Posted by tx on June 29, 2009 under Hidden truths, Home Page, Principles and Values, US Constitution | 
Section 3 – State of the Union, Convening Congress
He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.
Section 4 – Disqualification
The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.
The State of the Union address is given to both houses of Congress each year. On January 8, 1790 George Washington personally delivered the first annual message to Congress. In recent history a President will outline his agenda for the nation during his State of the Union address. George Washington used the first yearly address to focus on the union which had been recently created. George Washington’s primary concern was to establish and maintain the union which had been created.
It wasn’t until 1923 that the speech was broadcast – first on the radio by Calvin Coolidge. Before that time it was printed in the newspapers. President Truman was the first president to give his “state of the union” on television. Franklin Roosevelt was the first president to refer to the speech as a “state of the union”. The Constitution does not specify a particular date for the speech, though since the first given by Washington, it is customary to give the speech in late January after the Congress re-convenes.
Thomas Jefferson preferred to carry out his constitutional duty in 1801 by “sending details of his national priorities in written notes to the House and Senate. His successors continued the practice until Woodrow Wilson in 1913. Now that the speech is televised on major news networks, both radio and tv, the speech has become an opportunity for the President to promote his political party. And by giving the speech over the “airwaves”, the President hopes to obtain support for his agenda from the American people.
High Crimes and Misdemeanors –”High Crimes and Misdemeanors” are (1) real criminality — breaking a law; (2) abuses of power; (3) “violation of public trust” as defined by Alexander Hamilton in the Federalist Papers. In 1970, then Representative Gerald R. Ford defined impeachable offenses as “whatever a majority of the House of Representatives considers it to be at a given moment in history.” For an excellent discussion on the history of impeachments of Presidents, go to About.com .
Posted by tx on June 28, 2009 under Home Page, Inspiration, US Constitution |
I was reading a blog this morning, strangely enough, about a Steve Martin movie. He is not my favorite comedian, in fact he is an actor whom I avoid, even if his movie is the only one playing. The post I was reading was about the movie, “The Jerk” in which the character that Steve Martin portrays, thinks that he is a black man. The author of the post is Jeremy Boreing for Big Hollywood. He writes: “The film revolves around the life of a pale-skinned, white-haired man who firmly believes he is something he is not, despite all evidence to the contrary…..This is, perhaps, one of the most interesting things about human beings: Our unique capacity for deception. Not the deception of others. Most animals are capable of that sort of deceit. No, it is the ability of man to deceive himself that is so remarkable, and not just the ability, but the proclivity to do it.” As the author continued in his post, he began to speak about human nature and eventually about our nation.
When I read and study the Constitution and the Founding Fathers who created this amazing document, I wonder about who these men were. How was it that they were so wise? How were they able to anticipate what would happen in the future and prepare for it? How did they know so much about human nature? How is it that they did not deceive themselves about what they were creating?
The answer to my questions about our Founding Fathers, I believe, lies in their educations. The Founding Fathers read and studied all the important books of Western Civilization. Many of them were self taught, not relying on a professor at an Ivy League college to tell them what to think. They had all led lives of purpose, and many, hard physical labor. They were the sons or grandsons or great-grandsons of immigrants who first settled this land. They were students of history who had seen and experienced forms of government which were either tyrannical or inept. The Founding Fathers were open to new ideas, but not slaves to them, recognizing those which would work from those which would not. They were observers of human nature, understanding much of the how and why of human behavior which they gained from personal experience. They did not wile away their time being entertained and numbed by mindless movies and television shows, but used their brains to think — as men are required by Nature and God to do. When problems arose in their personal lives, they solved them, not waiting or asking for government to solve the problems for them. The Founding Fathers had personal faults, as we all do. But these extraordinary men blamed no one for their failings; they merely dusted themselves off and began again, repeating those steps over and over until they were successful.
