The commentaries are ALL MINE!
The Texas governor and Republican presidential candidate, Rick Perry has 7 different ways he'd like to change our constitution and laid out these proposed changes in his book, Fed Up! Our Fight to Save America from Washington. Here they are with this author's commentary in red following each one.
1. Abolish lifetime tenure for federal judges by amending Article III, Section I of the Constitution.
"The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behavior, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services a Compensation which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office."
Perry believes the judges on the bench over the past 100 years have acted beyond their constitutional bounds. He reasons that judges are "unaccountable" to the people, and their lifetime tenure gives them free license to do whatever they want.
In his book Fed Up! he writes: "'We should take steps to restrict the unlimited power of the courts to rule over us with no accountability". "One such reform would be to institute term limits on what are now lifetime appointments for federal judges, particularly those on the [U.S.] Supreme Court or the circuit courts, which have so much power. One proposal, for example, would have judges roll off every two years based on seniority."
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This patriot totally agrees with Gov. Perry and would support such an amendment!
2. Congress should have the power to override Supreme Court decisions with a two-thirds vote.
Gov. Perry has strong views about what he sees as overreach from the judicial branch (The title of Chapter Six is "Nine Unelected Judges Tell Us How to Live.") and also would like to further suppress the courts powers through a Congressional veto override. This "would be another way to take the Court down a notch", Perry says.
"[A]llow Congress to override the Supreme Court with a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate, which risks increased politicization of judicial decisions, but also has the benefit of letting the people stop the Court from unilaterally deciding policy," he writes.
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I agree with a veto override, but not by the U.S. Congress as this would politicize the judges position. The veto should come from the people themselves, at the voting booth. Put a special referendum onto a voting ballot and let the people of each state speak their wishes!
3. Scrap the federal income tax by repealing the Sixteenth Amendment.
The Sixteenth Amendment gives Congress the "power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration." It should be abolished immediately, Perry says.
Calling the Sixteenth Amendment "the great milestone on the road to serfdom," Perry's writes that it provides a virtually blank check to the federal government to use for projects with little or no consultation from the states.
********************A great big hearty AMEN BROTHER to that from this patriot!
4. End the direct election of senators by repealing the Seventeenth Amendment.
Overturning this amendment would restore the original language of the Constitution, which gave state legislators the power to appoint the members of the Senate.
"The American people mistakenly empowered the federal government during a fit of populist rage in the early twentieth century by giving it an unlimited source of income (the Sixteenth Amendment) and by changing the way senators are elected (the Seventeenth Amendment)," he writes.
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This patriot disagrees with giving back to the state legislators the power to appoint the members of the Senate. It is difinitely in the right hands now, WE THE PEOPLE! The problem here is the electoral college! THAT is what is archaic and needs to go. Right now, WE THE PEOPLE, really don't have much of voice (and is why I'm stubborn to give anything we DO have away and back to the government) as those few people from each state who comprise the electoral college can vote any way they'd like and can override the popular vote (anybody remember the Bush/Gore in Florida results?). Get rid of the electoral college, make it a "winner takes all" majority vote by the people and there you'll have the power where it rightfully belongs, WE THE PEOPLE!
5-7 in next posting! Stay tuned. :-)
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