Year: 2009
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Constitutional Amendment 27
I was fascinated when I learned that the 27th Amendment was included in the original proposal for the Bill of Rights. No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened. Unlike the original 10 amendments this one, along with one…
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Constitutional Amendment 26
Like the 15th and 19th amendments before it, the 26th Amendment is direct and to the point in extending the right to vote to a previously disenfranchised group. The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United…
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Wash Your Hands
[quote]Dr. Peter Pronovost sought to reduce the incidence of hospital-borne infections by promoting a simple checklist of ICU procedures governing physician hand-washing and other sterilization procedures. Hospitals implementing Pronovost’s checklist had enjoyed almost instantaneous success, reducing hospital-infection rates by two-thirds within the first three months of its adoption. But many physicians rejected the checklist as…
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Constitutional Amendment 25
I’m curious about what prompted Congress to finally address the issue of presidential succession when they did, but there were actually two proposals for the 25th Amendment. One would have given Congress the power to determine the presidential succession by law. The other stipulated the succession in the Constitution itself. Section 1. In case of…
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Constitutional Amendment 24
I would guess that poll taxes made more sense before the government adopted income taxes but because poll taxes could be abused (and were being abused) the nation used the 24th Amendment to end the practice of poll taxes and to make failure to pay taxes insufficient reason to deny the right to vote. The…
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The Politics of Fear
photo credit: ag2r I was listening to NPR this morning on the way to work and they were discussing the use of fear as a political tactic. The story was not what I would consider fair and balance as they asserted that only those who oppose health care reform are making use of the tactic,…
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Senator Ted Kennedy
After a constant barrage of news coverage and a few questions from my own acquaintances asking about my views on Ted Kennedy I thought it appropriate to pay this tribute to The Lion of the Senate. Few men have likely done more to earn the title of “Senator” in the history of our nation. I…
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Constitutional Amendment 23
Reacting to changes in society that the founders could not have anticipated, the 23rd Amendment provided representation in the electoral college to residents of Washington D.C. in presidential elections. The District constituting the seat of government of the United States shall appoint in such manner as the Congress may direct: A number of electors of…
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Big Government = Big Solutions
photo credit: angel_shark If you want to walk a thousand miles you do it one step at a time. If you want to eat an elephant you do it one bite at a time. The genius of big government is that Congress believes that since there are more than 500 of them they can swallow…
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Money Down the Drain
A little statement from an article titled “Cash For Clunkers”: Did It Work? got me wondering about the fate of three hundred million dollars. When the $3 billion is exhausted, roughly 600,000 vehicles will have been swapped for more fuel-efficient models, based on statistics released from the government so far. Do the math there and…