A bill has been introduced to Congress to allow presidents to be re-elected indefinitely , effectively repealing the 22nd Amendment to the US Constitution.
Congressman Jose Serrano (D – NY) has introduced a bill that would allow US presidents to stay in office, well, forever, reports MSN . The bill is known as H.J. Res 15, and proposes amending the Constitution to repeal the 22nd Amendment, which prevents any US president from serving more than two terms (or eight years) in office.
Congress passed the 22nd Amendment on March 21, 1947. It was ratified by the requisite number of states on February 27, 1951. Prior to the passage of the amendment, very few presidents sought a third term in office. President George Washington dropped out after two terms, and it became something of an unwritten practice to only serve as president for that amount of time. Only Franklin D. Roosevelt was successfully re-elected for a third term in office, though he passed away one year into his fourth and final term.
Now I’m not sure how far uber-righties got into this article before they declared “A ha! Obama is a dictator!” or how long uber-lefties got into this article before they declared “Yes! An Obama dictatorship!” but there are a few things we have to mention about this proposed repeal.
As right-wing blog The Blaze points out, efforts to repeal the 22nd Amendment aren’t really all that new. In fact, Jose Serrano (the man who introduced the measure’s latest incarnation), has introduced a version of this bill to Congress e very single year since 2001 (when “Supreme Warlord” Bush was in office) and every single year it fades into nothingness.
Furthermore, the US Constitution requires approval from the House, the Senate, and three-fourths of the states for such a major proposal. We can safely say that’s not going to happen any time soon.
Still, we have to ask. Would you like to see President Obama in office for more than two terms, or is two terms good enough for any president?
