Can the president legaly do this? chairman of the U.N. Security Councel...
By xfahctor
@xfahctor (14118)
Lancaster, New Hampshire
October 30, 2009 12:08pm CST
"No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States; and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall without consent of Congress accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.”
~U.S. constitution, article 1 section 9 clause 8
I am still researching this and trying to come to a conclusion myself, so I have not yet formed a solid opinion on this one. I am interested in the thoughts of others here on this one, but please, leave your party letter at the door. Lets discuss this entirely on it's constitutional and legal merrits, no "Republicans/Democrats blah blah...Bush/Clinton blah blah" or "where were you when so and so blah blah". I am only asking about the constitutional and legal merrits of this. So far, one person in particular I go to with my constitutional questions has stated that this is absolutely unconstitutional.
3 people like this
5 responses
@debrakcarey (19887)
• United States
30 Oct 09
So, were you able to find out if Congress did indeed ok this? OR, he's just that egotistical, and thinks somehow this makes him even more powerful. HOW can he have the interests of America and the UN both at heart?
1 person likes this
@gewcew23 (8007)
• United States
30 Oct 09
The issue is not that he received the Noble Peace Prize and the money that goes with the prize but he received the reward while President. I would have to agree with Congressman Ron Paul that receiving the Prize and money is unconstitutional. Even if it is not unconstitutional let us examine the fact that our sitting President received over a million dollars from a foreign source. This could produce a conflict of interest. What if Obama ran the early part of his Presidency to win the Prize. Maybe all the trips around the world during the first 100 days was a campaign for the Prize. Not saying these where all a deliberate actions but when you receive a Prize that has a cash incentive questions arise about legitimacy of the actions.
@xfahctor (14118)
• Lancaster, New Hampshire
30 Oct 09
Actually this doesn't have anything to do with the Nobel Prize...this is about his being apointed to the rotating position of chairman of the security councel...But you do raise a point with the prize money. I understand however he is donating it to charity.
2 people like this
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
30 Oct 09
That is a good question. It does say that it can happen with consent of Congress. So my initial response would be, yes, if Congress consents, then it is Constitutional. It will be interesting to see if Obama bothers seeking the consent of Congress, or if Congress bothers granting it.
Notice that Obama and Congress never bothered with consent, making his acceptance of the Nobel Piss Prize Constitutional.
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
30 Oct 09
Sorry Taskr, it seems that people read my comment and thought your OP was about the Nobel Piss Prize. Didn't mean to hijack it.
@megaplaza (1441)
• Nigeria
30 Oct 09
I guess there are rules for selecting an award winner, is obama a member of the board? I thinks it's unfair for the law to restrict one from bagging an award while in office.
@xfahctor (14118)
• Lancaster, New Hampshire
30 Oct 09
Actually this doesn't have anything to do with the Nobel Prize...this is about his being apointed to the rotating position of chairman of the security councel, and if it is indeed unconstitutional, it applies to any american citizen, not just someone who holds office.
1 person likes this
@flowerchilde (12529)
• United States
4 Nov 09
My first thought was it was about "the Czars" too, not being congressionally approved (or most of them anyway).. I haven't seen much attention to the U.N. Chairman issue.. I've even exactly forgotten when that's supposed to occur.
- Yes, I thing they should do it the constitutional way.. just as should have been done with the 'Czars'.. and also with some other constitutional issues which have come up over the years. I don't like this glossing over and hazing the lines of power and checks and balances.
@Taskr36 (13963)
• United States
3 Nov 09
I only saw it on the Fox News ticker at the bottom of the screen so I don't know if it's been discussed on any of their shows. I didn't realize this was about the security council when I read it.
The funny thing is my first thought when I started reading your thread was this line:
"No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States"
I was going to point out that this means that Obama's appointment of Emperors, or as he calls them "Czars" is clearly unconstitutional as that is a title of nobility.
1 person likes this
@xfahctor (14118)
• Lancaster, New Hampshire
30 Oct 09
I haven't even seen this on Fox news yet. I was reading a discussion in another forum on it started by a guy who I consider one of the smartest folks I know on constitutional issues. As far as I can tell, all it would take is for congress to consent to it and the constitutional issue goes away, but we should be doing this the right way.
1 person likes this
