Star of Hope is a nondenominational Christian organization that equips children across the world with knowledge, physical well-being, spiritual growth and social skills through educational programs and local and international partnerships. Please donate!
Business as usual. Politics as usual. The Federal Government has become an entrenched political class. They have passed laws and implemented regulations that favor the incumbent politician and make politics a matter of power and not service to the nation.
There are five changes to the Constitution that could break this pattern.
TERM LIMITS
The Founders laid out a series of term lengths for our elected representatives which serve to vary the time spent in office between elections. Members of the House serve two years at a time while Senators serve six. The President and Vice President serve a term of four years.
There are no limits on how many terms a member of Congress may serve. The 22nd Amendment to the Constitution limits the President to being elected twice, for a total of eight years maximum.
The lack of any term limit has led both Houses of Congress to use seniority as a criteria for selection to important internal posts such as committee chairs. It also allows both bodies to pass laws and promote regulations which make it increasingly difficult for citizens to challenge incumbents for re-election.
In the Senate, Robert Byrd (D-KKK) has served over 50 years. Ted Kennedy (D-Taxachusetts) has served over 46 years. Two more Senators have served over 34 years each.
In the House of Representatives, John Dingell has spent over 56 years and John Conyers over 46 years representing the United Auto Workers in Congress. 14 other Members have spent 34 years or more in the House.
The time has come to amend the U.S. Constitution to limit the terms of members of Congress. The Founders never intended to create a class of politicians for life. Spending those amounts of time in Congress make the office all about being a Member not serving as a Member.
LINE ITEM VETO
The ability of the President to affect the bills that Congress passes is limited. The spending and appropriation bills, in particular, give the President little option but veto or sign.
That is because the leadership in Congress some decades ago discovered that it is far easier to pass one large bill than several small bills. A large bill can hide earmarks, pork, and by its size carries a certain degree of protection from oversight by the voters and the President. A 700 page bill provides a lot of hiding places.
Certainly the President could veto one of these huge bills. But, in most cases that tosses the baby out with the bath water. To prevent a few objectionable items, many necessary, even vital, items would also be vetoed.
The courts have held that most versions of the line item veto are barred constitutionally. We need an amendment to change that. The President should have the legal authority to veto any portion of any bill, and thus send it back to the Congress for reconsideration.
CONGRESSIONAL PAY TIED TO WORK
For many years, Congress has failed to abide by a law which it passed that requires pay be withheld from members who are not present for their duties in Congress. Members run for office, including other offices, are ill and unable to attend, or are off on trips of one sort or another and still receive their pay.
In May 2003 we reported: Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.) has missed 162 votes in the House this year – 85 percent of the total.
In 2006 we reported on Lane Evans, congressman from Illinois. He was dying of Parkinson’s and the court was about to appoint a guardian. He missed almost 39% of the votes in that Congress.
Also in that 2006 report, we pointed out four other Congressmen who had missed between 14-23% of the votes because they were running for another office.
The Washington Post has a site where the missed votes for Senators from the 110th Congress are displayed. The top six Senators missed more than 20% of the votes. Five were running for President and the sixth was seriously ill at home.
These examples are the tip of the iceberg. Congress normally works a three day week, and perhaps no more than 120 days a year. For that effort they are paid $174,000 a year. Their perks include staff, offices, transportation and many, many other benefits that most workers can only dream about.
That law should be replaced by an amendment to the Constitution that ties Congressional pay directly to being present in the Capitol.
PRESIDENTIAL SUCCESSION
The line of succession to the Presidency is currently as follows:
Two changes should be made to these provisions. The President pro tempore of the Senate has become an honorific for the most senior Senator. In other words, the fourth in line to the Presidency is a very elderly member of the Senate. In the last ten Congresses, Robert Byrd (D-KKK) has held the post four times, and Strom Thurmond (R-child bride) twice. Ted Stevens (R-bridge to nowhere) is the only other Senator to have held that position during that time.
Either this office should be removed from the line of succession or the office should be assigned by amendment to a Senator for some more compelling reason than being old.
The second change that should be made is to the provision for filling the vacant office of Vice President. It should not be by appointment of the President with the consent of the Senate as Cabinet posts are filled. The Constitution should be amended to fill a vacancy in a manner that ensure that the next Presidential election will be a contest. To that end, a Vice Presidential vacancy ought to be filled by the House majority or minority leader that is from a different political party than the President.
The Constitution originally provided that the Vice President would be the candidate receiving the second highest total of votes in the Electoral College. This amendment would take us back towards the original intent of the Founders and act as a break to political parties reacting in their own self interest and not that of the people in a crisis.
SUNSET FOR TAXES AND FEES
Sunset provisions have been come a popular means of limiting the duration of laws in the last few decades. The fifth and final amendment we propose to the United States Constitution would place such a provision there.
The tax cuts which were enacted during the Bush Administration have a sunset provision. They expire unless re-enacted by Congress.
Rather than trust Congress to do the right thing at some point in the future, a sunset provision for tax and fee increases should be placed into the Constitution. No tax or fee increase can be permanent. Congress must re-enact any such increase. A reasonable sunset limit would be nine years. That would span two Presidential terms so that an increase of necessity can have an effect but it can still expire in a timely manner when a new administration takes office.
We believe these five Constitutional Amendments are necessary to limit the current size and strength of the Federal Government. It does not matter which political party controls Congress or the Presidency. A political class with more similarities than differences has developed and their hold on our government must be broken.
On Y!CN
Star of Hope is a nondenominational Christian organization that equips children across the world with knowledge, physical well-being, spiritual growth and social skills through educational programs and local and international partnerships. Please donate!
