Posted on 09/01/2009 10:09:59 PM PDT by alancarp
On the Authority of the Congress and the Presidency
The foundation and history of this nation is such that all citizens must be treated equally under the law, and
The representatives of the people are themselves members of the several states and thus shall not be considered as a separate class of citizenry, and
Those elected to federal offices are to conduct the business of the people whom they represent, and
The authority of the President of the United States must be balanced with appropriate restraint, and
The authority and interests of the people of the United States shall be the Supreme Law of the Land above the interests of the nations of the world.
Therefore, witness and ratify this amendment to the Constitution of the United States:
1. No member of Congress, nor any elected office representative, nor the appointed officers serving at the will of the Executive Branch, nor the appointed officers serving at the will of the Congress or other elected representative, shall be entitled to any monetary compensation or pension for that service beyond the terms of the office in which that officer or representative has served.
2. No elected holder of a Federal office, nor the appointed officers serving at the will of the Executive Branch, nor the appointed officers serving at the will of the Congress or other elected or appointed Federal official, shall be entitled to an exempted status from any bills, regulation, law, or other legal measure enacted by any branch of the Federal Government.
3. The right of the President of the United States to issue emergency orders is limited to those measures requiring an emergency declaration, subject to ratification by either branch of Congress by 2/3rds vote within 90 days of such order.
4. The right of the President of the United States to issue opinions or notes concerning the interpretation of legislation signed into law does not exist; the responsibility for intent lies with the Legislative Branch, and interpretation with the Judiciary.
5. Declared candidates for the office of President or Vice President of the United States, or those raising monies in pursuit of these offices, shall not concurrently hold elected office in the Congress.
6. All those standing for election to any office in the Federal Government shall be required to demonstrate, as a condiiton for eligibility, , and constitutional eligibility and compliance with all laws and regulations commensurate with Federal employment. All appropriate evidentary documentation to this effect shall be filed with the Library of Congress no later than nine calendar months prior to the relevant election day and made available for public viewing and verification.
7. Article VI, Paragraph 2 of the Constitution is amended to read:
“This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made and so designated by 3/4ths vote of Congress, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding. Treaties made without the supporting vote of Congress shall be ranked inferior to conflicting Federal and State laws.
This amendment shall take effect beginning with the opening day of the next session of Congress following ratification; all provisions being in effect from that date forward.
Among other things, this amendment would:
(a) Eliminate the career politician in a manner that will be more palatable to adopt - recall when the Term Limits movement fizzled out several years ago? With no Gov't pensions available, this would eliminate a big incentive for those currently making a career out of Government.
(b) Congress should have to abide by the laws they create for the rest of us - including social security and (God forbid) national health care. Maybe they'll think twice if they have to live by the same rules.
(c) The Treaties clause is specifically to keep the United Nations (et al) from making laws for the United States. Political treaties should not be the law of the land, and this provision would ensure that.
(d) Likewise, the power of the 'Executive Order' has clearly been getting out of hand. I respect the idea of emergency orders, but I don't respect legislation from Presidential pen. In addition, George Bush started a bad trend in rewriting legislation that he otherwise signed.
(e) Eligibility clause? Gee, I wonder why that one is in here. But this would include things such as evidence of Selective Service Registration. And finally...
(f) If you're running for office, then run for the office: don't pretend that you're still a Senator or a Representative when you're clearly not doing the job.
I would expect that 90% of the population would agree that these provision should be enacted (subject to appropriate wordsmithing).
I had considered adding something to restore state sovereignty, but I'll leave that one to a constitutional scholar to write up -- I am probably over my head just with these provisions, but that one is a whole 'nother matter!
I neglected to underline the phrase “and so designated by 3/4ths vote of Congress” in Paragraph 7.
www.amendtheconstitution.org
I see no problems with it at first glance. I’d want to add something about how the fed can only raise tax monies from states at the state level, thereby removing it’s ability to go directly to the citizen... Henceforth making the fed beholden to the states, and the states beholden to the people.
