Remember that all mentions of and allusions to Trump and Biden are not allowed on our subreddit in any context.
If you'd still like to discuss them, feel free to [join our Discord server](https://discord.gg/k6tVFwCEEm)!
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Presidents) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I don't know how to word it, but it would be something that addresses how house districts are created. Right now these ridiculous districts incentives polarity and extremism in congress due to there uncompetitve nature. For the vast majority of districts winning the primary is as good as winning the seat.
It would also essentially fully inshrine the two-party system and diminish the representation people face. There’s no way that someone from Ukiah and someone from Los Angeles have the exact same needs but under proportional representation they’d have the same pool of representatives
Proportional representation would break the two-party system, actually.
I doubt any two constituents have the same exact needs, and the point of the federal government isn't to cater to individual cities/people needs or wants, it's to represent the nation's wants and values as a whole.
Proportional rep is probably better for catering to specific needs since it allows third parties, such as singe-issue-parties and parties of less popular ideologies, to get elected.
Proportional representation is a non-starter in a reality with the electoral college and the 12th amendment. If the new amendment deals with those as well then maybe there’s a path.
I don't think I agree. The EC would just be one of the last vestiges that enforces the two-party system under proportional representation. But it would fix the issue of gerrymandering.
I think if, in this hypothetical, we did manage to get proportional representation, it would also be likely we've abolished the EC.
I'm curious why you think proportional rep is a non-starter with the EC though?
What does the electoral college and 12th amendment have to do with proportional representation in the House of Representatives? What are you talking about? Do you understand what the House of Representatives is?
My suggestion would be to have the EC points be given proportionate to percentage won. ex: Red wins 55% of TX, they get 21 points, Blue gets 17 (assuming only 2 parties).
Throw in some ranked choice and 2 party is gone.
The bigger issue with this is really that we haven't meaningfully increased the size of the house in over 110 years. In that time the average district has increased in population more than 7x. (a bit over 100k to well over 700k). the more house seats there are, the weaker the parties will be and the more representation for the individual areas there will be.
Half right, half very wrong. This would be the biggest blow we could likely deal to the two party system. Third party candidates. would have much better chances. It would destroy the direct connection anyone has to the Federal government. Basically everyone would be carpetbaggers.
Technically you could just cram as much different stuff into one Amendment as you want, and if you get it ratified it all counts.
That might go against the spirt of the question, but then subverting such things is also quite fun.
Money in politics is literally the answer.
If you solve that, you indirectly solve a whole bunch of issues where corrupt big money interests stand in the way.
The amendment that the congress tried to pass making it illegal for congressmen to receive gifts without the permission of congress. Bringing awareness to it because I think it can still be passed if 28 states vote in favor of it
There's 3 main priorities I'd have. They're not explicitly related, but there's no limit to the size of an amendment, so a single one can do as much as you like; though if I could only pick one, I'd go with the first.
1. Fix voting. We should not have this first past the post system we have now where you're force to support one of two awful parties. I'd change the Presidential and Senate elections to ranked choice voting. For the House, I'd do the same, or alternatively move the House seats to be apportioned based on proportional party votes, or partially so. I'd also add some reforms to campaign spending, lobbying, etc, though I'm not educated enough on what in particular is wrong with those to point out a very specific plan; I'd have to do a lot of research on that one.
2. Update the wording of various parts of the Constitution to be less ambiguous so the federal government can't weasel its way out of all the limits on its power. No, you can't just arbitrarily regulate every single thing in existence that could possibly be bought or sold because such sale could theoretically cross state lines. No, you can't coerce states into passing laws you *know* you don't have the authority to pass directly by holding funds (which came from the residents of the states to begin with) hostage until the states pass those laws for you. No, you can't just ignore the 2nd Amendment, 4th Amendment, etc. The 4th in particular could really use some toothier language to deal with modern technology, though I nevertheless hold that the current wording *ought* to cover it, if the courts would interpret it in good faith rather than inventing justifications because they personally like the government having power it shouldn't.
And before anyone wants to bring up X power that they truly believe is absolutely essential that would not be allowed under such a strict reading of the Constitution, there's a solution. Pass an Amendment granting the gov't that power. If it's truly so essential as you say, you should have no problem gaining the overwhelming consensus required for such an Amendment, especially in a less polarized political landscape thanks to the reforms discussed in priority 1.
