As some of you may know, I also contribute to United Liberty, a libertarian-leaning blog based out of DC that includes a lot of great contributors and the great talents of its Editor-in-Chief and friend of the East Metro, Jason Pye.
My latest write-up follows up on one of Jason's earlier posts about the resolution that was submitted by a New York Democrat to repeal the 22nd amendment (that limits the POTUS to two terms).
As Jason mentioned, as did my article, it's a non-issue. It's not going to happen. So don't bother worrying about it...
Here is the text of my write-up:
Last week, United Liberty Editor-in-Chief, Jason Pye, wrote a column
discussing why the 22nd Amendment, the one that limits the president to
two terms, would never be repealed; despite the fact that there is been
a fair amount of press and attention given to the introduction of a resolution by New York Dem, Jose Serrano, that would do precisely that.
Without
getting into specifics, Mr. Pye simply said the reasons why this would
never happen were “pretty obvious,” and that it was a non-issue. He is
correct. And for many of the regular readers of UL, I’m sure it is
pretty obvious, but I thought I would take a moment to specifically talk
about why it won’t happen for some of the readers who might not fully
understand the process.
As many of us know, there are exactly two ways in which the Constitution of the United States can be amended:
either by Constitutional Convention, or by a 2/3 vote by Congress with a
3/4 ratification vote by the various state legislatures.
No
amendment has ever been passed by a Constitutional Convention, and it
seems very unlikely that it would ever happen. In order for it to
happen, 2/3 of the state legislatures would have to vote for and call
for it. With our polarized electorate, and since many of the states
themselves seem so polarized, it just seems like an all-out
impossibility.
With the other way, I don’t know if we would ever
see both the U.S. House and Senate pass a joint resolution with 2/3
votes for anything that wasn’t supported by over 70% of Americans, and
repealing the 22nd Amendment would not enjoy anywhere near that type of
support. Furthermore, if it did somehow make it out of Congress, I would
bet every dollar I’ve got that 75% of the States in the Union would
never pass it. While a New York or a California might go for it, a
Wyoming and a Nebraska would not. And naturally, there are many more red
states than blue right now.
I remember having discussions with
people back in the 90’s when there seemed to be genuine excitement and
enthusiasm about doing this to get Clinton more than two terms. I told
multiple people back then, as I have been now, “remember - it’s got to
go through the states. We’re fine.”
And this is yet another
example of how finely constructed our Constitution is. They made sure to
make amending the Constitution a process that wouldn’t fall victim to
the existing majority or passing whims, but rather only done when it was
truly supported by a majority of the electorate. Of course, there have
been bad amendments (16,17,18th), but this is one that will never get
legs. As Jason said, worrying or fretting or this is a “colossal waste
of time.”
