Obamacare

Let's pretend, for the purposes of this exercise, that we know for sure that the current proposal for government funded health care insurance is a great idea and that it will solve all of America's health care woes. Let's further pretend that we know for sure that fifty per cent plus one of American citizens approve of the plan.

Pursuant to which clause of Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution does the Congress propose to enact this legislation? Let's take a look:

US Constitution, Article I

Section 8. The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

• To borrow money on the credit of the United States;
• To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes;
• To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States;
• To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures;
• To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States;
• To establish post offices and post roads;
• To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;
• To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court;
• To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations;
• To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;
• To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years;
• To provide and maintain a navy;
• To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces;
• To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions;
• To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the states respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
• To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the state in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings;--And
• To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof.
  

The most obvious answer seems to be that government funded health care is necessary and proper for the provision of the general welfare. So, we must, then, ask is government health care necessary or proper for the provision of the general welfare? Let's see what the authors of the Constitution have to say about what, exactly, they meant by this clause.

From Federalist 41, by James Madison, Father of the Constitution:

It has been urged and echoed, that the power "to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the debts, and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States,'' amounts to an unlimited commission to exercise every power which may be alleged to be necessary for the common defense or general welfare. No stronger proof could be given of the distress under which these writers labor for objections, than their stooping to such a misconstruction. Had no other enumeration or definition of the powers of the Congress been found in the Constitution, than the general expressions just cited, the authors of the objection might have had some color for it; though it would have been difficult to find a reason for so awkward a form of describing an authority to legislate in all possible cases. A power to destroy the freedom of the press, the trial by jury, or even to regulate the course of descents, or the forms of conveyances, must be very singularly expressed by the terms "to raise money for the general welfare.

''But what color can the objection have, when a specification of the objects alluded to by these general terms immediately follows, and is not even separated by a longer pause than a semicolon? If the different parts of the same instrument ought to be so expounded, as to give meaning to every part which will bear it, shall one part of the same sentence be excluded altogether from a share in the meaning; and shall the more doubtful and indefinite terms be retained in their full extent, and the clear and precise expressions be denied any signification whatsoever? For what purpose could the enumeration of particular powers be inserted, if these and all others were meant to be included in the preceding general power? Nothing is more natural nor common than first to use a general phrase, and then to explain and qualify it by a recital of particulars.

So, we see that the limits on the power to provide for the general welfare are enumerated and expounded upon by the list of powers following the first general description of Congress's power. Then, is the power to provide health care insurance to the general public enumerated in the following powers? It seems we might make the case that Congress has such power over the citizens of the District of Columbia, but in all other cases, the 10th amendment must reserve the power of the purchase of health care insurance either to the States or to the People.

Therefore, Congress has no authority to pass this health care reform bill without the assent of three quarters of the States to a Constitutional amendment granting them this very authority. Some might argue, "If Congress has no authority to buy health insurance for all, then have they the right to buy it for some? If they have passed Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, then are not all of these programs under the same auspices as government funded health care for all?" To them, I would respond that these programs, too, are beyond Congress's Constitutional mandate, and they should be phased out and relegated to the States or the private sector as necessary. These programs have bankrupted the United States of America, and yet, the government seeks to spend more money - money that we do not have.

The federal government has demonstrated their inability both at funding health care insurance in the cases of Medicare and Medicaid and at providing single payer health care in the cases of Indian Health Services - a program that cannot adequately provide health care for 1 million American Indians. Yet we presume that the government has the capacity to provide health care insurance for 300 million American citizens. The citizens of industrialized nations with public health care flock to the United States for simple procedures for which, in their home countries, they must wait years or for which they may never be eligible. Who will provide health care to the rest of the world when our government destroys our health care system?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-bY92mcOdk

Article II, Hypothetical New-World Constitution

Edit: 1. Changed instances of "appoint all other officers" in the enumerations of powers to the Comptroller and Auditor General, Commissioner General, and Attorney General to "appoint all other principle officers."
2. Added a provision allowing the Governor General to temporarily fill Executive positions vacant due to non-consensus in the Congress concerning qualifications of nominees for Executive candidates.

Article II. The Executive.

