We The People
Preamble to the Constitution
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
The Preamble to the Constitution of the United States is an introduction articles contained in the Constitution. The introduction pretty much says that the Constitution was created in order to ensure the welfare, security, and liberty of the citizens of the United States.
This video is says that the government is being dishonest and robbing US citizens from their rights to freedom of speech and misleading US citizens into believing lies. The narrator of the video states that the people remained silent after the realization that the weapons of mass destruction were non-existent, and with the uncovering of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay. He explains the when people speak out against the government they are viewed as un-patriotic or terrorists. I thought this video was nice representation of they type of job people believe our government is doing by ensuring the safety, welfare, liberty, and prosperity.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Amendment XXVII
Amendment XXVII
“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 prevents members of congress from raising their salaries during terms they served.
This is a necessary amendment in that it prevents Congress members from raising their salaries, but I’m sure members of Congress find loopholes that allow them to raise their salaries…I mean we all know that politicians aren’t the most honest and reliable people in the world!
While this video is a sub-par attempt to depict the 27th Amendment, it covers the basic intentions of the amendment. It displays three Congressmen attempting to come up with a scheme to raise their salaries, when one protests, warning that raising their salaries outside of an election was illegal according to the Constitution and they decide to wait until election. I included this video because it defined the amendment accurately.
This is a video of a negative ad against Republican Don Young, saying that he is a corrupt Congressman; it says that he has misused funds and accepted bribes and has been under investigation several times. Although this video does not directly related to Young attempting to raise his salary, it does talk about he may have possibly misused his power, which is the main problem with a Congressman raising his own salary. I included this video in order to display how politicians can find ways around gaining more money to put in their pockets with out violating the 27th Amendment. That is probably why Young was accused of some many other crimes (if the allegations are true). He still managed to run for office.
“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 prevents members of congress from raising their salaries during terms they served.
This is a necessary amendment in that it prevents Congress members from raising their salaries, but I’m sure members of Congress find loopholes that allow them to raise their salaries…I mean we all know that politicians aren’t the most honest and reliable people in the world!
While this video is a sub-par attempt to depict the 27th Amendment, it covers the basic intentions of the amendment. It displays three Congressmen attempting to come up with a scheme to raise their salaries, when one protests, warning that raising their salaries outside of an election was illegal according to the Constitution and they decide to wait until election. I included this video because it defined the amendment accurately.
This is a video of a negative ad against Republican Don Young, saying that he is a corrupt Congressman; it says that he has misused funds and accepted bribes and has been under investigation several times. Although this video does not directly related to Young attempting to raise his salary, it does talk about he may have possibly misused his power, which is the main problem with a Congressman raising his own salary. I included this video in order to display how politicians can find ways around gaining more money to put in their pockets with out violating the 27th Amendment. That is probably why Young was accused of some many other crimes (if the allegations are true). He still managed to run for office.
Amendment XXVI
Amendment XXVI
“The right of citizens of the United States, who are 18 years of age or older, to vote, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of age.”
Section 1 says the legal voting age is 18.
Section 2 says that Congress has to make laws to enforce this amendment
The lowering of the legal voting age was pushed greatly when the draft occurred and young men were beginning to be drafted into the army at the age of 18. The thought was that if these young men were old enough to fight for their country in a war, then they should be able to legal vote in their country. I think that’s a logical declaration, I mean, they have to answer to the President because that is their commander-in-chief, so why shouldn’t they have a right to decide? Not to mention making life changing decisions while in war. I’m glad the legal voting age is 18, because that’s the age when we graduate form high school, and when we are technically considered adults, so why not ensure that our voice is heard in the country we are now heading out into. Many have tried to say that since the voting age is 18, then an 18-year-old should also be allowed to drink. Personally, voting does not pose the life-or-death risk that drinking does if handled immaturely, and so therefore I think that an 18-year-old is not mature enough to handle responsible drinking, 21-year-olds barely can.
This video is a PSA done by some of the actors from TV show, One Tree Hill about the “Rock the Vote” campaign encouraging people to vote. This video is aimed at young adults, which is why the video includes pop culture role models and figures that young adults with admire and recognize. I included this video because I feel it’s important that the right to vote be extended to young adults at age 18 because they are old enough to serve in a war and old enough to have a voice in politics. Special attention is paid to targeting teens in advertisements for voting. This PSA displays the attention paid to making sure that teens go out an exercise their right to vote.
This video explains how to register to vote, and that you have to give your original signature in order to vote. I included this video because this is the first step any person must complete before they are able to vote in an election. This is especially true for teens and I believe that if we continue to insist on young adults getting registered and then voting, there will be more young adult representation. There was a lot of encouragement of young adults voting during the 2008 election, and there was a remarkable turnout among young adults and I believe that same momentum is achieved in future elections, voting among teens will become the norm.
