Read Your Constitution, Senator!
08/24/2007
Does Norm Coleman not remember the Constitution, or does he just not care?
Maybe Senator Coleman has been so busy cozying up to President Bush at exclusive, high-roller fundraising events like the one that took place a few days ago in Eden Prairie that he's forgotten what the Constitution says.
But there's a difference between forgetting and just making it up. For example, Coleman recently claimed that it takes "a bipartisan supermajority to pass legislation" in the Senate. This, of course, is merely a convenient way for the Republican minority to pretend that the Democratic-led Senate can do nothing without their approval. But the Constitution says no such thing, and neither do Senate rules. Here I debunked Senator Coleman's constitutional ignorance.
(Quick! Can you name the seven kinds of congressional action for which the Constitution does require more votes than a simple majority? Don't worry if you can't. Neither can Norm Coleman, and he's even a trained lawyer! The answers are below.)
Make no mistake about it: Coleman's willful ignorance of our Constitution is no fluke. Rather, it's one more piece of the Bush/Cheney/Rove strategy of perverting both our fundamental charter and rights and the basic rule of law, just to serve their selfish ends - and Norm Coleman's. They have:
Made sweeping claims of "executive privilege" to insulate high-ranking public servants from congressional oversight.
Argued the Vice President falls outside the executive branch to hide his shadowy dealings with corporate masters - even though the Constitution establishes the Vice Presidency in article II, the same article that establishes the executive branch.
Used Presidential "signing statements" to nullify lawfully enacted legislation.
Used legalistic arguments - not legal, just legalistic - to justify war and torture abroad, and corruption and manipulation at home.
And all along, Senator Norm Coleman has stood right there with them. After fervently supporting the war in Iraq, he has now joined in the war on the Constitution, making up new rules when the real ones don't work in his favor.
One idea: email Senator Coleman a copy of the Constitution.
But even better: Fight fire with fire. Make sure the DFL Party has all the tools we need to defeat Norm Coleman in 2008. ( Click here to donate)
Republicans know that Norm Coleman is in big trouble. They brought in Bush to raise the big bucks, but Bush didn't just raise them for Coleman: in fact, most of the cash went to the Minnesota Republican Party. Republicans know that stocking the state party with the resources to attack any and all Democratic challengers is their only hope of winning next year - because on the merits, a deeply compromised and deservedly unpopular Norm Coleman running on or even away from his record will lose.
But elections aren't won on the merits alone, which is why the DFL Party has been hard at work in 2007 gearing up for the Senate race, maintaining a field operation year in and out and conducting the painstaking research to expose Norm Coleman for the opportunist and obstructionist that he is. We can win back Paul Wellstone's seat, but we can't wait until next year to start. We need your help today so that when we have a candidate, our state party will be strong and ready to take Coleman on in 2008. (Click here to donate)
I'm asking you to contribute $35, $50, $100, $250 or whatever you can afford to beat the Republicans at their own game. Let's strike a blow for the Constitution - and elect a senator who respects it!
Sincerely,
Brian Melendez
Chair
Minnesota DFL Party
P.S. Don't forget that the State of Minnesota will annually refund the first $50 of your contribution ($100 per couple) through the Political Contribution Refund program. It's easy and it's free, so take advantage of it!
Some Constitutional Facts
1. The Constitution spells out exactly seven kinds of congressional action when a simple majority is not enough, and none involve passing legislation. Check them out for yourself:
convicting an impeached officer (art. I, sec. 3),
expelling a member (art. I, sec. 5),
overriding a veto (art. I, sec. 7),
ratifying a treaty (art. II, sec. 2),
proposing a constitutional amendment (art. V),
removing disabilities for oath-breaking rebels (amend. XIV, sec. 3), and
determining Presidential disability (amend. XXV, sec. 4).
2. Many bills have passed by a simple majority that is, with yeas outnumbering nays, often by a single vote with or without bipartisan support. In fact, the idea that passing legislation takes a "bipartisan supermajority" is phony. If it were true, then every piece of legislation in the Senate would take 60 votes and Republicans could, and would, filibuster anything and everything that they disagree with.
Historically, the filibuster has been reserved for matters so grave that a senator was willing to shut down the Senate. The Republicans are trying to turn it into a routine device that applies to any legislation that they oppose -- basically, they are willing to shut down the Senate whenever they are outnumbered, even though they lost the last election. That's not how democracy works.
Here is a list of legislation that Senator Coleman voted on, while the Republicans controlled Congress, which passed with fewer than 60 votes:
U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act of 2007, passed March 2007, passed 51-47 ( Coleman voted no)
Fiscal 2007 Budget, passed March 2006, 51-49 ( Coleman voted no)
Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, passed November 2005, 52-47 ( Coleman voted no)
Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, passed July 2005, 55-45 ( Coleman voted yes)
A Bill to Amend Title 31 of the United States Code to Increase the Public Debt Limit, passed November 2004, 52-44 ( Coleman voted yes)
Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003, passed May 2003, 51-49 ( Coleman voted yes)
Increasing the Statutory Limit on the Public Debt, passed May 2003, 53-44 ( Coleman voted yes)