The U.S. Constitution - Lesson #4: The U.S. House of Representatives

This lesson of our Constitution focuses on Article I, Section 2, the powers of the U.S. House of Representatives.  I will deal with this section, clause by clause.

The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature. 

This part establishes the time and qualifications for elections for the members of the "People's House."  The house was designed to be the house that represented the will of the people; that is why their term is so short.  It makes them more accountable to the electorate that voted for them.  This also sets up the first qualifications for the right to vote (suffrage) in our government.  The states would determine the qualifications for the voters for the House of Representatives by the qualifications needed to vote for the largest part of the state's legislature.  At the time that was primarily, white land owning men.  While I agree with the idea and practice universal suffrage, I sometimes wonder if there ought to not be some property or tax qualification for our electorate.

No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.

This clause clearly lays out the qualifications of the members of the House of Representatives.  One topic absent from the Constitution (prior to the 22nd Amendment) is the that of term limits.  Our founding father did fear a permanent class of career politicians running the government.  If they could see us now they would be shocked to see men like Ted Kennedy and John McCain who have made a career in the Congress.  But term limits do exist, in the spirit of the Constitution; they are called elections.

Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several states which may be included within this Union, according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding the whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons.

This clause establishes two things.  The first is that representatives will be determined by the population of the states.  The second is that taxes will be apportioned only directly to the states based on their population; its the first taxing power of the Congress.  The government would tax the states and the states would tax the individuals to send that revenue to the federal government.

Some people see this also and say it advocates slavery and cannonizes it within our Constitution.  It does not  no such thing if you read the language.  There is no mention of slavery by in this clause.  The counting of three-fifths of all other persons refers to slavery, but does not advocate it or support it in the language of the constitution, it only states how they will be counted in determining representation.

This came about because of the three-fifth Compromise at the Constitutional Convention in 1787.  If it had not been for the three-fifths compromise the slaves state could have easily over powered the free states in every and all elections for president and within the House of Representatives.  Also, if they had not reached this agreement it is quite possible the slave state would have started their own confederation or nation and we would have been at odd with them for decades if not years to come over this same issue.  The founders did not fight the battle of slavery at this point in history because they though slavery would ultimately die out on its own.  Little did they know that it would take a Civil War and 620,000 American lives to free our black brothers and sisters from bondage, but hindsight is 20/20.

Also, this part of the U.S. Constitution was made null and void by the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The actual enumeration shall be made within three years after the first meeting of Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct.

This clause sets up the practice and power of the decennial census.  Here we see one of the first expressed powers of Congress.  They are to direct by law the enumeration of the people in the states.  Congress has practiced this expressed power by creating the U.S. Census Bureau.  The creation of that agency is the implied action of the expressed power, which I talked about in the my last lesson.

The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five and Georgia three.

This last part of clause three sets up the proportion by which the population shall be allotted representatives in the House.  The one for every thirty thousand is not practical by today's standards.  If this was followed, our House of Representatives would have over ten thousand elected members to that house.  While the practice of setting representation by law is strictly unconstitutional it was a change for the better.  To make it more practical an amendment should have been offered saying that Congress has the power add or subtract from its membership as long as the representatives are still apportioned according to population and that each state is guarantee at least one representative.  The one representative rule could even possibly be expanded as well.

When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.

Since the House of Representatives is the "People's House."   It only makes sense that they should decide on any and all vacancies that occur.  Though the people are dependent upon governors of their states to ensure the elections occur.

The House of Representatives shall choose their speaker and other officers; and shall have the sole power of impeachment.

This lays out the leadership positions within the House of Representatives.  The Speaker of the House is the be their leader and oversee the legislative proceedings.  Today the speaker is a much more powerful position than it was at the writing of the Constitution.  I wonder how the Founding Fathers would view the position of Speaker today.

Also in this last clause we see the power of impeachment given to the House of Representatives.  To impeach an elected official means to accuse them of some wrong doing, whether it be criminal or civil.  The House may only go so far as making the accusation of the civil officer.  Most textbooks has been shown the impeachments of Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton and the near impeachment of Richard Nixon as their examples of this process, but any civil officer under the authority of the U.S. Constitution is subject to impeachment.  Most impeachments in history have been of federal judges.  One U.S. senator has been impeached but the House and the Senate typically deal with these problems on their own since they have that power written into that Constitution.

That does it for today class.  Next time we will look at Article I, Section 4 on the structure and power of the U.S. Senate.  Any questions?  Comments  Concerns?  In that case... class dismissed.

