Posted on 10/28/2009 8:41:55 PM PDT by GoldStandard
As critics continue to mull over whether President Obama deserved the Nobel Peace Prize, Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite says the U.S. Constitution does not allow him to accept the award without the consent of Congress.
In a letter to Obama delivered on Monday, Brown-Waite, R-Fla., along with Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., and Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, claim the president is obligated under the Constitution to obtain Congress' approval before he formally accepts the prize.
Article I, Section 9, of the Constitution, the emolument clause, states: "And no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince or foreign state."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
I thought congress gave consent for such prizes almost a half a century ago. U.S. Code Title 5, Part III, Subpart F, Chapter 73, Subchapter IV, Section 7342: Receipt and disposition of foreign gifts and decorations.
They should focus on the real problem, his taking a position in the UN- that Congress has never given consent for and is far worse than some stupid prize that has long ago been tarnished.
I sure wish Obama were humble enough to tell the Nobel committee that he is not deserving of the peace prize. What a joke it was for him to have been nominated only for giving allegedly inspiring speeches and intending to work for world peace and all that.
The context appears to describe state sponsored gifts, which the Nobel is not.
“...the U.S. Constitution does not allow him to accept the award without the consent of Congress. “
Oh, that’s okay... since WHEN do obama and our democrat congress let a little thing like the CONSTITUTION prevent them from getting what they want???
I totally agree.
If this is a valid issue, wouldn't the peanut President have to give his Peace Prize back?
How did Obama do on the course today? Has he got that new putter working for him yet?
http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/102709_letter.pdf
Here is the letter Representatives Brown-Waite,Paul and Sterns wrote to the President
I work for a major American aerospace firm, and we can’t give gifts worth more than $20 to any government agent ... might be seen as an attempt to buy favor.
Soooooo when a President, hypothetically, gets $1 million or so, for things he hasn’t yet done but is considering maybe doing, from a foreign entity who may wish to sway his actions ... that’s just peachy?
This is exactly the kind of harassing action the Democrats would take against a Republican president who was honored in this way. Which would never happen in a hundred years, but still.
It's awarded by the Norwegian parliament. That's a foreign government.
That seems like a bribe to me.
He received it when he was out of office.
“And no person holding any Office...”
From Article 1 Section 9
Just how did the Nobel Foundation manage to dragoon the Norwegian parliament into awarding its private charity?
Alfred Nobel’s will.
I wonder why they are concerned about this part of the Constitution and not the part about being a natural born citizen?
Is that like the Will of Landru?
With Obama's win they confirmed that the Nobel Peace Prize is a joke. Let Obama go get his Cracker Jack prize and then laugh at him.
When your opponent is harming himself, stand back and urge him on.
I felt a little dirty by going on that website.
So the dough is Nobel’s, though Nobel put the choice in the Norway legislature’s hands. So who is the prize actually “from”?
I thought that the Norwegian Parliament selects the panel that does pick the winner, but the Parliament doesn't pick the winner directly.
Yes, but it refers to “title” as well. In accepting the prize, he claims the title of “Nobel Peace Laureate”
The title would be subject to the same question. I could establish a RedNeck Foundation in my will for which the Congress would be able to choose a “RedNeck Laureate” to honor. But on whose behest is it? Congress’s or mine?
Constitution, Schmonstitution!
Butch the Rooster
John the farmer was in the fertilized egg business. He had several hundred young layers (hens), called “pullets” and eight or ten roosters, whose job was to fertilize the eggs.
The farmer kept records and any rooster that didn’t perform went into the soup pot and was replaced. That took an awful lot of his time so he bought a set of tiny bells and attached them to his roosters. Each bell had a different tone so John could tell from a distance, which rooster was performing. Now he could sit on the porch and fill out an efficiency report simply by listening to the
bells.
The farmer’s favorite rooster was old Butch, and a very fine specimen he was, too. But on this particular morning John noticed old Butch’s bell hadn’t rung at all!
John went to investigate. The other roosters were chasing pullets, bells-a-ringing. The pullets, hearing the roosters coming, would run for cover. But to Farmer John’s amazement, Butch had his bell in his beak, so it couldn’t ring. He’d sneak up on a pullet, do his job and walk on to the next one.
John was so proud of Butch, he entered him in the Boone County Fair and Butch became an overnight sensation among the judges.
