Imagine my surprise when I saw a new Edwards Ad today - claiming that he would take away Health Insurance from Congress if they failed to pass Universal Health Care. I remember hearing this rhetoric in a recent speech or debate. And it got applause. Sure, people are angry about this issue and understandably growing impatient. But I heard some pundits say that Edwards really didn't have the power to take away health insurance from Congress. But heck, Edwards is a successful attorney, so I figured he knew a little about this.
John Edwards threatens to use his "Power as President" to take away health care from Congress IF they haven't passed health care coverage by July 2009. I kind of like this idea personally, because why should Congress have the best health care coverage in the land, while so many other Americans don't. The problem is - this rhetoric sounds good, but it's not feasible.
http://facts.hillaryhub.com/...
Sen. Edwards Proposes Unconstitutional Law In New Ad
Sen. Edwards has a new TV advertisement about health care where he proposes the following law:
When I’m president, I’m going to say to members of Congress and members of my administration including my cabinet, I’m glad that you have health care coverage and your family has health care coverage. But if you don’t pass universal health care by July 2009, in six months, I’m going to use my power as president to take your health care away from you.
The problem is, Sen. Edwards doesn't have the power to take health care away from Congress unilaterally—he'd have to propose a law. (Sen. Edwards himself has acknowledged this point.) And a law that takes away health coverage from Congress in July 2009 is unconstitutional according to the 27th Amendment:
No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.
Thus, since the law would change compensation for Congress before the next Congressional election (2010), it would violate the 27th amendment. The Atlantic's Matt Yglesias and All The President's Spin Author Brendan Nyhan agree.
Looks like Sen. Edwards is proposing unconstitutional gimmickry to pass universal health care. The last time he ran for president he opposed universal health care and attacked other candidates who supported it. But with Health Care being even more critical in this campaign, and moving to the left of his formerly more moderate persona, the Senator is pulling out all the stops. The good news is it sounds good. Even if it's only rhetoric.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/...