GOP Candidates “Cutting and Pasting” the U.S. Constitution

Jason Attermann — November 28, 2011 – 4:26 pm | Civil Rights | Domestic Policy | Election 2012 | Republicans | Women's Issues Comments (0) Add a comment

Last week, Reid J. Epstein of Politico highlighted the double standards among many Republican presidential candidates with respect to their views on the U.S. Constitution. Many of the candidates lavishly praise the Constitution as perfect and errorless, and demand strict interpretations of its clauses. At the same time, they have also made promises to add amendments restricting a woman’s right to choose, outlawing same-sex marriage, and eliminating birthright citizenship protection. Despite the exaltation of the Constitution by the candidates, their proposals—which are opposed by most in the Jewish community—attempt to alter the Constitution to be more restrictive of all Americans.

Texas Governor Rick Perry has called for the biggest changes to the Constitution. Epstein wrote:

None of the candidates, though, have gone as far as Perry, who at a speech Monday in Bettendorf, Iowa proposed limiting Supreme Court justices to 18-year terms.

That’s directly at odds with the Constitution’s Article III, Section 1, which reads: ‘The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.’

Perry said his hope was to spark a deeper revolution in the federal government.

‘It is time to tear down the monuments to bureaucratic failure, and in their place build a smaller, more efficient federal government that puts the American people first,’ Perry said. ‘Too many federal judges rule with impunity from the bench, and those who legislate from the bench should not be entitled to lifetime abuse of their judicial authority.’...

The Bettendorf speech also called for a congressional pay cut, which would violate the 27th Amendment - or require a new amendment - if it were to take effect before the next Congress is seated. Perry is also seeking legislation that would require a two-thirds majority for any tax increase.

Many of the other GOP presidential candidates follow the same path, in which they support a strict, original interpretation of the Constitution while seeking amendments to advance the right-wing agenda.

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney:

Romney now favors one overturning the Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion, requiring balanced budgets and forbidding same-sex marriage. His campaign said there is no contradiction between seeking judges who interpret the Constitution while at the same time seeking to change it through the amendment process, which is included in the document’s Article VII.

Representative Michele Bachmann (R-MN):

Bachmann cancelled her Friday schedule in Iowa to return to Washington to vote - her first House vote since Oct. 12 - for the House version of the balanced budget amendment that ultimately failed. She’s also on record favoring the amendments outlawing gay marriage and abortion.

‘I stand,’ Bachmann told the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition last month, ‘for a constitutional amendment to protect life from conception to a natural death.’

Herman Cain:

Cain told ABC’s Jonathan Karl that he favors an amendment ending birthright citizenship, though in the same interview he said he does not ‘support tampering with the 14th Amendment,’ which is where birthright citizenship is granted.

Former Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA):

On the stump, Rick Santorum regularly touts his both his adherence to ‘first principles’ and his championing of the failed Federal Marriage Amendment. Santorum’s Web site claims he ‘spearheaded’ the 2004 Senate debate and ‘successfully fought even members of his own Party and had the amendment brought to the Senate floor for public debate in two successive Congresses.’

Ambassador Jon Huntsman:

Huntsman, who has come out against the ‘personhood’ amendment forbidding abortion, favors changing the constitution to control the federal budget.

‘We’ve got to move toward a world where we have a balanced budget amendment,’ he told a Tampa radio station in July.

Representative Ron Paul (R-TX):

No candidate has tethered themselves to the idea of the Constitution more than Ron Paul, whose campaign slogan, ‘Restore America Now,’ is a dog-whistle call to an originalist interpretation of the Constitution. But that doesn’t stop Paul from calling for an end to birthright citizenship granted in the 14th Amendment and a ‘Liberty Amendment’ that would end income and estate taxes.

Epstein summarized an assessment by former Republican Attorney General Dick Thornburgh, in which he reportedly said that “supporting original constitutional interpretation while seeking amendments shows an element of cognitive dissonance.” The candidates’ restrictive positions—in addition to their double standard views of the Constitution—are just one more demonstration of the distance separating the 2012 Republican presidential field from the vast majority of American Jews.

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