Category: General
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Future Amendment – Restore Federalism
The last of the four amendments I would like to see is actually an idea that is not ready for implementation. I would love to see the 17th amendment repealed – just like I would like to see the 16th repealed except that I’m not sure how I would deal with the issues that the…
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Future Amendment – Representatives in the House
Not unrelated to the issue of whether the people of Washington D.C. should have a voting representative in the House is the issue of how the size of the House is set. Few people probably even consider that the number of representatives in the House is set by Congress and fewer still are aware that…
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Predictable
As a political junkie you would expect that I would be endlessly fascinated by all things political and that I would be very excited to listen to a speech by the President (even if only to find things to contradict when I disagree with him). Once upon a time that would have been true, but…
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Free and Strong America
I got an invitation yesterday to donate to the Free and Strong America PAC. The stated goal of this organization is to “advance conservative social, fiscal, and foreign policies.” Considering that this is Mitt Romney’s organization I had a bit of a laugh. Romney might advance conservative social policies (depending entirely upon your personal definition…
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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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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…