Posted on 08/06/2014 10:14:40 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
Impeachment is just not gonna happen. Whether Obama deserves it or not is irrelevant. The votes aren’t there, and are not gonna be there, no matter what happens in November.
If we are gonna propose Article V amendments then perhaps we should change an impeachment process that is irreparably broken. Our Founding Fathers could not have conceived of so many men in power putting party ahead of principle when they wrote it.
As it is the only way I see a POTUS ever being impeached is if he’s a Republican with large Democrat majorities in both houses.
I agree with you in principle. But the federal government has shown that it is incapable of policing itself imo.
If we want to play the "hasn't happened in history" game, let's play this one for fun.
Here is a perfectly constitutionally legal form of coup d'etat that can be used to oust Obama without going through a nasty impeachment process.
Imagine the following scenario.
Amendment 25 Section 4Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.
Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.
1. Joe Biden organizes the principle Cabinet members to side with him and declares Obama to be unable to discharge his duties as president. He submits this signed declaration to Pat Leahy and John Boehner and assumes the Presidency.
1a. As an interesting variation, "either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide" suggests that Congress can pass a law naming another body besides the Cabinet that can side with the Vice President. What if Congress were to pass a law allowing, say, a body of NYT and WaPo editors, ABC-NBC-CBS-CNN-MSNBC journalists, and college deans - a totally unelected body of people - to legally declare the president incapable of discharging his duties? What if Biden gets these "intellectual elites" to side with him to oust Obama?
2. Obama then fights back by sending a letter to Leahy and Boehner stating that he is not incapable of discharging his duties, and he declares that he has resumed the Presidency.
3. Biden then gets his supporting body to redeclare within four days that Obama is still unfit for office.
4. Once Biden redeclares that Obama is unfit, Congress must then assemble within 48 hours if in session, or within 20 days if in recess, and vote to accept Biden's declaration by 2/3rds vote, or to accept Obama's declaration that he is still fit for office.
5. Congress sides with Obama and declares Obama to no longer be President.
6. Joe Biden takes over as acting President of the United States.
-PJ
A tough test . Purposely.
I've seen a couple of movies or TV shows using that as a plot and it makes for good entertainment.
Here’s another privision for the next amendment to the Constitution. All appropriations bills made by the House of Representatives have to be written to comply with the Constitution’s Clause 1 of Section 7 of Article I, the “power of the purse” clause.
In other words, all programs funded by Congress must be funded in stages, Congress being able to stop a program dead in its tracks by refusing to fund the next stage of a project’s funding.
I just tuned in to find the Article V topic has now been overtaken by a Rush soliloquy about a woman being ticketed for shaving her bikini area while driving. Apparently she was on her way to meet her boyfriend in Key West with her ex husband riding shotgun. She had him steering the car while she was busy with the shaving. He must have lost concentration on copilot duty as their car rear-ended another car.
Just thought y’all’d like to know.
I agree.
Even Adams and Franklin realized that declaring independence wasn't enough; that they needed a document that made plain for all to see the acts of tyranny.If it does nothing more than expose for all to see the way the politicians see the rule of law and the Constitution, it will serve a purpose.
It will justify what some say is the inevitable conclusion: armed conflict, civil war, revolution.
Having followed the procedures in Article V and then having it ignored, will lay the groundwork for legitimizing any armed rebellion that follows if and when some states resort to defending their sovereignty as a last resort.
-PJ
Thanks for the link.
-PJ
<>Rush inching one step closer to telling us its time to PANIC<>
I was wondering why Rush wasn’t better prepared for the Article V segment. He was uncharacteristically hesitant and not all that knowledgeable.
I think you hit on the reason. I suspect we’ll be hearing more of it.
I agree that is should be tried. I guess it’s good that some people think it might work. That way the can give it due diligence.
Alas! That these evil days should be mine.
We may have to do this.
Think of all of the billions who died never getting this close to the final act or acts.
Yet they fought on year by year, century by century, victory never certain, without giving up hope. And they died not knowing if the dark side would win in the end.
If Rush was not prepared he should have brought Mark Levin on to explain. Whether you agree with the idea of an Article V Convention or not, Levin knows the subject backwards and forwards.