News of the Day - 1/29/2010: Obama & Church Attendance

There were several possible stories today I could have commented on from Mother Teressa being put on a U.S. postal stamp (and the objective of an atheist organization), to the moving of KSM's trial from NYC to another location.  Or I could have commented about how the university at the Climategate scandal broke the law.  Another option was the Obama Administration trying to take on the BCS and change college football.  Instead I decided to focused on the following article : Holy BlackBerry! Obama Finds Ways to Keep the Faith During First Year in Office: Has the First Family's D.C. Church Search Come to a Close 

Also I am trying to keep this short since I seem to be coming down with a cold or something like that.

This article makes several points over the span of it.  It goes into great detail on the President's personal spiritual life and his faith.  The main issue seems to be that the President has yet to find and attend regularly any church in the Washington, D.C. area. It also breaks down and goes into this history of the modern presidents practice of going to church.

The easy way of looking at this is, who cares?  So the President does not go to church, as a Christian that does concern me a little, but its not that big of a deal.  As stated in the article many modern PResidents have not gone regularly to a church in DC.  What most people will have issue with is that the president holds himself to be a Christian but he obviously is not practicing, at least in the more traditional way.

If I were in his shoes I would attempt to find a church to worship at while I was President.  The main issue you deal with is security.  Obviously there is some danger of the President being out in the open without any real security.  Regan had this problem when he tried to worship.  The Secret Service wanted to search everyone who came into the church and that is just not practical in any sensible way.  If I could get away with a detactment that just hung back during the service and not bothering the other parisoners I would do so.  I don't think that would be likely though.

Instead I would more than likely find a church my family could attend with a minimal security escort so our children could be brought up in the fear and respect of the Lord; not just the church service but Sunday School as well.  I would then try and see if the minister would come in at least once a week to be my confessor and serve to me the sacraments.

The other main issues I have taken with this article is the implication that most priests, pastors or ministers have a political agenda.  I have never been to a single Lutheran church that has push politics instead of preaching the Gospel.  I would walk out of the church if they did so.  Church is about preaching the gospel not pushing a political agenda.  Also if the media and other make the president's lack of church attendance a political issue they are stupid and should focus on real issues at hand.

That's my take today.  Have a great night everyone and a good weekend.  Remember my third lesson on the U.S. Constitution will be posted tomorrow probably in the afternoon, since I have some training at my school in the morning.  This week's topic is the structure and power of the House of Representatives, Article I, Section 2.

Enjoy and as always, leave comments.

News of the Day - 1/28/2010: Ford Makes a Profit

Still not a lot of good news to comment on.  The state of the Union address is an easy target but is being talked to death.  I know I can't really add much to the conversation so I won't.  I did find this article tucked away in the Drudge Report this morning and it seemed interesting enough to comment on.  Here's the link to the story:  Ford earns 2.7 Billion in 2009

The basic summary is that for the first time in four years the Ford Motor Company made a profit.  The seem to be three major reasons for the profit this year.  First, sales of popular cars made by Ford.  Two, money that was brought in through their credit line to buyers.  Three, using various cost cutting measures not specifically mentioned in the article, though probably related to union pensions.

Ford's actions at this time last year at the reason why, if I have to buy a new car in the future I am buying a Ford.  They knew they were in trouble and went the opposite course of everyone else at the time.  Everyone else ran to the government for a bailout.  Ford said no and went the harder more difficult route and are now prospering as best as they can.  I don't see any news about GM or Chrysler making profits and now they are owned by the government and their unions

Ford still has problems, as do all automotive manufacturers, with unions and many underfunded liabilities because of them that but there are solutions out there for those issues.  Ford should live up to its part of the deals its made with the UAW, but the UAW should also contribute to make sure the programs are solvent.  There are millions of dollars in the UAW given in dues.  They need to step to help the company because if they don't the company can go under and then all those jobs they provide to union members will be gone.  (Side note:  A post on the current state of unions seems like a good topic to address in the near future).

Not sure what else there is to say in this article.  Please leave me your comment and questions.  Have a nice day.

My Perfect School - Student / Teacher Dress Codes

There have been no really good news stories that I have felt like commenting on recently.  I think I might need to find some additional government and/or education topics I can write about to fill in these dry news periods.  If anyone has any ideas of what I should write about send me a email or a comment.

