Our lawless government

Frank Miele of the Daily Inter Lake in Montana looks at the total corruption of Congress, and says that there is nothing to be done about it. He gives the example of solemn pledges by congressmen and President Obama to end earmarks, followed by the continuation of earmarks. And then this: did you know that last month the Senate voted, 61-37, to give the District of Columbia a vote in the House of Representatives, although, of course, that’s plainly unconstitutional, since only states can vote in the House? Miele comments:

If you know a better name than tyranny, kindly send it to me—as the wanton disregard of the rule of law by the legislative body itself would appear to me to meet the test of tyranny.

By the way, if you’re confused about what earmarks are, here’s a good explanation at Wikipedia:

Earmarking differs from the broader appropriations process, defined in the Constitution, in which Congress grants a yearly lump sum of money to a Federal agency. These monies are allocated by the agency according to its legal authority and internal budgeting process. With an earmark, Congress has given itself the ability to direct a specified amount of money from an agency’s budget to be spent on a particular project, without the Members of the Congress having to identify themselves or the project.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at March 16, 2009 12:11 PM | Send