Throw the Bums Out: Let’s Take It On The Road
by Peter FerraraEighteen states provide for recall elections to remove state officials. Nine of those provide for the same for their Congressional representatives. But such a right of recall can and should be adopted in every state.
Ideally this would be done by amending the state constitution to provide for such recall elections. But it can be done through statute as well, with the New Jersey Uniform Recall Election Law as a good model.
The greatest opportunity is in the states that already provide for citizen initiatives to put state constitutional amendments or proposed statutes on the state ballot for a vote of the people for adoption. In these states, the citizens can act directly, without depending on the politicians to adopt a check on their own power.
The right of recall is desirable because it maintains democratic accountability to the people throughout the entire term of elected officials, rather than just at election time. This is more relevant now because increasingly we see an attitude among elected officials that they know best and the people are ignorant yahoos who should be ignored until they need to be fooled again at election time. The people need a right of recall to remove officials who display this anti-democratic attitude after they are elected.
We have seen this problem in particular in the health care battle, where Congressional representatives have displayed the attitude that the people are too gullible, confused and misled to understand the issue, and should be ignored by the wise elected officials who know better. Elected officials have responded to citizens voicing their objections with name calling, labeling them Nazis, racists, and tea baggers. These officials are still threatening to adopt a thorough government takeover of health care on the idea that the people will never be able to unscramble the mess. The right of recall is needed to shortcircuit this tactic.
Another increasing problem is candidates who campaign as conservatives to get elected, and then once they get in office they join with the far left to pass their agenda instead. With the right of recall, voters who feel they were snookered in this way can act to remove their representative once this pattern becomes apparent. With this power in place, candidates would be less likely to try to get elected on false pretenses in the first place.
The right of recall would also counter the growing problem of voter fraud. If voters feel there were too many shenanigans in a vote count, and don’t trust the result, they can act to provide for a new election. A perfect example is the recent extended vote count for Sen. Al Franken in Minnesota, which was based on a developed art form of focusing the recount on districts that heavily favor one party, where votes can be manufactured. With this success, rest assured that this will be tried again and again.
A recent example of recall in action was the 2003 removal of then recently reelected California Gov. Davis. The people voted overwhelmingly to remove him from office in a recall election, and replaced him with current Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. This example shows that the recall process is practical and not counterproductively disruptive.
But anyone who wants to pursue such a recall, or the process of initiative to adopt recall for their state, should realize from the start that this is a time consuming process requiring the collection of likely millions of signatures on petitions, all in strict compliance with the letter of the law. You can bet that opponents will be looking for any legal variance to deny the whole effort. Therefore, the effort needs to be organized from the beginning with sufficient resources and experienced input to be successful.
Email this to a friend | Print |
Share on Facebook
| Tweet this
| 
Follow Us on Twitter
Subscribe via RSS
Got a Tip?
42 Comments
Truthfully,I think thats a roadshow that all citizens could get behind, although it might prove to be a slippery slope and cause further gridlock.
"You need only reflect that one of the best ways to get yourself a reputation as a dangerous citizen these days is to go about repeating the very phrases which our founding fathers used in the struggle for independence."
– Charles Austin Beard -
The right of recall can and should be the law in every State.
That doesn't mean that having that right would likely improve things much.
The voters of California recalled Grey Davis, as the article mentions.
And they replaced him with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
And they are all blissfully happy now!
Right?
Only bad thing about democracy is it is mob rule. Nothing is going to help a society that has become immoral.
You are right. Finally…………..
"We put all our politicians in jail as soon as they're elected. Don't you?"
"Why?"
"Saves time."
–Terry Pratchett, The Last Continent
Broken clocks…
Shouldn't the title of the article be "Throw the criminals out" instead…?
As long as the same criminals keep making our laws, nothing will ever change.
I see this idea as quickly being abused as each side tries to recall the other side leading to nothing but tons of recall elections year-round.
The answer is for voters to actually do a little research on who they vote for. I know, a real pipe dream when considering how many voters out there vote based on reasons such as party affiliation, incumbency, appearance and other items that have absolutely nothing to do with who the candidate really is and what the candidate really believes in. The information is out there, you just have to do little searching.
This proposal runs head long into the US Constitution. Term length and the means to remove federal officials is set by the US Constitution and neither state constitutions not statutes can amend or countermand those.
for once you have submitted a non racial and thoughtful post.
His mom is probably looking over his shoulder.
Recall is a great idea and my list is a mile long. The prevailing governmental attitude seems to be that; 'I'll do whatever I want and you can just suck on it'. But what are residents of one state to do when other states continue to elect and re-elect slimeballs whose decisions effect us and they don't recall the offender? Does 'pork' stand in the way? Perhaps their should be local and natiional recall remedies.
their s/b there.
They will just join a union.
I love it!
You know it…and he took his meds today!
I live in a state that has recall. We are a progressive state on the west coast and as far as I know we have never used it. We even had an election that was proven stolen and it was not used….so it doesn't work in the progressive states, but I think it is a great idea for others that would use it. I think it might be better to repeal the 17th Amendment and take appointment of Senators be done by the State Legislators with term limits. That will take care of the abuses with PAC and special interests in Washington DC. If we did this, it would take the representation back to the states and not the political parties.
