Unraveling the Intricacies of the Constitution and Its Role in Elections

Promise me, you want to become an expert on Constitution and its relevance to the election process? Then you are in the right place! The Walt Blackman show is your ticket to unraveling the intricacies of the Constitution's sections and clauses. We'll be dissecting Section 4, Clauses 1 and 2, and Section 5, Clause 1, and their pivotal role in the electoral process. From taxation to regulation of commerce, immigration, and naturalization, we'll be your guide in understanding how these policy matters interweave with the Constitution's fabric. 

So, ready to dig deeper into the Constitution? Grab your notepads as we step into an informative journey through Clauses 3, 4, 6, and 7. We'll shed light on Congress's obligation to keep a journal of proceedings, the rules on adjournment, member compensation, and the origination of revenue-raising bills. Rest assured, this isn't just a dry constitutional study session. It's a power-pack of knowledge that empowers you to see beyond the political correctness, and truly grasp the Constitution's essence. 

But wait, there's more! I'll also be revealing why a profound understanding of the Constitution is a must for every citizen. We'll discuss the pitfalls of interpreting the Constitution without adequate knowledge and the urgency to educate ourselves on it. If you're hungry for more insights, I highly recommend tuning into my previous podcasts on platforms like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podcasts Index, Amazon, and I Heart Radio. Remember, the world of the Constitution may seem complex, but with the right guidance, it becomes an intriguing maze waiting to be solved. This is your no-PC zone, a space where knowledge reigns supreme. So, let's embark on this enriching journey together!

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Strap in. You're listening to the Walt Blackman Show, the show that brings you hardcore conservative straight talk. Welcome to the no PC Zone, Hi everybody it's Walt Blackman.

Speaker 2: 0:16

I hope you're having a great and wonderful day. Welcome to the Walt Blackman Show. This is the show where you get all your political information out front, with a no PC Zone. So get ready and get set and we are ready to go on the Walt Blackman Show. Well, well, well, hello everybody. Welcome to the Walt Blackman Show. This is Walt Blackman and we are continuing our series on the Constitution.

Speaker 2: 0:57

And listen when I'm talking about the Constitution. I definitely, definitely do not want to belittle anyone's mental capacity to understand the Constitution. Are those who already know the Constitution, because I certainly am not a constitutional scholar. However, I like to read and I like to learn and I like to increase my knowledge on a subject as the Constitution. That is very, very serious, because the foundation of the Constitution actually holds us together as a country and we often hear people recite to the Constitution, but they are doing it incorrectly because they are adding in things to the Constitution which, number one, they are not legally able to do, because that is only the Congress, in section one of Article 1 of the Constitution. However, we have people that are doing that, for example, when we talk about the elections and we're going to be talking about some of that today, because we're going to be talking about Section 4, clause 1 and 2 of Section 4 of the Constitution. So when people actually talk about this section and they recite this session I'm not talking about reciting it as a time that places into matters of holding elections. I am not talking about that they will pull something out of Section 1 Clause or Section 4, clause 1 of the Constitution and apply it to their narrative, and that is wrong, because sometimes they are applying it wrong and they have it dug into Clause 1, section 4, article 1 of the Constitution. They haven't done that.

Speaker 2: 2:36

So, being in the political spectrum, I have a responsibility to understand and be able to interpret the Constitution not as I see fit, however, how the Constitution is written, how it is spelled out. So we have people that walk around with the Constitution in their book, with these little booklets, and that's great. You're going to do that. That's great. However, some of these sane people will stand in front of a crowd, pull out the Constitution and yell and scream my liberties, my freedoms, my right. Yeah, you do have those, but do you understand the Constitution? Have you read the Constitution? Have you dissected the Constitution? And is your argument that you were talking about at that place and time we get waving the Constitution in people's face. Does that apply to your subject? And a lot of times it doesn't. And then we get the problem of people who are doing this for a cause, for a policy or what have you. However, they don't know the Constitution.

Speaker 2: 3:39

I dare to say that a lot of people who were running around during this whole election issue, particularly in Arizona, only read the parts of the Constitution that fit their narrative, for example in Section 4, clause 1 of the Constitution. Article 1, section 4, clause 1, the times and places and matters of holding elections for senators and representatives shall be prescribed in each state by the legislator. Ok, that's the Arizona House, the Arizona Senate, so on and so forth. But the Congress now listen to this. The Congress may, at any time by law, make or alter such regulations, except as to places of those particular elections. When it has to deal with senators Clause 2, the Congress shall assemble at least once in every year and, as such, meetings shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.

