New Year's Eve is a day to reflect on events of the last year.
In the world of politics, 2010 was a very eventful year, with all the bills being crammed through Congress and a historic election that gave Republicans control of the House of Representatives.
It was also a great year for political quotes. Depending on your point of view, those quotes were either brilliant or downright stupid.
Presented here for your consideration, are just a few of the more memorable (read, stupid) quotes made by Democratic members of the House of Representatives during 2010.
Representative Phil Hare (D-IL)
Shortly after the passage of the Health Care bill, Democrats were confronted nationwide by angry constituents demanding to know the Constitutional basis for the bill. When asked about this, the Congressman replied, "I don't worry about the Constitution on this to be honest...I care more about the people that are dying everyday that don't have health care."
A full video of the exchange can be seen on YouTube here.
St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner Kurt Hofmann wrote that Hare doesn't think too much of the Constitution where gun rights are concerned, either.
Hare was defeated by Republican Bobby Schilling in the November midterm election.
Representative John Yarmouth (D-KY)
During an August interview in Louisville, Kentucky, Yarmouth was asked about the limit on federal mandates in the Commerce Clause. He told Mandy Connell:
“It really doesn’t prohibit the government from doing virtually anything – the federal government. So I don’t know the answer to your question, because I am not sure there is anything under current interpretation of the commerce clause that the government couldn’t do.”
The full audio exchange can be heard here.
The New York Times reported Yarmouth was re-elected in November.
Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
The soon-to-be former Speaker of the House said a number of things many find "interesting". No one can ever forget her strut through the throngs of protestors, gavel in hand, nose high in the air, on the day Democrats crammed the Health Care bill through Congress.
But in prepared remarks to the 2010 Legislative Conference for National Association of Counties, she commented on the importance of passing the controversial legislation. "But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy," she said.
Many members voted on the bill having never read the 2,000+ page legislation.
A video of that remark can be found on YouTube here.
Pelosi, a Democrat from San Francisco, was re-elected in November.
Representative John Conyers (D-MI)
When asked by a CNS News reporter about the Constitutional basis for the individual mandate in the Health Care bill, John Conyers replied:
“Under several clauses, the good and welfare clause and a couple others. All the scholars, the constitutional scholars that I know -- I’m chairman of the Judiciary committee, as you know -- they all say that there’s nothing unconstitutional in this bill and if there were, I would have tried to correct it if I thought there were.”
CNS News points out there is no such thing as a "good and welfare" clause, and notes the word "good" only appears once, in a section dealing with the Judiciary.
Conyers was re-elected to a 24th term in November.
Representative Hank Johnson (D-Fl)
Topping the list for the most ridiculous thing ever uttered by a Democratic member of the House of Representatives during 2010 is this jewel from Florida Democrat Hank Johnson. While speaking to Admiral Robert Willard regarding Armed Service Committee appropriations, Johnson expressed concern over troop levels on the island of Guam:
"My fear is that, uh, the whole island will, uh, become so overly populated that it will tip over, and uh, and capsize."
The Admiral showed a very high level of restraint and professionalism in his answer saying, "We don't anticipate that..."
A video of that exchanged is attached to this article.
Johnson was re-elected to a fourth term in November.
This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it serves to show the level of representation American voters had during the 111th Congress, and may very well explain part of the reason Democrats got shellacked in November.
It also explains why the incoming Republican majority will have a full reading of the Constitution on January 6th.
Ezra Klein may not approve, but given what Americans have had to suffer over the last two years it certainly can't hurt.
Happy New Year, everyone!
