During today's AIG Oversight hearing before the House Banking Committee (chaired by Barney Frank), Rep Michele Bachmann stunned Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner with a typically loony tune question about the Constitution. Exactly what Bachmann is 'representative' of I leave to your imaginations
Here's the exchange, and then my color commentary
Play-by-Play
BACHMANN: What provision in the Constitution could you point to to give authority for the actions that have been taken by the Treasury since March of '08?
GEITHNER: Oh, well, the -- the Congress legislated in the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act a range of very important new authorities.
BACHMANN: Sir, in the Constitution. What -- what in the Constitution could you point to to -- to give authority to the Treasury for the extraordinary actions that have been taken?
GEITHNER: Every action that the Treasury and the Fed and the FDIC is -- is -- has been using authority granted by this body -- by this body, the Congress.
BACHMANN: And by -- in the Constitution, what could you point to?
GEITHNER: Under the laws of the land, of course.
Color Commentary
So what's going on here? Bachmann seems determine to make some kind of political point (who in the world would this appeal to) but only seems to confirm her life membership in DENSA. Geithner cocks his head to the side the way my dog does when I do something especially silly. He answered that his authority comes from "this body." The body-with-no-brain was unsatisfied, and simply asked the question again...and then again! Geithner was too kind, and awestruck at her aggressive idiocy, to give her the basic Constitutional lesson that:
- The Constitution divides governmental powers into 3 areas
- The Congress is empowered to legislate and create the laws of the land (Article 1, Section 8)
- The Treasury Secretary is acting upon their laws.
Maybe her attention span is too limited to apply the transitive principle to governmental authority.
She goes on to ask why Geithner didn't shut down AIG. Looking for Rod Serling in the corner, he answers...um, because Congress did NOT give us THAT authority...which is what I'm here to request.
Thank goodness Barney intervenes to put a cork in her empty bottle of a brain. How does he do that? By explaining to her the RULES of the House committee. I was waiting for her to ask where in the Constitution is there foundation for those laws!!!
Who voted for this woman???
Grannyhelen links to the video in the comments
And in case you missed the most recent time before this that she lapsed into the Twilight Zone, click here http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/...