Group 3's Proposed 28th Amendment

Amendment XXVIII?

There are many ideas for the next possible amendment, but we would like to propose a modification to the Borrowing Clause of the Constitution:

“The Congress shall have power... To borrow money on the credit of the United States...” 

-Article 1, Section 8, Clause 2

This clause does not explicitly state how much money the legislative government could borrow. As a result, our government has practiced deficit financing during WWII and the recent War on Afghanistan and Iraq. The deficit has also gone up by our recent economic recession and the Bush tax cuts, increasing up to at least $17 trillion as of 2014. If the U.S. cannot pay back its debts in time, there will be a possible government shutdown and/or default.

Therefore, our proposed amendment, which sets a borrowing limit for Congress except in times of War or any other national emergency, would solve the problem of our huge debt. However, an actual amount will have to be determined by Congress, depending on national circumstances.

Amendment XIX

Amendment XIX

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.

Text (in plain English)

It is prohibited that any citizen be denied the right to vote based on gender.

Historical Background
1848-the start of the fight for the 19th Amendment. Elizabeth Caddy Stanton- the ring leader, whose name that automatically triggers the words "woman suffrage." Seneca Falls, New York- the location of battle round #1.
Stanton, with the help of Lucretia Mott and Susan B. Anthony, began the movement for women rights with the Seneca Falls Convention. About 200 women from all over the country were in attendance for the first ever convention for women's rights. The Seneca Falls Convention was the sounding of the starter pistol for the fight for women activists to speak out about woman suffrage all over the Nation. The battle for women's right to vote and women's equality roared on with protests in front of the White House, hunger strikes in jail, and numerous conventions and meetings with activists for over 70 years.
In 1919, the suffragists' voices were finally heard when Congress passed the 19th Amendment, guaranteeing women's right to vote, on June 4th. After Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the Amendment, finalizing the 2/3 majority, the other 14 states that were lagging behind were forced to follow in Tennessee's footsteps as the 19th Amendment was ratified over the entire nation on August 26, 1920.

Effect of Amendment XIX on the U.S
Although this amendment succeeded in giving women the right to vote, between 1920 and 1960, many suffragists who once fought for the right to vote were skeptical on where to go for women’s rights, leading them to split into multiple organizations. Thus, the women’s movement was not prevalent for almost 50 years until the second feminist movement came in the 1960s.
Inspired by The Feminine Mystique and previous suffragists that fought for the right to vote, the second feminist movement began with fighting for equal treatment in the, resulting in the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which both served to eliminate discrimination for women. However, the law was not enough to protect women workers, so the National Organization for Women (NOW) was found to eliminate women discrimination in the courts and legislatures. Such an organization also inspired more women to pursue politics, breaking the conventional wisdom that women could only pursue a limited number of professional careers.
During that time, the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), originally proposed by Alice Paul in 1923, served to completely guarantee gender equality under the law. It was only introduced by Congress until it eventually passed the ERA in 1972 for ratification. Congress even extended their 7-year limit of consideration to 1982. However, only 35 of the 38 required state legislatures ratified the amendment. Nevertheless, it still continues to be introduced in every Congress as of today.
Meanwhile, the 1990s and the beginning of the 21st century marked the third feminist movement, where women have continued to not only break other conventional wisdoms about themselves but also create new ideas about women identity. This can be seen by the recent media today, where movies, television, and literature show women as strong, independent, and powerful as well as changing essentialist views on gender.
Today, the 19th Amendment has become as an inspiration for women to obtain equal rights in all areas of American society since its passing.
(More info on: The Equal Rights Amendment, The Second Feminist Movement, and The Third Feminist Movement)

Effect of Amendment XIX on Me
Last week I received my voters registration card in the mail. Researching and writing about this Amendment has made me really think about my rights as a woman. I couldn't imagine living in an America where I didn't have the right to participate in how the government ran. I could not fathom not having the right to have my voice heard.
Giving women the right to vote gives a whole new look to American politics because women think very differently than men. Elections after 1920 may have had very different outcomes if the 19th Amendment ceased to exist. Giving women the right to vote has certainly diversified the thought process of the American government and opened many more doors to gender equality in America. Voting for women, certainly changed how women were viewed incomparison to men. I certainly believe that I can do anything a man can do (and most of the time I think I can do it better :) ). When women were given the right to vote I think women of all ages started to realize that they were just as good as men, the right to vote gave women a strength that has been growing since the Seneca Falls Convention, and that continues to build with every new generation of women.
I will open the curtains to the voting booth in May for the first time, proud to be a woman voting for the first time.

Today's High Schoolers and the 19th Amendment

Amendment XII

Amendment XII

Note: A portion of Article II, section 1 of the Constitution was changed by this amendment.

The Electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists 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 for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum 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. [And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in case of the death or other constitutional disability of the President.]* 

The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.

*Changed by section 3 of Amendment XX.

Text (in plain English)

This amendment describes the new electoral college such that the President and Vice President are treated as separate ballots. It also mentions two other things: First, when the House chooses not to select a President by March 4 of next year, the Vice President will take his place. Second, the Vice President's qualifications will be the same as that of the President.

Historical Background

When the Founding Fathers were trying to create a new Constitution, they spent more timeabout the selection method of the President in their Convention meetings than any other matter. That was because they were debating on whether the selection of the president should be by Congress or by the people; most believed that the former would give the legislative too much power while the latter would not be representative to the people. Hamilton eventually solved both sides of the problem, suggesting that the President be selected by a special body of presidential electors.

