Senate Votes To Remove Reference To Tea Party From Federal Law, House Promises Fight

Yesterday, by unanimous consent, the United States Senate infuriated the House Tea Party Caucus by passing S. 2367 which would remove the term “lunatic” from several provisions of federal law. The entire House GOP delegation moved to what House Majority Leader Eric Cantor called “a wartime footing” to fight against S.2367’s passage in the House.

Of course, no group was more outspoken than the Tea Party Caucus, which views itself as singled out for special maltreatment. About the Senate bill, erstwhile presidential candidate and Tea party Caucus Chairwoman Michele Bachmann had this to say:

“This wrongheaded Senate bill would remove the word from the United States statutes that to the American people most represents the guiding philosophy of the Tea Party. Trying to remove this word from our law code represents typical Democrat controlled Senate business-as-usualness at its most. This discriminatory action by the Democrat Senate would strip Tea Party supporters throughout this land of official recognition in United States law. The 60 members of the Tea Party Caucus will band together to fight passage of this discriminatory. We have Speaker Boehner’s guarantee that no legislation will reach the House floor until S. 2367 is brought up for a vote and defeated. We will not be treaded on.”

Sobbing with emotion and shaking with rage, Speaker John Boehner added,

“To remove this term synonymous with the Tea Party from the official United States statutory lexicon would be akin to removing all references to George Washington as Father of our country from school textbooks. We will not rest until we return the word ‘lunatic’ to its rightful and well-earned place in our nation’s legal code.”

On the other side of the aisle, House Democrats vowed to fight on behalf of S.2367. House Minority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland spoke for his delegation,

“We simply think it wrong that the Tea Party be provided what amounts to free publicity at taxpayers’ expense through the inclusion of the word ‘lunatic’ in the laws of the United States. In the public’s mind, the term is as inseparable from Tea Party identity as is ‘carnival barker’ to Donald Trump’s identity. One, however, does not find the term ‘carnival barker’ in the United States Code. The same ought be true for ‘lunatic.’ The Democratic party will remain disciplined and steadfast in its support of the passage of S.2367 when it reaches the floor next week.”

So, once again it looks like more gridlock is in store. It is likely that, if voting along party lines prevails, the House will kill S.2367. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, however, promised to include the text of the bill in “every single piece of legislation that leaves the Senate for the House” until success is achieved. That may make for a very long, hot Summer. . . Senator Reid, however, had the last word,

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