Speaker 2: 4:40

Now sometimes people talk about that particular clause, but they will not add or they do not know, changed by the 20th Amendment. But what does that mean? Well, let me break it down. When we're talking about Clause 1, the times and places and matter of holding elections, each state's legislative body will decide where and when and how to hold elections for senators and representatives. It doesn't say anything about counties, even though counties are responsible for running their elections within the county. It doesn't say that counties can move, change or alter elections. Only the Congress may make a new law or change the time or places in the manner and manner is the word that I am talking about except the place where senators are chosen, and of course that was changed by the 20th Amendment. Members of Congress will meet and work at least once every year, on the first Monday of December, and if they want to change that, they've got to make a law to do that.

Speaker 2: 5:53

Now I've heard people running around talking about that. They can change the manner of an election, the place of an election or how they are holding elections at the county level. But first of all, I've already talked about where you can't do that. It is done at the state legislative process through making law, delegating those laws to the county. Key word delegating. However, congress trumps and Congress may make a new law and change the places, the manner and time of elections. That's what I'm talking about.

Speaker 2: 6:27

So when you, when I hear somebody say that they're going to do all these things about the election, do they really understand section four, clause one? Clause two is self-explanatory. Now let's move on to clause five, or section five, clause one. Each house shall be the judge of the election. I'll read that again, article one, section five, clause one each house shall be the judge of the elections. Returns and qualifications for its own members and the majority of each sale constitute a quorum to do business, but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members in such a manner and under such penalties as each house may provide.

Speaker 2: 7:19

Why do we have people in your 90 states Congress not showing up for votes? The constitution lays out that that they are supposed to be there. They are supposed to be there. They are by law supposed to be there. The problem is that sometimes somebody's folks miss important votes. To break it down in clause one, section five the Senate and the House of Representatives shall judge if their own members are qualified. If they have been properly elected, they have to be there to be able to do it, and in order to pass a law or do business, more than half of the House must be present. Now, where the loophole is a quorum, that's the loophole. So your person in Congress doesn't really have to be there. If they have a quorum, they don't have to be there. Now, I don't like that any better than the next person. However, when we have people that are complaining about their elected officials, go look at how many times they've missed votes.

Speaker 2: 8:15

However, you cannot, on the flip side, say, according to the constitution, we can get rid of a representative. You can't do that until there's a new election or that member has been expelled from the body. The constitution does not say that In order to pass a law or do business, more than half of the House must be present. Members may compel absent members to come to to the meeting may not shell, but may. So that means the speaker of the House can say hey, can you come to the floor meeting today so we can cast a vote and that member, if they don't have a quorum, or if they have a quorum because they know I'm not going to show up, because each House can decide how they want to do their work, because they make the rules for the behavior and the punishment of members for bad behavior. Not showing up to work is bad behavior and if two-thirds of the members of the House agree, they can expel, to kick folks out.

Speaker 2: 9:14

But let's look at this, let's peel the onion back on this, because when you have a tight majority versus the minority, guess what Do you really think that speaker of the House is going to move to kick somebody out because they didn't show up to work? Show up to work, expel that member. That's why we need to have people in there with integrity. We have to have people in there that will do their job, and if they don't do their job, then it's time for us to let them go. Everybody, we are going to take a quick break and when we do that, you need to make sure that you know where to go for consulting. Well, it's time to pay the bills everybody and we do that by going to our sponsors, wb Consulting Services LLC. Wb Consulting is your trusted source of Arizona public policy-related issues, offering expert analysts and advice for economic growth and business investment. Their experienced team of advocates for pro-business tax policy and tax-reform proposals will ensure the best possible outcome for your organization's success. So stay informed and make informed decisions with WB Consulting LLC, an objective approach to your public policy. And if you want to give them a call, all you need to do is call toll-free 1-888-341-5871, or call them directly 602-960-7553. That's WB Consulting Services LLC and we are back.

Speaker 2: 10:55

Let's go ahead and pick up at Clause 3. Clause 3 is relatively simple to understand. That's each house you'll keep a journal of its proceedings so that by law they have to wreck. You know. They have to put it in record in the journal and from time to time publish the same, except such parts as may, in their judgment, require security. Now, the yeas and the nays of the members of each house, or either house on any question, shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those presence, be entered into the journal, and I don't know about that. Shall Each house the Congress and the Senate or the House of Representatives in the Senate will keep a record of their journal, of the work that they do and the laws that they pass. They can't just do it in secret and they have to publish that to the public. However, if the Congress decides that what they are talking about is confidential or secret. They don't have to do that. If one-fifth of the members present it as to write down everyone's vote, then each member will vote and will write it their vote through the journal, through a ye or an a.