Section 1. The powers to execute the laws of the State will be vested in the State Executive Office, which shall be divided into four offices: the office of the chief executive, whose chief executive shall be the Governor General, the department of the Treasury, whose chief executive shall be the Comptroller and Auditor General, the department of State, whose chief executive shall be the Commissioner General, and the department of Justice, whose chief executive shall be the Attorney General. The executive power of the State shall be constrained to the powers herein enumerated and shall not be construed to extend to any powers not herein enumerated. Each of these Executive Officers shall, at stated times, receive for their services, a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which they shall have been elected, and they shall not receive within that period any other emolument from the State.

Section 2a. All executive power not otherwise delegated to an officer of the Executive shall be vested in a Governor General. He shall hold his office during the term of four years, and, together with the Lieutenant Governor, chosen for the same term, be elected, as follows:

2b. The People in each Senate district will choose from among themselves, in such manner as the Congress may direct, one elector. No Councilor or Senator, or person holding an office of trust or profit under the State, shall be appointed an elector.

2c. The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors, and the day on which they shall give their votes, which day shall be the same throughout the State.

2d. The electors shall meet in the Capital and consider among themselves the Candidates for Governor General and Lieutenant Governor. Once considered, the electors shall vote by ballot for Governor General and Lieutenant Governor, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same Senate district as themselves. They shall name in their ballots the person voted for as Governor General, and in distinct ballots, the person voted for as Lieutenant Governor, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as Governor General, and of all persons voted for as Lieutenant General, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the President of the Senate.

2e. The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Common Council and the Senate, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes for Governor General shall be Governor General, if such a number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed, and if no person having such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as Governor General, the Common Council shall choose immediately, by ballot, the Governor General. A quorum for this purpose shall consist of two thirds of the whole number of Councilors, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. And if the Common Council shall not choose a Governor General whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them before noon on the twentieth day of the year next following, then the Lieutenant Governor shall be Governor General. No person except a natural born citizen shall be eligible to the office of Governor General, neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have been fourteen years a resident within the State. No person shall be elected to the office of the Governor General more than twice, and no person who has held the office of Governor General, or acted as Governor General, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected Governor General shall be elected to the office of the Governor General more than once.

2f. The person having the greatest number of votes as Lieutenant Governor shall be Lieutenant Governor, 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 Lieutenant Governor. 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. No person ineligible to the office of Governor General shall be eligible to that of Lieutenant Governor.

2g. The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the Common Council may choose a Governor General whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them, and for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the Senate may choose a Lieutenant Governor whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them.

Section 3a. In the case of removal of the Governor General from office or of his death or resignation, the Lieutenant Governor shall become Governor General.

3b. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Lieutenant Governor, the Governor General shall nominate a Lieutenant Governor who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.

3c. Whenever the Governor General transmits to the Chair of the Common Council and the President pro tempore of the Senate his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Lieutenant Governor as Acting Governor General.

3d. Thereafter, when the Governor General transmits to the Chair of the Common Council and the President pro tempore of the Senate his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Lieutenant Governor and a majority of either the chief officers of the executive or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the Chair of the Common Council and the President pro tempore of the Senate their written declaration that the Governor General is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two thirds vote of both Houses that the Governor General is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Lieutenant Governor shall continue to discharge the same as Acting Governor General. Otherwise, the Governor General shall resume the powers and duties of his office.

Section 4a. The Governor General shall be commander in chief of the military forces of the State, and of the militia, when called into the actual service of the State; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive offices, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have the power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the State, except in cases of impeachment.

4b. He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur. He shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, Court of Criminal Appeals, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law. The Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the Governor General alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments.

4c. The Lieutenant Governor shall nominate, and by and with the consent of the Senate, shall appoint judges of the Court of Review.

Section 5. The Governor shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the State, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient. He may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in cases of disagreement between them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper. He shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers. He shall take care that laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the military forces of the State.

Section 6a. The power and responsibility to fully and faithfully execute the State tax code shall be vested in the Comptroller and Auditor General. He shall hold his office during the term of four years and be elected as follows:

6b. The Governor General shall nominate no fewer than three qualified candidates for the office of Comptroller and Auditor General, and upon the approval of no fewer than three qualified candidates by both Houses of Congress, the People shall elect one of the several candidates by popular vote. If the Congress shall not approve at least three qualified candidates before noon on the twentieth day of the year next following, the Court of Review shall determine the qualification of the nominees. No person except a natural born citizen shall be eligible to the office of Comptroller and Auditor General, neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have been ten years a resident within the State. Congress may prescribe further qualifications for the office of Comptroller and Auditor General to include academic degree and years of relevant work experience; however, Congress may prescribe no additional qualifications until the population of the State shall exceed one million persons, and Congress may prescribe no additional qualifications that would reduce the number of qualified citizens to less than one half of one one-thousandth of the population of the State.

