The People's U.S. Constitution: Amendments XVI-XX
Posted: Thursday, December 04, 2008
by Jeff Brown
Inner Projection
Amendment XVI: Status of Income Tax Clarified. Ratified 2/3/1913.
The Congress shall have 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.
Great! Let's get into it.
This amendment came about because of the Progressive Era in the 1900s and a desire by the government to get more revenue or its hands deeper into out collective pockets. Great stuff, huh? Oh, I know you're enjoying this. Anyway . . .
Unfortunately for us, the 16th Amendment made income taxes Constitutional when applied to individuals but "without apportionment among the . . . States."
This amendment has created serious stomach acid build up for me.
Let's move on.
Amendment XVII - Senators Elected by Popular Vote. Ratified 4/8/1913.
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.
When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.
This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.
Here's another amendment inspired by the Progressive Era. Here the people can now vote for senators rather than leave it up to legislators who get weak in the knees when they see large sums of money coming their way from corporations advocating certain senators who, I'm just guessing here, will do a lot of nice things for them, things like, oh, deregulation and things like that.
So many were happy about this amendment, not least of all the people, for now not only could they limit the corruption in the Senate, but they could stretch their legs by going out for a nice walk to the poles.
But I think you may see a problem with this amendment. Yes, it was the senators who were getting corrupted by the corrupt. OK, they were corrupt too, but you know what I mean. So passing this with a two-thirds vote by the offenders was not a given. However, the pump had already been greased, for most states had required state legislators through provisions to consider being voted in by the people.
And on we go.
Amendment XVIII: Liquor Abolished. Ratified 1/16/1919. Repealed by Amendment 21, 12/5/1933.
1. After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.
2. The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.
Hey YOU! Yeah, YOU! That's right, put that drink down now! Well, not now, now but now, then. Er . . . you know what I mean.
This one came about most likely because of the Progressive Era or the "Hey, let's change society for the better through the Constitution." Or "Hey, this document may just be the place to fix these those things called humans, those things of moral and ethical impurity."
Sounds like an experiment, right? Well, it was still relatively early in our history and people were a bit naïve. This can be born out by the fact that people thought that the Constitution could even outlaw crime, poverty, and broken homes.
Here's how one American saw alcohol and its environment: "The salon is the sum of all villainies. It is worse than war or pestilence. It is the parent of all crimes and the mother of all sins." Billy Sunday
The problem with the amendment was that it forced the making and drinking of alcohol underground into speakeasies run by mobs. The unworkable nature of the amendment lead to the 21st Amendment that repealed it.
Amendment XIX: Women's Suffrage. Ratified 8/18/1920.
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.
Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Here's one for the ladies . . . finally.
Did you know that woman's suffrage began in the 1790s? Yes, Mary Wollstonecraft wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Women. She was known as the first feminist. But even before Wollstonecraft was Abigail Adams who told her famous husband and the others of the Continental Congress in a letter dated March, 1776 to "...remember the ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the Ladies we are determined to foment a Rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation."
That revolution came in earnest through the organized suffragette movement organized by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton in 1848.
The more than hundred-twenty years it took for woman to get the vote testifies to the fact that change is not easy or fast when overcoming hundreds if not thousands of years of poor, incomplete and inaccurate thinking.
Amendment XX: Presidential, Congressional Terms or Lame Ducks. Ratified 1/23/1933.
1. The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.
2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3d day of January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.
3. If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice President elect shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice President elect shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified.
4. The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the House of Representatives may choose a President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them, and for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the Senate may choose a Vice President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them.
5. Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of October following the ratification of this article.
6. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission.
Section 1:
This one limits the amount of time lame ducks can be in office. I guess 7-11 parking lots are not the only place loitering is frowned upon.
As many are aware, the presidential inauguration takes place January 20th. It used to be in March. Way too much loitering for most, thus the 20th Amendment.
But you'll notice that in section 1 that Senators and Representatives get the boot early, January 3rd. This is so the new Congress will have time, if needed, to choose a president before January 20th.
Section 2:
This section got rid of the four-month delay (Congress began in December while the inauguration took place in January) that initially existed because back then they didn't have planes, trains, and automobiles or phones, faxes, and the Internet. It took a while to get around and to get in touch.
Section 3:
What if the president-elect should die? Who takes over? The vice president, according to Section 3. If no president is elected when the term begins, you get the VP until one is elected. And then there's the stuff about what happens when there's no president or vice president qualified then Congress picks the pres. and VP.
Section 4:
So what happens if the candidates chosen for president and vice president die between the meeting of the Electoral College in December and the counting of the electoral votes in Congress on Jan. 6? Want to know? Read Section 4.
Section 5:
Need sufficient notice to determine when the old ends and the new begins, Congress? Here's your chance, for Sections 1 and 2 will not be ratified until Oct. 15 so you can have time to clean you lockers or move your stuff in.
Section 6:
Time and method of ratification.
OK, ready for the last seven amendments?
Stay tuned. We're almost done.
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