Blog Post # 3: "The Constitution Today"

                 This article discusses many different topics. Strengel brings up current political topics and how we use the Constitution to argue for and against them. We use the constitution to debate the validity of being in Libya, the debt ceiling, Obamacare, and immigration. The article goes in depth of the topics and how we relate them to the Constitution.

INTRO:

1. Stengel claims the Tea Party has turned America's attention back toward the Constitution.
2. Those who believe the Constitution should be interpreted only as the drafters understood it are called "constitutional originalists".

3. Texas Congressman Ron Paul says the intent of the Constitution is to restrain the federal government. Stengel disagrees and says in turn said the framers strengthened the federal government and weakened the states.
LIBYA:

4. The War Powers Resolution requires the president to remove U.S. troops from armed hostilities if Congress has not given its approval within sixty days.
5. Obama thinks the situation in Libya does not meet the threshold of hostilities in the Legislation so the resolution does not apply.

6. Stengel explains that the War powers resolution is supposed to counter what Johnson and Nixon did in Vietnam. Congress felt manipulated and wanted to affrim its power as the war-declaring body.
7. Congress is trying to have it both ways. On the one hand, Congress wants to reassert its primacy. On the other hand, It does not really know if it wants the action in Libya to stop or not. Constitutionally, Congress cannot commit troops anywhere so the question of whether or not Congress wants to is a moot point.
DEBT CEILING:

8. Defaulting on our debt would be unconstitutional because it faces one of the few absolute proscriptions in the Constitution. Section 4 of the 14th amendment says "The validity of 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."
9. The party in power is always against raising the debt limit and the party in power is always for it. This causes the party in power to usually win the argument over the debt limit.
OBAMACARE:

10. Obama's Health Care plan has been said to be unconstitutional because of the arguement "the government cannot compel citizens to do things or buys things simply because we are here."

11. The government requires us to purchase things because they can require us to pay taxes, serve on juries, and register for the draft.
12. Stengel believes that not buying insurence is a private decision to do nothing and that impacts the rest of the nation by basically taxing people who have insurence because it raises the cost of hospital care and insurance premiums.
IMMIGRATION:

13. Jus soli means that if you're born within the borders of a country, you're automatically a citizen.
14. The 14th amendment makes the U.S. a jus soli nation.
15. SInce the 14th amendment is a reconstruction amendment, its original intent was to establish that former slaves were indeed citizens and entitled to all the rights of citizenship, including voting.

16. A code of laws differs from a constitution because a code of laws says you have to stop at the red light; a constitution has broad principles that are unchanging but that must accommodate each new generation and circumstance.