Living Document or Wet Blanket?

That pesky U.S. Constitution, it always ruins the fun!




From Article 1, Section 7:

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;

If the Democrats are smart, they will force a fight that will prove their status as the defenders of the Constitution. Literally.

A clerk's mistake could mean a budget bill President Bush signed isn't technically law, but congressional Republicans said again Wednesday they have no plans to try to fix the problem.
[snip]

The bill, which Bush signed Feb. 8, tightens rules for Medicaid nursing home eligibility to make it more difficult for those who have transferred their assets to their families or to charities to qualify for Medicaid.

[snip]

House Democrats, accusing GOP leaders of abusing the legislative process, have asked for another vote. On the last vote Feb. 1, the bill passed by the narrowest of margins, 216-214.

At issue is a provision involving the period of time the government pays to rent some types of durable medical equipment before medical suppliers transfer it to Medicare patients.

The Senate voted for 13 months, as intended by Senate and House negotiators, but a Senate clerk erroneously put down 36 months in sending the bill back to the House for a final vote, and that's what the House approved Feb. 1.

By the time the bill was shipped to Bush, the number was back to 13 months as passed by the Senate but not the House.

Their ineptitude would be comical if it didn't result in needless death, neverending war, and the screwing of the poor and working classes.