Should President check in with Congress before accepting Nobel Peace Prize?

Florida Republican Reps. Ginny Brown-Waite (Brooksville), on left, and Cliff Stearns (Ocala) have joined with Ron Paul of Texas in sending President Barack Obama a letter asking him to consult with Congress before accepting the Nobel Peace Prize.

Brown-Waite writes in a news release: "Article I,  Section 9 of  the Constitution clearly states: 'no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the consent of Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince or foreign state.

"I urge President Obama to affirm his devotion to our Constitution and seek the consent of Congress before accepting the award in Oslo, Norway, on Dec. 10.”

Obama has already said he would donate the prize money to charity.

Share your feedback: Should Obama be required to consult with Congress before going to Oslo to claim his prize?

Comments

[Karen Willis]

HE IS SITTING ON THE SECURITY COUNCIL

THATS THE VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 1 SECTION NINE THE NEWS IS IGNORING IT!
HE MUST STEP DOWN FROM THE PRESIDENCY IF HE WANTS TO BE ON THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Tom in Tampa Bay]

Another post smackdown, shame on the 'liberal' Times, all that I did was to mock Ginny Brown-Waite for her grandstanding to have the bodies of Americans killed at Normandy exhumed back when her fellow GOP'ers were busy renaming the food in the Congressional cafe as Freedom Fries and Freedom Toast.

This place is a joke, anyone who dares to ask questions gets censored and I am sure I'm not the only one.

[Tom in Tampa Bay]

Ginny Brown-Waite, right. Wasn't she the crackpot who wanted to have the bodies of all American soldiers buried in France exhumed right about the time that a gaggle of juvenille idiots were busy in the Congressional cafeteria with such issues of great importance like changing the menu to include Freedom Fries and Freedom toast?

Why this loon is given any credibility at all is a damning testament to the monumental idiocy that has gripped America during the phony war on terror that is in reality a war on our civil liberties.

In my opinion Obama is undeserving of the Nobel Prize, the drones are still killing innocent people, the wars go on and on and he has participated in the greatest screwing of the working class to bail out the usurers and the money changers in history.

But the idiot Republicans have taken pettiness to a new level with dog and pony shows like this. And too many people think that just because it has Ron Paul's blessing that it is great but didn't his movement get easily hijacked by the ultra corrput Dick Armey and the propagandists over at FOX 'News'?

Ginny Brown-Waite is a mockery and were it not for her gerrymandered safe district in the boondocks she would be selling used cars instead of divisive and silly legislation.

TT

[chet]

I have only 2 questions: (1) Is Brown-Waite a Republican. (2) How much does she weigh?

[Ron Putman]

GB-W is a good friend of Michelle Bachman (R.Mn.) and that woman is a nut job. Enough said ???

[Disgusted and Appalled]

I am appalled, disappointed and saddened at the amount of disrespect members of Congress are showing the President of the United States. From the birthers to the "You Lie" outburst and now to Ginny B-W's idiotic move to have Congress grant President Obama permission to accept a gift, members of our government have become selfish, partisan and just plain rude. Obama has already promised to donate the Nobel Prize money to charity, but no-o-o-o-o -- rather than be proud that the President of our country received such an honor, the Republicans treat him with scorn and ridicule. And now Ginny and her cronies want Congress to give him "permission"? Are our elected representatives so bored that they can afford to spend time on this drivel rather than on the pressing needs of our time?

For shame, Ginny, for shame! You and your Florida colleague-in-crime are an embarrassment to Brooksville, Ocala and the rest of Florida, as well as our nation.

[Tom]

http://nobelprize.org/award_ceremonies/prize.html

The prize is NOT presented by the King of Norway. It is presented by the Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, in the presence of the King.

[LizF]

Well now we know who is doing the work, at least Ms. Brown-Waite was honest enough to tell us she was letting an Aide give her ideas. No wonder this country is in such a mess, our elected officials are there in name only and every time some student brings a blog comment as facts, this creates a new piece of legislation. If this is in the Constitution, then a lot of Presidents have violated the rules. Perhaps while Ginny Brown-Waite is writing letters, don't forget to send one to Pres. Bush. Is she aware of the gifts he got from Harmid Karzai, Saudi Arabia's crown prince and Vladimir Putin, to name a few, of jewelry, expensive works of art, etc. Instead of 'cherry picking" the Constitution, why don't you just say, this President should be back on the plantation and get it over with because after all many of the good Founding Fathers were slave owners. The fact that she is a nutcase is bad enough but she found some more nuts to go along with this insanity. God help us all!!!!!
Proud to be a Democrat

[Dustin]

Did anyone ever think that maybe that article was put in the constitution for a reason? I find it amazing that from grown adults there is so much disregard for the law of that land. So much disregard for the document that was the birth of the nation and the document that made us so special.

I only hope that the next generation revives the fires of liberty that has been lost on the past generations. I fear for our society and our way of life. I feel it slipping away.

[Another ex-republican]

As a former supporter of Brown-Waite, I am totally disappointed in her and her political cronies current wild flailing around and she will not have my vote again.
It seems to me that she has become blinded by her hatred of our President Obama.
In fact, I think she has absolutely lost her mind.