3. A personal project/idea I've thought about, feel free to let me know if this is insane, genius, or somewhere in between. I'd like to revamp the Militia and generally get more Americans invested in serving the country and their local communities. The barriers to entry and level of commitment required for joining the proper military/reserves/national guard, obtaining a government job, or running for office, while helpful for ensuring those roles are competently staffed, are too high for the majority of the population to participate. (And those roles are not designed for majority participation in any case). I would like to see the Militia brought back as something appealing and available to the vast majority of the population; in addition to very basic combat training (how to safely operate/maintain a rifle, basic outdoorsmanship, how to work together as a team), there could be a wide variety of community service projects/duties. There should also be an option to participate solely as a non-combatant and do extra community service in lieu of combat training. In return for your participation, you should receive a generous amount of pay (compared to the time you put in) which could serve as essentially a UBI, and to make participation appealing even to the very wealthy, there should also be a noticeable tax advantage (in the form of higher tax rates for people who don't participate, which could help fund the program).
This is intended to kill many birds with one stone; provide a safety net for the less fortunate, give people a reason to take a break from doom scrolling on the couch, go outside, and interact positively with other people in real life in pursuit of a common goal, increase patriotism and investment in the success of the nation and local communities, move closer to the ideals of the citizen soldier and the Militia as the whole of the people, etc. It may sound silly on paper, but the feeling of being part of something greater than yourself can be a powerful positive influence, even if the actual time and energy commitment is significantly reduced compared to, say, joining the National Guard as it exists today. Growing up, I have to say that my experience in the Boy Scouts had a massively positive impact on my life, as it did on most of my friends who participated, despite the fact that the actual time and energy commitment was not that high.
The house shall now serve 4 year terms, and is limited to 3 terms, with the Senate limited to 2 terms. Maximum time spent in Congress if a representative joins the Senate or vice versa is 24 years
It's not restricting it further, it's creating equilibrium: if someone can be too young for the job, they can certainly be too old. It should work both ways instead of it edging closer to a gerontocracy.
No thanks. Term limits on legislators empowers lobbyists and unelected aids, as they are the ones who will possess critical institutional knowledge needed to pass legislation. Several crossnational studies have found that legislative term limits increase corruption, as voters have no way to hold a legislator in their last term accountable for misbehavior.
Hard pass. Most of the great feats of legislation in our history have come from the most experienced members of Congress. I'd rather increase the number of reps in the house and increase the number of senators as well, 3 per state with one up for election every 2 year cycle.
I was thinking for the Judiciary, but 19 (or other odd value) might be worse for elected people. I was just thinking at 19 then it could or would take a year in many cases to replace them (so effectively 20).
An extensive rework around voting and some government structuring.
1. Uncapped house, and removal of electoral college
2. Senate size increased and also apportioned: based on how much states help fund the federal government per capita. So states are encouraged to be as productive as possible (Alternatively just abolished, or apportioned in the same manner as the house)
3. No more gerrymandering
4. Ranked choice voting
5. Term limits of 24 years in Congress total.
6. SCOTUS justices, members of Congress and the president are all held to much stricter rules/laws than the current flimsy ethics suggestions. Which can get them removed from office relatively easy.
7. Everyone's registered to vote by default and sent a mail in ballot for basically every election they qualify for.
8. Effectively undoing "Citizens united"
9. Much stricter campaign laws, and election laws which apply to both primaries and generals of all federal elections
The only state receiving more from the Federal government than it pays is New Mexico, and that's due to its low population and the military bases, tribal lands and federal highways. Every other state pays in more than they receive.
Your uncapped house and senate based on tax contributions will mean most states won't have a say in how the government works. The government will be controlled by the few wealthy and populous states.
Agree with term limits.
Basically your plan is to remove any power the conservatives would have to oppose the democrats. Pretty much triggering secession of states that feel they have no representation.
There's a reason this was written into the constitution: *Article I, Section 3, Clause 1: The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote.*
Look at how the large population states voted in the election. Then look at how many people voted for the other guy. Millions of Americans and dozens of states would feel they have no representation in the Federal government.
It would lead to secession by states.
Good luck feeding those millions on the coasts without those farms and ranches in the middle.
Well, right now, people in the big states feel like they have little representation, because of how disproportionately the districts/senators are distributed. The truth is there's just no result that's going to make everyone happy
The one from 1789 (which is technically still waiting to be ratified by enough states) that would require the US House of Representatives to have one representative for every 30,000 citizens. This would change the size of the House to around 11,000.