Today's post deals with a school dress code.  Personally I think that they are a great idea, for both teachers and students several reasons.  First is the issue of security.  With standardized attire, as its called in the Clark County School District, you can instantly tell a student from an outsider.  Secondly, it does take away the need of students to dress up for each other.  It can can help eliminate the status symbols that clothes have become to our kids and society.  Thirdly, they just look nice.

As I look at most websites of schools I see that their dress codes are extremely long and detailed.  As I have stated before any regulations from a government body need to be simple, concise and easy to understand.  The longer you make the law and the more details and exceptions you build into the law the harder you make it to enforce.  Here is the regulations for the student dress code of my perfect school:

Students are required to adhere to following clothing guidelines during the scheduled school day.
1.    Students are required to wear properly fitting khaki pants, school polo shirts and close toed shoes, that are clean and in good repair.
2.    Students are allowed to wear jeans and/or non-polo school pride shirts on Fridays.
3.    All shirts must be tucked into their pants, which must be worn at the top of the hips.
4.    Student wearing excessive, distracting and/or dangerous jewelry, accessories and/or hair styles may be asked to remove or change them.

    Students out of dress code will be fined by the school for each individual infraction of the dress code.  These fines will be added to the student’s record and must be paid by the end of each grading period.  Students may be asked to change clothes and/or leave after school events if the faculty or staff feel the clothes are inappropriate.

 Simple and easy to enforce.

I believe it is also important for teachers to have a clear and reasonable dress code as well.  As a professional job and career it is time teacher look like them.  I have seen teachers wear jean on a daily basis.  I have see teachers wear sports jerseys and other things that are completely inappropriate in our professional lives.  I am not suggesting teachers should wear shirts, ties, dress pants and shoes every day,but there needs to be a higher standard for our standard dress as teachers.  Listed below is my idea of a goo general dress code regulation for teacher in my perfect school

    All faculty and staff must be dressed in professional attire during the contracted school day.  They are required to wear professional pants/skirts of an appropriate and modest length.  They must wear collared shirts or blouses.  All clothes must be clean and in good repair.  Faculty and staff are allowed to wear jeans and school spirit shirts, as they choose, on Fridays during the school year. Teachers

This regulation is very vague and probably needs to be appropriately fleshed out to a few standardized rules of dress, but its the best I have right now.  I welcome any suggestions and comments from my readers.

One more thing.  I am trying to get a feel of how many people read my blogs.  If you read this blog could you "Like it" for me on facebook.  If you read it at the Blogspot website, just send a quick comment at the bottom of the post.  Thanks for listening and have a nice day.

My State of the Union Address 2010

Its time once again for the annual state of the union address to be made by the President to a joint session of Congress and televised to the nation and the world.  In celebration of this annual occasion of the our nation I will present my State of the Union address, that is if I was President today.

Before I begin this evening, I would ask all members sitting in the House chambers to hold their applause until the end of the speech.

My fellow Americans, I come to you today to report on the state of our union and our union is weakened by many crisis but remains strong and vigilant. But the financial stability of this government and our country calls for drastic and clear cut action.  This is my goal this year and into the future of my term as President.

In the next few weeks, I will send to Congress for their approval, the budget for our national government.  This budget will include drastic cuts to many federal bureaucracies and programs.  I instructed the heads of every major executive department and/or agency, within my power, to cut their annual budgets by ten to twenty percent.  What this means in the big picture is many programs will be cut.  It is time that this government learn to get by with less.  The time for billion and trillion dollar deficits is over; the time for fiscal responsibility starts right here and right now tonight. 

Along with this cut in federal spending I will ask the members of this esteemed body of legislators to stop using the federal government to fund pet projects with in their state.  I will not sign any bill out of this Congress with ANY earmarked appropriations.  I also encourage this esteemed body of legislators to pass reforms on the pay, benefits and privileges of all federal employees, including themselves.  And to stop more spending tax payer dollars so that you can go to summit half way across the world.

On top of the savings we will have from cuts in the budget and getting rid of earmarked appropriations, I will save even more money.  I have removed all direct foreign aid in this years up coming budget.  It is time the money entrusted to us by the tax payers be used to help themselves not a third world dictator or another country half way around the world.  This in and off itself will save us hundreds of billions of dollars each year.

Also, on the way to Congress is a legislative plan, created by myself and the greatest political minds of this country, to cut the size and scope of the executive branch of our government.  I would ask Congress to their immediate attention.  This plan seeks to eliminate, from our government, any agency, program and/or bureaucracy that does not stand up to Constitutional muster and the original intent of the men who wrote our Constitution.  Among these reforms will be the combining of several executive departments and the complete elimination of others.

