What is the most powerful position in the United States Congress?
The Speaker of the House is clearly the most powerful position in the US House of Representatives. The Senate Majority Leader is, in most senses, the most powerful person in the US Senate. (The President pro tempre is the most powerful in small issues of decorum and procedure.) But which is more powerful, the head of the Senate or the head of the House? That's a complicated question, and a bit of a judgement call.The House must originate all budget bills, so the Speaker is probably more influential over issues of finance and spending. The Senate, though, approves cabinet and court appointments, including appointments to the Supreme Court. Nothing the House can do comes close to the importance of appointing a new Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court, but budgets and spending bills are far more common.Also, the Speaker supposedly represents the entire House, not just one party or the other. The Senate Majority Leader only officially represents the majority party. At least in theory, that gives the Speaker more authority in the House than the Senate Majority Leader has in the Senate.There is also some flexibility to the balance of power based on their relationships with other powerful figures in Washington. A Republican Speaker of the House won't be as influential in Washington while there's a Democrat in the Oval Office, for example. Differing expertise in the topic at hand or in the game of politics generally also alter the office-holder's ability to turn official power into material accomplishments.I think the Speaker is usually a bit more powerful, but it's an awfully close call.
Do you support a constitutional amendment to prohibit .................?
I don't becuase it may make the US weaker internationally. Even though introducing free trade across the board makes the general welfare larger, it doesn;t necessarily mean that you will be in better position later. The government's job is to watch out for American interests -- not the world as a whole. half the reason I pay taxes is because I assume that the government is taking care of my economic interests as best it can. Sadly, the only framework I'm willing to allow get the benefit is my own nation; I'm just not ready to go out of my way to ensure that the rest of the world gets a piece of my pie.
How do checks and balances limit majority rule in the U.S. Constitution?
One very powerful check on majority rule and one of the few remaining is the process to elect a President. A majority of states can overrule a democratic majority of people. It does this most effectively under the procedure the states represented in Congress would use in the event Congress is called upon to settle the question of who will sit in the Oval Office. In Congress, each state gets one vote, regardless of the population of the state. Of course, another is the Bill of Rights, which places our individual rights beyond the touch of any majority and keeps them independent from the outcome of any election. One check on majority rule was diminished by the 17th Amendment, where US Senators selected by state legislatures to provide a balance of power between state governments and the federal government was surrendered by the states to popular elections by people at large. This was an important check on Federal power as it is through the Senate, originally populated by Representatives of state legislatures, the entities that chartered the Constitution, is where Supreme Court nominees must go. Another important but diluted check was the "necessary and proper" clause where the intent was to make the Constitution the arbiter of what was proper for government to do, not a majority in Congress or the Court, regardless of how necessary either regarded the action to be. Another check is the Amendment process, where it takes a supermajority of states to change the Constitution. It can't be done by a simple popular majority vote and it is absolutely not necessary for a majority of people to live in that supermajority of states. Currently about 60% of the population resides in about 12 states. Those 12 states with 60% of the population, even if they formed a rock solid coalition of states, would still fall far short of the number required to amend the Constitution.
What role did Sam Adams play in the continental congress?
Sam Adams represented Massachusetts. More information below. http://www.sparknotes.com/biography/sama...