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Latest Answers http://www.askyourlawmaker.org/answers/latest/%2A/10/%2A/%2A a view of answers sorted by date en When the Consitution's changed. It's hard to change the constitution. You got to get Congress to pass it by 75 percent, by two-thirds in the Senate and the House. And 75 percent of the states have to go along with it. http://www.askyourlawmaker.org/answers/when-consitution%2526%2523039%3Bs-changed.-it%2526%2523039%3Bs-hard-change-constitution.-you-got-get-congress-pa Wed, 10 Dec 2008 19:53:30 -0600 Whitney J 1813 at http://www.askyourlawmaker.org Well that’s one of those questions “whether have you stopped beating your wife yet?” type of questions. I think most people that I serve with in Congress are fairly straightforward and try to answer things as honestly and straightforward way as they can. Obviously, people have their own political opinions and biases that shapes the kinds of answers that they give. You know there are all kinds of people in the world. Some of them that really want to be smartest – just kills them to say “I don’t know” and there are other ones like me who were never good in school. I don’t mind saying I don’t know if I don’t know something. So just a variety of different personalities. But Congressmen are not very much different than most people you meet on the street. Most of them have a good heart and try to do the best they can. http://www.askyourlawmaker.org/answers/well-%E2%80%99s-one-those-questions-%E2%80%9Cwhether-have-you-stopped-beating-your-wife-yet%3F%E2%80%9D-type-questions http://www.askyourlawmaker.org/answers/well-%E2%80%99s-one-those-questions-%E2%80%9Cwhether-have-you-stopped-beating-your-wife-yet%3F%E2%80%9D-type-questions#comments Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:31:54 -0500 Robin Wright 1503 at http://www.askyourlawmaker.org Our committee has three goals and this is what we have been trying to accomplish: protecting taxpayer’s dollars from waste, fraud and abuse and making sure government works for the people third holding the government of this country accountable for their actions that’s what we have been trying to do in 2007 and 2008 during the time I have been chairman of that committee. http://www.askyourlawmaker.org/answers/our-committee-has-three-goals-and-what-we-have-been-trying-accomplish%3A-protecting-taxpayer%E2%80%99s Thu, 05 Jun 2008 13:32:38 -0500 Sara Sciammacco 1340 at http://www.askyourlawmaker.org The two party system is a bi-product of the system we have right now, the fact that we have single member districts where one person is elected will always result in a two party system, it does in other countries as well. The constitution was designed with no parties in mind and can function with one, or two or multi or no parties whatsoever, as long as you have separation of powers and federalism securely in place. We are mucking around with federalism and separation of powers to the point that it doesn’t help. But whether there are two parties or multiple parties is really insignificant and it is a bi-product of the system we have created by statute of a single representative elected from a district. If you change that you’ll change the number of parties, whether that is more helpful or not is probably insignificant. http://www.askyourlawmaker.org/answers/two-party-system-bi-product-system-we-have-right-now%2C-fact-we-have-single-member-districts-w Wed, 28 May 2008 11:49:42 -0500 amukherjee 1324 at http://www.askyourlawmaker.org Well, the current law does allow sitting Senators to run for another political office- namely President. In my state, in many instances if you decide to run for another office you have to quit your current office. So Congress could change the law, I presume, to allow that. We’d have to have some constitutional scholars tell us if whether constitutionally that’s enforceable or not. But I would say it’s not altogether a decision to do one thing or another, because we have many Senators- I saw Senator Clinton, Senator Obama here today, Senator McCain’s been back frequently on key votes where their votes make a difference to come back and make sure they do that. And of course their staffs continue to work with constituents and the like. But I think it would require an act of Congress to change- that would be my belief. http://www.askyourlawmaker.org/answers/well%2C-current-law-does-allow-sitting-senators-run-another-political-office-namely-president. Thu, 22 May 2008 00:49:00 -0500 Jodi Breisler 1331 at http://www.askyourlawmaker.org It’s obvious that the war in Iraq has made things more difficult because of turmoil in the Middle East, and just the amount of oil the war is using. There’s a number of things that have caused the price of oil to go up. We believe, and that’s part of our package, we need to do something to rein in the speculation, we believe there’s a lot of speculation. Some economists say the percentage is pretty high, just the speculative part of this. http://www.askyourlawmaker.org/answers/it%E2%80%99s-obvious-war-iraq-has-made-things-more-difficult-because-turmoil-middle-east%2C-and-just-a http://www.askyourlawmaker.org/answers/it%E2%80%99s-obvious-war-iraq-has-made-things-more-difficult-because-turmoil-middle-east%2C-and-just-a#comments Tue, 13 May 2008 20:46:00 -0500 Todd Zwillich 1293 at http://www.askyourlawmaker.org Rep. Kucinich: Well, you know, online education keeps growing, and for some people it’s a more affordable option. What we need to do is to make that those people who want to go to an institution and appear in person would be able to afford it. That’s where our focus should be. We should not take our eye away from our obligation to give people a chance to go to college. Now if someone is waiting to get into a college or doesn’t have money to go to college, certainly online education is a way to take steps to enrich someone’s academic background, but I think our goal ought to be to enable people to go to institutions of learning. Xie: Traditional universities and colleges? Kucinich: Right, right. I think there’s a lot to be said about that. http://www.askyourlawmaker.org/answers/%2526lt%3Bp%2526gt%3B%2526lt%3Bb%2526gt%3B-rep.-kucinich%3A%2526lt%3B/b%2526gt%3B-well%2C-you-know%2C-online-education-keeps-growing%2C- Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:43:00 -0500 Yanmei Xie 1255 at http://www.askyourlawmaker.org The discussion about whether we hit peak oil I think drives some of the discussion about whether or how quickly we move away from oil as the major use of our energy. It’s kind of like global warming was a few years ago. People talk about peak oil, but there’s no evidence that we’ve hit peak oil, some people think it’s right now. So it’s part of their discussions. I think we’re going to hit peak oil soon and I’d rather have our plan in place to move away from fossil fuels to energize our economy and transportation, as opposed to waiting until you hit peak oil and then all the sudden your back’s against the wall. http://www.askyourlawmaker.org/answers/discussion-about-whether-we-hit-peak-oil-i-think-drives-some-discussion-about-whether-or-how Wed, 23 Apr 2008 23:13:08 -0500 Todd Zwillich 1249 at http://www.askyourlawmaker.org