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Rothfus has much to learn; Elizabeth “Betty” Asche Douglas; Beaver County Times; April 14, 2013.
Mrs. Douglas is a local artist and, according to previous letters, “is a retired Geneva College professor.” Previous letters from Mrs. Douglas are here, here, here, here, and here.
Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.
“Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District has the misfortune to have elected a representative who seems to be ignorant of the fact the U.S. Constitution charges Congress alone with the responsibility for taxes and spending.”
[RWC] Mrs. Douglas appears to be the one with “much to learn.” Mrs. Douglas’ comment that “the U.S. Constitution charges Congress alone with the responsibility for taxes and spending” is completely wrong. Taxing and spending is a joint responsibility of Congress and the President. According to the U.S. Constitution, the President must approve/disapprove “taxes and spending” bills as he would any other bill. In addition, federal law requires the President to submit budgets annually. There are more details in the following two paragraphs.
On the issue of revenue, Article I, Section 7 says, “All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.” Article I, Section 8 says, “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.” Now let’s go back to Article I, Section 7: “Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States: If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated.”
The Constitution does not define a procedure for submitting and implementing a budget. Among laws to address adoption of a budget is the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921. This law states, “On or after the first Monday in January but not later than the first Monday in February of each year, the President shall submit a budget of the United States Government for the following fiscal year.” President Obama missed this year’s budget due-date by nearly two-and-one-half months. Remember, the last two years the Democrat-majority Senate voted down President Obama’s budget proposals 99-0 and 97-0. Yes, that means Mr. Obama’s proposals were so bad not even one Democrat senator voted for them. When your own party won’t support your budget, it’s tough to blame the other party.
“Freshman Congressman Rothfus blithely blames President Obama for the nation’s current economic stagnation. Rep. Rothfus needs to clear the teabags out of his head if he expects to earn any credibility as a lawmaker.”
[RWC] Mrs. Douglas appears to forget President Obama had significant Democrat majorities in both houses of Congress for two years (2009-2010), including a period with a filibuster-proof Senate. As we saw with Obamacare, Republicans couldn’t stop anything Mr. Obama wanted even when not a single Republican voted for it. If something Mrs. Douglas wanted didn’t get passed during those two years, she can’t blame Republicans.
Frankly, I’m surprised Mrs. Douglas agreed we’re in “economic stagnation.” You may recall the Obama administration declared the summer of 2010 to be “Recovery Summer.”
I know Mrs. Douglas desperately wants to pin the blame for “the nation’s current economic stagnation” on just about anyone other than President Obama, but that’s a tough row to hoe if you stick to the facts and the truth.
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