Jeremy Boreing writes in the conclusion of his post: “Our Founding Fathers were unique in that they knew their limitations. They didn’t subscribe to the lie that they and all of the rest of mankind were good, but rather took a firm look at the reality of their limitations and sought to create a form of government that considered and could respond to their flaws. It is a form of government that constrains man’s ambition, puts checks on his power over others, but that removes the constraints on man’s potential for growth and self-improvement, and self-betterment both philosophical and financial. It is a form of government that, as has been often said, unlocks the human potential in unimaginable ways, and creates an environment where one man pursuing his own interests can create waves that cause all of the ships on the ocean to rise with him. We ignore their wisdom and self-honesty, and our true nature, at our own risk, for self-governance and self-betterment are not possible for people who do not know themselves truly.” From “lessons from the movies….”.
Did the Founding Fathers realize how great was their accomplishment? They could not fully imagine the immense energy that such a system of government could unleash in its citizens, though they had faith that it would free men to accomplish much. Our Founding Fathers did know that monarchy, dictatorship and even democracy as practiced in ancient Greece were not the answer to the questions which they asked and the problems they were trying to overcome. The Founding Fathers took an amazing and unbelievable leap into the darkness and created the most powerful, most wealthy, most generous and most free nation the world has ever known.
Now, that freedom and that nation these wise men created is under attack from forces within it — the forces of ignorance and greed and laziness and the lust for personal power. The citizens of this nation are the only ones who can correct the evils that have been allowed to grow unchecked within the government and within ourselves. Fixing ourselves begins with the recognition that we are the cause of our problems and only we can fix them – not some one else, not some government agency — us!
Fixing our government will be more difficult. To begin this process, we must find candidates for public office who believe in the Constitution, who subscribe to the principles and values in which our Founders believed, candidates who recognize that unchecked government is a prescription for tyranny. 912candidates is here to help with that task. Join us, won’t you? We must save this remarkable country for our children and all those who come after us. It is a debt, properly owed by us, for all that we have been given.
May God bless America, and may He give each one of us the courage, the strength and the will to repair what has been broken — before it is too late.
Posted by tx on June 27, 2009 under Home Page, US Constitution |
Section 2 – Civilian Power over Military, Cabinet, Pardon Power, Appointments
The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.
He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.
The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.
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To be Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States, would it be more appropriate if the President had some military training? Does it make sense to have a President who does not know the traditions or training of the military?
Insofar as the appointment of public ministers is concerned — is it preferable to have many appointments not vetted by the Congress as our current President has done, as other President’s have done? Has Congress given the President the right to appoint many powerful ministers not reportable to anyone outside the Executive branch? Congress has the power to allow the President to appoint such ministers; however, legislation must be provided to allow the President this power. To my knowledge no such law has been suggested or voted into law.
Posted by tx on June 26, 2009 under Hidden truths, Inspiration |
At a time when we are all upset at the tax and spend policies of our current Congress and Administration, this video gives us some hope that not all who have been elected to public office have lost sight of the true nature of our republic. Please watch with me as Congressman Forbes, a Republican from the 4th District of Virginia, asks the questions “Did America ever consider itself a Judeo-Christian nation?” and “If America was once a Judeo-Christian nation, when did it cease to be?”
If you agree with Congressman Forbes, please go to his website: http://forbes.house.gov/ and tell him so.
Posted by tx on June 25, 2009 under Home Page, New American Revolution |
Throughout history rebellion meant citizens rising up against government when conditions become unbearable. Such was our case in 1776, when we overthrew the British and established our Republic.
We did so based on the premise that our new government would be elected and the servant of the people, not vice-versa. This new democratic republican system was designed to hopefully eliminate any future need for us, the people, to revolt. If we don’t like the actions of our government, we can now just vote them out of office. For over 200 years, that has worked to generally assure that the actions of Washington reflect the will of the people.
But today we find ourselves with a federal government that is running roughshod over average working Americans with apparent impunity. Over and over the people express their will on the key issues facing the nation, and Washington responds by ignoring them and doing the opposite.
Ironically, we now have a likely unique historical case of the government in rebellion against the people.
Last year’s gas crisis – in the middle of a presidential election year – produced an outpouring of public sentiment on what to do about energy, and an equal outpouring of campaign pledges by federal candidates.
