House treads thin constitutional ice by requiring three-fifths vote for tax hikes, writes QuinHillyer.
Before I explain, please let me make clear that I am a Reagan-Kemp supply-side, low-tax advocate through and through. I have never in my life supported a bill raising federal income tax rates. The objection here is rooted in law and process, not in the desired result.Still, the large weight of solid legal reasoning leads to the conclusion that the House cannot require a supermajority for final passage of any bill raising income taxes.
A brilliant and exhaustive 2012 academic paper by conservative scholar Dan T. Coenen in the Northwestern University Law Review concluded that “foundational principles — rooted in text, structure, parliamentary practice, republican governance, practical problem solving, and hard-won compromise — on which the entire legislative edifice was built,” all show that a simple majority vote is the only requirement for ordinary congressional legislation.
That’s why, for example, it was possible for Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito to be confirmed to the Supreme Court, even though Senate rules at the time technically might have allowed a filibuster to block their paths. Neither one enjoyed support from 60 of 100 senators, but each was confirmed by simple majority — Thomas by a 52-48 vote, Alito by 58-42.
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