Can We Pass a Law That Can Never Be Changed?

"It's all right in here. It can't be changed."



"it shall not be in order in the senate or the house of representatives to consider any bill, resolution, amendment, or conference report that would repeal or otherwise change this subsection."

-(page 1020 of the Reid bill)

Kudos to Senator Jim Demint (R-SC) for bringing out this little passage buried in the Reid health care bill pertaining to the establishemt of that infamous "Independent Medicare Advisory Board". Below is the link to the report by The Weekly Standard:

http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2009/12/reid_bill_declares_future_cong_1.asp

Now watch below as Demint asks presiding Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) detailed questions on rule procedures and what requires a two-thirds vote. Watch as Merkley repeatedly looks off camera for someone to give him the yes or no answer.



I'm no parliamentary expert, so somebody help me here. Does this mean that Harry Reid has inserted language in the bill that one or more sections (like the establishment of the above-mentioned board) can never be changed by future legislators? According to the interpretation of the Weekly Standard, the language means that no future congress may overturn or repeal the Independent Medicare Advisory Board (or if you prefer, the Death Panel).

If that be the case, does that mean that an unjust law can never be corrected or amended by future congresses? Is Reid trying to write a new Bible here or what?

Didn't the Civil Rights Act in the 1960s change a few previous laws, wherein southern states were denying blacks their consitutional rights and using local or state laws to accomplish it? What if previous federal laws giving states those kinds of rights had such language in them?

Somebody help me.