So, what's the minimum requirement to run for the House of Representatives

[Craig3410]

I know there's an age limit, but is there anything else?

[fertilizeonarbusto]

1. In some states

an IQ below forty, obviously ;)

[ewagner]

5. WRONG!

That's only for the Republican Primary :evilgrin:

[fertilizeonarbusto]

10. HAR!!!!!!

I stand corrected :evilgrin:

[smoogatz]

2. I'm not sure, but I think you have to be a primate

I could be wrong about that, though. Lower forms of life seem fairly commonplace on Capitol Hill.

[ewagner]

3. Not as far as I know

I think any other qualifications other than American Citizenship and a minimum age (age of majority I think) are unconstitutional.....

can't require certain educational level, experience or anything like that.....

[aden_nak]

4. "Lack of Ethics" is not required but strongly preferred.

[ClassWarrior]

6. Great teeth.

NGU.

[Inland]

7. A couple of kajillion dollars.

What other qualification should one have to help run our nation?

[oneold1-4u]

11. Someone-

Will be running on a "beans for dinner" ticket! "Beans and bacon" would be good but bacon is now priced out of reach for millions and is not a commodity at the food bank! I would willingly help anyone who would run on this ticket. Beans are still an old favorite left from many days in the 30s and 40s.

[davepc]

8. Article I, Section 2

Clause 2: No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.

http://www.house.gov/Constitution/Constitution.html

[Nordmadr]

13. The way that reads it seems to me it says

you can NOT live inthe state you represent. "Shall NOT...be an inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen". Emphasis mine. Am I reading that wrong or what? Clearly it doesn't make sense.

Olaf

[Inland]

14. Starts out "no person

so it's a double negative. But you had me scared for a second!

[Nordmadr]

17. Thanks for clearing that up. It makes sense as I read it now but

twice before I had seen it and said, now that doesn't seem to make sense. Perhaps a rewording would be appropriate.

Olaf

[Lydia Leftcoast]

9. Section II, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution:

"No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen."

In other words, you have to be at least 25, you have to have been a U.S. citizen for seven years, and you have to live in the state that you represent.

I found that in 30 seconds with Google. :-)

[oneold1-4u]

12. Google manditory in school

That type of knowledge used to be known by every high schooler.

[PurityOfEssence]

15. MUST have a religion, should have spouse, children and pet

Okay, the Constitution guarantees that religion shouldn't be a means test for holding office, but look at the stats here: out of 435 Representatives and 100 Senators, there is not one agnostic or atheist. EVERY one of them has a professed religious belief, and I'd be very surprised if there's ANYWHERE in this country where a non-believer could win. Lest we forget, some of the more liberal enclaves are still quite religious. (The backwoods Nazis would be absolutely shocked to see how many churches there are in Berkeley...)

Since somewhere around 15% of the population professes no religious affiliation, and at least 10% are some form of "non-believer", by statistics, we should have EIGHTY, count 'em, EIGHTY legislators who aren't publicly signed on to some organized supernatural certainty.

There have been open homosexuals in office; they're less scary than the heathens.

Lawdy, I are so oppressed...

Then there's that money stuff.

[johnaries]

16. Must have hair (or toupee) that does not move, even in high winds.

Or is that the Senate?

[paineinthearse]

18. That is grounds to remove DeLay!

I saw a photo here a couple weeks ago. He was standing on a tarmac wtih his hair blowing staight up.

[Inland]

19. Plasticized JFK hair.

Likd DEVO used to have.