Lessons for Washington DC from School House Rock

When I was a kid I used to watch the School House Rock clips every Saturday morning in between cartoons.  I loved the catchy little songs and how they taught the basics on a variety of topics from conjunctions to the American Revolution.  I still can remember most of them to this day.  Looking back, I now realize just how important those clever little videos were in my life.

This week is a very critical moment in time in our young Republic’s existence.  We are faced with an out of control Congress that is ready to usurp our Constitution with legislative chicanery.  Louise Slaughter, a Democrat from New York’s District 28, has devised an unconstitutional scheme to bypass a House vote for the health care bill by applying House rules that declares the Senate bill passed without a vote or roll call.  This is in clear violation of Article 1, Section 7 of our Constitution.

Article 1, Section 7 states:

All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.

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;[2] 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. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law.
Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill.

So as you can see the Senate bill, which is a completely separate bill from the House bill was not voted on by the House.  Forgotten Liberty posted a very good article on this issue.  Conservative radio talk show host, Mark Levin, feels that Slaughter should be removed for a failure to uphold her oath to support an defend the Constitution.  In my opinion I believe she is a progressive that views the Constitution as a flawed document with negative liberties.  This is why she has no problem disregarding it, it is irrelevant to her.  And for this reason, I think she should be relieved from her duties as a representative, because when it comes to our Constitution, we should never play political games.

Even when I listened to many Republicans, they seemed hesitant to bring up the Constitutional issues with this act.  I just cannot understand why it’s such a taboo thing in Washington DC to stand up for our Constitution.  It’s as if they are all worried about being classified as some sort of extremist, so instead of defending it they talk around it.  I wonder how many of them watched the School House Rock clips when they were kids.  As simple as these short clips were, they had an impact on me.  You see they reinforced the basics and maybe that’s precisely what members of Congress need right now, because it’s becoming abundantly clear to me that very few understand the basics.  So to help them I have embedded a video from School House Rock titled “No More Kings.”  Just maybe it will remind them that we chose liberty over tyranny.  This healthcare bill is tyranny and the process that they plan to use to pass is an absolute breach of faith in the principles that we all hold close to our hearts.

Remember this time we live in, for we live in trouble times that will try our souls.  Stand firm in your faith and principles and we will change the course of this nation and get back to the basics that made us great…with or without School House Rock.

Liberty forever, freedom for all!

Original Post: The Current