Would a Constitutional Amendment similar to the following be enough to end the incompetence in Washington?

Question

I believe the following would actually require a Constitutional Amendment as it affects eligibility to sit in Congress and stand for President.

Amendment XXVIII: Budget Appropriations

1. The House of Representatives and the Senate both shall, no later than one month prior to the start of the fiscal year, pass a bill to appropriate funds for the entire upcoming fiscal year.
2. If the House of Representatives and the Senate cannot agree on an appropriation bill to pass before the deadline set out in Paragraph (1), then all sitting members in both Houses of Congress shall
(a) be required to vacate their respective offices at the end of their present term, and 
(b) become ineligible for re-election to any public office for a minimum of ten years following the completion of their present term.
3. If the President should veto the appropriation bill, and no appropriations bill should subsequently become law prior to the start of the fiscal year, then all sitting members in both Houses of Congress, in addition to the President and Vice-President, shall 
(a) be required to vacate their respective offices at the end of their present term, and 
(b) become ineligible for re-election to any public office for a minimum of ten years following the completion of their present term.
4. The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Now I know the odds of this kind of amendment being adopted are slim to none, but hypothetically, would it be enough to bring competence back into Congress?

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

No. See we don't even have a budget and haven't during all of 0bama's presidency.

I would probably be willing to support something like this if the budget was required first. But to require this without a budget is not where I would go.

An apropriations bill pays for what is in the budget.

Andrew · Answer

Its not incompetence its corruption. If both sides were there to serve the people there would be no problems. But each side wants more money for themselves. They play these games with each other stalling until they get something they want and trading deals so they both benefit. Meanwhile the country suffers.

You won't find 1 poor man in congress/senate/presidency. They all take bribes and steal money from taxes that end up in secret bank accounts. They are all multi millionaires.

You won't find 1 poor man in congress/senate/presidency.  They all take bribes and steal money from taxes that end up in secret bank accounts.  They are all multi millionaires.

? · Answer

That would be good I guess. It could use some tweaking. But of course it old never happen because congress has to give a 2/3 ruling for it. If it was up to the states then yes it would pass, but it has to make it through congress first so no.

AmberP · Answer

If I'm not mistaken, they already tried something similar and it failed to get passed. I think that if they can't make a budget, then they should take away the 27th amendment and also cut their pay 20%, I'm not talking about having it sit in an escrow account and not be able to be touched until the following year either, I'm talking about cut it 20%. If they fail to get budgets passed after a second year there should be recall elections and they should be in eligible to run for any post in the federal government again.

Anonymous · Answer

It's like setting term limits on members of Congress.

The problem is, it would have to be voted in by MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.

They are not going to vote to fire themselves for their usual displays of incompetence.

Mike W · Answer

Good try, but you can't fix stupid.  Also, they could pass a balanced budget, and overspend on non budget items.  They would find new ways to be irresponsible.

Harley Drive · Answer

no the incompetence would remain , the problem is political opinion not competence

Anonymous · Answer

naaah, if garbage is sent to the President, he/she should veto it

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Would a Constitutional Amendment similar to the following be enough to end the incompetence in Washington?

8 Answers