Speaker 2: 12:14

Now the place I really want to talk about is that they have the ability to take out certain things of the meetings that they are having. If they deem it secret, they have the ability to do that. They have the decisions to decide what parts should be secret and what parts should not be secret. The reason why I talk about this piece in Clause 3 is because I've heard people stand up in front of crowds and say the Congress has to tell us everything that they are doing because they work for us. Yes, you are correct, they do work for us. However, in Clause 3 of the Constitution, when we are talking about the operation, no part of the Constitution Section 5, clause 3, clearly, clearly lays out that there are parts of their discussion that they can deem secret and they do not have to tell the public of that.

Speaker 2: 13:24

Now, in Clause 4, it's really easy to understand that neither house, during the session of Congress, shall, without the consent of the other adjourned for more than three days, nor at any other place than that in which the two houses should be sitting. Now we have that same law, our clause, in our Constitution here in Arizona, and I would suggest that you read the Constitution, the Arizona Constitution, so you can apply somebody's name that clause, clause 4 of the Constitution, united States Constitution, something that we use here in Congress or here at the Arizona House and Senate. The reason why I say that? Because you have a lot of people that will say that we need to get out of, we need to get out of session, or why aren't they in session, or this, or that you have two. I'm correction, you have three days to adjourn, but if the Senate is still in session and they have in Sineadide, the house can't Sineadide. It's the same concept in Congress, at the federal level, clause 4, while Congress is in session, understand, while they are in session, one house may not take time off of work for more than three days, unless the other house says it's okay. And if you're trying to pass a budget or pass bills, guess what? The president of the Senate here in Arizona are the president pro Tim, which is at the federal level, are the speaker of the house. They're not going to agree to anything like that, and neither house will meet where they do not work unless work is agreed upon at another location. So when they say a quorum, you can't have a quorum of members meeting anywhere outside of the place that they normally work at. That's exactly what they mean. You cannot have a quorum of members meeting at Denny's talking about legislation, because you are breaking the Constitution, because it's not a place of business. And because it's not a place of business the Denny's Back Room, bankwood Room when you have a lot of members meeting there, are they breaking the Constitution? When you have these events, where members are meeting there and it's a smaller body, are they breaking the Constitution? That's something that we need to understand.

Speaker 2: 15:56

Section six, clause one senators and representatives shall receive a compensation. I'm not gonna talk about that too much, because folks need to get paid. Folks need to get paid and if we don't pay them, folks gotta get paid. And some people don't think that Congress should get paid. Come on, they're living and working in Washington DC and the high cost of living is crazy anyway. So, yeah, they need to be paid. However, I don't think they have a right to raise their own salaries. Now, section seven, clause one. Now this is the one that people really need to understand.

Speaker 2: 16:35

All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives, but the Senate may oppose or concur with amendments, as on other bills. What does that mean In a nutshell? Bills for raising money or taxes, they start and originate in the House of Representatives. The House of Representatives holds the purse strings. That's why you will see, for example, the Appropriations Committee in the United States House of Representatives. So some people will say and I've heard this the Senate raises the money, the Senate generates the revenue of taxes or raising. No folks, no, only the House of Representatives have the right and the authority, based on the Constitution, to raise revenue, only the House of Representatives. However, the Senate can go in and propose amendments to those spendings. Are they just agreed to the House bills? However, the Senate doesn't generate the raising of funds, and where those funds go, it is not the Senate's job.

Speaker 2: 17:50

Clause two it'll be bill which shall be passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate shall, before it becomes law, be presented to the President of the United States. If he approves, he shall sign it, but if not, he returns it what their objections to the House in which it originated, not just to both chambers. The President has a responsibility to say vetoing this bill, and this is why I am vetoing the bill. The bill is sent back to the originating House. To put it simply, after a bill passes both the House and the Senate, it goes to the President. If the President approves it, it becomes law, as we know in Schoolhouse Rock. But if the President doesn't approve the bill, he can write a reason for objecting to that bill and send it back to the House or the Senate or wherever it started at. Then the House or the Senate need to write to the President of the objections in their journal and they'll discuss the law again. And only if two thirds of the House vote for that bill that was sent back after considering it again, then it shall go back to the other Houses along with the objections that the President wrote and that House shall consider the law again and vote on it again. And if two thirds of that House also votes for the bill, then, ladies and gentlemen, then, and only then will it become a law.

