Constitutional Freedom

“The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. (The preceding words in parentheses were modified by the 27th Amendment.) They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.

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.”

The above section to the first Article is relatively straightforward. However, it does provide a good introduction into an item the author considers to be an imminent problem. The Omnibus bill is currently being voted upon by the senate. The spending is $410 billion dollars. This represents an 8% increase over last year’s spending for general government functions. This is completely absurd considering the recent passage of the stimulus package, which already increased government spending by $800 billion.

Government revenues are about $2.5 trillion. That’s a lot of money, considering it is about 18% of total GDP. That means that on average every single income earner in the United States is paying on average about 18% in taxes. Now include state taxes and the total average tax burden is about 30%. Even then, the government can’t get its fiscal house in order. The total deficit this year will be well over $1 trillion. That means that if we wanted to pay off the debt we’ll incur this year alone we either need to increase taxes by 50% or we need to cut government spending in half. Now compound the interest, previous debt etc, and we have a very serious problem.

The government has decided that they can spend as much as they want without consequences. How can a government expect its citizens to remain content knowing that the leaders of our nation are driving us straight towards a cliff? Please comment and let us know your frustrations with this government irresponsibility.

“Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the Attendance of absent Members, in such Manner, and under such Penalties as each House may provide.

Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behavior, and, with the Concurrence of two-thirds, expel a Member.

Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in their Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members of either House on any question shall, at the Desire of one fifth of those Present, be entered on the Journal.

Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.”

Have you ever seen the old Jimmy Stewart movie, “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”? In the movie Jefferson Smith (Jimmy Stewart), was appointed to fill a vacancy in the Senate. He is anxious to please his superiors and vows to follow their lead. After he discovers a plan to uproot the young boys camp, however, he becomes adamantly opposed to a bill presented by his own Senator. He then exercised his right to filibuster. During the filibuster he, he requested a quorum call. This is according to the Article 1 Section 5.

This section also has come into play over the recent appointment of Senator Roland Burris of Illinois. According to Section 5 if two-thirds desire him to be out, they can vote him out. Therefore if he claims at any time that it is unconstitutional for him to be removed from office, you can know that it IS constitutional.

Big Government

“The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Place of Chusing Senators.

The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and such Meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, (The preceding words in parentheses were superseded by the 20th Amendment.) unless they shall by Law appoint a different Day.”

The above section of the constitution provides interesting insight into the understanding of government during the late 18th century. Primarily that, “The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year…” The mere fact that the writers felt they must include this type of requirement is fascinating. Did the writers imagine the day when government would be a perpetual activity, covered by 24 hour news broadcasts? Did they ever imagine the eventual size and scope of the US government? I would venture to say they had an inkling of the possibility, but probably few had the faintest imagination of what they were truly creating. I believe that this section gives us more insight into the intents of the framers design than any section covered thus far.

The framers maybe imagined a government run by well-educated citizens who spent the majority of their year managing their personal affairs. They would then assemble once or maybe twice a year and decide on a few critical issues and then return to their private lives. This viewpoint made sense until the challenges became more complex and larger. At the time the United States was nothing more than a few colonies desperately grasping for cohesion. Demanding much more of the government maybe seemed absurd.

Although, let us imagine what it would be like if the government assumed a more passive role. What would we be like as a people? Would we eventually learn self-reliance? Would we remember that honesty is the best policy? Would there be massive bank frauds and terrorism? Unfortunately, I believe that the government has grown in large part because of these human failures. So in the end this author recognizes the need of government, but insists that the government seek more ways to avoid intervention!

“No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.

The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.

The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United States.

The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.

Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.”

Age requirements for senators are slightly more stringent than representatives (see our previous post) in that you cannot become a senator until you are age 30. This goes along with the overall apparent prestige of the senate, in that the group is more mature and has longer terms. We could think of this group as being similar to the House of Lords in the British bicameral model.

It has been asked, “What does the Vice President of the United States do?” Well the Vice President as quoted above is the President of the Senate and can cast tie-breaking votes. As an interesting historical note, John Adams, one of the founding fathers and first Vice President, felt that as president of the Senate he should take a very active role-so active in-fact that it was nearly voted that the president of the Senate should be silent except for procedural items. John Adams does have the record for casting the most tie-breaking votes at 29 though.

The section also explains that the Senate shall have the power to try impeachments. This has come into play in our Nation’s history only a few times. Most recently was the impeachment of President William Clinton. If you recall President Clinton was impeached by the House, but the Senate voted to acquit President Clinton on all charges. What good luck.

“Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be chosen every second Year; and if Vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary Appointments until the next Meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such Vacancies.”

This paragraph effectively defined the initial term for the Senate, forcing a rotation of every other year of at least one third of the Senate.  The sentence in italics was superseded by the Seventeenth Amendment.  Interestingly enough this amendment has been part of some recent headline news.  At the time of this writing Barack Obama has just filled his role as the new President of the United States.  He was previously a Senator out of Illinois.  The executive of his state, Governor Rod Blagojevich, was preparing to exercise his constitutionally mandated right to appoint a temporary senator.  However, there are allegations that he was seeking bribes from potential appointees.  The news has opened up a bit of a Pandora’s box for him as the Illinois House and Senate seek to remove him from office.