Granted, the rules are old and they may even be antiquated. However, to arbitrarily eliminate a set of agreed and approved bi-partisan rules that have governed discussion and debate between opposing senators, should require the participation of the senate majority's approval for careful consideration, before Presidential powers interfere and make edicts of executive orders/actions. Executive orders and actions with changes that rip up and alter the debate process, in the foundation of legislative democracy. Can the Presidential powers extended to a President legally change any "archaic rules"? Could any "archaic rules", be legally eliminated at will by the President?
Thank Goodness, for the wisdom of the protections that the original framers of the Constitution put in place. These protections prevent arbitrary malevolent decisions implemented by oligarchs who otherwise, would have been afforded Presidential powers of executive action, that could destroy democracy and the Constitution.
NO President can eliminate the "archaic rules", of the United States Constitution. The "archaic rules" of the "Bill of Rights", are amendments to the Constitution that require ratification by the states to make any changes to the Constitution.
Article Five of the United States Constitution
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Article Five of the United States Constitution describes the process whereby the Constitution, the nation's frame of government, may be altered. Altering the Constitution consists of proposing an amendment or amendments and subsequent ratification. Amendments may be proposed either by the Congress with a two-thirds vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate or by a convention of states called for by two-thirds of the state legislatures.[1] To become part of the Constitution, an amendment must be ratified by either—as determined by Congress—the legislatures of three-quarters of the states or state ratifying conventions in three-quarters of the states.[2] The vote of each state (to either ratify or reject a proposed amendment) carries equal weight, regardless of a state's population or length of time in the Union.
Additionally, Article V temporarily shielded certain clauses in Article I from being amended. The first clause in Section 9, which prevented Congress from passing any law that would restrict the importation of slaves prior to 1808, and the fourth clause in that same section, a declaration that direct taxes must be apportioned according to state populations, were explicitly shielded from Constitutional amendment prior to 1808. It also shields the first clause of Article I, Section 3, which provides for equal representation of the states in the Senate, from being amended, though not absolutely.
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, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress; provided that no amendment which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article; and that no state, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.[3
No comments:
Post a Comment