Section 7a. Any bill concerning the appropriation of funds, which shall have passed the Common Council and the Senate, shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the Comptroller and Auditor General. If he approves, he shall sign it, but if not, he may strike out individual appropriations as he deems necessary until he approves of the bill. If he so strikes any appropriations, he shall refer the bill with his objections and a list of appropriations stricken to the Congress. Upon a two thirds vote of both Houses, the stricken appropriations will be restored, and the bill shall become law. If a two thirds consensus to restore the bill cannot be reached, the bill shall become law excepting those appropriations stricken by the Comptroller and Auditor General.

7b. The authority to regulate the value of State currency, and of foreign currency shall be vested in a State Reserve Bank, which shall be governed by a Board of directors. The State Reserve Board shall be charged with the responsibility of limiting inflation of the State economy and of limiting unemployment. They shall have all necessary and proper powers to regulate the monetary policy of the State in order to execute this charge and may do so according to their good judgment. The size and composition of, and qualifications of members of the State Reserve Board shall be determined by law. The Comptroller and Auditor General shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint all principle officers of the State Reserve, who shall hold their offices in good behavior. The State Reserve may lend no monies to the Government.

7c. The Comptroller and Auditor General shall, by virtue of his office, be the Secretary of the Treasury and may exercise any executive power devolved to him by the Congress and the Governor General in this capacity. He shall have the power to nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint all other principle officers of the Department of the Treasury.

Section 8a. The power and responsibility to fully and faithfully execute State election law shall be vested in the Commissioner General. He shall supervise, and by affixing his seal, he shall certify the fair and equitable administration of elections. He shall hold his office during the term of two years and be elected as follows:

8b. The Governor General shall nominate no fewer than three qualified candidates for the office of Commissioner General, and upon the approval of no fewer than three qualified candidates by both Houses of Congress, the People shall elect one of the several candidates by popular vote. If the Congress shall not approve at least three qualified candidates before noon on the twentieth day of the year next following, the Court of Review shall determine the qualification of the nominees. No person except a natural born citizen shall be eligible to the office of Commissioner General, neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have been ten years a resident within the State. Congress may prescribe further qualifications for the office of Commissioner General to include academic degree and years of relevant work experience; however, Congress may prescribe no additional qualifications until the population of the State shall exceed one million persons, and Congress may prescribe no additional qualifications that would reduce the number of qualified citizens to less than one half of one one-thousandth of the population of the State.

Section 9a. Any bill concerning the regulation of elections, qualifications of the electorate, and redistricting of Senate districts according to the apportionment of the population by the Census, which shall have passed the Common Council and the Senate shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the Commissioner General. If he approves, he shall sign it, but if not, he shall refer it with his objections to the Court of Review. If after such consideration of the Court, the bill is ruled to conform to the articles herein, it shall become law. If any bill shall not be referred to the Court by the Commissioner General within ten days, after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law in like manner as if he had signed it.

9b. The Commissioner General shall, by virtue of his office, be the Secretary of State and may exercise any executive power devolved to him by the Congress and the Governor General in this capacity. He shall have the power to nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint all other principle officers of the Department of State. He shall commission all civil officers of the State.

Section 10a. The power and responsibility to fully and faithfully execute State law concerning law enforcement, criminal justice and corrections shall be vested in the Attorney General. He shall represent the State in all suits, pleas, and cases in the High Courts in which the State may be a party. He shall hold his office during the term of four years and be elected as follows:

10b. The Governor General shall nominate no fewer than three qualified candidates for the office of Attorney General, and upon the approval of no fewer than three qualified candidates by both Houses of Congress, the People shall elect one of the several candidates by popular vote. If the Congress shall not approve at least three qualified candidates before noon on the twentieth day of the year next following, the Court of Review shall determine the qualification of the nominees. No person except a natural born citizen shall be eligible to the office of Attorney General, neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have been ten years a resident within the State. Congress may prescribe further qualifications for the office of Attorney General to include academic degree and years of relevant work experience; however, Congress may prescribe no additional qualifications until the population of the State shall exceed one million persons, and Congress may prescribe no additional qualifications that would reduce the number of qualified citizens to less than one half of one one-thousandth of the population of the State.

