Obama’s Veto Power and the Republican's Majority

By MORTZ C. ORTIGOZA

PHOTO CREDIT: ABC 7 Chicago.com

The American voters have spoken, according to CNN.com.election as of press time it says: 53 senators for the Republican Party or the Grand Old Party (GOP) while 46 solons for the Democrats who used to control that House before the November 4 election.

In the House of Representatives, according to the same source, 244 congressmen for the GOP while 186 representatives for the Democrats.

So what’s the implication of this U.S election to legislation that will be passed by Congress dominated by the Republicans that will be signed into law by a Democrat Party President Barrack Obama?

If the president vetoes the bills he did not like, then he has to return it to Congress where each of both Houses overturned the bill by two-third votes to make it a law.

But the problem is the GOP could not muster 290 votes or two-third from the 435 members of the House or the 66 or two-third from the 100 members of the Senate to pass a law at their own volition.

Just like in the Philippines, a two-third vote of both Houses can overturn a presidential veto into a law.

Here’s the United States Constitution  and its provisions written in a plain English - attention Filipino writers who have the propensity for high highfalutin!:

“ If he does not approve, he must return the bill, unsigned, within ten days, excluding Sundays, to the house of the United States Congress in which it originated, while the Congress is in session. The President is constitutionally required to state his objections to the legislation in writing, and the Congress is constitutionally required to consider them, and to reconsider the legislation. This action, in effect, is a veto. If the Congress overrides the veto by a two-thirds majority in each house, it becomes law without the President's signature. Otherwise, the bill fails to become law unless it is presented to the President again and he chooses to sign it”.

 With this legal reality, the Republicans could not assert what they want best for them or the U.S populace by ramming on the throat of Obama what laws they want to pass and see them approved through their sheer dominance of Congress.

How about if the GOP found the actuations likeTreason, Bribery, or other High Crimes and Misdemeanors of Obama and impeach him instead?

Let’s analyze the snap shots of the law that govern the House and Senate on impeachment.

Exhibit No. 1: The House Committee on the Judiciary, by majority vote, will determine whether grounds for impeachment exist. Here the GOP can muster the majority votes.

Exhibit No. 2: The House debates the resolution and may at the conclusion consider the resolution as a whole or vote on each article of impeachment individually. A simple majority of those present and voting is required for each article or the resolution as a whole to pass (and forward it to the Senate). Here the Republicans can muster the majority votes.

Exhibit No. 3: The U.S. Constitution requires a two-third majority or 66 out of the 100 members of the present Senate to convict Obama, and kick his “black” ass from the White House.

Just like the stalemate on the power of both Houses to overturn the presidential veto, the power of the Republicans to impeach Obama lacks the necessary number.

These unless some Democrats' Congressmen and Senators cross party line and help impeach the president, or help the GOP overturned the veto of Obama on the proposed law to avoid a political or economic schism to a former No. 1 economic juggernaut eclipsed by Mainland China.

 (You can read my selected columns at http://mortzortigoza.blogspot.com and articles at Pangasinan News Aro. You can send comments too attotomortz@yahoo.com).