“The right of citizens of the United States, who are 18 years of age or older, to vote, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of age.”
Section 1 says the legal voting age is 18.
Section 2 says that Congress has to make laws to enforce this amendment
The lowering of the legal voting age was pushed greatly when the draft occurred and young men were beginning to be drafted into the army at the age of 18. The thought was that if these young men were old enough to fight for their country in a war, then they should be able to legal vote in their country. I think that’s a logical declaration, I mean, they have to answer to the President because that is their commander-in-chief, so why shouldn’t they have a right to decide? Not to mention making life changing decisions while in war. I’m glad the legal voting age is 18, because that’s the age when we graduate form high school, and when we are technically considered adults, so why not ensure that our voice is heard in the country we are now heading out into. Many have tried to say that since the voting age is 18, then an 18-year-old should also be allowed to drink. Personally, voting does not pose the life-or-death risk that drinking does if handled immaturely, and so therefore I think that an 18-year-old is not mature enough to handle responsible drinking, 21-year-olds barely can.
This video is a PSA done by some of the actors from TV show, One Tree Hill about the “Rock the Vote” campaign encouraging people to vote. This video is aimed at young adults, which is why the video includes pop culture role models and figures that young adults with admire and recognize. I included this video because I feel it’s important that the right to vote be extended to young adults at age 18 because they are old enough to serve in a war and old enough to have a voice in politics. Special attention is paid to targeting teens in advertisements for voting. This PSA displays the attention paid to making sure that teens go out an exercise their right to vote.
This video explains how to register to vote, and that you have to give your original signature in order to vote. I included this video because this is the first step any person must complete before they are able to vote in an election. This is especially true for teens and I believe that if we continue to insist on young adults getting registered and then voting, there will be more young adult representation. There was a lot of encouragement of young adults voting during the 2008 election, and there was a remarkable turnout among young adults and I believe that same momentum is achieved in future elections, voting among teens will become the norm.
XXV
Amendment XXV
“In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.
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.
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.
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.”
Section 1 says that if the President is for any reason removed from office, then the
Vice President becomes President.
Section 2 says that if there is no VP for some reason, then the President may nominate someone to be voted on and confirmed by the Senate and HofR.
Section 3 says that if the President expresses that he/she cannot perform their duties, then the VP becomes Acting President.
Section 4 says that the Vice President, along with members of cabinet and Congress can come together and decide that the president is unable to perform his duties and in that case the VP becomes acting President unless the President expresses otherwise, in which case there would have to be a majority vote to determine whether the President should resume his/her powers.
This amendment gave more clarification as to how succession should happen when a President is removed from office, a VP is removed from office, or a President is unable, for some reason to fulfill the duties of the job. The Twenty-fifth Amendment accurately describes what should happen in the event of tragedy within the Presidency, although I do wonder what would happen if something were to happen to the President and the Vice President?
This is a video that depicts, in a short, skit-form, what would happen in the event of the President’s death. It was a project put together by some kids and I thought this was a simple definition of the 25th Amendment. The video shows a re-enactment of the assassination of a president during a parade and shortly after, the Vice President is sworn into presidency.
This video shows what would happen if the President was deemed unable to perform his/her duties by Congress. In this video the President is eaten by a zombie and becomes unable to perform Presidential duties and Congress decides to remove the President from office. I included this video because I liked the video game effect used to demonstrate the amendment in action. I have yet to see a video that uses a video game effect. I thought the video did a pretty good job of portraying a scenario in which the President was unable to do his/her job.
“In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.
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.
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.
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.”
Section 1 says that if the President is for any reason removed from office, then the
Vice President becomes President.
Section 2 says that if there is no VP for some reason, then the President may nominate someone to be voted on and confirmed by the Senate and HofR.
Section 3 says that if the President expresses that he/she cannot perform their duties, then the VP becomes Acting President.
Section 4 says that the Vice President, along with members of cabinet and Congress can come together and decide that the president is unable to perform his duties and in that case the VP becomes acting President unless the President expresses otherwise, in which case there would have to be a majority vote to determine whether the President should resume his/her powers.
This amendment gave more clarification as to how succession should happen when a President is removed from office, a VP is removed from office, or a President is unable, for some reason to fulfill the duties of the job. The Twenty-fifth Amendment accurately describes what should happen in the event of tragedy within the Presidency, although I do wonder what would happen if something were to happen to the President and the Vice President?
This is a video that depicts, in a short, skit-form, what would happen in the event of the President’s death. It was a project put together by some kids and I thought this was a simple definition of the 25th Amendment. The video shows a re-enactment of the assassination of a president during a parade and shortly after, the Vice President is sworn into presidency.
