Let Illinois Stabilize It is not time for the State of Illinois to reinstate a constitutional convention. The condition of our state is nowhere near where it needs to be. We owe billions of dollars in debt, and are going on our second year straight without a budget. Since our country has no budget, it is ludicrous to waste money on having a convention. People are saying that having an Illinois Constitutional Convention could cost upwards of eighty million dollars. That is money that the state can not fund at this point in time. Illinois needs to refocus on cutting down their debt by defunding extraneous costs before they even consider holding a convention. Our legislators are saying they want to amend the constitution so they can take people’s …show more content…
The people getting affected are working class people who have paid taxes and paid their pensions for ten, twenty, thirty, forty, even fifty years. These same legislators also want to change the ways schools are funded. They do not care that the children at Illinois are the future, not only of our state, but also for the nation as a whole. The school system of Illinois has been underfunded for so long, therefore holding an eighty million dollar convention would only hurt our school’s funding. The Illinois legislators, including both the house and senate, have never talked about cutting their salaries or forgoing their pensions, yet they want to once again penalize the working middle class of Illinois. These same legislators refuse to create a balanced budget so our state can begin paying off its debt. They would rather raise taxes on their constituents than do the right thing and stop spending money our state does not have. Our current governor, Governor Rauner, raised taxes, promising to pay down the debt and fully fund our schools. He did neither of the things he promised. He got us further into debt and kept adding expensive programs that we could neither pay for nor sustain. Many legislators knew this was happening and did
During the problem definition stage, one must realize that “a condition is not a social problem unless it is seen as violating certain fundamental values and beliefs about how society should operate” (Gusfield, 2011). I have determined that there exists a problem concerning gun control, more specifically, concealed carry laws, as they are inconsistent throughout the states. While 48 states now have some form of concealed carry policy in place, the Illinois does not. Thus, the citizens’ rights are in violation of the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
After the Democrats regained power in Texas they undid the 1969 hated acts and submitted the Constitution of 1876 in which the state of Texas still operates under today. The Constitution is made up of 17 articles, 491 amendments and about 36,000 words. Where as the United States Constitution is only made up of 7,400 words counting the amendments. Over the years the Constitution began to add many unnecessary laws making it look very unprofessional. It is understood these laws were made for a reason at one point but they aren 't needed any longer. Those laws are just taking up space and making the Constitution look disorganized. The Texas Constitution needs to be re-written and modified to fit this era. Despite having no problems with Texas current constitution, it should be re-written because it needs to fit this era, it limits governors executive power, and its
Before the Constitution was drafted, the United States’ budding government, now independent from Great Britain, acted under a dysfunctional constitution called the Articles of Confederation. Although this constitution kept the new nation running, there were still flaws that needed to be fixed. The Articles of Confederation lacked a developed executive or judicial branch and a method for the main government to collect taxes from state governments, according to the background essay of the DBQ Packet. An assembly of fifty-five men eventually gathered for a Constitutional Convention in order to write a new constitution that would better satisfy the people’s needs. The trouble of creating another constitution lied behind creating a document
There is much debate in political theory about the definition of a constitution. Generally, it is considered as a “single governing document”. If that is the case, then the U.S. Constitution is the oldest in the world (Berry, 2011). The Framers, upon writing it, aimed to create a document that would stand the test of time. Despite changes in population size, racial and religious components, and even the modern day technology, the objective has clearly been achieved. Elkins claims that this is primarily due to its flexibility. Judicial review interprets the document with the rapidly changing society in mind (as cited in Garza, 2008). Many state constitutions, on the other hand, have not survived as long. Since many have been written with specific people and localities in mind, they have not been able to adapt to change well. Louisiana, for example, has had 11 state constitutions. It is common today, for states to consider overhauling their current constitutions (Morris, Henson, & Fackler, 2011).
The New Jersey Plan was proposed during the Constitutional Convention in 1787, where the delegates from each state were creating their new government. One of the plans that were proposed at the Conventional Convention was the Virginia Plan. This plan was written by James Madison who grew up on a wealthy plantation in Virginia. The plan said that the government should be split into three branches to keep equal power throughout the government. Though it did say seem flawless, there was one factor that displeased the smaller state. It said that the government should use the proportional representation, which is when voting would be based off of how many delegates there were. This was a problem for smaller states because then those states would not have as much of the vote as the larger states.
The strict constitutionalist within me would not be in agreement with abandoning our constitution under any circumstances. If we were to abandon this document, we return to the same situation that we were in during 1776. There would be nothing that would bind the states together. Not having a constitution almost caused us to lose the revolutionary war. During the decade that we were without the constitution, many events occurred such as Shay's Rebellion in Massachusetts, British contempt for treaties, Indian depredations, and Spanish movements on the western and southern borders. All of these combined to demonstrate how vulnerable the United States really were. Our first President, George Washington was quoted as saying " I confess to you candidly, I can foresee no evil greater than disunion".
