Sunday, September 4, 2011

Same-Gender Marriage in the U.S. (The Path to Full Legalization)

Last update: Feb/2/2013

Legal: (2003-2012) - Total: 9
Massachusetts (site), Connecticut (site), Vermont (site), Iowa (site), New Hampshire (site)
New York (site), Washington D.C. (site), Maryland (site), Washington (site), Maine (site)



Legalization within the years 2013-2014:

  • Rhode Island (site) ---Bill introduced in 2013---
  • Illinois (site) ---Legal challenge to current law--- / ---Bill introduced in 2013---
  • Delaware (site) ---Bill introduced in 2013---
  • Minnesota (site) ---Bill introduced in 2013---
  • Hawai'i (site) ---Bill introduced in 2013---
  • Ohio (site) ---Referendum to be held in 2013---
  • California (site) ---at Supreme Court---
  • Oregon (site) ---Potential ballot measure in 2014---
  • New Mexico (site) ---Potential ballot measure in 2014---
  • Colorado (site) ---Potential ballot measure in 2014---
  • Arizona (site) ---Potential ballot measure in 2014---
  • Michigan (site) ---Potential ballot measure in 2014---
  • New Jersey (site) ---Will become legal once Chris Christie is replaced, so either 2014 or 2018---
  • Nevada (site) ---Legal challenge to current law---
2015-2021:
  • Nebraska (site)
  • Wisconsin (site)
  • Montana (site)
  • Idaho (site)
  • Wyoming (site) (Marriage bill in 2013 not brought to vote)
  • Pennsylvania (site)
  • Indiana (site)
  • North Dakota (site)
  • South Dakota (site) (Marriage ballot initiative between 2014 and 2018)
  • Missouri (site)
  • Alaska (site)
  • Arkansas (site)
I myself am fairly certain, that after 2020 we will see an effort to push same-sex marriage on the entire country. By 2014, we will already have a veto-proof country, ensuring that no constitutional amendment banning SSM could pass.

In Sum:
  • Now (2012): 9+D.C.
  • 2013: 14-16+D.C.
  • 2016: 16-18+D.C.
  • 2020: 20-25+D.C.
  • 2025: 30-35+D.C.
States not listed: Utah, Kansas, Texas, Louisiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, Oklahoma, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida and Tennessee. Total: 15

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Repeal the 23rd Amendment

What is the 23rd Amendment to the US Constitution?

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.

Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Why Repeal?

Giving D.C. - a territory - is hypocritical and unconstitutional. There is no amendment providing for the territories to be able to vote for President, nor did the Founders intend for residents of the District to vote. Congress has 3 electoral votes. This is unacceptable, embarrassing and no solution to the .D.C voting rights issue.

Repeal the Amendment, and replace it with an amendment to clarify that residents of D.C. who live on the territory of Maryland are entitled to vote as residents of Maryland, and to be represented in Maryland. Why? because D.C. is just the Capitol + part of Maryland.

If this were done, D.C. would share the 2 senators of Maryland, have one voting representative and be able to vote for President again. Remember: we are giving representation to D.C. residents not getting rid of it.

I support the repeal of the Twenty-Third Amendment. - Smart aka Reuven

Repeal the 22nd Amendment

What is the 22nd Amendment to the US Constitution?

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.

Section 2. 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 to the States by the Congress.

Why Repeal?

The principle of repealing the 22nd amendment is simple: Can the American people be trusted not to elect Dictators? Or not?

Simply put - the people should be able to elect anyone they wish. Getting rid of term limits is getting rid of Truman-era Democrat nonsense.

I support the repeal of the Twenty-Second Amendment. - Smart aka Reuven

Repealing the 17th Amendment

What is the 17th Amendment to the US Constitution?

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.

Why Repeal?

The States have lost their ability to have representation in Washington. Cronyism is a fact of the new system. Automatic-recall is in the Constitution, and no Senator should be allowed to serve without the consent of his/her state.

The notion was first proposed by the Populist Party (a now extinct party). The majority of Republicans opposed the amendment, but without control of the Senate, weren't able to stop it.

