Upon the solemn event of being elected by the American People to represent our best interests, our fellow-elected-citizens -- before being empowered with the duties and responsibilities of their high office -- must swear an Oath, before God and Country to fulfill those solemn duties "faithfully" and in strict allegiance to the Constitution ...
house.gov -- Members FAQ
[...]
3. Do Members take an Oath of Office when they enter the House?
Article VI of the U.S. Constitution requires that Members of the U.S. Congress be bound by oath or affirmation to support the Constitution. Members-elect of the U.S. House of Representatives typically take the Oath of Office on the House Floor on the first day of a new Congress, immediately after the Speaker of the House has been elected and sworn in.
The Speaker administers this oath:
“I, (name of Member), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God” (5 U.S.C. §3331).
United State Senators are not exempt from this promissory responsibility either:
senate.gov -- Oath of Office
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.
Oh, how quickly so many of them forget, their solemn oaths ... to support and defend. And exactly WHAT it is, that is the object of that historic defense.
There are those Representatives that take pledges outside the scope of the Constitution, and proceed to let this external pledge guide their every move.
No matter how much it ends up hurting the American People and our fragile Economy in the long run ...
United States Representatives have taken such a 'Pledge' to the ATR:
Americans for Tax Reform
Taxpayer Protection Pledge:
I, ____, pledge to the taxpayers of the (____ district of the) state of _____ and to the American people that I will:
ONE, oppose any and all efforts to increase the marginal income tax rate for
individuals and business; and
TWO, oppose any net reduction or elimination of deductions and credits, unless matched dollar for dollar by further reducing tax rates.
Who is Grover Norquist?
Grover G. Norquist, a native of Massachusetts, has been one of most effective issues management strategists in Washington for over two decades.
Mr. Norquist is president of Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), a taxpayer advocacy group he founded in 1985 at President Reagan’s request. ATR is a coalition of taxpayer groups, individuals and businesses opposed to higher taxes at the federal, state and local levels.
ATR organizes the TAXPAYER PROTECTION PLEDGE, which asks all candidates for federal and state office to commit themselves in writing to oppose all tax increases. In the 112th Congress, 236 House members and 41 Senators have taken the pledge.
List of Pledge Signers in the 112th Congress (pdf)
Is it 'Constitutional' for Representatives to 'Pledge their Allegiance' to the Norquist Tax Pledge? --by jamess -- Jul 02, 2011
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Maybe if they actually had ever read the Constitution, they'd know how wrong taking a pledge to a corporate front group really is:
The Constitution of the United States -- Article I, Section 8
The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;
To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;
To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;
Congress is
supposed to Raise Taxes --
To provide for the general Welfare.
Congress is supposed to Honor our Debts
To provide for the common Defense.
Congress is supposed to borrow Money on the credit of our Nation
To regulate Commerce -- both Foreign and Domestic.
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And there are those Representatives and Senators (of a certain party) that take secret vows outside the scope of the Constitution, and proceed to let their secret vows guide their every un-Constitutional move.
No matter how much their "plotting" ends up hurting the American People and our fragile Economy in the long run ...
GOP plot is definitely un-American
by Harold Thomas, Orangeburg May 26, 2012
[...]
A meeting of the GOP elite was held in Washington on the evening of Jan. 20, 2009, to devise a strategy to make the president appear to be incompetent as the leader of our nation. It was agreed that for this tactic to achieve the maximum effect, it would require unanimous support from all of its members.
The mere fact that the Republicans decided to meet on the same day as the inauguration of the president corroborates suspicions that from the very beginning, they were never willing to compromise on anything that might prove to be politically advantageous to the president.
The meeting was attended by some of the most powerful people in the Republican Party, including Newt Gingrich, Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan, Dan Lungren, Tom Coburn, Bob Corker, John Ensign and South Carolina GOP Sen. Jim DeMint. Additional attendees were Jon Kyl, Frank Luntz, Pete Hoekstra, Kevin McCarthy, Jeb Hensarling and Pete Sessions.
The decision by the attendees was conceived with the sole intent of rendering the president’s efforts ineffective on the immediate issues that are of great concern to us all in order to minimize his chances of being elected to a second term. Collectively, the GOP decided that they would play a game of “political chicken” with the economy, health care and the budget in order to try to alienate American citizens who may have previously supported the president.
[...]
The disclosure by Draper explains vividly why the “do nothing” Republican-led 112th Congress is unwilling to act on essential legislation that would be beneficial to our nation. It explains the early declaration by GOP Senate Leader Mitch McConnell that his main concern was to make Obama a one-term president. [...]
Such are the Representatives and Senators that would
block every constructive thing that would improve the "general welfare" that the Constitution,
exhorts Congress to simply
"provide for."
No matter how much all that "blocking" ends up hurting the American People and our crumbling Economic Infrastructure in the long run ...
Record-Breaking Republican Obstructionism -- Chart
ourfuture.org
Transportation bill: Do Republicans want to sabotage the economy?
The Baltimore Sun -- June 10, 2012
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid recently said aloud what many Americans must be thinking these days -- that at least some Republicans in Congress would like to see the U.S. economy worsen in order to boost their chances of success in the November election.
The evidence? The GOP's continued resistance to approving a multiyear transportation authorization bill. Senator Reid told The Hill that he's heard House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is leading the charge to delay the Senate bill -- and the tens of thousands of jobs it would create.
[...]
What's frustrating is that the bill -- which has been whittled down to a mere 15-month extension (and might even be trimmed to six months, according to Mr. Boehner) -- should be a fairly routine matter. That has been the case in years past, when preserving and expanding U.S. transportation infrastructure, including roads, bridges, mass transit, ports and airports was seen as too important to the national interest to be derailed by partisan bickering.
But that was then. [...]
And this is NOW.
The age when that once solemn Constitutional oath, can be spoken in jest, but not ever followed in actual deed.
Somehow we've arrived in an age where Oaths, Pledges, and Vows are a dime a dozen, and worth about as much as our fellow-elected-citizens say they are worth. So help them, Lobbyists.
For those Representatives it seems, far too many of them have never really read that Constitution, that in all feigned seriousness, they pretend to uphold -- whenever some brave reporter dares ask them to explain:
"What good do they do?" ... from their temporarily granted positions of authority.