Fiscal Cliff Diving

Republicans will get a better deal if they stop negotiating behind closed White House doors and force the Senate to vote on a plan. In other words, if they follow the Constitution.

Remember your high school civics, when your teacher explained the process for passing federal legislation in Washington?
First the Speaker of the House goes to ask permission to pass proposed legislation from the Emperor in the White House. If the Speaker does not get the Emperor’s approval before trying to pass a bill, then he is just wasting everyone’s time. Further, if the Senate does not agree with what the House has passed, the Senate Majority Leader can just say the magic incantation, “Dead on Arrival,” and the Speaker of the House skips town.

Wait — that’s not what the Constitution says. It says that tax legislation begins in the House. And the bottom line is that the House has already acted to avoid the fiscal cliff. Last Friday before the holiday break the House did pass alternative spending cuts to replace the defense sequester. Further, in August, the House passed legislation to extend all of the Bush tax cuts for everybody.
Because we live in a low information society with mainstream media that refuse to report on anything that is not consistent with the Democrat party line, the House should act today to pass again that extension of all the Bush tax cuts for everyone. With public focus on the impending fiscal cliff, it will be impossible for partisan journalists to hide that development from the American people. Read more....