What does this mean? (Constitution)

[JBeukema]

Article I Section 8 POWERS OF CONGRESS

To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;

What does the part I have emphasized actually mean?

 

[JW Frogen]

Technically, it means such unused money (like that ever happens) must return to the Treasury unless a new spending bill is passed, in reality it means nothing.

Congress has been loathe to cut off funding to our troops at war ever since they sank the Republic of South Vietnam in 1973.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

Article I Section 8 POWERS OF CONGRESS

To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;

What does the part I have emphasized actually mean?

It means that Congress cannot fund a standing army for more than two years.

 

[JBeukema]

Technically, it means such unused money (like that ever happens) must return to the Treasury unless a new spending bill is passed, in reality it means nothing.

Where else would it go?

Article I Section 8 POWERS OF CONGRESS

To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;

What does the part I have emphasized actually mean?

It means that Congress cannot fund a standing army for more than two years.

My source doesn't cite any amendments (that I see) changing this- yet we clearly keep a standing army at all times, now. Was there an amendment ratified changing this, or is maintaining our army (in the rare instances we are not at war) technically illegal? Also, does this mean it must be disbanded, or that it is for two years at a time and may be renewed every two years, by congress, if needed?

 

[JW Frogen]

I was in the military during war, it is ALWAYS SPENT. But should Jesus come down and angels herald out of his ass riding on the backs of butterflies ending war before such money is spent, the money would return to the Treasury as I stated.

 

[JBeukema]

So, THAT'S why they're always so hellbent on finding something to spend it on

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

It is technically unconstitutional to maintain a standing army. The framers did this because they believed that there was too much risk of the federal government becoming tyrannical if it always had a standing army at the ready. They preferred the decentralized state militias to defend them.

 

[JW Frogen]

It is technically unconstitutional to maintain a standing army. The framers did this because they believed that there was too much risk of the federal government becoming tyrannical if it always had a standing army at the ready. They preferred the decentralized state militias to defend them.

Abe Lincoln had other ideas Kevin.

They don't call him "Honest Abe" for no reason.

"Apey Abe" never really caught on.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

It is technically unconstitutional to maintain a standing army. The framers did this because they believed that there was too much risk of the federal government becoming tyrannical if it always had a standing army at the ready. They preferred the decentralized state militias to defend them.

Abe Lincoln had other ideas Kevin.

They don't call him "Honest Abe" for no reason.

"Apey Abe" never really caught on.

I think "Dishonest Abe" is a more apt description of Lincoln.

 

[JBeukema]

It is technically unconstitutional to maintain a standing army. The framers did this because they believed that there was too much risk of the federal government becoming tyrannical if it always had a standing army at the ready. They preferred the decentralized state militias to defend them.

Abe Lincoln had other ideas Kevin.

They don't call him "Honest Abe" for no reason.

"Apey Abe" never really caught on.

He also suspended habeus corpus and ruled like a tyrant because America was at war in her own streets. A lot of people hated him in both North and South. It was future generations who made him into a hero, whereas he was very controversial in life.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

It is technically unconstitutional to maintain a standing army. The framers did this because they believed that there was too much risk of the federal government becoming tyrannical if it always had a standing army at the ready. They preferred the decentralized state militias to defend them.

Abe Lincoln had other ideas Kevin.

They don't call him "Honest Abe" for no reason.

"Apey Abe" never really caught on.

He also suspended habeus corpus and ruled like a tyrant because America was at war in her own streets. A lot of people hated him in both North and South. It was future generations who made him into a hero, whereas he was very controversial in life.

He also shut down many opposition newspapers in the north, and even deported Ohio Congressman Clement Vallandigham to the Confederacy for a speech he made.

 

[JBeukema]

I know there were talks of offing Jackson (something one did not do at the time), but I don't recall whether Lincoln was in on it

 

[Soaring]

Is there any wonder he got a bullet in the head?

 

[JW Frogen]

When one is crunching on crackers you are going to get a few crumbs.

 

[Pyrite]

It means that you can only fund the military two years in advance. So every two years, at most, there has to be a new vote to continue funding the military. You can't pass a bill to fund the military for the next ten or twenty years.

Of course, it long ago became a part of the yearly budget process, and the question of whether America is to have a standing army has seldom been raised in recent years.

 

[editec]

Do any of our board "strict constitutionalists" think we ought to disband our standing military?