Politicians lustfully rejoicing at their own power is the ultimate “dog bites man” story that goes unremarked in Washington. The Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump included one such vivid vignette, an ominous warning that Congress recognizes no limit over its rightful sway over the economy and the lives of American citizens.
House Impeachment Manager Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) is being lionized for his speeches in the trial. Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) hailed Raskin as “America’s professor.” In his final pitch to senators on Thursday, Raskin included the usual hackneyed references to Abraham Lincoln and the Declaration of Independence. Then Raskin recited the first “We the People” sentence of the preamble of the Constitution and declared: “You see what just happened? The sovereign power of the people… flowed right into Congress.”
That line may have caused some Founding Fathers to roll over in their graves, and we’ll return to this point in a moment.
Raskin continued, waving his arms and becoming more emotional as he recited the powers that Congress possessed: “Comprehensive vast powers that all of you know so well! The power to regulate commerce, domestically and internationally, the power to raise the budget and taxes and to spend money and govern the seat of government and on and on and on.” Raskin then fervently declared that Congress was also entitled to “all other powers that would be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers. That’s all of us!”
This “all of us” makes Congress sound like a wonderful club; too bad you and I aren’t in it.
