Candidates' positions are categorized as Pro (Yes), Con (No), Not Clearly Pro or Con, or None Found. Candidates who have changed their positions are listed as Now their most recent position. Candidates are listed by party and in alphabetical order by last name. Black & white photos indicate candidates who have withdrawn or who no longer meet our criteria for inclusion.
Should the US Constitution and Bill of Rights be amended or updated in any way?
Gary Johnson, former Governor of New Mexico, stated the following during the Sep. 22, 2011 Republican presidential candidate debate hosted by Fox News in Orlando FL, available at www.foxnews.com:
"Balance the federal budget now, not 15 years from now, not 20 years from now, but now. And throw out the entire federal tax system, replace it with a fair tax, a consumption tax, that by all measurements is just that. It's fair. It does away with corporate income tax. If that doesn't create tens of millions of jobs in this country, I don't know what does." Sep. 22, 2011 Gary Johnson
[Editor’s Note: The "fair tax" mentioned in the above quote by Gary Johnson refers to the Fair Tax Act of 2011 (H.R.25). The act "repeals the income tax, employment tax, and estate and gift tax," and replaces that tax income with a national sales tax of 23%. The bill also supports the repeal of the 16th amendment to the US constitution which gave congress "power to lay and collect taxes on incomes." Because Gary Johnson supports the Fair Tax Act of 2011, and the repeal of the income tax, we have labeled him as PRO to our question.]
Barack Obama, then-Senator (D-IL), co-sponsored a Mar. 27, 2007 bill in the 110th Congress titled "A Joint Resolution Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of the United States Relative to Equal Rights for Men and Women," available at thomas.loc.gov. The S.J. Res. 10 said in part:
"...[T]he following article is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States...
Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex." Mar. 27, 2007 Barack Obama
Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts, stated the following in an article titled "Here Is How I Will Control Federal Spending," posted www.mittromney.com on Sep. 29, 2011:
"We must cut government spending, cap that spending at a sustainable level - 20 percent of GDP is the target I would shoot for - and pass a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution." Sep. 29, 2011 Mitt Romney
Jill Stein, MD, former Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, stated the following in her Jan. 2012 speech "A People's State of the Union: A Green New Deal for America," available at www.jillstein.org:
"When corporations and big money dominate our elections, government of, for, and by the people cannot take root. For this reason, we urgently need to amend our Constitution to make clear that corporations are not persons and money is not speech. Those rights belong to living, breathing human beings like you and me - not to business entities controlled by the wealthy." Jan. 2012 Jill Stein
Michele Bachmann, US Representative (R-MN), stated the following in an interview on Good Morning America, aired June 14, 2011 on CBS:
"Well in my home state I was the chief author of a constitutional amendment to define marriage as between a man and a woman. That’s consistently been my position. And I do support that position at a federal level." June 14, 2011 Michele Bachmann
Herman Cain, former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and Chairman of Godfather's Pizza, stated the following in an Oct. 22, 2011 interview, "Herman Cain Exclusive: Tells Brody File He Will Support Constitutional Amendments on Life and Marriage," available on blogs.cbn.com:
"David Brody: 'Are you for some sort of pro-life amendment to the constitution that in essence would trump Roe v. Wade?'
Herman Cain: 'Yes. Yes I feel that strongly about it. If we can get the necessary support and it comes to my desk I’ll sign it. That’s all I can do. I will sign it.'
David Brody: (In your Faith and Freedom speech) 'You mentioned marriage as well so you’re also, just so I understand, you’re for a constitutional marriage amendment as well?'
Herman Cain: 'I think marriage should be protected at the federal level also. I used to believe that it could be just handled by the states but there’s a movement going on to basically take the teeth out of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act and that could cause an unraveling, so we do need some protection at the federal level because of that and so yes I would support legislation that would say that it’s between a man and a woman.'" Oct. 22, 2011 Herman Cain
[Editor's Note:Prior to Herman Cain's Pro position from Oct. 22, 2011, he expressed a Not Clearly Pro or Con position as indicated by the statement from May 23, 2011 below.]
"We don't need to rewrite the Constitution of the United States of America, we need to reread the Constitution and enforce the Constitution... And I know that there are some people that are not going to do that, so for the benefit of those who are not going to read it because they don't want us to go by the Constitution, there's a little section in there that talks about 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.'