His idea, which made up Article 2, Section 1 of Constitution, is as follows: The electors in each state will cast two electoral votes for President. The person with the most votes will become President while the person with the second most votes would become Vice-President. However, if a tie occurred, the President would be chosen by the House. If a tie occurred again, he would be chosen by the Senate. The Framers believed that their original plan of the electoral college would work.

However, the rise of two political parties (the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans) would introduce flaws in their system through the election of 1796. During this election, John Adams, a Federalist candidate, became President while Thomas Jefferson of the opposite party became his Vice President. This would be the modern equivalent of Romney being Obama’s president. 
The flaws in the electoral college became more apparent in the election of 1800. While Adams ended up competing against his own Vice President, both parties nominated two people intended to run for either President or Vice President and presidential electors to, if elected, vote for their intended nominees. Therefore, Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr each got 73 votes, producing a tie for the Presidency. While the Party wanted Aaron Burr to run for Vice President, Congress still had to break the tie after 36 ballots since there was no majority vote, making Jefferson President and Burr his Vice President.

To avoid another disastrous election like the ones in 1796 and 1800, the 12th Amendment was passed in 1804 by Congress, making ballots for President and Vice President separate. It also made sure that candidates would vote for their candidates through the Party’s intention.

(Sources from totallyhistory.com and Macgruder’s American Government)

Effects on the US

Every election since 1804 has implemented the 12th Amendment for selecting the president, and no other chaos similar to the elections of 1796 and 1800 have occurred as of today. It also acknowledges the existence of political parties. However, though less chaotic than in 1796 and 1800, three significant flaws from the electoral college have arisen:

1. The first flaw is that the winner of the popular vote will not win the election since the winner-take-all system is used in the electoral college. This has occurred 4 times: 1824, 1876, 1888, and most recently in 2000. This winner-take-all system can also not represent people equally since the electoral votes in the states do not match the states’ populations.
2. The second flaw is the possibility of faithless electors which occurs when a candidate is pledged to vote for the party’s nominee but intends to vote for another candidate. It could change the outcome of an election, but it has not occurred as of today.
3. The last flaw is that the President could be chosen by the House. Although this has occurred only two times since 1824, there are two justifiable objections to this ballot: Since the voting in the House is by states, certain states such as California and Texas can be underrepresented in the ballot. There is also a possibility of the House not being able to select a majority if either the representatives in the States were divided or the ⅔ quorum is not met.

Other suggestions have also been made to replace the electoral college process, such as the District, Proportional, and Popular Plan. Nevertheless, the electoral college continues to be the most representative method of selecting our President.

(Source: MacGruder’s American Government. More info: Pros and Cons of the Electoral College)

Effects on Me
When I go out to vote on election day, we can safely guarantee that our president is elected in the most representative way possible. Firstly, the electoral college way of selecting the President makes the people and the legislative have an equal say in selecting their president. The 12th Amendment also eliminates most of the frauds that could happen when the special body of electors choose the president since it implicitly recognizes their ties to their political party’s motives. Although the electoral college has significant flaws such as unequal electoral vote distribution to state population, such flaws rarely ever occurs or changes the outcome of an election (As of today, 5% of the elections had candidates who didn’t win President even with the majority of the popular vote). Therefore, I think that the 12th Amendment has made the electoral college stand the test of time.

Amendment III

Amendment III

No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Text (in plain English)

Soldiers cannot lodge in any house without the Owner's permission. This includes wartime, unless the Soldier has an order explicitly stated by the law.

Historical Background
During the rein of King George III, many people in the colonies were unhappy with the king as he forced them to house armed troops. The Framers of the Constitution hoped that this Amendment would contribute to better privacy of the American people. The goal with the Third Amendment was to prevent the government from invading the personal lives and homes of citizens, as this unreasonable intrusion could lead to tyranny. Seeing that having to house soldiers affected and angered many colonial Americans, during the Delegates convention there were more states that proposed the idea of making the quartering soldiers unacceptable than states that proposed freedom of speech. The Third Amendment was submitted to the state on September 25, 1789 and ratified on December 15, 1791.



Effect of Amendment III on the United States
After the ratification of the Third Amendment the privacy of the American people became much more secure. Today, as the government pushes more and more to gain as much domestic surveillance through the Patriot Act, this Amendment works to protect the people's private homes from the government using military as a spying tool. Many people do not see as much controversy involving the Third Amendment as they do with other Amendments like the Second or the First; therefore, it could be arguable that the Third Amendment is the most effective amendment of the Bill of Rights, although, many people may strongly disagree. Some see the police and S.W.A.T abruptly invading homes and believe this is the federal government pushing this Amendment to its boundaries. Because the Amendment only addresses "Soldiers," in the case of the Mitchell family in Henderson Nevada in July of 2011, the police, who battered down their door in order to gain better surveillance of a domestic violence report next door to the Mitchell home, cannot be held accountable for violation of the Third Amendment. Many borderline violations of this Amendment are indeed over looked because of the key word "Soldiers." Many citizens are beginning to wonder if this Amendment should extend to more local and federal patrol officers as well.

For more information on the Mitchell family case:         http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/07/08/family-booted-from-home-for-police-detail-suing-with-rare-use-third-amendment/
http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/07/07/third-amendment-henderson-nevada-police-column/2496689/

Effect of Amendment III on Me
Compared to other Amendments like the 14th and the 26th that affect me directly as an 18 year old woman who just received her first voters registration card, the 3rd Amendment does not seem to change my life day to day. But, I am not saying that the 3rd Amendment is irrelevant in my life. I would certainly be upset if the government forced me to share the couch and remote with a soldier. As the controversy of international and domestic surveillance and the Patriot Act become more prevalent each day, I do think that the 3rd Amendment will receive a bigger spotlight in the near future.