a ®eMark from eMark ™
‘the buck stops here’
Sometimes, a simple idea can become a lot more complicated. We all know the answer to exactly where the ‘buck stops’. The traditional response is at the top, of course! But, does it really?
Hmmmm? Let’s take a look at our government. Right here, there will be a major split in thinking. Baby boomers, even those getting ‘D’s’ in History and Civics know how our country’s power is structured.
On the other hand, Students taught after the turn of the Century, (2000, that is, not 1900!), Don’t seem to be able to explain the tri-level power structure bolted into our framework.
I will avoid this ‘rabbit hole’ as to why those students were never exposed to the ‘bricks and mortar’ that make up our democratic republic, for now. This is another important topic to closely examine, but later.
This will surprise about half of the country but the President of the United States is not the leader of the free World! If our country was a Monarchy, then yes, that would be true.
Many think of the President as a king. What he or she says, goes! Everything that happens while a president is in office is because we voted in that President. This goes for the good things and the bad ones as well.
Presidents talk a big game, and are willing to accept that premise, but the facts, ohhh, those facts always get in the way!
The founding fathers foresaw the issues that could come from a single executive running the whole show. Did you know there was a faction that wanted George Washington to be king of the Colonies?
Had George had the ego of Donald Trump, today the United States may be on its sixth or seventh king and not 45th President! (Maybe the Trump reference was a little harsh, but I think he had that coming…) 😊
So, if the President is not the ‘leader of the free World’, then who the hell is? The ‘framers’ decided in a triangle of power that would limit any single ‘side’ from taking over. Every Baby boomer knows the power is equally given to the Executive Branch, the Legislative Branch, and the often-forgotten Judicial Branch. The most powerful government in the free World is controlled by those three, together!
Did you know even if the President vetoes a bill, two-thirds majority of the House and Senate overrides that veto and the bill becomes law, against the President’s wishes? The House of Representatives holds the ‘purse strings’, controlling the funds needed for a President to do pretty much anything!
In fact, as we just witnessed a partisan House can impeach a President! An equally partisan Senate would have completely removed the President, that was duly elected by the people! Wow! It looks like the House and Senate wield as much power, if not more than the President?
And we haven’t even begun to mention the hidden third side of this triangle of power, the Legislative Branch. Now, this one gets complicated. The lower courts loaded with very partisan judges is another rabbit hole I must avoid here for brevity, but, within this branch, ‘the buck stops’, at the Supreme Court. And it pretty much does, as what the United States Supreme Court rules on is law!
But not really, as our framers even built a trap door to escape from a rogue Supreme Court! They can be overridden by a Constitutional Amendment which requires two-thirds majority of the House and Senate together, or two-thirds of the States, (34 out of 50), just to propose, and two choices to actually ratify that Amendment:
- The way all 27 Amendments have made it in, an approval of again, two-thirds majority of the House and Senate, then ratification by 38 of the 50 states (three-fourths).
- The Amendment can be first proposed by the states without Congress by a ‘Constitutional Convention’ of two-thirds of the states, (34 of 50)! And ratified, (again, without the House or the Senate), with 38 of the 50 states approvals!
And guess what role the almighty President plays in this? Zilch, nada, goose egg, zero, post toasties!
So, where does the buck stop? I see five places.
- Yes, the President
- Then equally with the House of Representatives,
- And the Senate
- The Supreme Court
- And you and me, the voter!
That’s the way the framers split the buck!
‘nuff said.
peaceful, and respectful comments are always welcome.