# Eric Cantor thinks we can pass a bill through just the the House? Would that it were so! **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 2, 2011, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-thinks-we-can-pass-a-bill-through-just-the-the-house-would-that-it-were-so/576924 "2011-04-02T07:23:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2011, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-thinks-we-can-pass-a-bill-through-just-the-the-house-would-that-it-were-so/576924/21 "2011-04-03T07:23:01Z")
Almost: > [@Article 1](#): > > If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a Law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a Law. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-thinks-we-can-pass-a-bill-through-just-the-the-house-would-that-it-were-so/576924/22 "2011-04-04T13:10:36Z")
> [@CoolHandCox](#): > > Again, I don’t think that’s how the Senate works (in fact, I’m just about positive, I just don’t know whether it’s been tried before). I do know the Senate has a lot of House bills they don’t act on; they don’t act either for or against, they just sit there. Yes, but in the normal run of procedure, those bills are dead when that particular Congress is over. They don’t automatically pass if the Senate doesn’t approve them before a certain time limit. That’s what this new thing is all about…Cantor either really thinks or wants the Republican electorate to think that such bills just automatically become law if the Senate refuses to take them up. Since I find it hard to believe that someone who’s been in government as long as Cantor has doesn’t know how it actually works, I more than suspect that the whole thing is a grandstanding waste of time, money, ink and paper. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Jacquelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Le\_Jacquelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Jacquelope)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-thinks-we-can-pass-a-bill-through-just-the-the-house-would-that-it-were-so/576924/23 "2011-04-04T13:33:16Z")
> [@sh1bu1](#): > > They are shameless. They already spread the idea that cutting taxes raises revenue, that gay marriage will somehow undercut “traditional marriage”, that evolution is wrong, that the UHC bill contained death panels, and that Obama is a foreign born Muslim who has a deep seated hatred of white people. The problem is that a certain demographic of voters that I won’t mention specifically, believes _everything_ that they come up with. This is why they are shameless. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-thinks-we-can-pass-a-bill-through-just-the-the-house-would-that-it-were-so/576924/24 "2011-04-04T13:51:47Z")
It is like Eric Cantor is trying to outsource the job of the Senate to the House! ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-thinks-we-can-pass-a-bill-through-just-the-the-house-would-that-it-were-so/576924/25 "2011-04-04T15:52:24Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > That’s what this new thing is all about…Cantor either really thinks or wants the Republican electorate to think that such bills just automatically become law if the Senate refuses to take them up. Since I find it hard to believe that someone who’s been in government as long as Cantor has doesn’t know how it actually works, I more than suspect that the whole thing is a grandstanding waste of time, money, ink and paper. Here’s what it looks like is actually happening. You have HR 1, the budget bill. It’s been passed by the house but not the senate. Then you have Cantor’s bill, HR 1255, “The Government Shutdown Prevention Act”, which says that if no budget gets passed by April 6, HR 1 will become law. This has also, as of now, been passed by the house but not the senate, but if it’s passed by the senate and then signed by the president, then it will become law, incorporating HR 1 by reference, and I don’t see a constitutional problem with that part of it. There’s another part of it which would stop the salaries of congressmen and the president if there’s a shutdown, and that’s arguably unconstitutional. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-thinks-we-can-pass-a-bill-through-just-the-the-house-would-that-it-were-so/576924/26 "2011-04-04T16:01:25Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Here’s what it looks like is actually happening. You have HR 1, the budget bill. It’s been passed by the house but not the senate. Then you have Cantor’s bill, HR 1255, “The Government Shutdown Prevention Act”, which says that if no budget gets passed by April 6, HR 1 will become law. This has also, as of now, been passed by the house but not the senate, but if it’s passed by the senate and then signed by the president, then it will become law, incorporating HR 1 by reference, and I don’t see a constitutional problem with that part of it. There’s another part of it which would stop the salaries of congressmen and the president if there’s a shutdown, and that’s arguably unconstitutional. Does anything make you think it’s GOING to pass the Senate? Because if they don’t want to pass HR1 directly, why would they pass a law that allowed HR1 to come into effect indirectly? Given that scenario and motivation, I think this bill is grandstanding by the House GOP. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-thinks-we-can-pass-a-bill-through-just-the-the-house-would-that-it-were-so/576924/27 "2011-04-04T16:07:28Z")
It’s obviously not going to pass the Senate and is grandstanding, but given that a lot of what Congress does is grandstanding, and also that Cantor said before the beginning of the session that he’d be doing a lot of grandstanding (do you remember that “We’ll have a vote on a bill you decide on every week, whether we think it’ll pass or not”), it’s not surprising. And grandstanding can be an effective political tactic. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-thinks-we-can-pass-a-bill-through-just-the-the-house-would-that-it-were-so/576924/28 "2011-04-04T16:46:57Z")
