CONSTITUTION-CONTINUED

Sgt Fluffy said...

No I did not give up the "Carved in Stone Idea" It is a set of rules or a guideline if you must that spells out how this country is governed. IE, we vote for legislators who make laws, that is how the whole "the founders never thought of that" routine is solved. It is not a social or moral guideline. And I did touch on term limits a while back, or cutting back the # of judges or even mandatory retirement.. I sure as hell dont want them elected at large. Look at the mess electing Senators at large has been.

Well, as you said there, its a guideline. And yes there are a set of rule, but over the years the President has been given the "War Powers Act" and other "Acts" have come along to become laws. These were never amended to the Constitution, but they are laws just the same. According to an online legal dictionary:

act
1) n. in general, any action by a person. 2) n. a statutory plan passed by Congress or any legislature which is a "bill" until enacted and becomes law. 3) v. for a court to make a decision and rule on a motion or petition, as in "the court will act on your motion for a new trial."

There have been many "Acts" that have become law there were never offered as amendments but they are laws just the same. Some of these would never make it through a general population vote because some apply to only a specific part of the population. We all know that if a law doesn't apply to everyone, then no one will vote on it. Look at the Equal Rights Amendment. It never passed because it only applied to women.

And again I have to bring up the "Peoeple with Disabilites Act," which would never pass a general population vote either.

So, our founding fathers gave us a guideline to follow and for the most part we have. But, there are other ways to get laws on the books, as long as all three branches agree.