The Slaughter Solution Will Probably Pass Constitutional Muster

Drew at Ace of Spades bears bad tidings:

Gabe laid out the procedures involved in the Slaughter Solution and former Judge Michael McConnell's argument for it's unconstitutionality. While I, and I think most sane people, agree with McConnell, sanity is a relative term when it comes to the law.

Shannen Coffin makes the case for why it's going to be very hard, if not impossible, to get a court to overturn the bill based on a challenge to the Slaughter Solution.

The short version is, courts don't do legislative sausage making. If the Speaker of the House, the President Pro-tempore of the Senate and the President say it was passed and signed properly, the courts generally take their word for it.

Look at what the Constitution actually says about the passage of bills

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;

Article I, Section 7 goes on about vetoes and overrides but that's the heart of the matter. Notice it doesn't say what 'passed' means. We all assume it means a vote where the majority of members vote yes but that's not actually stated. What it takes to pass a bill is left up the rules of each house and courts aren't likely to get involved in that.

There are a lot of things we take for granted, as being understood and inviolable rules but the reality is democracy requires a respect for institutions, customs and shared understandings. There's no force of nature that ensures democratic norms are followed. The checks and balances of our system help but ultimately it comes down to the willingness of individuals to be bound by them. Get enough people in power agreeing to push past those boundaries and bad things can happen.

I predict, however, that if the House chooses to use the "Slaughter solution", the American people will revolt.

The resultant massacre will look even worse than the electoral massacre which awaits the Democrats who are already on board to vote for Obamacare.

The American people are in no mood to take any shit from anyone.