Obama, a former lecturer on Constitutional Law, seems willing to ignore the Constitution is troubling, but not surprising in the least.



Congress cannot take an appointment for which the pay has gone up during the time that person held office in Congress. The pay for the Secretary of State has gone up in the last year that which would prevent Hillary from getting appointed.


We are screwed the nation's constitution is worthless.....Politics as usual...party affiliations does not matter...

I agree with you...but what can we do? Most of America has spoken(of which I DID NOT vote for him). I will post this/your comment on some other sites I have...just to help spread the action! Good post.

http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html#A2Sec2

Article. I. - The Legislative Branch Note


Section 6 - Compensation

(The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States.) (The preceding words in parentheses were modified by the 27th Amendment.) They 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.

No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time; and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office.
-----------------------------
hhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmm

That says that you can't get a job because you're going to get paid less.

The President recommends people for the posts. The Senate approves those people.

I thought that the only thing that the Constitution dictates is how much the President makes not the cabinet. The cabinet's salary is determined by the budget.

The cabinet is not even mentioned in the Constitution.

Hillary has to resign from her seat and the Governor of New York assigns another person.

No Senator during the Time for which he was elected be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time;

that say if you were a senator

and you while in office

ths pay for an appointed office increased

may not hold said appointment

--------

it is quoted out of the above post

which is the constitution

as stated link and section is given

There are predecents for getting around this, however the legality is still in question.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saxbe_fix

She will be resigning from the Senate. She will no longer be a Senator. It's that simple.

She will be changing branches of the government. She will go from the legislative branch to the executive branch.

the office of secretary of state received a pay increase while she held the office of senator

------------------

Emolument
emolument n [ME, fr. L emolumentum, lit., miller's fee, fr emolere to grind up] : the product (as salary or fees) of an employment Source: NMW

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/11/is_clinton_barred_from_state_j.php


Essentially, you cannot take a job if the salary was increased during your current congressional term. And the salary for cabinet officials has gone up in the past year. Even if it is lowered back down, constitutional scholars say that may not be enough to fix the problem.

wall street journal



http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2008/12/01/is-secretary-of-state-hillary-clinton-unconstitutional-some-say-yes/



In other words (and generally speaking), if the emoluments (i.e., pay) for a certain cabinet position increase, all members of the Congress in office during that time of the increase shall be disqualified from later holding that position.

According to Volokh, the Emoluments Clause is in play because the Secretary of State got a cost-of-living adjustment in January of this year, at which time Hillary Clinton was a senator from New York. As John O’Connor, the author of an 1995 Hofstra Law Review article on the Emoluments Clause puts it: “nder a straightforward application of the Emoluments Clause, Senator Clinton is ineligible for appointment as Secretary of State because the emoluments of that office “have been encreased” during Senator Clinton’s current Senate term, and this disability continues until the end of “the time for which [she] was elected, or until January 2013.

I read the first two link on that. My security wouldn't let me go onto the third.

I didn't see constitutional scholars saying that. I will re-read it tomorrow.

I saw that news people were saying that they didn't know what to think of it and that constitutional lawyers will be needed.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Judicial-Watch-Announces-Hillary-Clinton/story.aspx?guid=
%7B7671C1BB-C8A4-44B8-8EA4-F6DBC6A113A5%7D


"The Saxbe Fix" may reduce the salary of Secretary of State to previous levels, but it does not affect what is a clear constitutional prohibition. It cannot change the fact that the salary had been increased while Senator Clinton served in Congress. (President Ronald Reagan reportedly did not appoint Senator Orin Hatch to the Supreme Court because of this provision.) Simply put, the Constitution does not provide for a legislative remedy for the Ineligibility Clause.
"There's no getting around the Constitution's Ineligibility Clause, so Hillary Clinton is prohibited from serving in the Cabinet until at least 2013, when her current term expires," said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. "Barack Obama should select someone who is eligible for the position of Secretary of State and save the country from a constitutional battle over Hillary Clinton's confirmation. No public official who has taken the oath to support and defend the Constitution should support this appointment. And aside from the constitutional issue, Hillary Clinton's long track record of corruption makes her a terrible choice to serve as the nation's top diplomat."

That's how I see it too DJ, but it's been done in the past.

yep

treason abounds

Obviously what the law was addressing was a situation where someone....


Umm $crew it...wouldn't it be swell if some people applied this level of scrutiny to the current administration?

Oh wait...that would blow their Bush is swell theory right out of the water.

Funny to hear a bunch of people who whole heartedly endorsed Bush breaking laws and hated lawyers, pointing out every statute and piece of administrative law that might hold up appointments or actions of the future administration in hopes of a challenge while they ignored Shrub pooping on the Constitution, individual rights, international treaties and the reputation of the United States of America.

The same people who said lawyers are evil are now embracing them haha

I love it. I have been posting for months about how many will hate it when the powers they willing gave Bush without question are used by other presidents.

You reap what you sow. hahahaha

thank you

i do not care which of the terrorist groups does it wrong is wrong

"Not surprising in the least." Isn't that how Quickstepper starts her threads?

It would not matter to me who the president or the cabinet appointee was or thier party affiliation. I did not vote for Bush or Obama, but that's beside the point. The point is the constitution is the basis of our government & it should be followed. This is the 1st I have heard ofthis situation. I am wondering why it was not resolved in the past with an amendment,or upheld instead of ignored.

Anyway I believe no elected official should run for or accept appointment for another position in government until thier current term is over.

that would mean they would have to do some actual work

it really is beginning to look like 1930s germany

blind support just because