Perri Nelson's Website 

What is the Speaker of the House doing?

Once upon a time, I thought that the United States Constitution was the supreme law of the land. In fact, Article VI, paragraph two states…

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.

So how is it that when the Executive branch, whose powers and responsibilities are enumerated in Article II of the Constitution acts upon those powers and responsibilities, that the Speaker of the House of Representatives somehow contrives to block that action? Here I'm talking about Article II, section 2, paragraph 2…

He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.

As far as I can tell, a plain reading of the Constitution gives the House of Representatives no say at all in treaties between the United States and foreign nations. The last I checked, Nancy Pelosi was a member of the House of Representatives, and not a Senator. Even so, it looks like a fit of pique has somehow taken the Speaker and that our government ignores it's fundamental document to satisfy her. This from the Washington Times…

President Bush today castigated House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her actions last week that torpedoed a vote on the Colombia free trade agreement, taking it off this year's congressional calendar using a rule change.

“That bill is dead unless the speaker schedules a vote,” Mr. Bush said, after meeting at the White House with members of his Cabinet. “There is big disappointment around this table about the action the speaker took on the Colombia free trade agreement.”

The president said Mrs. Pelosi, California Democrat, took an “unprecedented” step to change the rules and deny a vote this year.

“It's not in our country's interest that we stiff an ally like Colombia, and that we don't encourage our goods and services to be sold overseas.”

Of course, this probably wouldn't be possible if the President treated the Colombia free trade agreement like a treaty between nations rather than a piece of legislation. After all, there's nothing in the Constitution that gives any kind of legislative power to the executive branch of the government. Oh, I suppose that there's something to be said about Congress' power to regulate trade between the Unites States and foreign governments. That is after all one of the enumerated powers of Congress, as Article I, section 8, paragraph 3 states that “The Congress shall have the Power”…

To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;

Even so, Mrs. Pelosi is playing games, placing socialism before common sense.

The speaker reiterated that she is blocking the vote to obtain “leverage” in negotiations over further government action to spur the economy.

"We believe it is possible to bring the Colombia free trade agreement to the floor under the proper circumstance. But first, we need to address the worsening economy in our country," Mrs. Pelosi said.

It's an economy that is worsening not because of actions taken by the executive, but rather because of the irresponsible actions taken by the legislature — suppressing the development of American energy sources, encouraging citizens to behave like congressmen — spending money that they don't have by allowing and encouraging predatory sub-prime mortgage lending tied to the capriciousness of the Federal Reserve Bank's (you know, that organization now in charge of U.S. monetary policy because Congress didn't want to do its own work?) desire to avoid of all things “deflation” by manipulating interest rates, punishing innovation and entrepreneurship by regulating small businesses into the ground and rewarding businesses that fail due to speculation with expensive buy-outs.

Mrs. Perino said that the White House is not willing to negotiate on the key issue of trade adjustment assistance (TAA) — compensation and training for workers who lose their jobs because of free trade — until Mrs. Pelosi schedules a vote.

“Until we have a date for a vote, there is no need really to have those conversations,” Mrs. Perino said.

Meanwhile, by punishing the one truly democratic success story in a region being overwhelmed by socialist revolution and state enabled exploitation of the economy, Nancy Pelosi shows once again that politics, rather than common sense, drives her agenda. She's upset that the White House didn't "follow the protocol" for fast tracked agreements. Her little fit of pique surely stands to show once again that the Democratic Party has little interest in democracy, or in anything that props up an ally of our country. It's all about personal power for them.