Section 11a. Any bill concerning the administration of law enforcement, criminal justice and corrections, which shall have passed the Common Council and the Senate, shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the Attorney General. If he approves, he shall sign it, but if not, he shall refer it with his objections to the Court of Review. If after such consideration of the Court, the bill is ruled to conform to the articles herein, it shall become law. If any bill shall not be referred to the Court by the Attorney General within ten days, after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law in like manner as if he had signed it.

11b. The Attorney General shall, by virtue of his office, be the Secretary of Justice and may exercise any executive power devolved to him by the Congress and the Governor General in this capacity. He shall have the power to nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint all other principle officers of the Department of Justice.

Section 12. The Congress may determine the day on which the People shall give their votes for the offices of Comptroller and Auditor General, Commissioner General, and Attorney General, which day shall be the same throughout the State.

Section 13. In the case of vacancy in the offices of Comptroller and Auditor General, Commissioner General, or Attorney General, the Governor General may issue writs of election to fill the vacancies. Until such time as the vacancies may be filled by elections as prescribed herein, the Congress may provide by law for acting Executive officers to be chosen from among the officers of their respective Executive departments to fill the vacancies; or, if three qualified candidates for the offices of Comptroller and Auditor General, Commissioner General, or Attorney General are not approved and duly elected within thirty days after the Governor General takes office, he may appoint acting Executive officers to hold these offices until such time as the positions may be filled by elections as prescribed herein.

Section 14. The Governor General, Lieutenant Governor, the Executive Officers, and all civil officers of the State shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.

Individual Freedom and Responsibility

　　There are two sets of powers in any government. Though these powers may overlap in some areas like a Venn diagram, in others, these powers are mutually exclusive. They are the powers that may be exercised by the government, and the powers that may be exercised by the people.

　　All of those powers which may be exercised by the government are ceded to the government from the people by an agreement among the people in a society whose governing structure is supported by rational-legal legitimacy - a social contract. The people may decide which powers are ineffective on an individual basis, such as the power of national defense or the power to protect rights, and grant those powers on a collective basis to the government in order to ensure their effect.

　　The most important of these powers of government to the individual is the power to protect rights. We give this power to the government to avoid the tyranny of the strong over the weak, or the many over the few. We also limit the powers of the government to ensure that it does not then become that strong or majority force from which we sought to protect ourselves.

　　The more power we grant to the government, the less power we then have unto ourselves. The stronger we make the government, the weaker we become. The more we submit to government mandate, the less choice we have for ourselves. In a country where we claim liberty to be one of our most sacred rights, we ought to ensure that the government has as little power over our personal choices as is possible.

　　Therefore, the power of the government concerning the restriction of the behavior of its citizens ought to be extremely limited, and the responsibility for success should then be on the shoulders of each individual. The government should have no power to make our choices for us, for this inhibits our right to liberty and impairs our right to the pursuit of happiness. Because we are each unique, no universal set of solutions will ensure success on an individual basis. Because we each have different abilities, talents, needs, and desires, the government cannot effectively direct each of us on the best path to success. Neither have they the cognizance nor foresight - being a group of men themselves - to predict what set of solutions will effect an overall collective success, nor should we trust them to do so.

　　Given that the government has the power and responsibility to protect our rights and should have no power to interfere with our free will and an obligation to refrain from doing so, the government should avoid in all cases legislating on the basis of morality. This includes any perceived moral obligation to universal health care as well as to preserve the sanctity of marriage or any other one might name. In both the social and the moral, the government should allow for each of us to make our own decisions, our own successes, and our own failures, and it should hold each of us accountable to the consequences of those decisions. In this way, the government may ensure that each of us maintains completely our right to choice and our liberty.

Article I, Hypothetical New-World Constitution

Suppose that men have colonized some distant planet. This planet parallels Earth in almost every way, but there is no intelligent life. The men who have colonized this planet have broken or lost all contact with Earth and have set about attempting to create the best governing system for the thousands of colonists, expecting that someday, they will grow to a population of millions, perhaps even billions.

This is Article I of my attempt at a constitution to create this best governing system. I would appreciate any suggestions that might improve it. I have obviously borrowed quite a bit from the U.S. Constitution, as this is the system of government I am most familiar with. Many of the changes are similar to those I made in my Revised U.S. Constitution.

Edit: 1. Removed qualifications for office on the basis of age as proposed by Nelson Blaha.
2. Elaborated on the Lt. Governor's role as President of the Senate.

Article I. The Legislature.