The result... The judges not only awarded Butch the No Bell Piece Prize but they also awarded him the Pulletsurprise as well.
Clearly Butch was a politician in the making: who else but a politician could figure out how to win two of the most highly coveted awards on our planet by being the best at sneaking up on the populace and screwing them when they weren’t paying attention?
I’m not certain whether the Constitution really requires endorsement in this particular case, but when in doubt I favor giving the Constitution the benefit of the doubt. Ignoring Constitutional details has proven to be a lousy, albeit common, habit in DC. I wonder whether any such vote was taken regarding TR’s non-controversial 1906 Nobel. As he too was in office it could be considered a precedent and DC paid better attention to the formalities back then. If Congress decides to vote on such, rather than its usual course of ignoring Ron Paul, the GOP should follow the lead of the recipient. As a block they should vote “Present.” They can’t stop it and that would be better than voting no in this case.
The Constitution just ain’t what it used to be...
True or not, this is a petty claim that will cause the public to conden the GOP instead of Obama.
The GOP fell for it with Lewisnki and even though Clinton was guilty, the GOP still has egg on their faces with the public over it.
We would do better addressing serious issues, like selling out our Troops in Afghanistan and dithering away in reinforcing them.
And now, desiring to cede parts of the country back to the Taliban.
Don’t fall for trivial offenses to try to score points, go after and stay focused on the truly serious matters.
A distinction without a difference.
He continues to meddle in national affairs and treasonous activities.
Right alongside Al Gore.
The preamble to the US Constitution mentions the promotion of "general welfare". That is an introduction, and has been argued that it has no legal standing.
However, THE biggest distortion of intent is in the "commerce clause", in Article 1; Section 8; paragraph 3.
"To regulate Commerce with foreign nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;"
I find in incredulous that so many USSC findings have been in direct contradiction to the FF;s original intent regarding that clause, not to mention the thousands of laws passed by the Legislative branch that is in direct violation.
During the Constitutional debates and even after the Constitution was ratified, many of the FF;s stated that the "commerce clause" was intended to be limited in scope. The documents are there for all to read. The FF;s were adamant about their position.
Then there is something called the 10th Amendment.
"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are RESERVED (my bold) to the States, respectively, or to the people". Not to mention in the body of the Constitution that it dictates "enumerated" powers.
How much more clear could they be? Yes, if they could foresee our modern age complexities, they probably would have included much more legalese. However, their debates, publications, diaries, and personal correspondence was absolutely clear about their INTENT! I say again, INTENT!
An Oath is Forever. Don't ever ever forget that. The time is coming you will have to decide whether you honor that Oath or rescind (renounce) it. That will be something you will have to live with on your dying bed. Think about it...
The problem is the U.S. Code has often been in violation of the US Constitution for decades. As you know, the U.S. Code laws and regulations originate from Congressional law and regulation. That does not make them Constitutional because a Congress passes said bills and a President signs them.
All (3) branches of our Republic have been ignoring or parsing original Constitutional "intent" since FDR. I take that back. It started before FDR, but he solidified the "nullification" of the original intent of the FF's.
We could probably go for weeks debating unConstitutional law (U.S. Code).
He, nor anyone else follows Constitutional law nor even legislative U.S. Code law, which has many unConstitional statutes. But then, who's noticing?
He got the nomination some (2) weeks into his office. Won the prize for doing absolutely nothing. And now is the same category of Arafat, the "Intifada" sh#thead.
I'm going to be watching how his spinsters do their teleprompter thing. Obambi is not a stupid person. He knows he didn't deserve it, but he will be there to give major face to the fawning MSM and use the occasion to push his socialist health care agenda. Watch.
He will strut up to the podium, raise his chin and look down at the masses, and say all the expected words for the audience while reading his teleprompter in a sing-song manner. He will also probably give some words about World cooperation, as the Muslim shitheads are bombing the crap out of innocent civilians.
The upside, seems he won't be attending the Copenhagen meeting on Global Warming that is occurring within days of him accepting his worthless medal.
Reason being, the NWO "climate warming" re-distributionist commies don't have the votes to pass anything. The emerging markets of China, India, Russia, and others are saying no-go. Too bad - boohoo.
Cap and Tax is DOA. I firmly believe that obama,reid,pelosi care is also dead, or at least the government option, plus many other specifics of that horrific monstrosity.
If both the above happens, our Marxist Pre_sent is neutered. Give me gridlock!
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