Group 10's 28th Amendment

(Note: A portion of Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution is to be modified by the 28th Amendment.)

A person does not have to be a natural born citizen of the United States to be eligible for the Office of President. The only qualifications for the Office of President are that the candidate be a citizen of this country, a resident of this country for at least 14 years, and a person of at least 35 years of age.

10th Amendment

Original Text

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Translation 

Any power not given to the federal government by the Constitution is given to the States.

Passage and Ratification

The tenth amendment was the last amendment ratified in the Bill of Rights. It was written into the US Constitution on September 5, 1789. James Madison introduced the amendment to the delegates, reasoning that the powers of the states needed to be declared in the new Constitution. This would deny the federal government any implied powers that are not under the “Necessary and Proper Clause”. A balance of power between the federal and states governments was an important issue to the founding fathers, who distrusted the federal government and wanted to prevent an usurpation.

During the revolutionary war, the colonies declared independence from Great Britain and they became thirteen separate colonies. A committee then came together to united the thirteen colonies under the Articles of Confederation. It took a long time for each colonies to join the Union and become one country because of the distrust of a centralized government. They were afraid to give up their local rights to a national government. The biggest argument during the Constitutional Convention was states rights v. national rights.

A group of delegates called the Anti-Federalists argued that the Constitution would lead to a centralized power that would destroy the liberty of everyone else.The Anti-Federalists were the ones who directly influenced the passage of the tenth amendment. By giving the federal government specified powers, the Constitution leaves all other powers for state sovereignties. The founding fathers wanted as much power as possible to be retained by state legislatures. The tenth amendment was necessary for the liberty of the states.

The Effect on the United States

The tenth amendment gave the states many rights. It gave them the right to be exempted from federal mandates, or orders given by the government. States can ignore orders given by the court. It worked in the case of New York v. United States, where the government attempted to get radioactive waste from each states, but New York exempted themselves under the tenth amendment. 

However, the government still tries to create economic sanctions for each states. Instead, states collect federal funds, such as gas tax and income tax, for the federal government and pay the government each month for the funds to be used for purposes which are allowed in the Constitution. If the government were to actually impose economic sanctions on states, the states would just stop funding the government. Because of this amendment, the federal government tries not to impose on states rights, since it could lead to its own destruction.

The Effect on Us

Last month, my class did a project that followed the actions of our state representative. Through this project, I discovered how much power my state representative and all other representatives actually had. They are the ones who get to decide on the laws of our nation. Congress represents the states, and the states represent us. Without the tenth amendment, state legislatures would not have any power. The President has to work with the States to be able to get anything accomplished.

I, and everyone else, can have a direct effect on this nation through state legislators. I can contact my representative, John Sabatina, and discuss my thoughts on decisions he should make on my behalf. The state legislatures were created to give the people power, instead of the national government having all the power. I think the tenth amendment worked well to balance the power.

The Sixteenth Amendment

Original Text

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.

What does the 16th Amendment really mean?

Congress has the power to collect taxes on the money earned by the citizens of the United States, no matter where the money comes from, without distributing the revenue among the States or considering any population census.

The History of Income Tax in the US

During the Civil War, before the U.S. Constitution was even drawn up, Congress passed the Revenue Act of 1861. This legislation was the first to call for an income tax in U.S. History. This tax was to help pay for the war expenses. Although this new law did generate revenue for the United States government, it was quite ineffective; the law was not enforced and, consequently, was repealed ten years later. In 1894, Congress tried again and enacted a flat rate federal income tax. They failed yet again; the U.S. Supreme Court deemed this new nationwide tax unconstitutional because it was not divided with regard to the population of each State. 

Passage and Ratification

Over the next two decades, the Democrats in Congress introduced numerous bills that called for a tax on the rich, which would generate more revenue for the country; time and time again, the Republicans thwarted their efforts. Every time the Republicans opposed a tax bill, the Democrats used it as proof that they were the “Party of the Rich.” In April 1909, Democratic Senator Joseph Bailey decided to further expose the Republicans by forcing them to openly oppose yet another income tax bill. He introduced his bill expecting it to get the usual opposition, but ironically many of the more liberal members of the Republican Party supported the bill. Many conservative Republicans, including President Taft and Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, tried to demolish the bill. Because the Republican Party was split so widely, they tried to perform a little reverse psychology; they announced that they would support the Bailey Bill, but only if it were an amendment to the Constitution. The conservative Republicans figured that even if Congress passed the amendment, there was no way that enough States would ratify the amendment. The Senate approved the 16th Amendment unanimously by a vote of 77-0 and the House of Representatives approved it by a vote of 318-14. The 16th Amendment passed by Congress on July 2, 1909; this addendum to our Constitution was to allow the Federal government to tax the income of every American without regard to the population of each State. The 16th Amendment was ratified on February 13, 1913. The first state to ratify the amendment was Alabama and the last was New Hampshire.

How the 16th Amendment Affects the US

Every payday, the United States Government gets a hefty cut of all American incomes. The government spends this money on many of the services and programs that support us and the people around us. These programs include Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. The government also uses the revenue gained from income taxes to pay off its debts and to fund our military forces.

Income tax has always been a very controversial issue in American government and politics, especially today. The more money a citizen makes, the more money he owes to Uncle Sam. Should there be tax cuts for the rich? Or should working class taxpayers carry the tax burden?

How the 16th Amendment Affects Me

  My parents have to pay taxes; my grandparents have to pay taxes; my aunts and uncles have to pay taxes; and very soon, I will have to pay taxes! It's a little disheartening to know that after I graduate from college I won't be able to keep a great percentage of the money that I will have worked so hard for.

-By mastermansocsci34