Polls of any kind of course have to be examined with great skepticism. It is only when multiple polls, taken by organizations on the right, left, and center start reporting the same data that the results can be taken seriously. Let’s look at those poll results on energy policy leading up to last November’s election.
According to CNN, CBS, the New York Times, ABC, Stanford University, the Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg, FOX News, and too many others to mention, an average 63% of Americans supported lifting the long-time ban on drilling for more domestic oil and gas offshore and in Alaska – by margins from ranging from 55 to 77%.
With these results coming in that close to Election Day, there were big political results. After decades of opposing expanded domestic drilling, Democrats in the House last fall – before the elections – agreed to drop the ban on offshore drilling, and President Bush granted new oil and gas exploration leases nationwide. We were finally on the road to replacing foreign oil with American oil and gas.
So far this year, an average 74% majority of Americans oppose a new federal gas tax, according to Rasmussen, FOX News, CNN, and others, with a range between 65 and 83%.
Gallup, the Wall Street Journal, and NBC report an average 81% of Americans favor using the federal government to encourage alternative energy resources such as wind and solar power, with responses ranging between 72 and 90%. An average 65% also approve of federal support for existing oil, natural gas, and coal exploration and development, and nuclear power now enjoys an all-time high average public approval rate of 60%, according to the latest Gallup and Los Angeles Time/Bloomberg surveys.
Most importantly, the human side of last year’s energy crisis was also evident in multiple polls and has continued into this year, with gas prices having taken off again this spring. An average 72% of American households say high energy prices have created financial hardship for their families, according to polls by Quinnipiac University, USA Today/Gallup, ABC News/Planet Green/Stanford University, and the Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg.
Based on all this, the public provided Congress with some very clear guidelines on what they expect out of new federal energy policy, and all Congress needed to do was draft it and pass it.
1. Expanded wind and solar power – 81% public approval
2. No new energy taxes – 74% public approval
3. Lower energy prices – 72% public approval
4. Continue existing oil and gas support – 65% public approval
5. Expanded offshore and Alaska oil drilling – 63% public approval
6. Expand nuclear power – 60% public approval
Here’s what just passed out of the Energy and Commerce Committee last week, and will advance to a vote in the House tomorrow.
1. Expanded wind and solar power – so far so good, just wait.
2. Raise energy prices – an estimated minimum $1 a gallon on gas, and at least $100 a month on home power bills. And these costs could be much, much higher.
3. A massive $836 billion tax on all energy through the “cap and trade” scheme
4. Block new offshore and Alaska drilling, tax existing drilling
5. Cut support for existing oil and gas exploration and development
6. Make expanded nuclear power impossible by blocking nuclear waste storage at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, while verbally promising more nuclear power.
What a difference it makes to have the election behind us! Only one out of six highly-approved public agenda items made it into the House leadership’s so-called “Energy Bill”. On the other five – including the ones that make the day-to-day difference in whether our working families continue in hardship, this crowd has done exactly the opposite of what the public needed, asked for and expected.
If this passes into law, count on crushing price hikes on all consumer products and services impacted by energy costs – not just gas and power bills, but food, clothes, practically everything in modern society.
In the middle of the worst economy since the long-stagflation of Jimmy Carter, with 9.4% unemployment and the highest foreclosure rate since record-keeping began in the 1970’s, the majority in the House and Senate are poised to throw a horrible yoke of higher taxes on our struggling working families.
And the phrase “working families” is not just rhetoric. This new plan provides the energy equivalent of food stamps to low income families making less than $42,000 a year, and individuals making less than $23,000, to cover the cost of their tax increase. The resulting tax rate on everyone else is consequently jacked up even higher, putting the financial hardship burden entirely on the U.S. middle class – precisely the group that President Obama promised would not face any tax increases under his Administration.
The current minority of conservatives in the House will do everything we can to fight this, but Washington right now is drunk with power and thinks they can just ignore public opinion and any need to compromise.