is this why weiner read the kids book on the floor? something about a congress mouse? i was wondering why he was waving it around and reading. perhaps mr cantor missed some of schoolhouse rock episodes. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-thinks-we-can-pass-a-bill-through-just-the-the-house-would-that-it-were-so/576924/29 "2011-04-04T16:59:00Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > Of course Cantor knows how a bill becomes law. And of course O’Donnell will spin anything he can to try to make Republicans look bad. Okay, so _why_ is Cantor doing this? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-thinks-we-can-pass-a-bill-through-just-the-the-house-would-that-it-were-so/576924/30 "2011-04-04T17:09:17Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Okay, so _why_ is Cantor doing this? To say, “Look at those Democrats, who refuse to pass our budget and are willing to shut down the government even after we’ve begged them and begged them not to. They’ll still get paid if the government is shut down and federal workers don’t get their salaries, and they’re apparently fine with that. Well, we’re not, which is why we’ve proposed that if the federal workers don’t get paid, then neither does Congress or the President, because if we don’t pass a budget, we’re just not doing our job.” Or something to that effect. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-thinks-we-can-pass-a-bill-through-just-the-the-house-would-that-it-were-so/576924/31 "2011-04-04T20:31:07Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Okay, so _why_ is Cantor doing this? I think he is simply paying lip-service to the Tea Party, without whom the Republican party would be politically insignificant now. Also, I’m not so sure he knows how a bill becomes a law, he’s not big on facts and logic and all that other PC type stuff.:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-thinks-we-can-pass-a-bill-through-just-the-the-house-would-that-it-were-so/576924/32 "2011-04-04T21:22:09Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Also, I’m not so sure he knows how a bill becomes a law, he’s not big on facts and logic and all that other PC type stuff.:rolleyes: Again, he knows how a bill becomes a law. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-thinks-we-can-pass-a-bill-through-just-the-the-house-would-that-it-were-so/576924/33 "2011-04-05T20:12:53Z")
All right, so now all he has to do is get another bill passed that says that, if the Senate doesn’t stop it, HR1255 becomes law. And then another bill to get that bill passed unilaterally, and so on. It’s [del]turtles[/del]bills all the way down! ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-thinks-we-can-pass-a-bill-through-just-the-the-house-would-that-it-were-so/576924/34 "2011-04-05T22:51:29Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Here’s what it looks like is actually happening. You have HR 1, the budget bill. It’s been passed by the house but not the senate. Then you have Cantor’s bill, HR 1255, “The Government Shutdown Prevention Act”, which says that if no budget gets passed by April 6, HR 1 will become law. This has also, as of now, been passed by the house but not the senate, but if it’s passed by the senate and then signed by the president, then it will become law, incorporating HR 1 by reference, and I don’t see a constitutional problem with that part of it. There’s another part of it which would stop the salaries of congressmen and the president if there’s a shutdown, and that’s arguably unconstitutional. Sure. This is, I think, exactly correct. It’s no different than the “deem and pass” business. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-thinks-we-can-pass-a-bill-through-just-the-the-house-would-that-it-were-so/576924/35 "2011-04-05T23:24:10Z")
Are they going to “deem” it signed by Obama, as well? ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-thinks-we-can-pass-a-bill-through-just-the-the-house-would-that-it-were-so/576924/36 "2011-04-05T23:34:17Z")
An inside-the-Beltway person I know literally could not believe this was happening–thought there _had_ to be an April Fool’s joke in here somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Robb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Robb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robb)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-thinks-we-can-pass-a-bill-through-just-the-the-house-would-that-it-were-so/576924/37 "2011-04-05T23:53:56Z")
Is there a version of HR 1255 introduced in the Senate? ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-thinks-we-can-pass-a-bill-through-just-the-the-house-would-that-it-were-so/576924/38 "2011-04-05T23:55:27Z")
Yes, it was sent over to the Senate yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![Robb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Robb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robb)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-thinks-we-can-pass-a-bill-through-just-the-the-house-would-that-it-were-so/576924/39 "2011-04-06T00:00:47Z")
I would like to see the Senate’s response to being legislated away. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-thinks-we-can-pass-a-bill-through-just-the-the-house-would-that-it-were-so/576924/40 "2011-04-06T16:55:02Z")
> [@Robb](#): > > I would like to see the Senate’s response to being legislated away. The House of Lords allowed it in 1911. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-thinks-we-can-pass-a-bill-through-just-the-the-house-would-that-it-were-so/576924.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-thinks-we-can-pass-a-bill-through-just-the-the-house-would-that-it-were-so/576924.md?page=3)