5 Constitutional Changes That Must Happen
February 12th, 2009 | Comments Off
Business as usual. Politics as usual. The Federal Government has become an entrenched political class. They have passed laws and implemented regulations that favor the incumbent politician and make politics a matter of power and not service to the nation.
There are five changes to the Constitution that could break this pattern.
TERM LIMITS
The Founders laid out a series of term lengths for our elected representatives which serve to vary the time spent in office between elections. Members of the House serve two years at a time while Senators serve six. The President and Vice President serve a term of four years.
There are no limits on how many terms a member of Congress may serve. The 22nd Amendment to the Constitution limits the President to being elected twice, for a total of eight years maximum.
The lack of any term limit has led both Houses of Congress to use seniority as a criteria for selection to important internal posts such as committee chairs. It also allows both bodies to pass laws and promote regulations which make it increasingly difficult for citizens to challenge incumbents for re-election.
In the Senate, Robert Byrd (D-KKK) has served over 50 years. Ted Kennedy (D-Taxachusetts) has served over 46 years. Two more Senators have served over 34 years each.
In the House of Representatives, John Dingell has spent over 56 years and John Conyers over 46 years representing the United Auto Workers in Congress. 14 other Members have spent 34 years or more in the House.
The time has come to amend the U.S. Constitution to limit the terms of members of Congress. The Founders never intended to create a class of politicians for life. Spending those amounts of time in Congress make the office all about being a Member not serving as a Member.
LINE ITEM VETO
The ability of the President to affect the bills that Congress passes is limited. The spending and appropriation bills, in particular, give the President little option but veto or sign.
That is because the leadership in Congress some decades ago discovered that it is far easier to pass one large bill than several small bills. A large bill can hide earmarks, pork, and by its size carries a certain degree of protection from oversight by the voters and the President. A 700 page bill provides a lot of hiding places.
Certainly the President could veto one of these huge bills. But, in most cases that tosses the baby out with the bath water. To prevent a few objectionable items, many necessary, even vital, items would also be vetoed.
The courts have held that most versions of the line item veto are barred constitutionally. We need an amendment to change that. The President should have the legal authority to veto any portion of any bill, and thus send it back to the Congress for reconsideration.
CONGRESSIONAL PAY TIED TO WORK
For many years, Congress has failed to abide by a law which it passed that requires pay be withheld from members who are not present for their duties in Congress. Members run for office, including other offices, are ill and unable to attend, or are off on trips of one sort or another and still receive their pay.
In May 2003 we reported: Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.) has missed 162 votes in the House this year – 85 percent of the total.
In 2006 we reported on Lane Evans, congressman from Illinois. He was dying of Parkinson’s and the court was about to appoint a guardian. He missed almost 39% of the votes in that Congress.
Also in that 2006 report, we pointed out four other Congressmen who had missed between 14-23% of the votes because they were running for another office.
The Washington Post has a site where the missed votes for Senators from the 110th Congress are displayed. The top six Senators missed more than 20% of the votes. Five were running for President and the sixth was seriously ill at home.
These examples are the tip of the iceberg. Congress normally works a three day week, and perhaps no more than 120 days a year. For that effort they are paid $174,000 a year. Their perks include staff, offices, transportation and many, many other benefits that most workers can only dream about.
That law should be replaced by an amendment to the Constitution that ties Congressional pay directly to being present in the Capitol.
PRESIDENTIAL SUCCESSION
The line of succession to the Presidency is currently as follows:
It then goes on through the Cabinet Secretaries.
The 25th Amendment to the Constitution provides for filling vacancies in the Offices of President and Vice President.
Two changes should be made to these provisions. The President pro tempore of the Senate has become an honorific for the most senior Senator. In other words, the fourth in line to the Presidency is a very elderly member of the Senate. In the last ten Congresses, Robert Byrd (D-KKK) has held the post four times, and Strom Thurmond (R-child bride) twice. Ted Stevens (R-bridge to nowhere) is the only other Senator to have held that position during that time.
Either this office should be removed from the line of succession or the office should be assigned by amendment to a Senator for some more compelling reason than being old.
The second change that should be made is to the provision for filling the vacant office of Vice President. It should not be by appointment of the President with the consent of the Senate as Cabinet posts are filled. The Constitution should be amended to fill a vacancy in a manner that ensure that the next Presidential election will be a contest. To that end, a Vice Presidential vacancy ought to be filled by the House majority or minority leader that is from a different political party than the President.
The Constitution originally provided that the Vice President would be the candidate receiving the second highest total of votes in the Electoral College. This amendment would take us back towards the original intent of the Founders and act as a break to political parties reacting in their own self interest and not that of the people in a crisis.
SUNSET FOR TAXES AND FEES
Sunset provisions have been come a popular means of limiting the duration of laws in the last few decades. The fifth and final amendment we propose to the United States Constitution would place such a provision there.
The tax cuts which were enacted during the Bush Administration have a sunset provision. They expire unless re-enacted by Congress.
Rather than trust Congress to do the right thing at some point in the future, a sunset provision for tax and fee increases should be placed into the Constitution. No tax or fee increase can be permanent. Congress must re-enact any such increase. A reasonable sunset limit would be nine years. That would span two Presidential terms so that an increase of necessity can have an effect but it can still expire in a timely manner when a new administration takes office.
We believe these five Constitutional Amendments are necessary to limit the current size and strength of the Federal Government. It does not matter which political party controls Congress or the Presidency. A political class with more similarities than differences has developed and their hold on our government must be broken.
Filed under: Commentary, Government, Limited Government, Original writing, Taxation, U.S. Constitution · Tags: amending the Constitution, Congressional seniority, Congressional term limits, Constitutional Amendments, political class, term limits, U.S. Constitution, United States Constitution