U.S. Constitution; Part 5

By Biloxi

Today's posting is on topic of the role of Vice President as President of Senate and voting power. Of course, we will never forget former Governor and Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin's interpretation of the role of the Vice President. Obviously, Palin never read the U.S. Constitution for the Vice President of the U.S.' job position:

"They're in charge of the U.S. Senate so if they want to they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better for Brandon and his family and his classroom."---Sarah Palin [Getting the US vice president's constitutional role wrong after being asked by a third grader what the vice president does, interview with NBC affiliate KUSA in Colorado, October 21, 2008.]

Article I Section 3

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

Remember in 2001 when Cheney's tie breaking vote gave a GOP Senate majority?
Wikipedia:

In the first half of 2001, the Senators were divided 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats and Dick Cheney's tie-breaking vote gave the Republicans the Senate majority.

U.S. Constitution; Part 4

Written by Biloxi

Today's posting focuses on the 27th Amendment. It reads:

No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.

It means that prohibits any law that increases or decreases the salary of Congress from taking effect until the beginning of the next set of terms of office for the lawmakers. The U.S. Constitution had amendments and had been ratified in 1992.

And what about the cost of living adjustments that the lawmakers have been receiving first of the year?

From Wikipedia:

Congressional cost of living adjustments (COLAs) have been upheld against legal challenges based on this amendment. In Boehner v. Anderson, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the Twenty-seventh Amendment does not affect annual COLAs. In Schaffer v. Clinton, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ruled that receiving such a COLA does not grant members of the Congress standing in federal court to challenge that COLA; the Supreme Court did not hear either case and so has never ruled on this amendment's effect on such COLAs.

The question should be asked has Congress been giving themselves raises and not following proper procedures according to the 27th amendment? Notice that COLA was never outline in the 27th Amendment in 1789.

U.S. Constitution; Part 3

By Biloxi

Today's posting focus on Legislative Powers. Remember the contraversial FBI raid of the home of former Congressman and convicted felon of corruption William Jefferson?

From Wikipedia:

House Speaker Dennis Hastert and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi issued "a rare joint statement demanding that the FBI return the documents and saying that Jefferson then should cooperate more fully with the investigation." "Many Republicans and Democrats contend that the unprecedented raid on a congressional office was unduly aggressive and may have breached the constitutional separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches of government that are meant to shelter lawmakers from administrative intimidation."

On May 25, President Bush stepped in, taking the extraordinary step of "directing the Department of Justice to seal all the materials recovered from Congressman Jefferson's office for the next 45 days and not to allow access to anyone involved in the investigation."

On 2006 July 10, Chief Judge Thomas F. Hogan for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, ruled the FBI raid on Jefferson's office was legal, rejecting the claim, of both Jefferson and the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group of the United States House of Representatives, that the search violated the Constitution's Speech or Debate Clause, separation of powers principle, and the Fourth Amendment. Chief Judge Hogan, in a 28-page ruling, acknowledged that the "facts and questions of law presented here are indeed unprecedented," but wrote that it is "well-established" that a Congressman is "generally bound to the operation of the criminal laws as are ordinary persons," and the Speech or Debate Clause does not "make Members of Congress super-citizens, immune from criminal responsibility.'"

And remember former Congressman John Doolittle and his FBI raid to his Virginia home in 2007? Click here. I notice there no interference from the lawmakers into Doolittle's home being raid. Doolittle is still under investigation in the Jack Abramoff bribery case. Lastly, remember Ted Stevens? His Alaska home was raided by the FBI and IRS in 2007. Click here. No lawmaker has come to Stevens' rescue to condemn the FBI raid.

The focus on today's posting is Article 1 Section 6:

Section 6.

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. 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.

U.S. Constitution; Part deux.

By Biloxi

The focus on today's post is on the Fourteenth Amendment and the rights to all those who are born as U.S. citizens. In Section 1:

U.S. Constitution:

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

U.S. Constitution. Part 1

Written by Biloxi

I decided to have a daily series of certain passages on the blog of the U.S. Constitution. As you all know, our U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights are in jeopardy, being water down, and slowly being stripped away from the lawmakers in power. As Alexander Hamilton said: "Those who stand for nothing fall for anything." People are asleep at the wheel and they need to fight for their rights and the enemies are not necessary only Al-Queda or terrorists. But, the enemies is the within.Someone needs to remind Congress and Senate to read and understand the U.S. Constitution and the decisions that they make everyday on bills that matter to the American people. Here is one passage from the U.S. Constitution of the Right of the People:

From U.S. Constitution:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.