So the “cap and trade” energy tax of the far left continues to advance through the halls of Congress, in spite of being opposed by the overwhelming majority of Americans. But that majority can prove them wrong in November 2010, and we better do so or face a permanently diminished future.
Posted by tx on under Home Page, New American Revolution |
This news from our Pennsylvania 912candidates coordinator:
912candidates.org is made up entirely of volunteers. We neither solicit nor accept donations. This allows each member to be guided by conscience. This program is not based on any party affiliation. We will, however, give recognition to a particular group that is helping us to further our cause – candidates for national, state or local office signing a morally-binding contract to uphold the 9 principles and 12 values to which we adhere. One such group is America’s Independent Party.
America’s Independent Party is a conservative pro-life political party that stands for constitutionally limited government, national sovereignty, secure borders, economic liberty, and a Reaganesque “peace through strength” national defense and foreign policy. America’s Independent Party endorses or nominates candidates for public office based on a proven adherence to constitutional principle, not mere party labels.
Tom Hoefling, National Party Chair; and Markham Robinson, National Vice-chair; have made a commitment to request (but not require) party candidates to sign the 912candidates contract.
We thank them for this commitment and greatly appreciate the faith they show in sharing our common goal.
Great job Dorothy!
Posted by tx on June 23, 2009 under Home Page, Principles and Values |
I receive email updates from the Peter Morrison Report, a free email newsletter for Texas Conservatives. Here is this week’s summary.
Summary of this week’s report:
Over the past couple of weeks, thousands of you have sent faxes and placed phone calls expressing your disapproval of the cowardly Republican leadership in the Texas House, particularly traitors-in-chief Joe Straus and Burt Solomons.
The situation has now gotten so bad that my tech guy has informed me that Straus and Solomons are now refusing your faxes. That’s right, thousands of you took time to write a personal message to them about your concerns, and they turned their fax machines off because they don’t care what you have to say.
Please call the two House traitors, Straus and Solomons, since they refuse to take your faxes. Speaker Straus can be reached at (512)463-1000 or (210) 828-4411 and Rep. Solomons at (512) 463-0478 or (972) 394-3904. Again, call back later if the lines are busy, so that they know we will not give up holding them accountable for their traitorous acts against this state. Tell them how disappointed you are that they blocked this important legislation in this year’s legislative session.
To sign up for an email copy or to read the full report, please go to http://www.petermorrisonreport.com/
We can change the tenor of Texas politics. Call your Texas State Representative and Texas State Senator and demand compliance with the will of those who elected them.
Please help 912candidates.org find candidates for elective office who will reflect our values. Just calling oneself a Conservative to obtain our vote is not enough. These elected representatives must act on Conservative values. They must support our state Constitution. They must abide by the 9 principles and 12 values which have made Texas the greatest state in the union.
Posted by tx on June 22, 2009 under Home Page, New American Revolution |
My task at 912candidates.org is to identify candidates for public office who subscribe to the 9 principles and 12 values which underpin our Founding Documents. When those “9/12” candidates are found — when he or she signs the pledge to abide by those principles and values — I will publish his or her name here along with contact information. Then you, as a citizen, can make a more informed choice about the prospective candidate.
I have options as the Texas organizer – options about how to develop this blog. The words below describes how I see the rest of my task, not only as a volunteer at 912candidates but as an American citizen.
“God will never forgive us, if we break faith with our dead again!”
That line was spoken by an English character in a World War II movie –“The White Cliffs of Dover “. I was thinking today how those words are for us, too, in our own time, 65 years after the end of World War II. We, as a people, have broken faith with those who have gone before us, the men and women who have died throughout the centuries to give us our freedom and our republic.
Where did we go wrong? How did we come to this point in time? Is there anyone or anything to blame? Or does the blame rest with each one of us?
As difficult as it is to admit — Each one of us, me included, is to blame for what has happened to our beloved country. While we were busy going to school, raising our families, working in our local communities and paying our taxes, we forgot to keep tabs on the people we elected to office, both locally and nationally. And because we did not watch them as carefully as we should have, those elected representatives have grown the government far beyond its original Constitutional limits.
