We all know about the “47 traitors” – i.e. Republican senators who signed an open letter to Iran advising it that, without a treaty ratified by the Senate (as required by the U.S. Constitution…a document the current administration seems to have no use for but some of us still respect), all they will be getting is an “Executive Order”, which is subject to being revoked at any time by the current, or any future, President.
Yep, a good many Democrats joined the looney-tune left in claiming that an open letter stating this fact was somehow traitorous.
(How citing the constitution is an act of treason may seem a bit over the top to you – ok, maybe 1,000 miles over the top, down the side, and through the tubes – but that’s what they claimed).
So what does that make the 367 House members who signed a letter, dated March 20 but just released today, which makes virtually the same point – that it isn’t binding without congressional approval? (
According to Alexandra Jaffe’s article at cnn.com (where you can also find a link to the letter):
A veto-proof, bipartisan majority of House lawmakers have signed an open letter to President Barack Obama warning him that any nuclear deal with Iran will effectively require congressional approval for implementation.
A group of bipartisan senators have penned a bill mandating that any deal be reviewed and approved by Congress, but the House letter notes that lawmakers have another way to halt an agreement – by refusing to roll back sanctions.
“Should an agreement with Iran be reached, permanent sanctions relief from congressionally-mandated sanctions would require new legislation. In reviewing such an agreement, Congress must be convinced that its terms foreclose any pathway to a bomb, and only then will Congress be able to consider permanent sanctions relief,” they write.
Hmmm…the House must be teeming with “traitors” these days – even worse than the Senate.
Or…maybe writing the truth about what kind of “deal” a President can strike when he bypasses congress isn’t traitorous at all.
For some reason CNN did not provide a party breakdown of the signees. But since the current house is comprised of 245 Republicans and 188 Democrats, even if every Republican without exception signed, 122 Democrats – that’s just about 2/3 of all of them – did so too.
I can’t wait to hear the screams about treason from the same folks who were screaming the first time arou…..oh, what’s that you say? With all those Democrat signatures you doubt that they’ll be doing much screaming now?
Y’know, I think you just may be right about that.