This video shows what would happen if the President was deemed unable to perform his/her duties by Congress. In this video the President is eaten by a zombie and becomes unable to perform Presidential duties and Congress decides to remove the President from office. I included this video because I liked the video game effect used to demonstrate the amendment in action. I have yet to see a video that uses a video game effect. I thought the video did a pretty good job of portraying a scenario in which the President was unable to do his/her job.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Amendment XXIV
Amendment XXIV
“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 gets rid of poll taxes.
Section 2 says that Congress has to make laws enforcing the amendment.
To say that I think this amendment was LONG overdue is an understatement. This amendment should have been drafted and ratified as soon as these ridiculous laws were enacted by the states. Poll taxes were discriminatory laws placed on voting at the polls in order to prevent Blacks from voting. When Blacks overcame the intimidation of the KKK and actually tried to vote, many white Southern states enacted poll taxes that seemed to only affect Black voter eligibility and boasted apparent discrimination against Blacks. Blacks had to pay different taxes and take literacy tests at the voting polls in order to vote, which prevented if not many, most from being able to vote if they lived to go down to the voting polls. This was just another form of institutionalized segregation and discrimination that wasn’t corrected until over 50 years after Blacks had gained the right to vote and it’s really a shame.
This video displays some of the struggles that Blacks faced during the summer of ’64 trying to gain the freedom to vote without the threat of harm. The bombings that these people experienced occurred after the ratification of the 24th Amendment, but I included to show the real disparities Blacks faced and how that continued even after poll taxes were removed. Poll taxes were created to prevent Blacks from voting, and once the poll taxes were abolished, more bombings and murders took place to prevent Blacks from voting.
I chose this video because it was a funny little skit (although “abolition” was spelled incorrectly) that depicted what poll taxes were like in the 1900s. I thought it was a simple educational video on poll takes, but I found difficult to find any videos on poll taxes on YouTube. I found more videos on Black Codes and Jim Crow laws…
“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 gets rid of poll taxes.
Section 2 says that Congress has to make laws enforcing the amendment.
To say that I think this amendment was LONG overdue is an understatement. This amendment should have been drafted and ratified as soon as these ridiculous laws were enacted by the states. Poll taxes were discriminatory laws placed on voting at the polls in order to prevent Blacks from voting. When Blacks overcame the intimidation of the KKK and actually tried to vote, many white Southern states enacted poll taxes that seemed to only affect Black voter eligibility and boasted apparent discrimination against Blacks. Blacks had to pay different taxes and take literacy tests at the voting polls in order to vote, which prevented if not many, most from being able to vote if they lived to go down to the voting polls. This was just another form of institutionalized segregation and discrimination that wasn’t corrected until over 50 years after Blacks had gained the right to vote and it’s really a shame.
This video displays some of the struggles that Blacks faced during the summer of ’64 trying to gain the freedom to vote without the threat of harm. The bombings that these people experienced occurred after the ratification of the 24th Amendment, but I included to show the real disparities Blacks faced and how that continued even after poll taxes were removed. Poll taxes were created to prevent Blacks from voting, and once the poll taxes were abolished, more bombings and murders took place to prevent Blacks from voting.
I chose this video because it was a funny little skit (although “abolition” was spelled incorrectly) that depicted what poll taxes were like in the 1900s. I thought it was a simple educational video on poll takes, but I found difficult to find any videos on poll taxes on YouTube. I found more videos on Black Codes and Jim Crow laws…
Amendment XXIII
Amendment XXIII
“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.”
Section 1 says that Washington, D.C. gets representation in an election just like any other state would.
Section 2 says that Congress has to make laws that enforce this amendment.
This amendment clears up any confusion about how D.C. is represented in an election. It seems as if for the purposes of an election D.C. is treated as a state although it is not one. I think this was an easy way of figuring out what to do with D.C. during election time and still profit from them when it came down to taxation. I could never understand why D.C. could be its own state when it was treated like its own state. They had to pay taxes like they were a state and are represented like a state in elections, so why not? Then it was explained to me that D.C. doesn’t have a Senator because that’s where the President is based, so how can it be a state without a Senator? That makes sense, but I don’t understand why the President can’t trump that and still make D.C. a state and have a Senator who also lives in D.C. and answers to the Pres. After all, the President still has control over the country. I am in favor of D.C. becoming a state, because the President exists outside of D.C. and only lives there, so therefore shouldn’t have to be the Senator.
I chose this video because it displays the citizens who do not agree with the 23rd Amendment and feel that it should be repealed because citizens of DC are required to pay taxes as if they are a state and wants the full rights and benefits of a state. This video shows a protest in Washington for the repeal of the 23rd amendment.
