Tag: Constitution
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D.C. Voting – House vs Senate
Apparently the Senate cloture vote is more newsworthy than the House rules vote on a bill. We have heard on many bills that the cloture vote is the bottleneck or the hurdle that can trip up a bill. In the House the rules vote is the procedural hurdle that must precede the actual vote and…
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Two Forms of Government
I really appreciated the video that Scott shared yesterday. (You can see the full video below.) It reminded me that there are only two distinct forms of government. One is transient as it depends on the life of the ruler(s) while the other is stable because it is based on a foundation of written law.…
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Where Constitutional Rubber Meets the Republican Road
Peter Berkowitz makes it sound so easy to come to a consensus on the way forward for the GOP by adhereing to the Constitution. In theory it sounds simple enough to apply the test of whether an idea fits within the framework of the Constitution before deciding whether to adopt the idea. Scott gives a…
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Annapolis Convention
It was not so long ago that I became aware of the Annapolis Convention of 1786. Though I had started reading the resulting report before I got my pocket Constitution I was very excited to see that it was included there. It was there that I finally sat down and read the report through. I…
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Christmas Present
My wife surprised me for Christmas this year by giving me a pocket edition of the Constitution (which also contained the Articles of Confederation, the Annapolis Convention, the Massachusetts Bill of Rights, the Virginia Statute on Religious Liberty, and various other documents) – I was very excited. This morning I was at Lowe’s talking with…
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Federalist No. 40
It is only very recently that I heard someone express the sentiment that the Constitutional Convention of 1787 exceeded their authority in the Constitution they proposed. I was therefore more interested in reading Federalist No. 40 which addresses this exact question. The conclusion is a resounding dismissal of the charge save in one particular: In…
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Federalist No. 39
Federalist No. 39 seems to contain the central argument that is being addressed in the debate over ratifying the constitution: "But it was not sufficient," say the adversaries of the proposed Constitution, "for the convention to adhere to the republican form. They ought, with equal care, to have preserved the FEDERAL form, which regards the…
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Federalist No. 38
It was very interesting to read in Federalist No. 38 that one primary difference between this Constitution and the constitutions of Greece and Athens (among other examples) is that this one was developed by a group instead of being drawn up by a single respected individual. The bulk of this Federalist paper goes to show…
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Bill of Rights Day
Today is Bill of Rights Day, the day when the Bill of Rights was ratified 217 years ago. This holiday, along with Independence Day and Constitution Day, represents the real celebration of the great country we should be striving to maintain. Interestingly, while Independence Day is the most celebrated of the three our independence did…
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Federalist No. 37
I really enjoyed Federalist No. 37, it was very interesting to have a paper which began to examine the process of creating the proposed Constitution as opposed to simply looking at the provisions of the Constitution itself. As it specifically recommends moderation and deliberation in our political/civic dialog I think that everyone ought to read…