constitution

Citigroup Suddenly Has Grave Fears for the Constitution

Jim Newell · 01/12/12 01:13PM

Most of the big banks have kept quiet after President Obama controversially recess-appointed Richard Cordray to his throne atop Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. We still don't know how much this new bureaucracy will annoy the banks, but one can assume they were just fine with the previous arrangement, in which congressional procedural gimmicks were used to block it from ever taking formation. But then yesterday, something wonderful happened: Citigroup's lobbyist chimed in with a passive-aggressive blog post about the whole issue!

Obama Nixes the 'Let's Just Call the Debt Ceiling Unconstitutional' Option

Jim Newell · 07/08/11 04:45PM

Prominent legal scholars, along with many bloggers with no legal training whatsoever, recently have been floating the possibility that if a deal isn't struck to raise the federal debt ceiling before Treasury's August 2 deadline, then the Obama administration should use a clause in the 14th Amendment to declare the debt ceiling itself unconstitutional and continue to issue debt as usual. An interesting idea! But the Obama administration now appears to have taken this "constitutional option" off the table.

How Republicans' Balanced Budget Amendment Could Solve Everything

Jim Newell · 06/30/11 12:57PM

The Republican party's ability to spontaneously organize around anything, just to show that they can, is a thing of beauty. President Obama wants a few hundred billion dollars in revenue increases to go along the $2 trillion in cuts that you want? Don't give in a cent, walk out, let the president excoriate you, and then get your entire 47-member Senate caucus to demand a comical balanced budget constitutional amendment as part of a debt-ceiling agreement, too.

Sarah Palin's Grifter Bus Tour: The Trailer

Jim Newell · 05/27/11 01:50PM

Sarah Palin's big Tour de Grift doesn't kick off until Sunday, but you can watch a mediocre 52-second YouTube about it right now! Watch as her slaves prep the bus, decorating it with stock photos of the Constitution and flags and mountains. Palin narrates some gibberish about the Constitution. An artist's rendering of George Washington is shown. Then some more stuff about the Constitution, etc.

Who Will Stand With Michele Bachmann to Save Potatoes?

Jim Newell · 05/17/11 02:26PM

The federal government is working on new nutrition regulations for federally subsidized school lunch programs, meaning certain food industries will be waging all-out fights to protect their streams of revenue. This is not surprising in any way! Unfortunately, there's nothing in the Constitution protecting the potato industry's right to federal money, as Michele Bachmann wants the fight to be framed.

Constitution Worshipers Hoping to Radically Change It

Jim Newell · 12/20/10 12:33PM

As you may have heard, the Republican party simply does not care for Barack Obama's health care law. And yet it's still a law! How is this fair? It's not. Time to introduce a constitutional amendment banning, uh, laws, then.