8/9/20: President Trump is spending the weekend at his resort in Bedminster, N.J. There’s nothing on his schedule till afternoon.
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The Founding Fathers trusted no man. |
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“Money affairs were to be confined to the immediate representatives of the people.”
Benjamin Franklin
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Meanwhile, what fresh assaults has he been plotting against the U.S. Constitution? Saturday (and this is a big one), he signed an executive order to extend extra unemployment relief to American workers, only choosing to reduce the amount from $600 per week to $400. This came after Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives argued for keeping the figure at $600.
On the other side of Capitol Hill, Senate Leader Milksop Mitch couldn’t get his GOP band to go along, even with $400. Many favored a less generous amount. As in $0. Despite the fact McConnell and his party control the Senate, Trump blamed Democrats for blocking relief to hard-pressed working folks.
That’s where the president’s most recent and brazen attempt to usurp the U.S. Constitution commences. If you haven’t read the founding document (and there’s no evidence that Trump ever has), the House of Representatives alone can pass bills to raise revenue. The Senate may only “propose” amendments to spending bills, or “concur” with revenue proposals the House sends its way. Then they can vote approval or vote appropriations bills down.
If you believe the Constitution matters, Article I, Section 9, Clause 7 is unequivocal. The president can’t spend money unless Congress grants it. This has much to do with the era of kings, when, for example, one fourth of the budget of France went to support the lavish lifestyles of Louis XIV and Louis XV, and all their royal hangers-on. That was before French reformers cut off Louis XVI’s head.
This is an extreme method to employ to curtail excess government spending; but it had its merits.
The “power of the purse” rests not in the president’s hands.
The U.S. Constitution is clear. “No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury,” the Founding Fathers wrote, “but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law, and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.”
There was a simple reason the Founders put the “power of the purse” in the hands of the House, not the Senate or the president. Members of the House are up for reelection every two years. If voters are unhappy, they can vote the rascals out. To cite Elbridge Gerry, speaking in 1787, members of the House of Representatives would be “more immediately the representatives of the people, and it was a maxim that the people ought to hold the purse-strings.”
Ben Franklin spoke to the wisdom of this provision. Under the Constitution, senators were not elected by the people, but chosen by state legislatures. Direct election came only in 1913, with ratification of the XVII Amendment. The president was chosen by the Electoral College. Only members of the House were voted on by ordinary citizens (white males only). For that reason, Franklin said, “money affairs were to be confined to the immediate representatives of the people.”
Milksop Mitch, however, has decided that he doesn’t care about trivial details, such as the powers vested in Congress. If Trump wants to spend hundreds of billions of dollars more, in hopes of getting himself re-elected, and that helps Milksop get a seventh term in office, who is Mitch to block his path! “Struggling Americans need action now,” McConnell said in a recent statement, while taking no action himself. “Since Democrats have sabotaged backroom talks with absurd demands that would not help working people, I support President Trump exploring his options to get unemployed benefits and other relief to the people who need them the most.”
Yes, “other options,” such as ignoring the U.S. Constitution, because Mitch and his crew can’t devise a compromise.
This blogger is not averse to seeing the unemployed get the extra money, even the full $600. That doesn’t mean we want a president who can “buy” votes for himself, when the U.S. Constitution does not give him the power to allocate any amounts of money he might like.
Or, really, any money.
We should also note, there was one man with courage to attack President Trump for this blatant overreach.
That was Donald Trump, who said, while running for office four years ago: “We don’t want to continue to watch people signing executive orders because that was not what the Constitution and the brilliant designers of this incredible document had in mind. We need people that can make deals.”
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WHILE TRUMP wielded his putter this weekend, the country passed another grim milestone. Sunday morning we hit the five million-mark for confirmed cases of a virus that he promised long ago was going away.
5,002,523.
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In 2016, many of us who wanted change in the White House took a chance on Donald Trump. We thought he’d lead as a conservative Republican. Instead, he has imperiled our republic.
We are alarmed by the anti-democratic tactics and flagrant abuse of power committed daily by Donald Trump.
Heimlich continues:
He has created a culture of fear within the Republican Party as well as across the country, demonizing anyone with differing opinions. He belittles, berates, and ruins the careers of all who oppose him — including his own appointed government agency heads, respected military leaders and war heroes.
He has undermined the rule of law, obstructed justice, and issued pardons and commutations to personal cronies who helped cover up his misdeeds.
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