This video is about a little girl who got a chance to meet President Obama at her school and asked the President if DC could have voting rights for representation in Congress. I thought that was interesting because I, myself wonder why DC can’t representation since they have taxation. The little girl said that she would picket if she could and I think that shows that she is educated and knows that she has rights within the Constitution to protest. At that age I wasn’t thinking about DC having voting rights. I think it is an issue within DC amongst the residents because they feel that 23rd Amendment prevents them from having the rights that the rest of the US citizens have.
“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.”
Section 1 says that Washington, D.C. gets representation in an election just like any other state would.
Section 2 says that Congress has to make laws that enforce this amendment.
This amendment clears up any confusion about how D.C. is represented in an election. It seems as if for the purposes of an election D.C. is treated as a state although it is not one. I think this was an easy way of figuring out what to do with D.C. during election time and still profit from them when it came down to taxation. I could never understand why D.C. could be its own state when it was treated like its own state. They had to pay taxes like they were a state and are represented like a state in elections, so why not? Then it was explained to me that D.C. doesn’t have a Senator because that’s where the President is based, so how can it be a state without a Senator? That makes sense, but I don’t understand why the President can’t trump that and still make D.C. a state and have a Senator who also lives in D.C. and answers to the Pres. After all, the President still has control over the country. I am in favor of D.C. becoming a state, because the President exists outside of D.C. and only lives there, so therefore shouldn’t have to be the Senator.
I chose this video because it displays the citizens who do not agree with the 23rd Amendment and feel that it should be repealed because citizens of DC are required to pay taxes as if they are a state and wants the full rights and benefits of a state. This video shows a protest in Washington for the repeal of the 23rd amendment.
This video is about a little girl who got a chance to meet President Obama at her school and asked the President if DC could have voting rights for representation in Congress. I thought that was interesting because I, myself wonder why DC can’t representation since they have taxation. The little girl said that she would picket if she could and I think that shows that she is educated and knows that she has rights within the Constitution to protest. At that age I wasn’t thinking about DC having voting rights. I think it is an issue within DC amongst the residents because they feel that 23rd Amendment prevents them from having the rights that the rest of the US citizens have.
XXII
Amendment XXII
“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.”
Section 1 says that no President shall serve more than two terms in office, unless they are currently in their Presidential term at the time Congress drafted the amendment.
Section 2 says that it has to be ratified within 7 years of submission.
This amendment prevents the same President from having too much power over the country as a result of repeatedly being re-elected into office. FDR was the first President to serve more than four years in his term and Congress wanted to make sure that there were no more Presidents who served longer than eight-year terms so with the avid support of the Republican Party, the amendment was passed. It is important to note that the constant struggle is to limit power within government so that is doesn’t become too centralized in one area. The President has the most power in the country, and so it was important to ensure that there were some limitations to what the President can do and a major one has become that he/she only gets to serve for a max 8 years.
I included this video because it shows Franklin Roosevelt, who was the only President to be elected to 4 terms and serve three dying during the fourth term. This amendment was inspired in part, if not, wholly by FDR’s long presidency. Americans do not like to have any one person in power too long because that centralizes power to that one person. In order to avoid that, the length of the Presidential tem was shortened.
I chose this video because it claims that the President wants to repeal the 22nd Amendment because he made a statement about dealing with leaders of countries for the next 8-10 years. I wanted to display some of the random mess that people come up with to say about the President. He never made a statement about wanting to repeal the amendment. If anything, he could have been referring to plans that he had after his presidency to work in government.
“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.”
Section 1 says that no President shall serve more than two terms in office, unless they are currently in their Presidential term at the time Congress drafted the amendment.
Section 2 says that it has to be ratified within 7 years of submission.
This amendment prevents the same President from having too much power over the country as a result of repeatedly being re-elected into office. FDR was the first President to serve more than four years in his term and Congress wanted to make sure that there were no more Presidents who served longer than eight-year terms so with the avid support of the Republican Party, the amendment was passed. It is important to note that the constant struggle is to limit power within government so that is doesn’t become too centralized in one area. The President has the most power in the country, and so it was important to ensure that there were some limitations to what the President can do and a major one has become that he/she only gets to serve for a max 8 years.
I included this video because it shows Franklin Roosevelt, who was the only President to be elected to 4 terms and serve three dying during the fourth term. This amendment was inspired in part, if not, wholly by FDR’s long presidency. Americans do not like to have any one person in power too long because that centralizes power to that one person. In order to avoid that, the length of the Presidential tem was shortened.
I chose this video because it claims that the President wants to repeal the 22nd Amendment because he made a statement about dealing with leaders of countries for the next 8-10 years. I wanted to display some of the random mess that people come up with to say about the President. He never made a statement about wanting to repeal the amendment. If anything, he could have been referring to plans that he had after his presidency to work in government.
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