The Tea Party claims it wants to return America to constitutional principles.
Earlier this year, House Republicans proposed reading the entire Constitution on the floor of the chamber, and tried to pass a rule requiring every bill to identify its source of constitutional authority. Tea Partiers are promoting “Constitution Week” in schools, reminding teachers of a federal law that requires constitutional instruction on the days surrounding Sept. 17, the anniversary of the Constitution’s instruction.
And yet, Tea Partiers seem to believe that only actions that advance conservative principles fall under the definition of “constitutional.” Next Thursday, President Obama will address both houses of Congress to discuss his jobs plan. Rep. Joe Walsh won’t be there. He’ll be here in Illinois, holding a town hall meeting, where he may bring out his argument that Obama’s health care law is unconstitutional.
“The president needs to stop the speeches, get out of his office and away from all the White House academics and start talking to real people out there. They’re the ones who are going to create the jobs, not White House paper-pushers and bureaucrats,” Walsh said in a statement about his absence.
Walsh went on to say he won’t be used as “a prop for another of the president’s speeches asking for more failed stimulus spending and more subsidies for his pet projects.”
Sorry, Joe, but it’s your constitutional duty to be in Washington for the president’s speech. According to Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution, the president "may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper."
We’ve known for a long time that Walsh believes his “mission” places him above the law. He’s refused to appear in court for traffic violations and he’s refusing to pay court ordered child support to his ex-wife. Now, it appears, he thinks it places him above the Constitution, too.
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