Raising Revenue

The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday comes from Article I.7.1, "All bills for the raising of revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives." All Representatives stand for reelection every two years and are therefore more accountable to the people than Senators who serve for six year terms. This provision insures that American citizens have direct control over the raising of their taxes.

When the Constitution was written and ratified, Senators were elected by state legislators until the Seventeenth Amendment was adopted; therefore, it was very appropriate that the responsibility for money matters rested on the Representatives of the people. This is one of the reasons why it is so important to have fiscal conservatives as the majority in the House of Representatives.