Before this week, I had never heard Senator Charles Grassley speak – on anything. In the last few days, though, I’ve been sent a number of emails about him being a “strong 10th Amendment supporter.” Skeptical of any Senator in DC actually supporting the Constitution in a meaningful way, I browsed around YouTube and found what must’ve incited the onslaught of emails about him. It was a clip called “Sen. Grassley: Health Overhaul Violates 10th Amendment.”
Title: Good.
Before the 1:30 mark, he had this to say:
“This is the first time in the 222 year history of our country that we have forced you as a constituent – any of our constituents – to buy a product…..And if you don’t buy it, IRS is gonna tax a family $1500.”
Interesting comment. Ok, I’m listening.
He’s then asked a question: “Is this Constitutional – forcing them to buy it and punishing them through the IRS if they don’t?”
His response
“Uh…I’m not a lawyer …”
Alert: Politician Code Word.
Whenever you hear a politician talk about the Constitutionality of something by saying “I’m not a lawyer,” what they’re really saying is “I’m weak and won’t take a stand on this.”
That’s pretty much what the rest of his response was – “blah blah blah, some lawyers have said it might be unconstitutional, blah blah blah”
So, I started to wonder a bit – what out there, does Chuck Grassley think is a “violation of the 10th Amendment.”
He sure doesn’t think that the largest-ever expansions of government-run health care since Medicare and Medicaid was a violation – in 2003 he and his republican buddies voted for both SCHIP and the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act. The latter is now projected to cost Americans over a trillion dollars.
I guess he likes government health care when a Republican is in charge.
And just a day later, he comes out and tells us that we need “national” laws for medical marijuana.
Where in the Constitution is that authority, Chuck?
He also voted in favor of the Patriot Act – and its renewal in 2006. In favor of No Child Left Behind and Real ID.
If I have to explain the problem with those, you’re on the wrong website.
The moral of the story? Almost no one in DC has any real respect for the 10th Amendment or the Constitution as a whole. If they say something about it that appears to be right – be wary – they’re probably just paying it lip service.
Grassley is no 10th Amendment supporter – he’s little more than a thug in a suit.
October 24th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Thanks Mike,
For exposing this hipocrite(sp?).
October 24th, 2009 at 11:37 pm
Great article Mike!
Illustrates the blatant two face composition of most federal officeholders.
Am finding state and local politicians are also a lip service bunch.
Acually PLEDGING themselves and not just supporting a tenth amendment resolution is way too scary for them.
After all, if they put themselves out there personally, they will need to honor the pledge, resolution or memorial not withstanding.
But not signing is also a measure of their resolve.
There are too many Grassleys in office across the land.
October 25th, 2009 at 8:35 am
Andrew, Mark – thanks for the feedback. It never ceases to amaze me how these power-hungry politicians will pander when the opposition is in power. But the bottom line remains the same – no matter what side is in charge, their power continues to grow, and your liberty is always under attack.
October 25th, 2009 at 9:38 am
“Past performance is no guarntee of future results”
You see that an awful lot with reguards to financial products that are tied to the stockmarket, but I also think it applies to many politicians. There may be politicans that are currently in Washington and want to really change and reform the system, granted not saying we should maintain a healthy level of skepticism of any washington politico but we also shouldn’t immediatly write them off either.
Cause if you can’t reform the current system the only other option is to tear it down and start over from ground zero and right now I don’t think anyone is ready to deal with that.
October 26th, 2009 at 5:11 am
@David:
You’re right, they’re no “guarantee” of future results. But a consistent set of behaviors is certainly a strong indicator. And, on top of it, this article also mentions some current “results” which follow the past results as well.
Grassley is one of the worst, in my opinion.
October 26th, 2009 at 5:54 am
We all really have to flush that toilet in d.c.2010 vote who u can out. no matter what they say. They all lie and go back and forth to enhance themselves!Their greed and unbalanced devotion to party and friends leaves the american tax payer out in the cold! They have sucked us dry. and now they want to move in for the kill! cap and trade scam heath care scam printing money ,pride in our nation people abusing the word of our lord(rev wright)-our conatitution . THAT IS ALL QUITE ENOUGH. WE AS CITIZENS ABVIOUSLY NEED A LAWYER TO RID OURSELVES OF THESE PIGS. I SAY PIG BECAUSE THATS HOW PIGS ARE. THEY EAT AND EAT UNTIL IT ALL GONE . WELL GUESS WHAT ITS ALL GONE!!!!
