Wing Nut Lawsuit to Expand Congress Destined for Failure
The Clarion-Ledger ran an article today on the lawsuit filed in Oxford seeking to expand the House of Representatives from the current 435 members to either 932 or 1,761 members. I've got to go with Representative Gregg Harper on this one:
Some, including 3rd District Republican Rep. Gregg Harper of Pearl, think the restructuring would cost too much money.
With rank-and-file members earning $174,000 per year, taxpayers pay more than $75 million per year total in salaries. If there were 932 congressmen, the overall amount would increase to more than $162 million. If there were 1,761 representatives, the total taxpayer cost could be more than $300 million.
"Clearly, this concept would greatly increase the size and cost of our federal government at a time when we should be reducing spending," Harper said.
My law school constitutional law professor George Cochran also commented on the suit. Below are his comments and my take:
Ole Miss constitutional law professor George Cochran calls the suit "innovative," but questions how successful it will be.
Translation: It's a wing nut lawsuit and they are going to lose. Oxford is where innovative lawsuits go to die. They should have filed in San Francisco or Manhattan.
"I'm not sure the right defendants are being sued," Cochran said. "There are a lot of procedural hurdles that could lead to a dismissal."
Translation: This one will be over quick.
Cochran said he wasn't sure who the right defendant would be until he did more research. He said, however, the federal courts may not want to make a ruling on this case because typically the judicial branch cannot tell the legislative what to do and vice-versa.
It would be like a federal judge ruling the war in Iraq is unconstitutional, Cochran said. "That's just not going to happen," he said.
Translation: If this case were an animal, it would be a squirrel.
Cochran also believes the court would take into consideration the cost, as well as how difficult the restructuring would be if the lawsuit were successful.
Translation: Just what Americans don't want--more Washington bureaucrats.
