Posted on 11/25/2008 3:13:00 PM PST by Steve Schulin
Article 1 Section 6 Part 2 of the U.S. Constitution says:
No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time: and no person holding any office under the United States, shall be a member of either House during his continuance in office.
Since the Senate raised the compensation of Sec of State in January this prevents Hillary Clinton from constitutionally accepting the post.
Personally, however, I feel that this is being thrown out in the media to divert from the real issue of Obama's lack of natural born citizenship. Futhermore, does anyone else feel that this whole Office of the President elect stuff is going way overboard. He gives these presidential news conferences like he is already in power.
It seems like you are contorting plain English there. ‘During the time for which he was elected’ would commonly be interpreted as the six year term for which she was elected, whether or not she steps down early.
details...details...when you’re The One who needs ‘em?
Okay, you may be on to something. Can you cite the law or an article where the SOS compensation was increased?
Constitutional scholars?!?
Hillary Clinton was elected in 2006 to a six year term. Therefore, “during the time for which he was elected” is from 2006-2012. The actual time served is irrelevant. In fact, the next phrase “and no person holding any office under the United States, shall be a member of either House during his continuance in office” already bars one from retaining their legislative position, so what would be point of saying the same thing twice?
Hillary can still take the position provided they reduce her pay back to the previous level.
(Unless, of course, Obama was counting on this, and just drops her altogether while feigning surprise.)
If there is anything to the birth certificate problem (and it definitely appears that there is) Obama is using his self-invented Office of the President-Elect to entrench himself more firmly in the White House. I believe it is all a ploy to make it more difficult for people even to consider the fact that he might not be eligible for office. President Bush would do us all a favor by re-establishing his rightful place as our leader; unfortunately, the press already took care of undermining him to the point that he is more than happy to just leave quietly.
The first clause:
No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time:
means:
If an office is created, or the salary, benefits or or other compensation of an existing office is increased during the term of an elected Senator or Representative, that sitting Senator or Representative is not eligible for appointment to that office.
The language is specific that period of interest is the "time for which he was elected" and not the "time for which he serves." Technically this prevents Senators and Representative from creating an office for themselves or lining their own pockets prior to appointments UNLESS they wait until their term of Elected Office is over.
Hilary was a sitting Senator when the Senate increased the emoluments (salary) of the office of the Secretary of State. Her term has not yet ended. According to this Constitutional restriction, she would not be eligible for appointment to that office (or any other office similarly affected) until after her Senatorial term expires.
Pesky thing, that Constitution!
The issue is that she was serving as a senator when the compensation (emoluments) for the Secretary of State position was increased. The fact that she'd resign her Senate post is irrelevant to that prior service.
“.....which he was elected,.....”
Because it says “he” and not “she” the rule does not apply. LOL
More like a professor of the Harvard-U Bull Session.
That’s where the term “grease palms” comes from;)
No offence, but this is grasping at straws and for what? Do you really want to keep Hillary in the Senate for the next 10-40 years? I don’t. Let her take the job and then at the next election the GOP has a shot at taking the seat.
But, what's another Constitutional clause to be discarded in the pursuit of power? I still wonder why the people of New London, CT, freely gave up their homes because the Supreme Court ordered them to, when clearly nobody else has to follow the Constitution anymore.
-PJ
It would seem so.
Executive Order Jan. 2008 regarding pay schedules:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/01/20080104-6.html
Not sure who all is covered under this order.
...Con-sty-two-shun?
What is that?
Yes, that's what it means. It couldn't be more clear.
Of course, "emoluments" is a hard word, so it wouldn't be fair to hold her to that.
Yep. They can’t vote to create an office, or boost the pay of an office, then resign and take that office. That is just one bit of an effort to keep them from making a silver-lined nest for them to jump in.
They’ve p*ssed on the Constitution for 16 years now. Why should “the Ze-ro” think that he must be different.
What? Why am I “grasping at straws”? Why is it up to me to “let her take the job”?
I’m just explaining what the text says. She has to take a paycut in order to be appointed. Them’s the rules. It’s pretty clearcut.
Unless you just think the constitution is just too much bother to follow anymore.
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