The United States' Constitution is one the most heralded documents in our nation's history. It is also the most copied Constitution in the world. Many nations have taken the ideals and values from our Constitution and instilled them in their own. It is amazing to think that after 200 years, it still holds relevance to our nation's politics and procedures. However, regardless of how important this document is to our government, the operation remains time consuming and ineffective. The U.S. Constitution established an inefficient system that encourages careful deliberation between government factions representing different and sometimes competing interests.
The film “Iowa- An American Portrait” was narrated by Tom Brokaw. It described the land, people, education, work, religion, and family life of Iowa. One of the main topics of the film was the general view of Iowa- the Farm State. Iowa has more than two- hundred- thousand farms; ninety- eight percent of Iowa’s total land is used for production; with ninety percent of total land being used for the production of food.
More and more states became interested in these changes and decided to meet in Philadelphia on May 25, 1787. On this date the Constitutional Convention was held and the U.S Constitution was presented as a new plan of government that would completely replace the old system. This new plan called for a strong central government that would have highest authority on legislation and implementing laws. The federalist papers supported the choice to replace the Articles of Confederation and advocated for a strong central government. They persuaded citizens that this new form of government would build a stronger national unity and it would provide greater protection overall.
In 1913 legendary football coach, Robert Zuppke, coached football for the University of Illinois (“Illinois” para. 1). Robert Zuppke led their 1914 football season to be undefeated! This created many more fans for the college football team (“Illinois” para.1). For 29 years Robert zuppke coached and he and his team won four national titles in the years of 1914, 1919, 1923, 1927 (“College” para. 8). Illinois third football coach, Edward Hall, had wrote the football code for proper conduct of players (“College” para. 14). From the years of 1971 through 1976 Bob Blackman was a football coach in Illinois (“College” para. 4). NFL stars Larry McCarren, Scott Studwell, and Revie Sorey were some of the players that Bob Blackman coached (“College” para. 4). Some coaches like George Woodruff only coached 1 season at the University of Illinois (“College” para. 11). Other coaches led the team to many victories though like Pete Elliott did in 1963 (“College” para. 3).
Mayor Mike Duggan has recently added his voice to the many others in regards to asking for state help for Detroit Public Schools. While he observed some schools that were properly maintained, he noted that conditions in some schools would “break your heart” including issues with heating and severe water damage that prevented children from using the gymnasium. Duggan’s tour came to a quick and early end, however. Many schools were closed in early January due to teacher sick-outs as a form of protest to what teachers call “deplorable conditions for them as well as students.” These protests are in direct response to the building conditions, pay cuts, and the recent plan by Governor Snyder. In addition, the school system is projected to run out of funds in April. Duggan encouraged the state to help fix Detroit schools. Of the districts ninety-seven s...
In 1787, The United States of America formally replaced the Articles of Confederation with a wholly new governing document, written by the delegates who attended the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. This document, known as the Constitution, has served as the supreme law of our land for the past 228 years. It has stood the test of time and a majority of Americans still support it today (Dougherty). The Constitution was designed in a way that allows for it to be amended, in order to address changing societal needs. Article V discusses the process by which the Constitution can be altered. This feature has enabled it to stay in effect and keep up with current times. The Constitution should not be rewritten every 19 years because it would not only weaken its importance, but it would also hurt foreign relations and continuously rewriting it would give political parties too much power.
The Constitutional Convention occurred from May 14 to September 17, 1787, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The purpose of the occasion was to choose how America would be governed. Although the Convention had been formally called to reconsider the current Articles of Confederation, many representatives had substantially greater plans. Men like James Madison and Alexander Hamilton needed to make another legislature
In the 1787, delegates from all states, except Rhode Island, went to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to strengthen the Articles of Confederation in the Constitutional Convention. The Constitutional Convention, also known as the Philadelphia Convention, the Federal Convention, and the Grand Convention (from May 14th to September 17th), was a conference that reflected on crucial alterations for the Articles of Confederation. Equally important, the Constitutional Convention was the origin of the United States Constitution. Therefore, the result of the meeting would impact the whole nation, as well as the nation’s survivability.
Some states want to have separation when it comes to the income of these schools. States argue that high class, wealthy, school districts should have more money than the lower class districts, because of the tax payers wants or because there are better opportunities for students to grow in the wealthier areas. According to the U.S. Department of Education, more than 50 percent of lower end schools are not receiving the amount of money they should get from the state funds (U.S. Department of Education). This is what is preventing school districts in these areas from helping students with their education. The schools are forced to cut back on programs such as extracurricular activities that are suppose to encourage students to be active, or they would have to cut back on supplies where in some cases there are not enough textbooks for each student to have his or her own. The U.S. Department of Education also stated that teachers that are less paid and have less years teaching are often the ones dealing with the students in poverty. (U.S. Department of Education). This only prolongs the problem with children receiving the proper education. If they are taught by teachers who don’t know what they are teaching or those who don’t have enough experience, then the students are not going to learn the correct information or any information at all. While there are some schools