Chapter 1

"I can't believe we're even having this conversation," screamed Senator Parsons at his Chief Of Staff, "You're looking at a revolution. The people will not stand for this. It goes against everything that the Constitution stands for. What do the polls say?"

Sheila Barnes smiled, she knew that Bob Parsons loved and feared the polls, "The polls have forty-seven percent in favor, thirty-one opposed and twelve percent no opinion or no comment. There's a four percent plus or minus margin of error. The reason for the large no vote is because a lot of people don't understand the Amendment. It's amazing that a lot of people have never even heard that the Amendment was proposed."

"Damn Sheila, this flies in the face of everything I said while I was campaigning. How can I face my constituents when I go back home?"

"Senator, we can put a spin on this and make it seem like you were pressured into it by the President."

"How does he stand on this?"

"He's making the required protestations that the Amendment needs some work, but he's pushing hard for this. He intends to get the IRS, SEC and Justice to keep any opposition busy."

Sheila didn't mention the meetings that she had at Camp David with the President. He had promised to secure a good job for her, with a lobbyist, if she helped him get this Amendment through Congress. No more being a lackey for Senator Bob Parsons.

"I guess the ACLU is going to make waves. They're not going to take this lying down."

"Yes sir, they're screaming they're head off. There's not much they can do since it will be a Constitutional Amendment. The ACLU was trying to buy television time to educate the public, but the President has pressured the networks and no one has any free time to sell to them."

"I don't like it Sheila. I think this can backfire on us. What if the Amendment doesn't pass the States?"

"Senator, we're in a unique position. Never in history has the party controlled both houses of Congress, the Presidency and all of the important State Assemblies. The time is right for this Amendment. The world is getting more technical everyday and we need an informed electorate. This Amendment will insure that our party will remain in power for a long time, long enough to change the United States for the better. We will be looked up to by every country in the world. I suspect that every country will use this Amendment as a model for their constitutions. I foresee every one of the President's programs becoming law. We've fought long and hard to make the United States understand our goals, now is the time to see the fruits of our labors."

"Ok Sheila, tell the President that I'll support him on this, but if we get into trouble on this, I expect some help from the White House."

"He asks that you help lead the fight in the Senate to get this through too. He wants to know if he can count on you to speak before the State Assemblies. He promises to give you all of the help you need."

Ok, tell him I'm with him all of the way."

Sheila smiled and left the office. She now had a marker from the President if she ever needed it. She had a few things in mind that she'd like to have but this called for some thought. Right now she had a meeting at the hotel with the President's press secretary. She smiled to herself as she thought about the how easy it was to wrap the press secretary around her finger. One blowjob and he was eating out of the palm of her hand. A woman had to do what a woman had to do to succeed in Washington.

Senator Parsons sat down hard in his chair and put his face in his hands. This could go off in the party's face if it wasn't handled properly. It had to be presented to the electorate delicately. They just might be able to pull it off though. After all, only about a third of the people even bothered to vote in most elections.

He remembered the first time that Sheila had brought the majority whip into his office and asked his opinion about the proposed Amendment. He had laughed and told them that it had no chance of passage and he shuddered to think what would happen to the party if it were introduced. He was shocked when he was told that this was one of the President's highest priorities. He was even more shocked when the public started going along with the Amendment after the scandals with Senator Jarman and Congressman Orvern. Bob Parsons shook his head as he thought about how the Senator and Congressman had installed under-age girls in an apartment and would use the girls to secure votes for their pet projects. After the Senator and Congressman resigned the President used this incident to prove that the Amendment was needed.

How could the public go for something like this? An amendment to require a certain intelligence level to be allowed to vote. He had never thought that it could be sold to the electorate. It had to be in the form of a constitutional amendment to get around the Supreme Court's "One Man, One Vote" ruling.

The President was brilliant. He talked it up as a measure against big government and that the electorate had to make informed decisions and that the world was getting more complex and technical each day. The President had talked to the people in such a way that everyone was thinking that this would put their idiot son-in-law, wacky neighbor or stupid co-worker in their place. He had talked to the college students and faculty and told them that they would be the leaders of the future and that he was paving the way for them to take leadership of the country much sooner. He talked to the unions and convinced them that the unorganized workers did not have the intelligence that union members did and this would make it much easier to organize the qualified non-union worker. He had talked to business leaders and convinced them that this would lead to better-educated workers, and that since this would increase the pool of qualified workers, salaries would not increase as fast. It had worked. The support for the Amendment began to grow. The President knew that everyone thought that they were very intelligent and that they figured that they would now be able to keep the dumb minorities and dumb immigrants from voting for those stupid politicians who were giving the United States away.

A remark made while the President thought that he was off-camera had endeared the amendment to the public. The President had asked the First Lady if there would be any Congressmen left if the amendment passed. The public ate it up and clamored for the amendment, the public didn't realize that Congress had exempted itself from the bill. Future Congressmen would be subject to the intelligence standards but sitting Congressmen and Senators would be exempt. This little concession to the opposition party had ensured their support for the Amendment. The Congressmen from both parties knew that it was almost a guaranty that they would be able to serve in Congress for life.

Few people kept up with the committee meetings. The President's aids constantly badgered the committee to keep everyone in line. The amendment winged its way through committee with the IQ measurement for the bill set at the mid-range of average intelligence. Many, many people that now could vote wouldn't be able to vote if the Amendment passed. Hell, millions that could now vote won't be able to after the Amendment passes.