Civics and such

Tonight, Dad and I went to see "Man of the Year" with Robin Williams. With the mid-term elections just a week away, it was a very thought-provoking -- and entertaining -- movie.

It sparked a discussion so we came home and jumped on the internet to find some answers to questions which we were unable to answer between the two of us. Hence, the point of this entry: high-technology (in the form of the internet) is incredibly powerful.

For example, we were wondering about the much-talked-about lobbyists who influence our elections and the impact that these electronic voting machines are having on the confidence of the American voter.

For the first question, we found a good resource at the PoliticalMoneyLine provided by The Congressional Quarterly. There, one can find information about which lobbying groups are contributing to the candidates. Great information for a voter to have to make an intelligent decision when casting a ballot.

Another question we had was about specific issues of the U.S. Constitution. This led us to a couple of sites; indeed, there are many sites out there. We chose The U.S. Constitution Online, which was very informative and easy to navigate.

It was interesting and caused us to remark about how great technology can be. We are inundated with media accounts of the internet being used for criminal activity and activity which is subject to moral questioning. But, when used properly, the internet is a valuable library available to each and every home which is connected.

Two other sites which we stumbled upon had to do with American Presidents and The Federalist Papers. Both sites are chock-full of valuable information for every American citizen.

This is a good and positive thing. For example, Father and I learned from our electronic excursion about the last amendment to the Constitution. I, for one, had not been aware of it. It happens to be the 27th Amendment.

The 27th Amendment deals with congressional pay increases. As we learned, this amendment had been proposed at the same time as the original Bill of Rights. But, through inaction on behalf of us -- the people-- it took 74,003 days to ratify it! That's right! It was proposed in 1789 but, unlike other amendments composing the Bill of Rights, it lacked the number of necessary states to adopt it. Having no expiration, almost 203 years later, it was finally adopted on May 7, 1992.

I consider myself a news hound... especially for news that affects me as a citizen of this great nation... where was the coverage? Was I so busy during that time that I did not catch wind of such a historic event? Did the media not cover it? Hmmm...???

Anyway, with help from the history of the ratification of this amendment, I determined that these states were of no help in finally getting the amendment passed:

• California*
• Hawaii
• Illinois*
• Kentucky
• Massachusetts
• Mississippi
• Nebraska
• New York
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• Washington

*To be fair, California and Illinois both ratified the amendment in 1992. However, in that year, Alabama, Michigan, Missouri and New Jersey, had done it before them. With these four states, the conditions for adoption was met; so ratification by California and Illinois was moot.

It is interesting to note that 3 of these states are among our most populous and, therefore, have a greater say in the electoral college vote of the presidency... Maybe we should pass another amendment making these states (who apparently did not care about the pay raises of congress) responsible for all future pay raises of our federal legislators...