I support the repeal of the Seventeenth Amendment. - Smart aka Reuven

Repealing the 16th Amendment

What is the 16th Amendment to the US Constitution?

The 16th Amendment states: 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.

Which simply means: The 16th Amendment authorized individual taxation of Americans, which we know as the income tax. It became a law that gave congress the right to collect taxes on income, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several states, and without regard to any census or enumeration. The more income the higher the tax. The less income the lower the tax.

Why Repeal?

The Income-Tax is unfair, unusual and illegitimate.

Possibly replacing with FairTax


I support the repeal of the Sixteenth Amendment. - Smart aka Reuven http://www.repeal16thamendment.com/

Friday, September 2, 2011

Repealing the 14th Amendment

What is the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution?


Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Section 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.

Section 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.

Section 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

Why Repeal?

The birth-right citizenship clause is the key issue - people should only obtain citizenship if one of their parents is a citizen. Not simply being born in this country.

Amendment to repeal the birthright clause:

Note - only the first section will be abolished. Not the entire amendment.

I support the repeal of birthright citizenship. - Smart aka Reuven

Repealing Amendments

What is a Constitutional Amendment?

A constitutional amendment is a change to the constitution of a nation or a state. In jurisdictions with "rigid" or "entrenched" constitutions, amendments require a special procedure different from that used for enacting ordinary laws. An amendment to the US Constitution must be ratified by 3/4 of the state legislatures, or of constitutional conventions specially elected in each of the states, before it can come into effect.

What is the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution?


Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Section 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.

Section 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.

Section 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

What is the 16th Amendment to the US Constitution?

The 16th Amendment states: 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.

Which simply means: The 16th Amendment authorized individual taxation of Americans, which we know as the income tax. It became a law that gave congress the right to collect taxes on income, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several states, and without regard to any census or enumeration. The more income the higher the tax. The less income the lower the tax.

What is the 17th Amendment to the US Constitution?

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.

What is the 22nd Amendment to the US Constitution?

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.

Section 2. 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 to the States by the Congress.

What is the 23rd Amendment to the US Constitution?

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.

Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

____________________________________________


The above amendments are the five which are hotly debated about their repeal. Of them - only the 16th, 17th and 22nd amendments have large groups lobbying for their repeal.

All other amendments except these also have been considered for repeal: 1st/4th/5th/6th/7th/9th/10th/11th/13th/15th/19th/24th/25th/26th/27th

All the amendments will have their own page, discussing their repeal and its effect on our Nation. Please visit those pages.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Tax Limitations Constitutional Amendment

Introduction:
The Tax Limitations Amendment to the Constitution was a proposed amendment during the 107th Congress.

Full Text:

Article--

SECTION 1. Any bill, resolution, or other legislative measure changing the internal revenue laws shall require for final adoption in each House the concurrence of two-thirds of the Members of that House voting and present, unless that bill, resolution, or other legislative measure is determined at the time of adoption, in a reasonable manner prescribed by law, not to increase the internal revenue by more than a de minimis amount. For the purposes of determining any increase in the internal revenue under this section, there shall be excluded any increase resulting from the lowering of an effective rate of any tax. On any vote for which the concurrence of two-thirds is required under this article, the yeas and nays of the Members of either House shall be entered on the Journal of that House.

SECTION 2. The Congress may waive the requirements of this article when a declaration of war is in effect. The Congress may also waive this article when the United States is engaged in military conflict which causes an imminent and serious threat to national security and is so declared by a joint resolution, adopted by a majority of the whole number of each House, which becomes law. Any increase in the internal revenue enacted under such a waiver shall be effective for not longer than two years.'.


Supporters:
200 members of the House. Including Dr. Ron Paul, Jim DeMint, etc

Rep. Eric Cantor [R-VA7] voted Aye.
Rep. Jim DeMint [R-SC4] voted Aye.
Rep. Dennis Kucinich [D-OH10] voted Nay.
Rep. Ronald Paul [R-TX14] voted Aye.


Personal Comments:
I unequivocally support the Tax Limitations Amendment - Smart aka Reuven.

Links: