Rogue Politics » Featured » Can We Trust the Tea Party Caucus?
Can We Trust the Tea Party Caucus?
Do we have to rely on the likes of Nancy Pelosi and Maxine Waters to warn us of legislation that the Tea Party Caucus should be opposing on our behalf? Because that’s exactly what happened recently on “patent reform” – the America Invents Act that Obama signed into law on Sept 16, the day after his big “Jobs” speech to the joint session of Congress. The measure passed the House on June 23, and passed the Senate with a collegial vote of 89-9 on September 8.
Now I realize that many readers here may have a knee-jerk reaction similar to mine: that if Pelosi and Waters are against it, then I am surely for it. Alas, in this instance, it turns out that Pelosi and Waters were right, and the Tea Party Caucus was wrong. Why do I assert that the Tea Party Caucus and its leader Michele Bachmann were wrong when exactly half the caucus (including Bachmann herself) voted to defeat the measure? Because they did not warn us of the dangers contained in the bill.
Credibility for the Tea Party Caucus is waning fast. Even Politico notes that…
Only 15 of the 80 freshman House Republicans have signed up for Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann’s Tea Party Caucus, accounting for a quarter of the 60 official tea party Republicans in the House . . . the full set of Tea Party Caucus members voted with the party position more often than folks who don’t identify with the group.
As Neil Stevens noted a couple of days ago, the legislation was a very bad idea. Yet even Stevens failed to plumb the full depths to tell us just how bad this bill is. Besides being a “jobs bill” for patent attorneys, the bill also has several measures that will very probably prove unconstitutional.
The poisonous part of the America Invents Act is Section 18 which erects a new protected class (Banks and Wall Street firms who must pay royalties on patented electronic payment processing technology). This new protected class, if they have challenged a patent in court and lost, will now be able to return to the USPTO to get that same patent overturned or withdrawn. After the patent holder has already won in court!
I think it’s bad policy (unconstitutional?) to allow the executive branch to overturn a high federal court. And this measure only applies to patents issued to the electronic payments processing industry. Talk about another payoff from Congress to Big Banks and Wall Street! Allowing the executive branch to confiscate private property from the patent holder who thought he’d just had due process, when a high federal court upheld his patent, sounds very much like something the constitution protects us from? Something protecting us from the confiscation of our property without due process? Or when due process in the courts succeeds in protecting the property for the owner, having the executive confiscate it anyway?
Yet while violating one clause of the fifth amendment, the bill attempts to satisfy the next clause “without just compensation” by appropriating taxpayer funds to make the violated patent-holder whole (the CBO scored this cost at $1 billion). So the bailout for the Big Banks and Wall Street firms is not just the technology royalties they escape, but taxpayer funds required to pay the inventor the settling damages. Allowing the executive branch to overturn a high federal court sounds to me like a violation of the separation of powers doctrine. So it looks to me like a “two-fer” for “unconstitutionality”.
And, of course, as the USPTO withdraws patents that the courts had just upheld, more high-paying jobs will be lost in the electronic payments processing industry, innovation and entrepreneurship will be stifled, causing even more jobs to disappear. (disclosure: I have worked and innovated in the electronic payment processing industry for 17 years. I hold provisional patents, but not in that industry.)
How long will it take until such “protections” are extended from the Big Banks/Wall Street industries to other industries that can afford K Street lawyers?
Ms. Bachmann, thank you for your vote against this measure, but why didn’t you, or anybody in your caucus, sound a loud warning to the Tea Party that this measure was about to gain passage? I know you are working hard to gain the Republican Presidential nomination, but if that that takes priority over helping to protect our constitution, then you have signaled to us something we desperately needed to know about you. Thank you for that, at least.
Ms. Bachmann, if you wish to restore credibility to your Tea Party Caucus, then you can lead the fight to repeal Section 18 of the America Invents Act. One of the three major Tea Party planks is to vigorously observe the US Constitution. We expect the Tea Party Caucus to warn us of measures that could prove unconstitutional, just as we expect our Senators to resist collegial votes on those same measures.
The full Tea Party Caucus vote roster on HR1249 is below:
Representative – HR 1249 Vote
Robert Aderholt (AL-4) n
Todd Akin (MO-2) n
Rodney Alexander (LA-5) y
Michele Bachmann (MN-6) n
Joe Barton (TX-6) y
Roscoe Bartlett (MD-6) n
Gus Bilirakis (FL-9) n
Rob Bishop (UT-1) n
Michael Burgess (TX-26) n
Paul Broun (GA-10) n
Dan Burton (IN-5) n
John Carter (TX-31) y
Howard Coble (NC-6) y
Mike Coffman (CO-6) n
Ander Crenshaw (FL-4) y
John Culberson (TX-7) y
John Fleming (LA-4) y
Trent Franks (AZ-2) n
Phil Gingrey (GA-11) ??
Louie Gohmert (TX-1) n
Tom Graves (GA-9) n
Ralph Hall (TX-4) y
Gregg Harper (MS-3) y
Wally Herger (CA-2) y
Pete Hoekstra (MI-2) ??
Lynn Jenkins (KS-2) y
Steve King (IA-5) y
Doug Lamborn (CO-5) n
Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-9) y
Cynthia Lummis (WY) n
Kenny Marchant (TX-24) n
Tom McClintock (CA-4) n
Gary Miller (CA-42) y
Jerry Moran (KS-1) y
Sue Myrick (NC-9) y
Randy Neugebauer (TX-19) y
Mike Pence (IN-6) y
Ted Poe (TX-2) y
Tom Price (GA-6) y
Denny Rehberg (MT) n
Phil Roe (TN-1) y
Ed Royce (CA-40) n
Steve Scalise (LA-1) y
Pete Sessions (TX-32) y
John Shadegg (AZ-3) ??
