Democrats Pursue Obama's Third Term Through Repealing 22nd Amendment

By Douglas V. Gibbs

On January 4, 2013, Representative Jose Serrano, a Democrat from New York, proposed amending the Constitution by repealing the Twenty Second Amendment, removing the limitation on the number of terms an individual may serve as United States President.  The proposal is H.J. Res. 15.

George Washington only served two terms, but during those early years of this nation, he could have served longer.  The 22nd Amendment was not ratified until 1951, in response to Franklin Delano Roosevelt's four presidential election wins.  The amendment allows a person elected to the office of the President to serve no more than two terms, or ten years.

The 22nd Amendment ensures that no president seeks a third term.  Prior to this amendment, no president succeeded in seeking a third term.  This standard was set by George Washington, who, after 36 years of serving the United States (as colonies, and later as a nation) proclaimed he was tired, and ready to retire to Mount Vernon.  Washington's popularity was such that if he decided to pursue a third term, and more, there is no doubt he would have won.  If he wanted to be king, the people may have very well been willing to crown him.  Washington believed that the opportunity to serve as President of the United States was a privilege, and not something to be treated like it was a position of nobility.  He did not see himself as a member of a ruling elite. In his opinion, he was no different than every other American, except that he had been blessed with the opportunity to serve the nation.  After his second term, he was more than ready to hand the presidency to the next electoral winner.

George Washington viewed more than two terms as opening up the opportunity for abuse of power by an executive, and it could move the nation's leadership closer to that of a monarchy, rather than that of a republic.

James Madison and James Monroe also adhered to the two-term principle.  The standard remained in place for over a century.  Few Presidents sought a third term, and no President achieved it, until Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

The Great Depression and World War II contributed to Franklin Delano Roosevelt's success in being elected to a third term in 1940, and a fourth term in 1944.  He died before he could complete the fourth term.

The 22nd Amendment was proposed and ratified during President Truman's time in the White House.

Barack Obama views himself as a member of a ruling elite, and in his desire for America to be more like Europe, one wonders if the democrats believe American Politicians should be treated more like members of a nobility, than servants to the people.

The surprise win by Obama in the 2012 election, while in local elections the republicans won by a landslide, has the democrats believing that the voting public has finally turned the corner, has moved to the left, and that the liberal left has a mandate to do as they please in Washington.  Their goal is to destroy all opposition, and to do that they need Obama to continue to run for office.  His appeal to black voters because he himself is half-black is an important key to his popularity.  Without the black vote, the democrats cannot win.

The democrats have created an entitlement society where the voters cast their votes based on who they believe will continue to give them gifts from the treasury, rather than where the candidates stand on the issues.  If the entitlement mentality continues to grow, the democrats believe they will be in power in perpetuity, and they believe Barack Obama is the man that can get them to that point, and be the President to finally turn America into a socialist country.

A limit on presidential terms as is provided by the 22nd Amendment is one of the few tools remaining that can be used to stop the tyrannical plunge this nation seems to be taking.  Other ways to slow down, and turn around, the move of the United States towards a communist collectivist society is entitlement reform, and eventually an elimination of the unconstitutional practice of federally funded entitlement programs, and a flat tax (and ultimately an elimination of the income tax).

A flat tax forces everyone to have skin in the game.  The current tax code, with its various exemptions, enables mercantilism, allowing the bureaucrats to choose the winners and losers in the economy, for political favors.  The progressive tax rate also enables the redistribution of wealth, creating a class divide the democrats use for their class warfare propaganda.

Repealing the 16th Amendment, eliminating direct taxation of the people by the federal government, and an elimination of all federally funded entitlement programs, would be the ultimate goal that will eliminate the stranglehold the statists have on our system, but until then, we need to win the little battles.  Among those battles is stopping H.J. Resolution 15, the proposed amendment to the Constitution to repeal the 22nd Amendment.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary