Email: Proposed 28th Amendment

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You've probably seen it.  The chain email that discusses the proposed 28 amendment to our Constitution because:


Congress members can retire with the same pay after only one term  As this link shows this is not true.  The age at which they can begin to collect their pensions depends on years of service and can be found at this link.

They exempted themselves from many of the laws that they have passed.  An article at Senator Chuck Grassley (Iowa) senate web page has information regarding the Congressional Accountability Act signed in 1995 which made Congress subject to 12 laws that they had previously exempted themselves from.

The email singles out that they "exempt themselves from fear of prosecution for sexual harassment.  This is where Snopes response can be misleading. They cite the CAA mentioned above, which includes sexual harassment.  However, according to a July Politico report that is not exactly true.  While they may be subject to the sexual harassment law, the taxpayer, not the politician foots the bill. That's sort of like being exempt, don't you think?  (Stuff like this is making me wish there was a snopes site to check out the veracity of the snopes responses.)

The email also states that they exempted themselves from the Healthcare Reform. Snopes gives you the section of the bill that tells their readers that this is erroneous.  However, you might want to check out an article that gives you a little more information.   An exemption was carved out for Senate committee and leadership staff.  Also exempt are the President, Vice-president and all those Czars running around Washington.  So, the devil is in the details and definitions.  I am once again reminded that a presidential order was signed forbidding Federal funds being used for abortions.  That wasn't worth much since some states are already putting systems in place to use the funds for abortions.  Pennsylvania, New Mexico, and Maryland have applied for and been granted exemptions.  


And, finally, as far as the actual process for amending our Constitution you may want to take this opportunity to start familiarizing yourself with what it actually says so that you armed with the truth. 

Maybe it would be a good idea to send this post, instead of the email, to 20 of your friends.  That way we can all get a little more familiar with our Constitutional Republic and that's a GREAT use of our time.