You and I thought that we had done our homework as far as choosing our representatives is concerned. We listened to their words and chose our representatives as carefully as we could. Then we cast a vote for our choice. Many times the candidate choices presented to us were not as good as we had hoped — many of the candidates appeared to be just a “carbon copy” of one another or of the official we hoped to vote out of office. In desperation, sometimes, we voted for the political party to which a candidate belonged and hoped for the best. More often than not, the “best” is not what our country received.
Listening to our prospective candidates words, reading their publications was not enough to make an informed choice. As citizens, you and I had not developed a good way of judging what that candidate was saying and what that candidate truly believed. We forgot a lesson which we all learned in school about how easy it is to fool someone. We forgot that some people are really great liars. You and I were fooled. We did not see the liars for who they truly are.
You and I did not understand that when our representatives offered us government money and government benefits, they were really offering us slavery. For accepting gifts from the government, even though those gifts are bought with our own tax dollars, obligates us to that very government. Whether it is local, state or federal, the government then has power over us, power which the Constitution never intended the government to have.
The education we received did not prepare us to be the kind of citizen our Constitutional republic needs. When asked by a passerby after the Constitutional Convention, what kind of government the convention had developed for the new nation, Benjamin Franklin responded: “A republic, madam, if you can keep it”! Such a government requires a good deal of effort to keep, effort you and I have not been expending on it. Such a government requires more than an educated citizenry. It requires a citizenry which understands the kind of government given to us, a citizenry which understands its history, a citizenry which understands that only a limited government can provide us the freedom to live as we choose.
If you and I are the kind of people who believe that a man’s word is his bond, we tend to think that others believe as we do. The sad truth is that many people do not think as we do. If you and I subscribe to the Christian value that lying is a grievous sin, we think that others do the same. Many, unfortunately, do not. To many individuals, lying is a way of getting exactly what they want, often without working for it. To many individuals, lying is a way of foisting an entirely different kind of government on an unsuspecting populace. That is exactly what these liars have done.
Believing in these timeless Judeo-Christian values may leave us targets who are easy to victimize. The perpetrator of the crimes against us laughs while he runs away with our money and destroys our country in the process. Just as a carpenter or electrician cannot do his work without the proper tools, so too it is with the citizen. On this site I hope to provide you with the tools to make an informed choice.
Now that the site has been upgraded, I will be doing some things a little differently on the blog than I did in the past weeks. Besides my primary task of finding candidates who subscribe to the 9 principles and values,
1) I will still be studying the Constitution – a short section at a time — and describing what the printed words mean to me.
2)I will be discussing the 9 principles and 12 values which underlie the Founding Documents of our country, because those principles and values give us an excellent way of judging our candidates.
3) I will be reflecting on current events in the way that those events relate to the proper Constitutional powers given to our government.
4) I will be inviting readers to comment on what is written, as I did before.
Will we be the kinds of citizens which Benjamin Franklin and our Founding Fathers envisioned us to be? Or will we be the kind of citizens who cannot keep a republic as Benjamin Franklin and others feared we might become? Will we allow our representatives to turn our country into their vision of a socialist/ Marxist nation where all but the chosen few are in thrall to the government, where all but a chosen few are subject to the law? Or will we demand that our representatives maintain and strengthen our republic and abide by the limits of our Constitution?
The task is before us. There is no time to waste. I believe that the 2010 elections may be our last chance to begin our country’s journey back to the republic given to us more than 200 years ago. The choice is up to us. What will we leave to our children — the gift which was handed to us or a bankrupt enslaved nation where the freedom to choose our path in life, the freedom to worship our God as we choose, is a distant and fading memory?
So let us roll up our sleeves and get to work. We are Americans. History has shown us that with God’s help, no power on earth can overwhelm or defeat us. May God bless our efforts and may God bless America!