The first step in fixing the problem would be to remove their funding...
You may be refering to a system called “representative apportionment taxation”. By which, the Federal government assess a tax amount to be collected (many advocate for last years total spend). That amount is then divided into two equal amounts. That split is then divided by the number of Senators to obtain a “per Senator tax” and likewise the remaining split is divided by the number of representatives to obtain a “per Representative tax”.
Each state is then assessed a tax amount equal to their number of Senators times the Senator rate and the number of representatives times the representive rate. Each state is then free to decide HOW those taxes will be collected from their citizens. Some may choose a sales tax, others may choose income or property taxes. The point being that each state is free to choose.
To give the feds power to enforce the collection of said revenues, any state not able to pay their taxes in full, will loose their representation in Congress until such time as they are paid in full.
Actually, the part of Article VI, Paragraph 2 that says all treaties are made “under the Authority of the United States” was the attempt by the Founders to prohibit the creation of treaties that violate the Constitution. Their presumption was that the “Authority of the United States” was Constitutional authority in it’s original form.
So no treaty that violated or negated that authority could be ratified, because it would serve to invalidate the ratifying power itself, which would then lose it’s authority of ratification, which would then invalidate the treaty that negated it.
It’s circular, but self-evident. However the Founders didn’t forsee the creation of a parallel Federal administrative authority that would claim the power to make treaties outside of the original limitations of the Constitution, through the 14th Amendment’s creation of corporate applicability and presumption.
Restoring state sovereignty must be done by the states. You've hit on something there, the solution must come from the states. We all need to be applying pressure to our state legislators to pass laws that would return power to the states, and the people.
Sounds ok... But I would limit the amount the fed could demand to just the amount budgeted. If the fedgov exceeds it’s budget, I would shutdown all non essential from that point until the end of the fiscal period. The fedgov would be able to negotiate with states for an advance, thereby putting off the shutdown... But that would be between the state and the fedgov
Just need to watch the fedgov doesn’t get more money than they need
How about this:
The power of the Senate, Congress and Executive branch shall be limited to the removal of existing programs until such time as the yearly budget is balanced. At all times, the compensation for an elected official’s services shall be the last items paid in a balanced budget.
I would love to hook the congress critters pay to the median salary of their district or state. If the state fairs worse, the congress critter has motivation to improve their states economic standing. They would stop forcing jobs out of the country and push to improve the lives of those they are suppose to represent
LOL, I like.
Do you think that 2/3 of both House will ratify this?
If not, then a Constitutional Convention would need to be called... NOT a good time for that to occur.
re: remove their funding...
The key is ‘remove’, not just limit! Look how limited tax revenues have been during this downturn and yet they manage to borrow and print and spend more money than during the best of times our country has ever know.
I don’t know the exact mechanism by which it will occur, but I am convinced one or another law of economics will eventually kick in and it will be the end of our economic system as we know it. My gut tells me you can’t go on ignoring and violating the rules by which the game was played for as long as we’ve been a nation and not expect the wheels to come off the wagon.
If the reasons for having the amendment are important, then find a way to incorporate the reason into the mandate.
The Second Amendment should have been written something like: "Congress shall pass no law affecting in any way the possession or use of weapons of any kind or for any use by any person".
Also, Congress has "powers" not "rights".
Change the phrase, "shall be entitled to" to "shall receive". Better yet, rewrite as a mandate that "Congress shall not pay ..." or, perhaps, "No agency of the United States shall pay ...". Perhaps even better: "No agency of the United States shall provide anything of value whatsoever ..."
I would add in there, that if someone who wants to run for President should wait out a 4 year term before eligible to run for President if they are currently a sitting Senator or Representative, a Governorship would not count in this case, because a Governor is not part of the federal government.
Revoke the IRS and Dept of Education.
go for it....
As if another rule would make them obey the others.
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