The CFR doesn't mind cycling through as many of their stooge candidates as you like. Heck, everyone benefits as more get to partake in that generous retirement. Until you break the cycle of CFR and AIPAC-controlled candidates, you won't change anything this way.
We don't need a new law to tie every election up in court as we already have recall it's called the election cycle. What we need are Americans to be awake at the wheel! We need Americans doing their duty and serve the country and then go back home; not careerists thinking their elitists/ a ruling class. We need the people to take back control of the parties and away from professional pollsters.
In that case the 'right to recall' needs to go to the VOTERS and NOT the politicians!
I am totally surprised at you there Cowboy….
Putting the word 'GRIDLOCK' in a negative content.
I was once on my way to the in-laws for what I knew was going to be a sorry-ass dinner.
Did not make it on account of the 'GRIDLOCK' on the way there.
Come on everyone, cut Lil Adolph some slack… he's trying.
You did good today,,, although the day is young.
I agree. It seems NObama is putting criminals in powerful positions almost daily. And, politicians are constantly breaking laws without being reprimanded. Recall would be good to get rid of Politicians after they've not paid their taxes (for example). Recall does nothing to get rid of all the criminal czars in place today…
Recall is great for politicains who switch agendas, break laws, don't pay taxes, etc… But we're still left with the untouchable czars that are in place now.
True that!
The Constitution seems to be silent on the matter of recall of Congressmen and Senators. Article 1. Section 4 establishes the parameters for holding elections; set by the legislature of the State. Don't see that that rules out a recall. Recall is a different matter than an expulsion. Could we recall a President? I see the Constitution as pretty clear on that matter. No! The only way to remove a President prior to the completion of his term is through the impeachment process.
Obviously the Supreme Court would have to weigh in on the matter as it goes to the fundamental underpinnings of our Republic.
Recall is a tool of fear, which I am all for since the politicians should fear the people. The down side is that they won't fear them unless practices like this become more common place.
Arguments that recalls would endlessly happen seem baseless, they take a lot to get going and even more to get done.
With the way Obama is going I see a lot of potential constitutional amendments in the works, they will be fueled by the outrages that Obama and his merry band of simpletons, thieves and deviants are pushing on the American people.
In that regard it's a rare opportunity, we should not waste it and be prepared to act politically to persuade people of the need.
Simpletons, thieves & deviants,…………..I like it…….I may steal it……Thx Thinker
Choices.
Life is full of choices.
Gray Davis was bad.
Arnold is worse.
……..and so the dance continues.
Why shouldn't you be able to fire someone who is doing a rotten job representing your interests, especially when the stakes can be so high? However, I think this is more complicated and less effective than it needs to be. It goes without saying that many of these folks have, or are breaking the law in some fashion. Almost daily I read about some new corrupt scheme by one of our legislators, many on this site alone. These people should be held accountable, but they are not. There are many good organizations that seek out, investigate, and report on the corruption. Now we need to follow up and start prosecuting these crimes along with maximum jail terms for those who betray the People's trust. I believe this to be the only real option to bring about change in Washington. People function by what motivates them. When you give someone tremendous power without enforcing consequences for abusing that power, where is the motivation to do the right thing?
[...] [...]
ooooh. good one, Cowboy. Absolutely true, too. Nothing scares the MSM like a good quote from Thomas Jefferson.
If Toyota can do it… so can we, only….
Lets remember that a RECALL is for the purpose of fixing a problem and….. not make it worse.
CALIFORNIA: replaces a dim wit with a barbarian…. not exactly a good selling point.
[...] [...]
[...] [...]
[...] [...]
Read with the one response that you have so far and agree it could turn out to be great, but history indicates "dreams " only turn out to be "dreams" for most of us! It's only in the eyes of the beholder and the beholder isn't usually beholden too long!
Another great one, and I also doubt a lot of people in America do not even know who Thomas Jefferson was.
My only question is this, I do believe what you say, but what will America DO if by "Executive Orders" our government is changed into system of government to what no one can even recognize anymore? I'll predict, nothing!
There are limits to even executive orders….
All law-enforcement officials take oaths to support the PEOPLE, the COUNTRY, the RULE of LAW and usually the Constitution (State or Federal depending on the office they are being sworn into.
Senior federal officials all take oaths to support the Constitution as do the Military, National Guard, FBI, etc – not just Congress Critters & the Pres.
Any attempt by the TOTUS to try to dramatically change elections by executive order will put all senior state officials at odds with their oaths to support their Constitution and the people and if that fails, the state-level AGs would be in conflict – not to mention Federal Judges.
I'd almost like to see him try as that would trigger LOTS of criminal corruption trials with many (most) of the state-level progressives (and probably several federal-level progressive politicians as well) in the Seat-of-Honor.
My point is that as corrupt as the Won is, he and his Chicago mob have not been able to corrupt enough elected officials and Judges to get off scott-free.
I've not forgotten about the possibility that private militias can be deputized (or simply relied upon) to keep or establish order if those in power attempt to implement Marshall Law or blatantly influence the voting in November.
if you start voting for policy, or law, and stop voting for people, this and many problems disappear.
recall is necessary, but not sufficient. start with citizen initiative, and empower administrators to carry out the will of the electorate. make them do it in public, so that incompetence or corruption becomes visible quickly.
You must be logged in to post a comment.