You know, those ideals that we live by, we believe in, your parents believed in, they instilled in you. When you get to the part about 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,' don't stop there, keep reading. Cause that's when it says 'when any form of government becomes destructive of those ideals, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it.' We've got some altering and some abolishing to do!" May 23, 2011 Herman Cain
Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the US House of Representatives (R-GA), stated the following in an interview with TheAmericanView.com editor John Lofton titled "Exclusive 'American View' Interview: Newt Gingrich on Abortion, Homosexuality, Biblical Government; Rejects 'Narrow' View of Our Founders" (accessed Oct. 11, 2011):
"Well, I favor a Constitutional amendment to protect the traditional family and I think we should have such an amendment." Oct. 11, 2011 Newt Gingrich
Jon Huntsman, former Governor of Utah, stated the following during an interview with On the Record w/ Greta Van Susteren aired Fox News July 28, 2011:
"Greta Van Susteren: Would you like to see a balanced budget amendment on the federal level or is that an unwise decision If so, why?
Huntsman: I think it's the most important thing we could do. I think having that safeguard, having that standard at the federal level is a very, very important thing for this country. When you build a budget as governor, you do so with the idea in mind that you are presenting it to your legislature in balanced form and I think for this nation that would be a similarly wise thing to do." July 28, 2011 Jon Huntsman
[Editor's Note: Huntsman also supports a constitutional amendment regarding abortion. According to the article "Huntsman Sheds Moderate Label on Abortion," which was published in the Salt Lake Tribune on Aug. 23, 2011, a Huntsman spokesman said: "Governor Huntsman supports a federal amendment that would ensure legal protections for the unborn."]
Ron Paul, US Representative (R-TX), introduced H.J. Res. 46 on June, 13, 2007, which sought to amend the 14th Amendment of the Constitution to deny citizenship to children born in the United States whose parents are not US citizens, available at thomas.loc.gov. The H.J. Res. 46 said in part:
"Section 1. Any person born after the date of the ratification of this article to a mother and father, neither of whom is a citizen of the United States nor a person who owes permanent allegiance to the United States, shall not be a citizen of the United States or of any State solely by reason of birth in the United States.
Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation." June 13, 2007 Ron Paul
Rick Perry, Governor of Texas, stated the following during an Aug. 4, 2011 interview with CBN News titled "Perry 'Comfortable' with Support of Marriage, Abortion Constitutional Amendments":
"...[O]ur Founding Fathers also said, 'Listen, if you all in the future think things are so important that you need to change the constitution here's the way you do it'. It takes three quarters of the states deciding that this is important, it goes forward and it becomes an amendment to the United States Constitution.
I support that for issues that are so important, I think, to the soul of this country and to the traditional values which our Founding Fathers, on the issue of traditional marriage I support the federal marriage amendment.
And I also support the same with the issue of abortion, and I also support that same process for a balanced budget amendment to the United States Constitution so Washington will finally get the message of 'hey, quit spending all the money and quit mortgaging our kids future'." Aug. 4, 2011 Rick Perry
Buddy Roemer, former Governor of Louisiana, stated the following in an Oct. 30, 2011 interview, "Wikinews Interviews Buddy Roemer, US Republican Party Presidential Candidate," available at www.wikinews.org:
William S. Saturn: "Do you disagree with any parts of the current U.S. Constitution?"
Roemer: "I would like to see a provision relating to money as speech with broad limits, full disclosure, and personal accountability. In that reform I would consider ‘term limits' and non-political rules for reapportionment." Oct. 30, 2011 Buddy Roemer
Rick Santorum, former US Senator (R-PA), stated the following during the June 13, 2011 CNN Republican presidential debate held in Manchester, NH:
"Are you a George W. Bush Republican, meaning a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, or a Dick Cheney who, like I believe, the congresswoman just said, this should be made -- this decision, samesex marriage, should be a state's decision?Constitutional amendment. Look, the constitutional amendment includes the states. Three-quarters of the states have to – have to ratify it. So the states will be involved in this process. We should have one law in the country with respect to marriage. There needs to be consistency on something as foundational as what marriage is." June 13, 2011 Rick Santorum