Posted on 02/21/2009 5:26:02 PM PST by JoeA
1. Term limits at the Federal Level. The Founders never intended for the country to be ruled by a permanent political class, but rather by citizens of the republic who were engaged in the daily life of the country in ways other than as professional politicians. Their life as businessmen, farmers, merchants, and husbands and wives, would enlighten them and inform their actions and decisions during their public service.
a. One term in the Senate. Six years is more than enough time to get something done.
b. Three terms in the House. See above.
c. Two terms in the White House. Eight years in the White House is plenty of time.
2. Proposed legislation shall be limited to one issue, and bills may not be bundled with other bills. The purposes here are several:
a. Prevent the sausage-making that is the usual process in creating legislation, where large numbers of bills are packaged together to garner the largest number of votes. As we have seen all too often, representatives often vote on bills that they have not even read. Bills should stand on their own, and be passed or denied on a clear up and down vote, with direct accountability of our representatives.
b. By forcing each measure to be processed separately, we will reduce the amount of legislation produced. Hopefully, this will force Congress to work on what’s essential to the country.
c.
3. Repeal the 17th Amendment, and restore the election of Senators by the individual state legislatures. The purpose of each state appointing its Senators was to ensure that the separate autonomous state governments were represented in the national legislature. This essential part of federalism was killed when direct election of Senators was created via the 17th Amendment in 1913. Now Senators represent not the interest of the governments of their respective states, but of the population that turns out to elect them. They are nothing more than Congressman with a larger constituency.
4. Repeal the 16th Amendment, and replace it with a flat tax or other revenue generating system. The tax system in this country is a disaster, and used as a means of class warfare and as largesse to bestow on a voting block. As Alexis de Tocqueville observed: “The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money.” We have long since passed that point.
5. Require that all bills cite the specific clause of the constitution that empowers the proposed legislation. To maintain a limited government of laws, we must remain true to the principals of the constitution. The national government may do only what is authorized, and nothing else, unless the constitution is revised to empower the government to take that action.
6. Require that all bills have a sunset clause, a date on which they expire. This will go a long way toward ending programs which have long since outlived their usefulness, and force the periodic re-evaluation of the government’s actions.
7. All candidates for offices at the Federal level must prove they meet the requirements set forth in the United States Constitution. Candidates will be required to submit Birth Certificates and other documents to prove their eligibility for office. Just like you and I do when we register our kids for school.
8. Change the immigration laws so that citizenship accrues only to the children of American citizens, natural or otherwise. If immigrants want their children to be American citizens, they should first become American citizens. No more anchor babies.
We’ll have enough problems getting this through as is, lets not add problems we can reasonably avoid.
See my #1, term limits. Throw the rascals out!
I disagree for two reasons:
(1)Too long for a Presidential term;
(2)A President would have no incentive to care about what he promised the voters. A second term President has at least proven his trustworthiness to the voters satisfaction.
Mersey beat!
BUMP!
Eliminate Departments that have shown a net detriment to the Representative Reupblic form of government: i.e., Education, EPA.
I like it. Many of the same things I’ve been suggesting in discussions with others. The only two things I would add are:
1. Requirement for super majority approval on spending bills, either 60% or two thirds.
2. Add line item veto for the President.
A good listing.
I would add something like this:
>> No legislative bill may be voted on until an independent 1-5-10 year impact study has been done, published at least 14 business days before the vote, and become a permanent attachment to said legislation.
>> Every Senator and Congress person must sign an affidavit attesting that they have, themselves, read any piece of legislation before they voted on it.
>> No person elected or appointed to an elective Federal position (House, Senate, Presidency) may be elected or appointed to another elective Federal position.
[That would keep them from holding one elective office just so they can use it as a stepping stone to another elective office.]
(Given time, I could probably add a dozen more.)
You underestimate the imagination of the average federal judge. Imagine a law, which was passed as a single bill, says X, how to enforce X and how much money is appropriated for both. A federal judge who likes that law will interpret it to be one issue. On the other hand, a federal judge who dislikes that law will interpret it to be two or three issues.
Once elected/appointed the mishandling of classified information will without exception be immediately prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
I agree.
“Repeal the 17th Amendment, and restore the election of Senators by the individual state legislatures”
yes, yes, and yes!!!
¡Great Start!
My addition, repeal all federal laws that are overreaching into states rights. All gun control, abortion, tax, and any other of the over 56,000 federal laws on the books today that are not specifically designated as federal juristiction in the constitution
Oh yeah, judges should have to retire by 70 or so as well.
There’s nothng in there that says I get to take liberals and b*tch-slap ‘em.
Yep. That sounds good. Throw in that any elected official is subject to the same entitlement BS that citizens are subject to, and we might see some sanity. No more cushy bennies and such.
I know.....
grumble....
The usual argument against term limits is that power would effectively be transferred to the Congress’ staff members. As if that weren’t true today. We tend think of these staff members as various Chandra Levys, Monica Blowthem groupies, but there are many there who have been at it for decades, professional suckups like David Gergen. Who do you think wrote Porkulus? Those lifers and the lobbyists who buy them lunches did, that’s who! What are we going to do about that?
While we’re re-writing amendments, here are a couple of proposals:
First Amendment:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, nor the free expression thereof on public propters; or abridging the freedom of speech, where speech shall be construed as written or spoken words. Congress shall make no law concerning the content of speech in whatever medium it shoud occur. Congress shall pass no law infringing on the rights of the press; or the rights of the people peaceably to assemble, or to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Second Amendment:
The right of self-defense being a fundamental right of all living creatures, Congress shall pass no law infringing the right of the people to keep and bear arms.
Citizenship points:
No person who is not a citizen shall become a citizen of the United States who has broken any law of the United States or the several states.
Citizenship begins at conception.
While all persons should be treated with the dignity accorded to human beings, the above enumerated rights apply to and only to citizens of the United States.
Just a few off the top of my head.
Oh - and there should be total limits on the amount of taxation at the local, state and Federal level.
Limits to budget increased (to the level of inflation). Governments may not borrow money except in time of war, and such debt shall be paid off in a period which does not exceed the length of the war. (E.g. - if you have a 5 year war, you must pay off the debt within five years after the end of the war.)
Oh yeah, and another:
No citizen shall be allowed to vote who has not paid taxes since the previous election.
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