The Twenty-Seventh Amendment

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

The Twenty-Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution establishes that "No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened."  This amendment assures that the Congress of the United States of America cannot give themselves a pay raise while in session.  This amendment is good for the country because in a way it is just another system of checks and balances in the government.  Also, it regulates Congressional pay in more ways than one.  No one wants to be that Congressmen or Congresswoman who purposes a pay raise for congress. 

United States Congress men and women currently make $158,000 a year and they deserve every penny of it.  The Congress is the backbone of the entire country.  They are the ones that govern this country.  Even though their salary puts them among the 5% percent of our nation’s economy, their job is one of the hardest in the world.  They are constantly traveling back and forth from D.C. to their home districts to fundraise and govern.  My family is very close with a family that is very big political family in Missouri.  The father of the family is a very hardworking Congressman and spends a lot of time going back and forth from Missouri and Washington D.C.  every weekend. 

The Twenty-Sixth Amendment

"The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age."

This is perhaps one of my favorite Youtube videos of all time.  It reveals to the entire nation that Texas Governor Rick Perry for the idiot he is.  The voting age throughout the entire country is 18, as established by the Twenty-Sixth Amendment to the Constitution.  "The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age."-Section 1 of the Twenty-Sixth Amendment to the Constitution.  The amendment was actually ratifed because of student activism during the Vietnam War. 

One of the most controversial topics today is whether or not the drinking age should be 18 or 21.  Because the voting age is 18, 18 is seens as the established age of adulthood in America.  If you are an adult at the age of 18, you have the right to vote or not to vote, and you can go too war for your country; why can't you drink at the age of 18?  It makes not sense to me.  If you aren't allowed to drink alcohol at the age of 18, then you shouldn't be allowed to vote at the age of 18 or join the military at 18. 

The Twenty-Fifth Amendment

"Section 1. In case of the removal of the President  from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.

Section 2. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.

Section 3. Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.

Section 4. Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.

Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office."

Something is happening in this picture that no one will ever see, that is, unless you are looking for it.  It is the Twenty-Fifth Amendment in full motion.  The Twenty-fifth Amendment was ratified on February 23rd, 1967.  During the State of the Union Address, which happens once every year, one member of the Presidential Cabinet is always selected to stay back at the White House.  Here, said person is under heavy protection under the Secret Service.  God forbid something should ever happen during the State of the Union, but if all the members of the line of succession to the President were to die including the President himself, the person left at the White House would immediately be sworn into office as the President of the United States.  This line of succession is fully established within the Twenty-Fifth Amendment. 

As of 2008, this was the Presidential line of succession.  Should the President die while in office, the Vice President would take over his office.  Should the President die in office while there is no current Vice President, the Speaker of the House would take over.  It is important to note that members of the line of succession do not simply move up when a member ahead of them dies.  For instance, the Secretary of Education does not become the Secretary of Energy simply because the Secretary of Energy dies.  A new replacement for vacant position is immediately filled. 

The Twenty-Fourth Amendment

"Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax."

"The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax."-Section 1 of Amendment Twenty-four to the United States Constitution.  The Twenty-fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution deemed it unconstitutional for someone to be denied the right to vote upon failure to be able to pay for his or her vote.  It was the end of the poll tax area.  Going back to our great American notion of "We The People", we are now letting the poor into the increasingly less exclusive club.  This video talks about their dirty tactics of having a poll tax. 

The Twenty-Thrid Amendment

"Section 1. The District constituting the seat of Government of the United States shall appoint in such manner as the Congress may direct:

A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event more than the least populous State; they shall be in addition to those appointed by the States, but they shall be considered, for the purposes of the election of President and Vice President, to be electors appointed by a State; and they shall meet in the District and perform such duties as provided by the twelfth article of amendment."

Until the Presidential election of 1964, the residents of Washington D.C. had never had the opportunity to vote for a President.  With the ratification of the Twenty-third Amendment on March 29, 1961, they received that right.  Once again, this represents the expansion of the great American notion of "We The People".  That "We The People" now included the right of those citizens living within the District of Columbia to vote for their President.  While the amendment does represent significant progress, residents of D.C. are still unable to elect representatives or Senators to Congress.  

What the United States government is doing to Washington D.C. is almost criminal and certainly unconstitutional.  I understand the importance of having an impartial national capital, and I am certainly against D.C. Statehood, but the residence of Washington D.C. are being hosed.  The D.C. public school system is in the hands of the federal government and is one of the worst public school systems in the entire country.  That is a shame.  The residence of D.C. should have complete and total control of their own public school system and not be in the hands of politicians whom have no vested interest in the system.  

The Twenty-Second Amendment

"Section 1. No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term."

The video above is of President FDR accepting his party’s nomination to run for an unprecedented fourth term as President.  From the times of President George Washington, our nation's very first President, it was implied that a President could only serve two terms.  The amendment states that, "No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term."  The Republican Party wanted to do everything in the power to ensure that the Democrats would never again hold the Presidency for more than 10 years. 

There are people in this country that by having a limit on the number of terms a person can be in the office of the Presidency, you are infringing on their rights to elect whom they wish to vote for.  While this proposal may sound crazy to most, it does hold some merit.  The qualifications to run for the Presidency are listed within the Constitution and nowhere is it implied how long a person can be President.  It was only the act of President George Washington that created the notion that a President could and would only serve two terms in office.  The will of the people, the popular vote, should come before the amount of terms a person can run for the Presidency.

The Twenty-First Amendment

"Section 1. The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.

Section 2. The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.

Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment ot the Constitution by conventions in the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission here of to the States by the Congress."

The fourteen year long wait was finally over, on December 5 of 1933, the Eighteenth Amendment was repealed by the Twenty-first Amendment.  Section one of the Amendment states, "The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed."  Section two of the article expands on the first section, "The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited."  Despite popular belief, the Twenty-first Amendment did not establish a national drinking age of 21.  One might find it interesting that companies such as Anheuser-Busch and Jack Daniels continued to stay in business during those long fourteen years, but somehow they did.  Above is a video by the Anheuser-Busch company celebrating the end of prohibition.  

The photograph above is one of my all times favorites.  The photographer perfectly captured the excitement in the face of this gentleman, and looks about as happy as he has ever been.  Beer was back and that was just fine with him.  This photograph was taken directly after the Twenty-first Amendment was ratified and ended prohibition.  The young man's face here captures the emotion of the entire country.  Everyone was sick and tired of prohibition and just wanted to be able to drink and purchase alcohol again.  Even those whom at first supported it were now against it; crime in America was at an all-time high because people would do just about anything to get their hands on alcohol.