Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Constitutional Amendments 2007
A while ago, I published this post, listing all of the proposed amendments to the Constitution by that nasty Republican Congress. They ranged from the amusing to the inane. Let's see how our new and improved Democratic Congress is doing.
In the House
HJRes #1, 7, 10: Balanced budget
HJRes #2: Citizens of territories and commonwealths can vote
HJRes #4, 36: Abolish of the electoral college and allow direct citizen votes
HJRes #5: Congress and States can define limits on the amount of money any given electoral campaign may receive
HJRes #6: Make the "population" count for determining number of Representatives more specific: only citizens count
HJRes #8: Repeal the 22nd Amendment, eliminating the Presidential term limit
HJRes #9: Define the act of flag burning or desecration as an unconstitutional form of speech
HJRes #11: Informational amendment asserting that school prayer is A-OK
HJRes #17: Establish English as the official language of the United States
HJRes #23: Prevent governments from acting as businesses by forbidding them to enter contracts
HJRes #24: Enforce a Congressional term limit of six consecutive terms
HJRes #28: All resident citizens will have the right to vote (?)
Resolutions 29 through 36 were all proposed by Mr. Jackson of Illinois.
HJRes #29: Promote equality in education to a citizen's right
HJRes #30, 42: Promote equality in health care to a citizen's right
HJRes #31: Promote equality in abortion to a citizen's right
HJRes #32: Promote safe, affordable, and comfortable housing to a citizen's right
HJRes #33: Promote a safe, clean, and sustainable environment to a citizen's right
HJRes #34: Forces Congress to produce progressive taxes, whereby the wealthy are taxed more than the poor
HJRes #35: Promote "equal pay for equal work" to a citizen's right
HJRes #38: Allow a line item veto
HJRes #39: Affirm equal rights for men and women (with about 60 signatories)
HJRes #40: Clarify that the Constitution neither requires prayer in school nor explicitly bans it
HJRes #43: Not really an amendment, but it increased the statutory limit on the public debt to $9,815,000,000,000. Yikes.
HJRes #46: Eliminate the citizenship allowance for babies born inside US borders, unless the parents are citizens or permanent residents
HJRes #48: Require a 2/3 vote on the Supreme Court to affirm any Presidential pardon or reprieve
HJRes #56: Allow each representative to designate a list of three replacements in case of his or her untimely death
HJRes #57: Create the office of Alternate Representative, with a role similar to the Vice President
In the Senate
SJRes #1: Enforce a balanced budget to protect Social Security surpluses
SJRes #2: Establish a Congressional term limit of six non-consecutive terms
SJRes #19: Require that the expenditures of the government not exceed its income and that it not exceed 120% of the previous year's gross national product.
Summary
It's really not quite as bad. There isn't one gay marriage amendment in there! I guess it's not such a hot button issue now that the elections are over for the time being.
I did notice, however, that none of these amendments have been discussed by the legislature. They were all referred to committee and killed. However, a bill requiring international negotiation to determine national rights to migratory fish has received considerable discussion for the past two months.
In the House
HJRes #1, 7, 10: Balanced budget
HJRes #2: Citizens of territories and commonwealths can vote
HJRes #4, 36: Abolish of the electoral college and allow direct citizen votes
HJRes #5: Congress and States can define limits on the amount of money any given electoral campaign may receive
HJRes #6: Make the "population" count for determining number of Representatives more specific: only citizens count
HJRes #8: Repeal the 22nd Amendment, eliminating the Presidential term limit
HJRes #9: Define the act of flag burning or desecration as an unconstitutional form of speech
HJRes #11: Informational amendment asserting that school prayer is A-OK
HJRes #17: Establish English as the official language of the United States
HJRes #23: Prevent governments from acting as businesses by forbidding them to enter contracts
HJRes #24: Enforce a Congressional term limit of six consecutive terms
HJRes #28: All resident citizens will have the right to vote (?)
Resolutions 29 through 36 were all proposed by Mr. Jackson of Illinois.
HJRes #29: Promote equality in education to a citizen's right
HJRes #30, 42: Promote equality in health care to a citizen's right
HJRes #31: Promote equality in abortion to a citizen's right
HJRes #32: Promote safe, affordable, and comfortable housing to a citizen's right
HJRes #33: Promote a safe, clean, and sustainable environment to a citizen's right
HJRes #34: Forces Congress to produce progressive taxes, whereby the wealthy are taxed more than the poor
HJRes #35: Promote "equal pay for equal work" to a citizen's right
HJRes #38: Allow a line item veto
HJRes #39: Affirm equal rights for men and women (with about 60 signatories)
HJRes #40: Clarify that the Constitution neither requires prayer in school nor explicitly bans it
HJRes #43: Not really an amendment, but it increased the statutory limit on the public debt to $9,815,000,000,000. Yikes.
HJRes #46: Eliminate the citizenship allowance for babies born inside US borders, unless the parents are citizens or permanent residents
HJRes #48: Require a 2/3 vote on the Supreme Court to affirm any Presidential pardon or reprieve
HJRes #56: Allow each representative to designate a list of three replacements in case of his or her untimely death
HJRes #57: Create the office of Alternate Representative, with a role similar to the Vice President
In the Senate
SJRes #1: Enforce a balanced budget to protect Social Security surpluses
SJRes #2: Establish a Congressional term limit of six non-consecutive terms
SJRes #19: Require that the expenditures of the government not exceed its income and that it not exceed 120% of the previous year's gross national product.
Summary
It's really not quite as bad. There isn't one gay marriage amendment in there! I guess it's not such a hot button issue now that the elections are over for the time being.
I did notice, however, that none of these amendments have been discussed by the legislature. They were all referred to committee and killed. However, a bill requiring international negotiation to determine national rights to migratory fish has received considerable discussion for the past two months.
