PREFATORY NOTES FOR CONVENTION DELEGATES

• The initial introductory paragraph and three immediately following preambles A through C recite who is enacting the proposed 28th Amendment to our U.S. Constitution, set forth beginning on the next page, and why.
• The next eight paragraphs numbered 1 through 8 comprise the heart of the proposed Amendment. The first five of these paragraphs are substantive. They state how the Constitution is being modified. The last three of these paragraphs are the procedural ground rules of the document.
• The first three substantive paragraphs impose new limits on the country’s representatives, how long they can hold office, how much they can raise and spend to run for office, and how much compensation they can receive while in office. The fourth substantive paragraph provides that public officials can no longer pass laws that treat themselves any more favorably than all other Americans.
• While these first four substantive paragraphs focus on our office holders, the fifth and final substantive paragraph is quite different. It imposes certain limits on that segment of the voting public receiving welfare. In order to remain eligible to vote, but not to remain eligible to receive entitlements, the scope of which is not addressed in the proposed Amendment, such persons must continuously seek gainful employment to the extent of their physical and mental health, skill, and ability to be trained to work. Paragraph 5 works no prejudice on the truly downtrodden. It merely provides that if one wishes to preserve the right to vote, he or she cannot be a freeloader looking for a handout from those who might want to trade votes for entitlements. All those who make a reasonable effort to do what they can to be self-sufficient will continue to have the right to vote for their representatives.
• The three concluding procedural paragraphs are designed to protect the substantive provisions of the Amendment from being circumvented, expounding that the substantive provisions of the Amendment cannot be altered, and that the failure of any of members of Congress to abide by those provisions constitutes a criminal felony.
• It’s amazing how short and simple a document as profound as this proposed 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which is set forth beginning on the next page, can be prepared when lawyers apply themselves diligently.

The proposed Amendment is thus set forth beginning on the next page.