Section 1. The legislative power of the State will be vested in a Congress of the State, which shall be divided into two Houses: a lower house, styled the Common Council, and an upper house, styled the Senate; and in a State Board of Education. The legislative power of the State shall be constrained to the powers herein enumerated and shall not be construed to extend to any powers not herein enumerated. All powers not delegated to the Congress of the State nor to the State Board of Education and not expressly prohibited to the same shall be reserved to the People and may be exercised by such inferior governments as may be ordained and established by the People.

Section 2a. The Common Council will be composed of no fewer than one hundred fifty members styled Councilor and elected by the People of the State at large. The People will propose for the ballot, in such manner as may be determined by law, a number of slates of candidates for the office of Councilor ranked in the order of preference. Each slate will list candidates equal in number to the number of seats on the Council, and each slate may be named according to the preferences of the People. Each person will cast his vote for one slate of candidates, and the most preferred candidates on each slate, according to their slate ranking and their proportion received of the popular vote, will be awarded seats on the Council.

2b. No person not having been a citizen of the State for less than seven years shall be eligible for the office of Councilor. No Councilor may hold any other office of honor, trust, or profit under the State. Councilors will serve terms of two years, and the whole of the Council shall stand for reelection every second year.

2b. The Council shall choose their Chairman and other officers and shall have the sole power of impeachment. The Common Council shall, before the first election of Senators only, be solely responsible for the enumeration of the first Census and for the creation of the first Senate districts. Until the first Senate is seated, the Common Council shall have no other power but to provide for the conduct of the first Census and to create the first Senate districts according to the articles herein.

Section 3a. The Senate will be composed of no fewer than fifty-five members styled Senator and elected by the People of single member districts apportioned by population. At the start of every period of ten years, there shall be conducted a Census in order to determine the total number of the population. Upon the conduct of the Census, the Senate districts shall be apportioned and district lines be drawn by act of Congress in order to ensure that the population is divided as equally as is possible among the several districts. Each person will cast his vote for one candidate, and the most preferred candidate in each district, according to the actual enumeration of the popular vote, will be awarded a seat in the Senate.

3b. No person not having been a citizen of the State and a resident of the district from which he will be elected for less than nine years shall be eligible for the office of Senator. No Senator may hold any other office of honor, trust, or profit under the State. The first Senate shall be divided as equally as possible into three classes. The first class shall serve two years, the second shall serve four, and the third shall serve six. Thereafter, Senators will serve terms of six years, and one-third of the Senate, divided as equally as possible, will stand for reelection every second year.

3c. The Lieutenant Governor shall by virtue of his office be President of the Senate, and shall have, when in Committee of the Whole, a right to debate and vote on all questions; and when the Senate is equally divided to give the deciding vote. The President shall decide all questions of order subject to appeal by any member. The President shall have control of such parts of the Capitol as have been or may be set apart for the use of the Senate and its officers. The President shall have the right to name a member to perform the duties of the chair, but such substitution shall not extend beyond such time as a majority of the Senators present vote to elect another member to preside, and if a majority of the Senators present so vote, the member called to the chair by the Lieutenant Governor or by the President pro tempore of the Senate shall vacate the chair, and the member elected by a majority shall preside until the Lieutenant Governor or President pro tempore shall take the gavel and preside.

3d. The Senate shall choose their officers and also a President pro tempore to serve in the absence of the Lieutenant Governor or when he shall exercise the office of Governor General. The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the Governor General is tried, the Chief Justice of the Court of Review shall preside. No person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two thirds of the members present.

3e. Judgment in the cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the State, but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment according to law.

Section 4a. The Board of Education will be composed of a number of members equal to the number of Senators. One member of the Board of Education will be elected from each of the Senate districts. Each person will cast his vote for one candidate, and the most preferred candidate in each district, according to the actual enumeration of the popular vote, will be awarded a seat on the Board of Education.

4b. No person not having been a citizen of the State and a resident of the district from which he will be elected for less than five years shall be eligible for the office of member of the Board of Education. No Board member may hold any other office of honor, trust, or profit under the State. The first Board of Education shall be divided as equally as possible into two classes. The first class shall serve two years, and the second shall serve four. Thereafter, Board members will serve terms of four years, and one half of the Board of Education, divided as equally as possible, will stand for reelection every second year.

Section 5. The times, places, and manner of holding elections for Councilors, Senators and members of the Board of Education, shall be prescribed by the Congress. Congress shall assemble for six months each year, and the session shall begin on such day as may be appointed by law.