Adrian Smith (NE-3) n
Lamar Smith (TX-21) y
Cliff Stearns (FL-6) y
Todd Tiahrt (KS-4) ??
Zach Wamp (TN-3) ??
Lynn Westmoreland (GA-3) y
Joe Wilson (SC-2) ??
Authored By Ron Robinson Unified Patriots » Ron Robinson
Authored By Ron Robinson Unified Patriots » Ron Robinson
Filed under: Featured · Tags: America Invents Act, Constitution, Jobs, Patent Reform, Patriot Dispatches, Sago, Tea Party Caucus
Great article…Though there is another very important point that needs to made.
The passage of HR 1249 with the Section 18 (theft of property) amendment, could become a major “tipping point” to the integrity of the US Patent System and the confidence it instills in investment in America. Both from here and abroad. The premise of this bill was to create new jobs and investment in our economy…not discourage them!
We all know how important necessary funding is in order to bring new technology to market.
When calculating ones risk as an investor in a new technology, not only does one rely on the genius of the invention, but also on the protections guaranteed by the stamp of approval of the US Patent System. Which before the passage of this bill actually meant something. If we don’t respect the sanctity of our own patents here in America, then how can we expect others to do so in a global market place. What kind of a message are we sending…that the laws of our land are up for sale to the highest bidder. In this case the banking industry. Which as noted in the article above will ultimately shift the cost of their infringement back to the taxpayers. Creating yet another cleverly disguised “Bank Bail Out.”
These shady politically motivated back door deals have no place in our government. We are digging our own graves! The future of our economy relies on the integrity of our government.
If the true purpose of the Tea Party is to protect our constitutional rights and limit the size and actions of an intrusive government, than why aren’t they making themselves heard?
Great points. The more complex these legal systems become the less useful they are at providing a stable comprehensible legal and financial environment. Simplicity and stability draw investment.
NF makes great points . The passage of HR1249 with section 18 is no different than OJ Simpson and Casey getting away with murder . Both cases were decided wrong . Section 18 is a cruise missile aimed at a company called Datatreasury that played by the rules and the banks decided to change the rules in the middle of the game. 10 years ago Datatreasury showed the system to Chase and Chase agreed to take it a renigged on a contract . Chase was sued and after waisting 5 years settled . Then Datatreasury sued the 56 biggest banks all of which settled except for 1 US Bank . US Bank lost in court and was declared willful with conspiracy and Datreasury was even awarded royalties going forward . But when you loose and you are big you can hire the best legal team and pay off politicians SChumer to get things past to assist you , which is what US Bank and the banking industry have now done . 350 million in revenue to Datatreasury wow alot of money after 10 years lawyers fees , taxes to the government , most of the share holders have not even got their investment pack of which there are over a 1000 shareholders in this tiny PATENT TROLL of a company. PATENT TRoll another word used , they forget that Datatreasury raised 20 million hired 100 employess but after Chase renigged on their agreement Datatreasury was forced to sue and spend 10 years prooving they owned patents just to have new laws attack them again . What our crooked politicians and bankers have really accomplished is the weaking of one of the only industries that was left in the USA . They are no different than OJ Simpson and Casey who murdered and don’t you think other wise . Fred Baum
Wow…Fred is on fire!
And he has a right to be. They keep throwing around this number of 350 million dollars and 2 employees. As if to lead one to believe that 2 people have received such an exuberant amount of money. Nothing could be more misleading and further from the truth. In actuality, after ten plus years of legal fees necessary to defend unlawful infringement of said patents, taxes and operating expenses, the amount netted was closer to one third of that number. Also, what they neglect to tell you is that there are over one thousand small investors in this company. Many of whom have yet to be made whole. Regular people who took a shot and invested in the American Dream. A start up company run by an American Inventor, holding two valid United States Patents for ground breaking technology. A company that at one time employed over 100 people at a State of the Art Data Processing Facility before being forced to shut down by a conspiring banking industry. A company that has since been vindicated, having their patents withstand multiple challenges at the patent office and secure a Supreme Court victory for validity, willful infringement and the right to collect ongoing royalties. Under the old rules they were to be guaranteed 20 years of return on their investment. Assuming the technology was still in demand, which to date it is still viable. An investment to many that was to supplement their retirements. But that was then and this is now. The rules have now been changed. Fast forward to the passage of HR 1249 with the Section 18 (theft of property) amendment. The “American Dream Killer”. The government has in essence facilitated doing to these and other investors the very same thing they convicted Enron officials of doing to their shareholders…destroying their lives. Bought and paid for by the Banking Industry for the Banking Industry. No secrets here. You can follow the 28 plus million dollar bread crumb trail in campaign funding from the Banking Industry all the way to Sen. Chuck Schumer, the author of Section 18. Schumer even acknowledged that this bill was targeting Datatreasury, saying it was making a “cottage industry” of suing banks, which others may interpret as simply protecting their assets. That certainly sounds like it would fall into the category of “Special Interest” lobbying to me. Not to mention being blatantly unconstitutional. I believe that was one of the talking points in President Obama’s Jobs/Tax Reform speech the other day. How we needed to put an end to conglomerates lobbying their money, might and will on politicians in return for special favors that would disadvantage the average American. All this rhetoric, just one day after he signed Section 18 into law. Actions do speak louder than words! He also said something to the effect of doing what is right and fair? You might want to run that by any of the 1000 investors in Datatreasury, or any other company who’s life savings are being effected by this “fair” bill.
I believe that the Tea Party Movement could and should make the Datatreasury story a “poster child” of what is wrong with a big, intrusive and out of control government!
Full disclosure… I am one of those 1000+
Datatreasury Shareholders.