Congress loots legal aid

Congress has the money to pay for the illegal Iraq War, bailouts for big banks, and D.C.'s unconstitutional school voucher program - but it doesn't have any for legal aid?

The Tea Party-dominated House is once again grinning its shit-eating smirk so broadly that you'll have a good mind to kick its teeth down its throat. Now they've slashed funding to valuable legal aid services - aid that has helped countless working-class Americans fight illegal evictions, foreclosures, and other assaults. The House is cutting the budget for the Legal Services Corporation by almost 15%. This after previous cuts have already forced legal aid organizations to turn away perhaps a majority of eligible clients.

Congress can complain that they had to cut legal aid to stay within its means, but I'm not buying it. If you can afford to spend trillions on the war, you can afford to fund legal aid. End of story.

I know that historically it's made sense for the House to be in charge of budgeting and raising revenue, but the House has proven it doesn't know how to budget. Since 1995, the House has usually been even more irresponsible than the Senate at this and every other task. When we have mob rule by the richest 1%, that's the result.

If this is allowed to continue, I think we may have to take a serious look at amending the Constitution to crimp the House's limitless budgeting powers. Why should the worse chamber of the worst branch of government hold the sole power to budget? Deciding how to spend the people's money should be the realm of a body that truly represents the people. When was the last time you felt you had decent representation in Congress?