Section 6a. Each house of Congress and the Board of Education shall be the judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business, but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner, and under such penalties as each house and the Board may provide.

6b. Each house and the Board may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two thirds, expel a member.

6c. Each house and the Board shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting, in the case of Congress, such parts as may in their judgment require secrecy, and the ayes and nays of the members of either house or the Board on any question shall, at the desire of one fifth of those present, be entered on the journal.

6d. Neither house, during session of Congress, shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which the two houses shall be sitting.

Section 7a. The Councilors, Senators, and members of the Board of Education shall receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the Treasury of the State. No law varying the compensation for the services of the Councilors, Senators, or Board members shall take effect until an election of Councilors shall have intervened.

7b. The Councilors, Senators, and members of the Board of Education shall in all cases, except treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective houses, and in going to and returning from the same, and for any speech or debate in either house, they shall not be questioned in any other place.

Section 8a. Every bill not otherwise herein provided for, which shall have passed the Common Council and the Senate, shall, before it become a law, be presented to the Governor General. If he approves, he shall sign it, but if not, he shall refer it with his objections to the Court of Review. If after such consideration of the Court, the bill is ruled to conform to the articles herein, it shall become law. If any bill shall not be referred to the Court by the Governor General within ten days, after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law in like manner as if he had signed it.

8b. Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the Common Council and the Senate may be necessary, except on a question of adjournment, shall be presented to the Governor General, and before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be considered by the Court of Review, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill.

Section 9a. The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the State, but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the State; To borrow money on the credit of the State only during such states of emergency as declared by a majority of members of the Common Council and approved by the majority of Senators and the Governor General; To regulate actual commercial transactions with foreign nations, within the State, and among semi-autonomous regions, but this power shall not be construed to extend to regulation of persons, objects, or activities unrelated to commerce merely for their potential involvement in future commercial transactions;

9b. To police the State and to establish uniform rules for the establishment, provision, and conduct of a system of law enforcement;

9c. To fix the standard of weights and measures; To establish post offices and post roads; And the sole power to coin money;

9d. To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court and the Court of Criminal Appeals; To ensure that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the State, or any place subject to its jurisdiction; To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations; To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the State; To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the State; To secure for limited times to authors, inventors, and artists the exclusive right to their respective writings, discoveries, and works;

9e. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water; To provide and maintain a navy; To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces; To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the State, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions; To provide for organizing, arming, governing, and disciplining the militia; To exercise exclusive authority over all places purchased for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings;

9f. To determine the size of the Common Council, the Senate, and the State high courts; And

9g. To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by these articles in the government of the State, or in any department or officer thereof.

9h. The Board of Education shall have the power to regulate the curriculum, acceptable standards, requirements, and operations of the State system of education; To establish Independent School Districts with such power to provide for and regulate the education of its residents as determined by the Board of Education; To budget funds appropriated by the Congress for use by the Board of Education; To regulate the salaries and pensions of teachers and school administrators; And to make all regulations which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers.

Section 10a. Neither the Congress nor the Board of Education shall have moral authority, and shall pass no law or regulation which restricts the private action of the People, except to ensure that no individual may by actions infringe upon the rights of any other. The Congress shall have the power to ensure by law that the rights of the People are not infringed.

10b. The privilege of the writ of habeus corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it. No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed.

10c. No law shall be passed which establishes an official religion of the State or prohibits the free exercise of religion. No law shall be passed which abridges the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

10d. No law shall be passed which infringes upon the individual freedom of the People to keep and bear arms.

10e. 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. No law shall be passed which infringes upon the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, and no Warrants shall be issued but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

10f. No law shall be passed which infringes on the right of citizens of the State to vote on account of race, color, ethnicity, or gender, nor shall the right of citizens of the State, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote be denied or abridged. No law shall be passed which infringes upon the right of citizens of the State to vote in any primary or other election for by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.

10g. No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law; and a regular Statement and account of receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to time.

10h. No title of nobility shall be granted by the State: and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign State.

10i. No citizen of the State having attained to the age of five years and having not attained to the age of nineteen years shall be denied access to the State education system, nor shall they be denied equal opportunity to education; No citizen of the State shall be denied access to a school based solely on residency within its Independent School District; No Independent School District shall be unequally funded on the basis of revenue from taxes within its boundaries in support of the State education system.