Hoyer's Got a Feevah

by Smitty

He needs more General Welfare Clause cowbell.

Hoyer, speaking to reporters at his weekly press briefing on Tuesday, was asked by CNSNews.com where in the Constitution was Congress granted the power to mandate that a person must by a health insurance policy. Hoyer said that, in providing for the general welfare, Congress had "broad authority."

"Well, in promoting the general welfare the Constitution obviously gives broad authority to Congress to effect that end," Hoyer said. "The end that we're trying to effect is to make health care affordable, so I think clearly this is within our constitutional responsibility."

Readers having shred #1 of common sense interpret Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution as giving a limited set of powers to Congress, as well as enough wiggle room to carry out those powers.

The subsequent Amendment 10 should have been a firewall against this Progressive Hoyer-hooey. But there sits Amendment 16: Congress has eminent domain over YOUR WALLET. It's a century-old problem. The best vehicle I've seen for steamrolling the rampant Hoyerism is The Federalism Amendment.

The question is how bad things have to get to trigger an Article 5 cram-down. You know these neo-aristocrats are going to pay as much attention to the American People now as George III did back then.

I say this coming from a district with a bullet-proof piece of work in office, VA-8. At the Green Tea Party, I said to a speaker who was from Hoyer's district "I'll trade you Jim Moran for Steny Hoyer." That speaker (no recollection of his name) allowed that he was unsure which of us would be receiving the bigger screwing.

Back at TFA:

David B. Rivkin, a constitutional lawyer with Baker & Hostetler, told CNSNews.com that Hoyer’s argument was "silly," adding that if the general welfare clause was that elastic, then nothing would be outside of Congress' powers.

"Congressman Hoyer is wrong," Rivkin said. "The notion that the general welfare language is a basis for a specific legislative exercise is all silly because if that’s true, because general welfare language is inherently limitless, then the federal government can do anything.

"The arguments are, I believe, feeble," he said.

Now, for those lacking common sense, or enjoying a Federal collar on the neck, a feeble argument is no disqualifier, as long as it's backed with government cheese.

Jimmie Bise covers the Steny Hoyer townhall they wouldn't let him into

Basic rule of Gonzo reporting: When you go to cover something, cover the story that's in front of you. Democrats had bussed in supporters to pack the house at Tuesday's health-care townhall meeting with Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), so Jimmie Bise of The Sundries Shack couldn't get inside:

Tonight, a standing room-only crowd of over 1500 people packed the gymnasium of North Point High School in my hometown of Waldorf, MD to attend a health care town hall meeting with Congressman Steny Hoyer. I’d love to be able to give you a report of what happened inside the meeting but I can’t. I didn’t actually make it inside the doors. When I arrived at 6 PM, an hour before the meeting was scheduled to start, the line to get inside was incredibly long. . . .
In other words, if you didn’t get there well before 6 PM, there was a real chance you weren’t going to make it inside. I could have stood in line myself (since I didn’t get media credentials, which you’d better believe I will get next time something like this happens) or feel out the crowd and talk to some people. I opted for the latter. After all, it’s not like Steny Hoyer, the second-highest Democrat in the House of Representatives, was going to stand up there and suddenly announce that he was opposed to government-run health care. So I wandered up and down the line, talked to some folks I met along the way, and snapped a few pictures. . . .

Lots more where that came from, so read the whole thing. It got Jimmie his second Instalanche of the week. Nobody can accuse Jimmie of being an "insider" journalist.

NTCNews.com rounds up the rest of the news about Steny's big event. Jimmie's resourcefulness impressed me. When you're covering a "pack journalism" event -- where multiple media are on the same story -- a basic trick is to get the story the other guys miss. Find your own angle and own that angle.

Another way to put it: Be your own Decider. As a reporter, you exercise journalistic discretion -- "news judgment," as it's called -- and if you think you've found something more newsworthy than what the pack's reporting, go for it.

Sometimes it helps to ask yourself, "What Would Hunter S. Thompson Do?" And I don't mean drink a quart of Wild Turkey, drop some blotter acid and rent a red convertible. That's strictly optional.

Thompson was brilliant about this "outsider" method of reporting. Do something different. If every clueless reporter in the country is writing about the Hell's Angels, how about riding your motorcycle to a biker bar and just hanging out with the Hell's Angels? If you're covering a presidential campaign, and every other reporter is chasing around the unbeatable front-runner, Ed Muskie, why not go check out that guy nobody's giving a chance, George McGovern?

Next week, Jimmie and I will be attending a swanky reception for the author of the Best. Book. Evah! I've told Jimmie to rent a red convertible. The Wild Turkey and blotter acid are strictly optional, Jimmie.