[JH]

I'm pretty sure this is just more political grandstanding by a person and a party with no new ideas. The public has already shown itself willing to devote an excessive amount of interest to garbage like "you lie!" and "die quickly" outbursts, not to mention UFO balloon hoaxes. Brown-Waite just wants her three minutes of idiotic fame too. And what's the result? The SPT has devoted both an article and a chat/response blog to her letter. The grandstanding has worked again.

[Mark]

Did Clinton consult Congress when he accepted the Nobel Piece Prize!!! No
Posted by: Sarah | October 28, 2009 at 11:37 AM

Clinton didn't win the Nobel Peace Prize. If you would do the simple act of following links in the story, you'd end up here: http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/
And, yes, he should. Laws are in place to be followed, at all times, not just when convenient. If people only had to follow them at their convience, then no one would ever obey the law. Presidents are supposed to be the best of the best, the example everyone in the country looks up to. Ignoring laws due to inconvience isn't exactly the example I want the best of this country to set forth. Last time a president did that, and got called on it, was Clinton. The time before that, Nixon. Both times made the United States a laughing stock. Obama's approval rating is low enough already, and the populaces of foreign countries are already laughing at the US because of it. If anything, he needs to do everything in his power to not exacerbate the situation, especially following the constitution down to the letter.

[The most unbelieveable nonsensense]

I cannot understand how Brown-Waite and the other representatives of Floridia can waste such needed money and time on such trivial matters.We are looking to our government to help get this country back on track after eight years of damage.Instead of this inane pursuit,how about helping President Obama resolve the problems with health care,job losses,wars and getting America back to working for the people.

[Ron Melton]

This is rediculous. I am so tired of the nit-picking by the Republicans. It seems like any thing they can do to cause a problem or stir something up is their agenda. I'm sure I am not alone in my disgust of the politics of "spite" that is going on in Washington.

[Sarah]

Did Clinton consult Congress when he accepted the Nobel Piece Prize!!! No

[S Blackson]

Finally, someone is paying attention to the rules.

It should be mandatory that all Congress members take a Constitution Class, take a test, and the results published.

Rules are not meant to be broken. Unless and until they change, they are meant to be followed.

Think about this the next time you get a speeding ticket: WE have to follow the rules. Why doesn't Congress?

[Tim]

Yes, Obama should consult with Congress. After all, even though he butchered the oath of office on his inauguration day (thanks in part to Chief Justice Roberts), he still has sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution. The nobel prize is presented by the King of Sweden, therefore he would be in violation of Article I Section 9 without consulting Congress.

[Janet Moorman]

Does Waite Brown really think that this is of great importantance for Congress to spend its time on? Are there not far more important things impacting our nation that she, her co-signers, and the rest of Congress should be dealing with?

[jkkelly]

Ginny should be worrying about how to bring jobs to Florida. She has way too much time on her hands. Pasco citizens need to ensure she is retired permanently at the next election and hire someone who will be concerned about them.

[JoAnn McMahon]

Where does Ginny Brown-Waite come off sending such a letter the The President of the United States. Does she think we have all forgotten how her husband stole the signs of her opponent in the last election. When she becomes beyond reproach she may have the right to question President Obama or anyone else. Until then, she should keep her comments to herself. She is just playing to her Tea Party base.
The President already said he would donate the prize money. What more do these Republican zealots want???

[ezbreezer]

Ginny does her best to waste time and energy by catering to the birther ,tea party fringe of her 20% party.

[amy]

So, Utter Nonsense, just because Bush violated the law (according to you) that makes it okay for Obama to ignore the law as well?

I thought Obama was different than Bush but according to you, he's not.

[Shannon Caraccia]

Since when is a COMMITTEE a King, Prince or Foreign State???? Hey Congress - get back to work and stop wasting our time and insulting our intellegence with this crap.

[Jerry]

Brown's idea is idiotic and solely Republican based. It appears the words idiot and Republican go together these days. Can you spell "sour grapes"?

[Utter Nonesense]

Ginny B-W is a partisan nitwit. Rather than attend to issues that really affect her constituents, she wastes her time on uselessness designed only to promote party fortunes. She thinks the end of politics is to win power and hold it--vending goodies to supporters, not to serve real public needs.

It isn't like: 1) Obama is the first sitting president to receive the Nobel Prize. It first happened over a hundred years ago. 2) It isn't like Presidents don't receive scads of gifts from all over the world--including from some of the most unsavory theocratic autocrats on the planet. For a report on the gifts the last president--a guy in Ginny's own party, received and accepted, go to http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0609/24165.html, where one finds an article entitled "Bush administration got generous foreign gifts." Ginny, of course, ignored those gifts because squawking up a hen house flap about them would not have served her party's prospects. She's a person of principle, and the principle is that party prospects matter, nothing else does.

Finally, 3) it isn't a long standing statutory scheme isn't in place to govern foreign gifts. Ginny has to ignore that reality--as she ignores the realities her constituents are living through in these times, to spend her time squawking about this particular award.

She feels no reservation or shame for standing up to waste hers and our time with this partisan silliness. The shameful thing is that so many of us accept this as an appropriate execution of her public trust.

In democracy, you get the government you deserve. The reality of the quality of what we're getting from Fla. District 5's congresswoman is on the front page of the newspaper today.