior doesn’t belie that, when the governnment shutdown it has caused as a means of extorting its way to getting rid of Obamacare is costing us $300 million a day. And getting back up to snuff after the shutdown ends will be extra-expensive–an inefficient increase in the deficit that the right complains so much about.  Those extra expenses will claim even more of thetax revenues that we don’t have because we still tax the wealthy people’s income at ridiculously low preferential rates (the capital gains preference, the carried interest debacle) and we have tax rate brackets that ignore the reality of CEOs who earn 400 times what their average worker earns.

The Daily Kos staff came up with a thoughtful bit to remind the right how government is supposed to work–a letter to Dear GOP.  Excerpts, self-explanatory, follow.

Dear GOP,

You don’t like the Affordable Care Act. … But it was passed the correct way …. It made it through the House, and it made it through the Senate. It wasn’t passed in the “dead of night”, nor was it “rammed down” anyone’s throat …. It passed only after an excruciating 14-months of debate and negotiations. …

Us liberals weren’t thrilled when it passed. …  After all, we’re not in the business of fighting for Heritage Foundation-created ideas championed by the likes of Newt Gingrich and first adopted by Republican governors (the guy you nominated, in fact!). If we couldn’t get single payer, we at least wanted a public option—an expansion of Medicare for all. But alas, we went to D.C. with the Congress we had, not the one we wanted. ….

….

But here’s the thing: If you want to truly get rid of the law, you have to do it the proper way, as specified in that Constitution you pretend to cherish. Those House votes? … You’re a third of the way there. Because you still have to get that bill passed by the Senate. And then, you have to get the president to sign it. And if the president doesn’t sign it, then you have to overturn that veto which requires a two-thirds majority, which you don’t have even in the House.

So what are your options? Certainly not shut down the government and threaten a national default on our debt. That’s not in that Constitution (seriously, read it!). Your options are to win some elections. Hold that ill-gotten gerrymandered-fueled majority in the House. Get a simple majority in the Senate and then get rid of the filibuster. … Then win the presidency. …

If you really truly believe that America is behind you, then you’re golden. 2014 and 2016 will bear that out and you’ll have all the governmental control you’ll need to repeal to your heart’s content. So put your trust on that American public you so fervently believe is behind you and let the chips fall where they may.

Originally posted to kos on Tue Oct 01, 2013 at 09:12 AM PDT.  Also republished byDaily Kos.

cross posted with ataxingmatter

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