lindajoy wrote:
Pafret, I like your suggestion very much, which in effect would be a qualified term limits requiring a referendum by the people..
Recall, while I would support it represents a commendable movement to make Congress more accountable for its actions, however it tramples the U.S. Constitution and undermines the rule of law....Or so determined in years past...
Contrary to popular snd different Web sites, the recall of members of the U.S. Congress has never been permissible according to the Constitution, and no member of the Congress has ever been removed by such means. That’s because the U.S. Constitution sets the qualifications and terms for being a member of the House or Senate; changing those qualifications or terms (as in making them subject to a recall) is unconstitutional and would require a constitutional amendment.
"Recall is not a new idea. At the Constitutional Convention, the Framers considered and rejected a national recall provision....Recall was raised again as an amendment in New York, but the 1788 ratifying convention defeated it. Why? Because the Constitutional structure held senators accountable. Originally, senators were elected by the state legislatures and were responsible to their state for their actions... (Loki touched on this earlier) At the same time, the Framers wanted to bring deliberation to the national legislature and sought to protect lawmaking from the "whim of passion and majority faction". If legislators are constantly under the threat of instant recall, they will never be sure of their step, for fear of some impulse of the moment"...So the Constitution creates a bicameral legislature, with the House subject to the changing sentiments of opinion, and the Senate, with its longer terms, bringing stability and deliberation, or so it is thought...
Now remember the Constitution does contains an expulsion clause for members of Congress, though it has widely been neglected since the Civil War cases of disloyalty.....
An amendment to return recall is not impossible, but just like the term limits threat, do we believe the ones we look to impose recall on would vote our right to do so???
Pafret, I like your suggestion very much, which i... (
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None of the needed reforms are likely to ever come to fruition by our career ruling class. This is evidenced by the many examples of nepotism and the assumption that relatives of current pols are automatically more qualified to hold high public office than anyone else.
Accordingly, there is an organization attempting to force Constitutional change called the Article Five Convention of States.
Article V reads: The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several states . . .
They have held practice conventions while working toward getting a State by State Resolution to hold an Article five convention. This is their current count
Progress Update: Here are all the latest numbers:
Total Passed States: 8
Total House Wins: 18
Total Senate Wins: 11
Total States with Committee Wins: 24
Total States that have filed the COS Resolution: 44
The amendments proposed thus far:
1. Requiring the states to approve any increase in the national debt
2. Imposing term limits on Congress (effective retroactively)
3. Limiting federal overreach by returning the Commerce Clause to its original meaning
4. Limiting the power of federal regulations by allowing an easy congressional override
5. Requiring a supermajority to impose federal taxes and repealing the 16th Amendment, which
legalized the federal income tax
6. Giving the states (by a three-fifths vote) the power to abrogate any federal law, regulation,
or executive order
Read more at:
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/440506/constitutional-amendments-states-conventionThis I believe, is the only way that the needed changes will be effected. This group needs to be watched because if it is taken over by the wrong agendas they can cause some real mischief.