Any and all savings produced by these reforms will be spent in several ways.  First, to shore up our over burdened entitlement programs of social security, medicare and medicaid.  This is to bring them back into financial solvency, until such time as they can be eliminated from the the government entirely.  Over the course of the next year I will work with members of Congress, and some of the brightest financial minds in the world to create a plan to limit and/or eliminate the aforementioned entitlement programs.  They have cost us too much money for too long of a time.  It's time for the waste stop.

Second, to pay off our mounting national debt.  Right now the United States owes different nations of the world more than twelve trillion dollars.  Does anyone know how much a trillion dollars is?  Well here's an example if you were to spend one hundred million dollars every day for two thousand years, you would still not come even close to one trillion dollars.  It is time for America to make good on it debt and pay off it note.  We are selling our future down the drain with this massive debt.

Three, to give back to the American people the money that they earned by the sweat of their brow.  I will make it a priority to give all Americans a tax cut so that they have more money to spend on what they need and what they want.  Along with this I will be working with the brightest minds of our IRS to create a real tax reform plan, to send to Congress, that not only simplifies the tax code, but ensure all Americans pay into the system which protects them on a daily basis.

My fellow Americans we in the government have work to do for you.  Its time for us to get busy.  God bless you all and may god bless theses United States.

My Perfect School - Merit Pay

I believe I have done a post prior to this one on Merit Pay for teachers.  It is an idea whose time has come in education and school.  A teacher should be paid based on their ability and merit not based on their longevity and education.  The main reason being is that I hear about too many teachers with advanced degrees and so many years of service but are horrible teachers, don't teach anything, hand out worksheets, etc.  I hear these things from the most reliable source of information about teacher classroom behavior: the students.  With that introduction, here is my plan for merit pay in education.

Merit pay will not be based upon test scores.  Test scores are an unreliable source of information of student learning.  I know of plenty of students who have pass the Nevada High School Proficiency Test for Math but never passes a math class in their life.  There are too many factors that play into high stakes testing for it to be a reliable source of information about the worth or merit of a teacher.  It will also not be based upon student grades.  This would be open to way to much corruption.  The merit pay system of my school would be based on several factors.

First, it would be based on teacher evaluations.  A few days ago I addressed this in a similar My Perfect School post.  Go back and read it so you might understand how I would effectively evaluate teachers.  There would be some sort of scale that determined how much of a raise the teacher got for the next school year based on the information provided by all of their evaluations.  I would probably rationalize that a teacher's pay would go up by a maximum of ten percent a year based on their evaluations.

Secondly, it would be based upon a teacher's continuing education.  This is not just courses taken for an advanced degree but also for seminars and conferences the teacher attends.  There would be a set percentage point the teacher would earn for every credit or contact hour they had during the previous school year.  The education must related expressly to their teaching though.  A class on using Microsoft Excel would not qualify for the pay raise unless they were able to show how it would have been used in the classroom.  Also, the continuing education they received would only benefit them in their pay raise for the next year.  Education would also be used to help determine the pay rate of a new experienced teacher hired for the school.  The school would take the beginning base pay and add in a certain amount of percentage points based on their continued education.

The third factor of a teacher's merit pay raise would be based on their involvement in the school that previous year.  There are several ways this could be done.  One way would be to offer a stipend to special positions at the school, like coach, department chair, and/or committee membership (remember my posting on the school having no central administration).  The other option would be to give the teacher's an hourly rate for the work that they do in those positions.  I am not sure which exactly is the best option, but both have merits.

One factor I have considered is experience or longevity, but feel that the other three factors would be more beneficial in the long run.  The only way I would ever consider using experience as a determiner for teacher pay would be during initial hiring of an experienced teacher.  Each year of experience would grant them a certain percentage point above the school's base pay.

One issue a school would run into with this system is good teachers will be able to climb the salary ladder very quickly.  I would imagine the school would need to implement some sort of cap on the teacher salary to help control costs that could quickly spiral out of control by hiring good teachers.  I am not sure how high salary cap would go.  Once a teacher has reached that cap maybe to reward them for doing a good job would be a one time loyalty bonus based directly on the merit pay percentages that they have earned.  I do not have too many worries over a salary capped teaching going bad since the evaluation system is very in depth.  And without tenure they can be released from the contract if they don't measure up to the standards of the school.

There is a lot room for comments in this posting.  Feel free to give me a piece of your mind.