Phooey.
David
To compel a
man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of
ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and
tyrannical.--Thomas Jefferson
On 10/12/2010 8:19 PM, [email protected] wrote:
Wikipedia
A More Perfect
Constitution is a non-fiction book
by American political scientist Larry J. Sabato, published in
2007. In it, Sabato calls for a new constitutional convention to
update the United States Constitution.
Sabato draws on his three decades of experience as a
political analyst in proposing this radical step, making
reference to historical and political events as he makes his
case. He draws his idea of revision from the founding fathers, who felt
that the constitution should not last forever but should
instead be revised by each generation.[1]
Sabato notes that, after the Bill of Rights, there have
only been seventeen constitutional amendments
over the past 220 years, and makes the argument that a
constitutional convention is overdue
Congress
- Expand the Senate to 136 members to be more
representative: Grant the ten most populous states two
additional senators each, the fifteen next most populous
states one additional senator each, and the District of
Columbia one senator.
- Appoint all former Presidents and Vice Presidents to the
new office of "National Senator".
- Mandate non-partisan redistricting for House
elections to enhance electoral competition.
- Lengthen terms of Representatives from two years to
three years, and set Senate terms to coincide with all presidential elections, so
the entire House and Senate would be elected at the same
time as the President.
- Expand the size of the House of Representatives to
approximately 1,000 members (from current 435), so House
members can be closer to their constituents, and to level
the playing field in House elections.
- Establish term limits in the House
and Senate to restore the Founders' principle of frequent
rotation in office.
- Add a Balanced Budget Amendment
to encourage fiscal fairness to future generations.
- Create a Continuity of Government procedure to provide
for replacement Senators and Congressmen in the event of
extensive deaths or incapacitation.
Presidency
- Establish a new six-year, one-time presidential term
with the option for the President to seek two additional
years in a referendum of the American people.
- Limit some Presidential war-making powers and expand
Congress' oversight of war-making.
- Give the President a line-item veto.
- Allow men and women not born in the United States
to run for President or Vice President after having been a
citizen for 20 years.
Supreme Court
- Eliminate lifetime tenure for federal judges in favor of
non-renewable 15-year terms for all federal judges.
- Grant Congress the power to set a mandatory retirement age
for all federal judges.
- Expand the size of the Supreme Court from 9 to 12 to be
more representative.
- Give federal judges guaranteed cost of living increases so
pay is never an issue.
Politics
- Write a new constitutional article specifically for the
politics of the American system.
- Adopt a regional, staggered lottery system, over four
months, for presidential party nominations to avoid the
destructive front-loading of primaries.
- Mend the Electoral College by granting more populated
states additional electors, to preserve the benefits of
the College while minimizing the chances a President will
win without a majority of the popular vote.
- Reform campaign financing by preventing wealthy
candidates from financing their campaigns, and by
mandating partial public financing for House and Senate
campaigns.
- Adopt an automatic registration system for all qualified
American citizens to guarantee their right to vote is not
abridged by bureaucratic requirements.
Universal national service
- Create a constitutional requirement that all able-bodied
young Americans devote at least two years of their lives
in service to the country.
National constitutional convention
- Convene a new constitutional convention using the
state-based mechanism left to Americans by the framers in
the current constitution
--
Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community
<[email protected]>
Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism
Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org
--
Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]>
Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism
Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org
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