According to a survey from the respected Pew Research Center, public confidence in our government is at one of the lowest points in half a century. Nearly 80 percent of Americans say they don't trust the feds, and have little faith that our elected leaders can solve America's problems. The poll cited President Obama's economic policies, the recession that Obama inherited from President Bush, and general anger with Congress and politicians. Our bureaucracy is too big, too inefficient, too involved in local issues. Too overmatched by (and beholden to) special interests, big corporations, and banks (which, the Pew study showed, we don't trust either).
Right-wing Tea Party activists would add that many Washingtonians are too blind to the country's future beyond their current term in office. Too preoccupied with benefiting themselves.
One of the bedrock principles of our democracy is the right to criticize the government. Unfortunately, some Tea Party wingnuts, homophobes, radical reconstructionists, militias, and other fringe groups are so wrapped up in their own paranoid anger that they occasionally take matters beyond what our founding fathers had in mind. Former President Bill Clinton just warned the country that the anger some members of the Tea Party movement express about higher taxes, and the size of government, could feed the same right-wing extremism that led to the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, which killed 168 people and injured hundreds more. We saw more tragic evidence of that anger in February, when an anti-government wacko flew his plane into the IRS office building in Austin, Texas.
But not all Tea Partiers are created equal. Some rely on the power of the anonymous internet word - as false and misleading as it might be. The blessing - or perhaps it is the curse - of being a long-time columnist is that you get on the email lists of a whole bunch of organizations, and bloggers, from across the political and social spectrum. Those that love, or hate, the president. Health-care advocates and critics. Pro/anti-abortion protesters. Religious zealots. Racists. Flaming Liberals. Ultra-Conservatives. Blue dogs. Red necks. Greenies. Vegetarians. The internet allows everyone, and anyone, far greater reach than their messages sometimes deserve.
Consider the latest unsigned spam to hit my inbox, "Proposed 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution". The one long sentence does indeed make good sense:
"Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that does not apply equally to the Senators and/or Representatives; and, Congress shall make no law that applies to the Senators and/or Representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States."
Sounds reasonable, in theory. No one can argue that our elected leaders should be held to the same laws, and same standards (if not higher), than we common folk. But the explanation that accompanied the wannabe-legislation revealed the tea pot it was poured from...
"For too long we have been too complacent about the workings of Congress. Many citizens had no idea that members of Congress could retire with the same pay after only one term, that they didn't pay into Social Security, that they specifically exempted themselves from many of the laws they have passed (such as being exempt from any fear of prosecution for sexual harassment) while ordinary citizens must live under those laws. The latest is to exempt themselves from the Healthcare Reform that is being considered...in all of its forms. Somehow, that doesn't seem logical. We do not have an elite that is above the law. I truly don't care if they are Democrat, Republican, Independent, or whatever. The self-serving must stop. This is a good way to do that. It is an idea whose time has come. This (Amendment) is a great idea. We only need 3/4ths of the State Legislatures to pass it to become law... AND IT IS VETO PROOF, including no appeal to the Supreme Court!"
Constitutional amendments are rare and important statements. Americans have seen fit to modify and/or clarify our basic rights only seventeen times since the original 10 Amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were enacted in 1789. And two of those, the 18th and 21st, creating and ending Prohibition, cancelled each other out, so we have seen actual change only fifteen times. Eleven of those came prior to 1934.
George W. Bush, back when he had popularity, pushed for five more: imposing prayer in public schools, banning affirmative action, banning American flag burning, banning abortion, and banning gay marriage. He got none.
And, to be clear, this latest bit of internet politicking has not actually been introduced, proposed, or even mentioned by any member of Congress. Based on the accompanying drivel, it is just the concoction of someone who knows that waaaaay too many people will read, and believe, what they want to believe - regardless of source credibility (or lack of same).
To become law, a proposed Amendment would have to be passed by two-thirds of the Senate and House, and then ratified by three-quarters of the states. Since the so-called 28th Amendment is aimed at the very Congresspeople who would have to approve it, the measure will never see the light of day in Washington.
The internet spam does touch on an alternative method of enactment, which bypasses Congress, but such a route has never been attempted in our entire history. Article 5 of the Constitution provides that an Amendment can be enacted if two-thirds of the state legislatures call for a constitutional convention, and, then, three-quarters of the states approve the proposed language. Of course, many of our future US Congresspersons come from state legislatures, so don't expect any action by this route.
And, aside from the formidable technical barriers, the "problems" raised in the internet tea leaves just aren't so. Members of Congress can not retire with full pay after serving only one term. Like any employee with a pension plan, their pensions are determined by a number of factors, including length of service, and age at retirement. Since 1984, all members of Congress have been required to pay into the Social Security fund. Public Law 104-1, the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995, made a variety of laws regarding civil rights and workplace regulations applicable to the entire legislative branch of the federal government. Section 201 specifically prohibits sexual harassment, as well as harassment on the basis of race, religion, color, and national origin.
Finally, Congress did not exempt themselves from the Health Care legislation. The version that was passed in March stated "The only health plans that the Federal Government may make available to Members of Congress and congressional staff with respect to their service as a Member of Congress or congressional staff shall be health plans that are: i) created under this Act (or an amendment made by this Act); or ii) offered through an Exchange established by the Act (or an amendment made by this Act).
Bottom line: While anonymous spam emails may carry messages that seem appealing, they are not credible news sources. And this Amendment Tea comes right from the Kool-Aid pitcher.