October 27th, 2009 at 2:34 am
Calling Sen. Grassley a "D.C. thug" strongly mischaracterizes him. He may not be all that we want in a politician, but in one area he shines: For the past several years, Sen. Grassley has been ruthlessly investigating the sordid relationships between Big Pharma, the FDA, and doctors who falsify research and promote drugs for big bucks under the table. He has been so effective in this field, drug lobbyists were breaking out the champagne when it was rumored several months ago that Grassley would be leaving the Finance Committee, where he has been carrying out his investigations. (He didn't leave, and is carrying on with his work. See http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2009/04/30/a-break-fo... and http://www.iowapolitics.com/index.iml?Article=174...
When someone answers a Constitutional question with "I'm not a lawyer," it doesn't necessarily mean that they're weak or a thug — particularly when they have rendered such stellar service to the people in another area. It might be just that they need a little more education.
October 27th, 2009 at 8:54 am
Let November 2, 2010 be a day of reckoning for Congress in the mid-term elections. All corrupt politicians must be voted out of office. This especially means you: Charles Rangel, John Murtha, Harry Reid, Chris Dodd, Barney Frank, Maxine Waters, ON THE TAKE; OUT OF OFFICE!!! Note to Barbara Lee: You can't salute the flag, you shouldn't be allowed to serve in Congress. PERIOD!!! As for the rest of the them: YOU DON'T UPHOLD THE CONSTITUTION, YOU WILL BE VOTED OUT!!! Here's to a high Congressional turnover rate in 2010. Let's make it happen. Forget who your parents or grandparents told you to vote for, those politicians no longer serve
you. Take back the country, November 2, 2010. Let's make it a historic day.
October 27th, 2009 at 10:51 am
Carol – there's a lot more than his "i'm not a lawyer" statement in this post. His opposition to your freedom is widespread – and it's consistent. Like most of the other thugs in DC, he'll gladly use force to get you to do what he wants.
October 27th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
God Bless America
and
God Damn Washington
October 28th, 2009 at 4:32 am
The 65% of the Congress that voted for the Military Commissions Act are
TRAITORS and should be in jail. Their assets should be forfeited to the
US treasury as enumerated in the Constitution.
The Agencies and other facilitators of this ongoing TREASON and other
criminals who have aided and abetted this VAST CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY
should be jailed and their assets seized. This obviously includes most
members of the Federal Government, their illegal police agencies, and the
complicit media. BUST EM ALL!!!! Exile for traitors !!!!
October 28th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
Military Commissions, Patriot Act, Spying, National Health Care, Wars without a Congressional declaration, new "czars" and on and on and on. What does the federal govt do that's even authorized by the constitution? very little from my view.
October 28th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
Frankly I think you're being too kind to say he is weak, as opposed to, say, he really doesn't care and is going to go ahead without bothering to find out.
Though I'm sure this has been said many times before, I'll say it again, if a legislator doesn't know what is constitutional WTH is that person doing in office? A legislator is elected to carry out the US constitution, so how then can one craft law toward that end if one doesn't know what the end is?
November 3rd, 2009 at 9:35 pm
"I am not a lawyer" is a very poor excuse. These jerks want to totally disrupt our lives and they won't even take the time or energy to get proper legal advice before they vote. Very lame to say the least.
November 19th, 2009 at 6:18 pm
I forgot to add that the clown has no problem passing laws, even though he's not a lawyer. I think every "I'm not a lawyer" excuse for these legislators ought to result in an immediate vote for removal from office for admitted incompetence.
November 19th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
I liked this report. Too bad I missed it when it was first released. I think a running tab on each of our GOP Congressmembers should be kept like this. They're all clowns, and such a tally would prove it.