Some of that pickle can be addressed by giving amendments with teeth in them.
Here's my four:
Tax Reform Amendment | Fiscal Responsibility Amendment |
---|---|
Section I No tax, federal or state, shall ever be withheld from the wages of a worker of any citizen of either. Section II No property shall be seized for failure to pay taxes until after conviction in a jury trial; the right of the jury to nullify (and thereby forgive) this debt shall never be questioned or denied. Section III The second amendment is hereby recognized as restricting the power of taxation, both federal and state, therefore no tax (or fine) shall be laid upon munitions or the sale thereof. Section IV The seventh amendment is also hereby recognized, and nothing in this amendment shall restrict the right of a citizen to seek civil redress. Section V No income tax levied by the federal government, the several States, or any subdivision of either shall ever exceed 10%. Section VI No income tax levied by the federal government, the several States, or any subdivision of either shall ever apply varying rates to those in its jurisdiction. Section VII No retroactive or ex post facto tax (or fee) shall ever be valid. Section VIII The congress may not delegate the creation of any tax or fine in any way. Section IX No federal employee, representative, senator, judge, justice or agent shall ever be exempt from any tax, fine, or fee by virtue of their position. Section X Any federal employee, representative, senator, judge, justice or agent applying, attempting to apply, or otherwise causing the application of an ex post facto, retrospective, or retroactive law shall, upon conviction, be evicted from office and all retirement benefits forfeit. |
Section I The power of Congress to regulate the value of the dollar is hereby repealed. Section II The value of the Dollar shall be one fifteen-hundredth avoirdupois ounce of gold of which impurities do not exceed one part per thousand. Section III To guard against Congress using its authority over weights and measures to bypass Section I, the ounce in Section II is approximately 28.3495 grams (SI). Section IV The Secretary of the Treasury shall annually report the gold physically in its possession; this report shall be publicly available. Section V The power of the Congress to assume debt is hereby restricted: the congress shall assume no debt that shall cause the total obligations of the United States to exceed one hundred ten percent of the amount last reported by the Secretary of the Treasury. Section VI Any government agent, officer, judge, justice, employee, representative, or congressman causing gold to be confiscated from a private citizen shall be tried for theft and upon conviction shall: a. be removed from office (and fired, if an employee), b. forfeit all pension and retirement benefits, c. pay all legal costs, and d. restore to the bereaved twice the amount in controversy. Section VII The federal government shall assume no obligation lacking funding, neither shall it lay such obligation on any of the several States, any subdivision thereof, or any place under the jurisdiction of the United States. All unfunded liabilities heretofore assumed by the United States are void. Section VIII The federal government shall make all payments to its employees or the several states in physical gold. Misappropriation, malfeasance and/or misfeasance of funds shall be considered confiscation. |
Commerce Clause Amendment | Senate Reform Amendment |
Section I The federal government shall directly subsidize no product or industry whatsoever, saving the promotion the progress of Science and useful Arts. Section II The federal government shall never prescribe nor proscribe what the several states teach. Neither the federal government nor the several states shall ever deny the right of parents to teach and instruct their children as they see fit. Section III The congress may impose tariffs, excise taxes, and customs duties on anything imported or exported, provided that they are applied uniformly and in no manner restrict, subvert, or circumvent the second amendment. Section IV No law may impose prohibitions of any sort on the commerce between the several states due to the item itself. |
Section I The seventeenth amendment is hereby repealed. Section II The several states may provide by law the means by which their senators may be removed or replaced. |
Good post. Well said.
Which would be a felony:
18 U.S. Code § 242 - Deprivation of rights under color of lawOne of the
Whoever, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, willfully subjects any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or to different punishments, pains, or penalties, on account of such person being an alien, or by reason of his color, or race, than are prescribed for the punishment of citizens, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; and if bodily injury results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include the use, attempted use, or threatened use of a dangerous weapon, explosives, or fire, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and if death results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, shall be fined under this title, or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or both, or may be sentenced to death.
rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitutionis the amendment process; if the amendment was passed then there is jack that the judge can do about it without violating this law.
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