Lame Dodos

When man's great and good friend, the horse, slips and breaks his leg, he is promptly shot. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals sees to that. When a Senator or a Representative slips and loses an election, he continues as a lame duck law maker for four months longer. To provide for the prompt decapitation of maimed ducks and halt politicians, a proposed amendment to the Constitution was brought before the Senate, The Senate passed the proposal by vote of 63 to 7. Its terms :

1) The terms of office of the President and Vice President shall begin and end on the third Monday in January of every fourth year (instead of on March 4, as at present).

2) The terms of Senators and Representatives shall begin and end on the first Monday in January of every second year (instead of on March 4, as at present).

3) Congress shall convene at least once every year, on the first Monday in January, unless a different day is appointed by law. (At present although Congressmen are elected in November, their terms do not begin until the following March -- four months later--and they actually do not meet, unless a special session is called, until the following December--13 months after election. The proposed amendment would make the terms and first meetings of Congress begin only two months after elections.)

4) If the election of a President is thrown into the House of Representatives (in case no candidate has a majority of votes in the Electoral College) and if the House has not chosen a President by the third Monday in January, then the Vice President shall serve as President until a President is chosen, or ...

5) If in the above contingency the House shall not have chosen a President by March 4, following, then the Vice President shall be President for the entire four years, but . . .

6) In the event that no Vice President has been chosen (which might happen, if no Vice Presidential candidate had a majority in the Electoral College, and if the Senate were unable to choose a Vice President) then Congress shall designate by law what officer shall serve as President until the House chooses a President or the Senate chooses a Vice President.

7) The above provisions would go into effect on October 15 following the ratification of this amendment.

The effect of the above proposal would be to shorten the terms of whatever Congressmen, President and Vice President were in office when the Amendment was ratified. Certain Congressmen do not like to take the bread out of their own mouths in this way. The Amendment now goes to the House for action and if approved there, will be submitted to the States.