Speaker 2: 19:19

So if the President vetoes a bill and it goes back to your originating house and the Senate and the Congress, the House of Representatives, both agree that this is a good bill. They both have to vote and it has to pass in those chambers. And if they don't do that, it doesn't become. If they don't go through that procedure, what I am talking about? It dies. It dies with the veto, but it doesn't stop there. Everybody and some people think it does stop there. Oh, they can just send it back to the House and the Senate and the bill and all they got to do is pass the bill and it becomes a law. No, the President has 10 days to sign a bill. Even after he vetoes it, it goes back to the process. The President has 10 days to sign the bill that comes from Congress. Now if the President does not sign the bill and doesn't return it to Congress in 10 days and that means not counting Sundays then the bill will become law without signing it. Now you've got to understand this too. If Congress decides to go home during those 10 days, the President can't return the bill to them with his objections. Then it does not become law.

Speaker 2: 20:32

What I just did right there, is dissecting a piece in the Constitution to apply to that particular subject that I am talking to you about explaining what it is about. So it's real easy to say that you are a Second Amendment person but you don't understand the clauses in the Second Amendment, that you are a First Amendment person, a freedom of speech, freedom to assemble but you don't understand the clauses in there. And then you spout something that is not true, you spout something that is the wrong information, and when you do that, when people do that, it only hurts hurts our process in creating new and good policy. Hello everybody, we all get busy and when we do, it's kind of hard for us to catch up on some of the old podcasts that we like to listen to. However, I've got a fix for that. If you want to listen to some of my older podcasts, all you need to do is jump over to Apple Podcasts, spotify, google Podcasts, podcasts Index, amazon and my favorite, I Heart Radio. Or if you're at home you want to listen to some of my older podcasts, all you need to do is go to wwwbuzzsproutcom, click on the Wall Blackman Show and go to episodes. That's wwwbuzzsproutcom, click on the Wall Blackman Show and all you need to do is click on your favorite podcast. Everybody thanks and I look forward to having the conversation with you.

Speaker 2: 22:11

Okay, everybody, we are at the bottom half of our time here in the discussion about the Constitution of the United States and again, when I am talking about these things in the Constitution, when I am going over the Constitution, I am not trying to insult anyone's intelligence. What I am doing is basically two things educating folks about the Constitution and also putting a message out there to those folks who claim themselves to be constitutional scholars, and when they do that, they hurt people, they hurt and break policy when they do these things. That's why education is important. Simply because you are an adult and you are out of school, you're not in college, does not mean that you have to stop learning, does not mean that you are not obligated or not that you have a personal responsibility to read and educate yourself on new things that come about. Because when we stop learning, when we stop trying to expand our knowledge base, that's when we become ignorant. And when we become ignorant, then we have discussions that are dangerous, and they become dangerous particularly when people start using and referencing the Constitution of the United States in incorrect ways because they don't understand the Constitution.

Speaker 2: 23:38

Now, what I just talked about when we were talking about the section seven, and then on the internet and as I mentioned soon we'll speak about this the you, you, you, you, you, you In section four, clause one, clause two, when I was talking about that. That's not a fun thing to talk about, it's boring. People don't want to talk about that. I don't want to talk about when, when Representatives and senators have to be at work, or who gets to spend the money or Generate funds from taxes to go to different agencies. They don't want to talk about that because it's not sexy, it's not fun to talk about that. We want to just talk about the first amendment and the second amendment.

Speaker 2: 27:52

And half the people again who talk about the first amendment and Second amendment don't know even that, what they're talking about. And when they do that everybody, when folks do that they sound ridiculous. When they are talking about the Constitution and they have no concept of what the Constitution really says, they really, you know, sound Like an idiot. As I said before, now I don't go out and call people dumb, I Just kind of look at them and then I'm like, oh well, you know, maybe that's what they think the Constitution says and that's what the Constitution does.

Speaker 2: 28:35

However, if you're going to carry the book around, at least have read it, at least Understand what the Constitution says, go through it, mark it up, highlight it, make notes in your book, especially if you're a lawmaker, especially if you are applying the Constitution to certain issues that are going on. Because when you don't do that, when, when you're talking about, for example, regulating commerce, are Trying to establish a uniform rule of naturalization, when they're talking about the border, when they're talking about immigration, particularly when you're talking about immigration, you know, know what you're talking about. Don't just Spout off at the mouth, because when you do that, man, I gotta tell you you Look pretty Ignored. This is wall blackman. Hope you enjoyed it. The wall blackman show tomorrow we will continue on our discussions and as we do that, everybody, I want you to know that this is a no-pc zone. Knowledge is power. Without it, you're lost. Everybody, this wall blackman, have a great day.

Speaker 1: 30:16

You're listening to the blackman show, the show that brings you hardcore conservative straight talk. Welcome to the no-pc zone.