Definitive Story for This Blog

If ever there were a story published on the internet that perfectly embodied the name of this blog, this one is a very good candidate.

Republicans in the House and Senate have decided that the best way to combat the federal government's "tyranny" over the economy and other areas is to pass a constitutional amendment giving states the ability to repeal any federal law or regulation they decide is "abhorrent or misguided."

UH, YEAH RIGHT!

Of course, there isn't a single Republican in either house of Congress who seriously believes that a constitutional amendment like this can pass. Remember, to pass an amendment to the Constitution, two-thirds of each House of Congress must pass the amendment, or two-thirds of the state legislatures can apply to Congress for a Constitutional convention, or the Congress can require ratification by special convention (only used once in 1933). Then, three-fourths of the states (38 states) must ratify the amendment. This is so rare an occurrence that there have been only 17 amendments in the past 216 years. The last amendment was 19 years ago, and had to do with limiting congressional pay raises. An amendment like this, which pits the rights of states against the rights of the federal government to enact laws it deems necessary to govern the country, has literally zero chance of passing. It's just another political ploy in an election cycle to fire up the base and rally voters around their candidates. Not a tactic reserved exclusively for the GOP, of course (see Healthcare Reform), but the GOP is certainly the only party brazen/stupid/cynical/nihilistic enough to toss outrageous ideas like this into the ring. It is a sure sign that the party has sunk into the intellctual morass that is the Tea Party.

GOP Hypocrisy Watch

TPM has it:

Maryland physician Andy Harris (R) just soundly defeated Frank Kratovil, one of the most endangered Democrats on Capitol Hill going into the November election. And he did it in large part by railing against 'Obamacare' and pledging to repeal Health Care Reform. But when he showed on Capitol Hill today for an orientation for incoming members of Congress and their staffs, he had a different question: Where's my government health care?

According to Glenn Thrush of Politico, Harris created a stir at the orientation meeting by demanding to know why he had to wait a month after he was sworn in in January for his government-subsidized health care to kick in. After responding in a huff, he even asked if there was some way he could buy into the government care in advance, seemingly thinking there might be a government program similar to the so-called 'public option' championed by progressive Democrats in 2009.

Why can't this guy get his own damn private insurance? I mean, this is America! Do we have to subsidize every freeloading illegal alien AND government employee?