Posted by tx on under Home Page |
PRLog (Press Release) – Jun 22, 2009 – The Patriot’s Pipeline Radio Show with David Hill and author and commentator Melissa Pehle-Hill. The Patriot’s Pipeline is the Friday night broadcast from the Patriot’s Heart Broadcasting Network. Our show highlights citizens and politicians who believe in our US Constitution and who have stepped up to the task of restoring the United States of America to the foundation laid down by our Founding Fathers.
Show address is http://tinyurl.com/PHN06-26-09
Our June 26th show will feature R.J. Harris of Oklahoma and Dr. Rand Paul from Kentucky. Both of these gentlemen have signed the 9:12 Candidates Pledge to uphold the values and principles found in our Constitution. The Hosts and Producers of the Patriot’s Pipeline strongly support the efforts of the 9:12 Candidates Project and their mission to find candidates who will uphold the Constitution should they gain public office.
RJ Harris
RJ is an Iraq war veteran, devout family man, and staunch constitutional
conservative. He is running for US Rep. in Oklahoma’s 4th Congressional District in 2010. The first candidate to sign the official 912 pledge, Mr. Harris is dedicated to restoring a strict adherence to the Constitution in the halls of an out-of-control Federal Government.
Here are some of RJ’s key proposals:
* Balance the budget
* End the govt. bailouts
* Pay down debt
* Restore the value of our Dollar
* Shrink the size & scope of the Federal Govt.
* Increase state sovereignty, especially in critical social issues
* Create a more focused & cost effective national defense
* Preserve America’s moral integrity by obeying the Constitution
A true Washington outsider, RJ Harris is excited to tackle the elite, political establishment.
Having served two combat tours in Iraq, RJ comprehends the true nature of sacrifice and intends on bringing this spirit of sacrifice to a Washington D.C. that has lost its way.
Dr. Rand Paul
Rand Paul is the third of five children. He grew up in a small town in Texas and attended Baylor University before leaving to go to Duke Medical School. Dr. Paul completed a General Surgery Internship at Georgia Baptist Medical Center in Atlanta and earned his ophthalmology residency at Duke University.
Dr. Paul is married to his loving wife, Kelley Ashby, of Russellville, KY. They have been married for 18 years and have three boys: Will 16, Duncan 13, and Robert 10.
Dr. Paul has owned his own business, performing eye surgery in Bowling Green, KY, for 18 years. He is also the founder of the Southern Kentucky Lions Eye Clinic, an organization that performs eye exams and surgery for less fortunate patients.
Additionally, Dr. Rand Paul founded the Kentucky Taxpayers United (KTU) in 1994. KTU rates the state legislature’s tax honesty and helps promote the Americans for Tax Reform taxpayer pledge, to oppose any and all marginal income tax increases and any reduction in tax deductions.
Dr. Rand Paul delivered his first public speech in a debate with Senator Phil Gramm at the age of 21 in San Antonio. For his father’s Presidential campaign, Dr. Rand Paul traveled throughout ten different states. In December of 2007, he spoke to thousands of supporters at the historic Fanueil Hall in Boston on the day his father’s campaign set the record for most online donations in a single day.
Rand Paul is a career doctor, not a politician. His entrance into politics is indicative of his life’s work: a desire to diagnose problems, and provide practical solutions.
Posted by tx on June 10, 2009 under Home Page, US Constitution |
The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice-President chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows:
Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.
(The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not lie an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately choose by Ballot one of them for President; and if no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the said House shall in like Manner choose the President. But in choosing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representation from each State having one Vote; a quoruum for this Purpose shall consist of a Member or Members from two-thirds of the States, and a Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate shall choose from them by Ballot the Vice-President.) (This clause in parentheses was superseded by the 12th amendment)
The Congress may determine the Time of choosing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.
No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.
(In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.) (This clause in parentheses has been modified by the 20th and 25th amendments.)
The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.
Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
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Under the original terms of the US Constitution, the President and Vice President were chosen by votes of the state legislators as described above.
Our current President, is thought by some, to not be eligible for the office due to questions about his birth. Is the current President a natural born citizen? What do you think? Is this stipulation a reasonable requirement? Why?
