Eric Cantor Thinks He Can Pass Law Without Senate Or White House

Incomprehensibly, House Majority Whip Eric Cantor wants a bill that would mandate that HR1, the House spending bill, would become law if the Senate doesn’t act by next week.  Put another way, Cantor want to pass a law that would make a bill that never got through in the past, into law, without any other branch of government participating.

The proposal outlined Wednesday would be an unusual and likely unconstitutional move. Under the bill, the $61 billion budget that passed the House last month and subsequently went nowhere would go into effect if the Senate does not approve a budget by April 6. Plus, it would provide that in the event of a shutdown lasting more than 24 hours, members of Congress and President Obama wouldn’t get paid retroactively for the days the government was shuttered.

The proposal is meant to put pressure on the Senate to give Congress some kind of spending plan to work with so that the government does not arrive empty-handed on its April 8 deadline without a budget, forcing lights out.

It is hard to fathom how a supposedly intelligent elected Member of Congress could think this has any chance of going anywhere outside his fertile imagination.

First, it would effectively deem a prior bill passed, even though it did not clear the Senate or win the president’s signature. Second, it’s unclear why or whether Republicans think the Senate and president would accept the so-called “Government Shutdown Prevention Act” when they didn’t approve the initial House plan.

Government Shutdown Prevention Act? How about the Majority Whip Idiocy Prevention Act?

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.