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February 6 – Lame Duck Day

February 6, 2016

nPostednon February 6, 2016

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nOnenthing that the United States has been pretty good at, all thesenyears, is the peaceful transition of power. As I read and write aboutnworld history, and even world current events, there has been so muchn“and then so-and-so’s army killed the ruler, and so-and-so becamenthe new ruler” or other violent stuff like that. No matter hownvicious political speeches and ads are, at times (and I don’t like andirty campaign!) – at least there hasn’t been much mayhem and deathnas a n

nDemocratic-Republicanntook over from a Federalist, or a Whig took over from a Democrat, ornwhatever.

nThenFounders knew that a smooth, peaceful transition of power would takentime, so there was time built in. Too much time, it turns out! Therenused to be five months for the newly elected president to choose ancabinet and get up to speed on security issues and physically move tonWashington. (If you think about how slow transportation andncommunication was, back then, that makes sense.) But remember, in allnthat time, the old president was busy governing the nation – andndoing who-knows-what, now that he knows for sure he’ll soon be out ofna job.

nAnpresident who knows that he will soon be out of the president-ing biznis called a “lame duck.” That term comes from England in then1600s, when “lame ducks” was a nickname for stockbrokers whoncould not pay off their debts. There are also lame duck Senators andnRepresentatives. Indeed, ANY person holding a political office couldnbe considered a lame duck if he or she:

n(1)ntried for re-election, but lost the election,

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n(2) chose not tonrun for re-election,

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n(3) was not allowed to run fornre-election, because of a “term limit,”

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n(4) was notnallowed to run for re-election, because the office held wasneliminated.

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BecausenU.S. presidents are not allowed any more than two 4-year terms,nPresident Obama cannot run for re-election again in November of thisnyear. So he can be considered a lame duck president. But, remember,nlame-duckness happens to all presidents, sooner or later (unlessnsomething tragic happens and they die in office).

nThenhumorist Will Rogers once warned that lame duck officials can bendangerous to the nation. He said, “Annawful lot of people are confused as to just what is meant by a lamenduck Congress. It’s like where some fellows worked for you andntheir work wasn’t satisfactory and you let ’em out, but after younfired ’em, you let ’em stay long enough so they could burn yournhouse down.”

nInnthe modern era, with rapid transportation and instant communication,na new president doesn’t need 5 months to put together a team, get upnto speed on issues, and move to Washington. And in 1933, lawmakersnpassed and states ratified the 20^thnAmendment to the Constitution to make the transition period shorter:njust 2 months.

nTodaynhas been dubbed Lame Duck Day so that we can ponder the good aspectsnof having a transitional period but also the possible problems ofnlame duck officials making decisions without them being heldnaccountable by voters. It’s possible that someday there will benanother change to prevent lame-duck Congress sessions passing anflurry of unwanted laws that make the folks on the way out the doornrich!

nBynthe way, apparently today is Lame Duck Day because, although the 20^thn“Lame Duck” Amendment was ratified in January of 1933, itnwas February 6, 1933, that the U.S. Secretary of State proclaimed thenamendment.

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