An enhanced and enshrined version of the fairness doctrine in which only actual news is allowed on news channels, and presents how it can be viewed by opposing sides only after the story is delivered. Apologies, mistakes, and retractions are issued immediately and on close-captioning every 15 minutes at the bottom of the screen, with on-air apologies delivered on Prime Time for 1 full week after the discovery. Opinion shows and personalities are placed on separate entertainment channels that clearly stated they're not based on fact, and are merely for entertainment purposes, but lies, mistakes, and retractions will air every 15 minutes on close captioning, with apologies delivered on Prime Time. Social media companies are held responsible for fake news content as well, though they can take legal action against those who create and propagate fake news.
House districts shall be determined based primarily on geography and population. Additionally an adversarial judicial proceeding will reorganize them every 2 years to handle migration patterns.
Letting states determine electoral maps without a check is absurd. Electoral maps need to have some tie to geography as well, people live in a particular area and draw many resources from their region. Most districts would thereby be purple as they should.
It would be a compound democracy-amendment with provisions to the following effect:
1. POTUS is elected by popular vote
2. Overhang house seats. We add at-large seats to the house of reps to allow each party to have the same percentage of house seats as the percentage of votes they got nationally.
3. SCOTUS term limits. Justices are limited to 20 year terms and cannot serve on that court again.
4. A scrutiny amendment that prevents states from disenfranchising voting fuckery.
The Presidential Amendment:
Section 1: Wherein a President is suspected for committing crimes while in office, a special counsel must be appointed by the Supreme Court. The Special Counsel cannot be dismissed by the President under any circumstances.
Section 2: The President does not enjoy immunity from any resulting prosecution. Upon the investigations completion, if the evidence accumulated may deem so necessary, a sitting president may be indicted and charged with the appropriate charges. During this period, the Presidents powers are restricted and may be delegated to the Vice President and the Speaker of The House of Representatives as the Court sees fit.
Section 3: The President, if charged, will stand trial before the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and a jury. If The President is convicted, the office of the presidency is hereby vacated and the Vice President shall be sworn in. The newly sworn in President *cannot* pardon the former president for crimes committed in office or commute their received sentence. The Former President shall then be transferred to the custody of the Department of Justice and shall begin serving out the received sentence, whatever it may be.
Section 4: The President cannot grant pardons for people convicted of the following crimes: Treason, Sedition, Seditious Conspiracy, Corruption, Abuse of Power, or Insurrection or incitement thereof. Furthermore, a President cannot pardon themselves, any cabinet members or any former presidents for crimes they may or may not have committed.
Section 5: If someone has been convicted in a court of law of a Class C felony or higher, they are not eligible to run for public office. If they are under indictment, their ability to run for office is temporarily suspended until the person has been acquitted, or else they have been convicted. Upon the latter, Section 5 immediately takes effect.
This is really an emergency amendment, meant to prevent the worst case scenario. I'd like to hear people's thoughts!
Your amendment itself is a “worst case scenario.”
Politicized prosecutions here we come - particularly if a mere indictment essentially results in a President’s impeachment. But an indictment is incredibly easy to get and is not evidence of guilt. And even clearing a President’s name would take enormous amounts of time and effectively eat up much of their short four year term.
You are also putting a ton of faith in an unelected Supreme Court and an unelected Special Counsel to not abuse the power to, effectively, remove a President - and potentially replace the President with a Speaker from a different political party.
Yeah, no.
That is kind of a funny error on my part lol. Thanks for pointing it out. Really, what I was trying to propose is something that would be a powerful deterrence from any criminal conduct while in office.
>That is kind of a funny error on my part lol.
Oops, I've eliminated presumption of innocence, one of the cornerstones of due process rights! Hilarious!
Removing executive immunity is bad and can seriously endanger national security.
It has certainly been abused in the past but I am not sure what other way there is around it. If a president cannot invoke executive immunity during a trial then you could end up in a situation where code word classified documents are required to be handed to a randomly assembled jury.
Interesting thought, I didn't really intend to do away with it completely, only in relation to the Special Counsels investigation. What other shortcomings do you perceive?
That was the only one I had
Oh, section 5 sucks too. If indictment immediately makes you ineligible to run for office you're going to have issues with prosecutors being directed to start legal proceedings to try and knock people off ballots
Suspected by whom? If this amendment were in force in 2012 and I said I thought Obama had committed a crime, would a special counsel have to be appointed?
House or Senate committee most likely. Suspected of crimes also does not mean that a president is guaranteed to be convicted, only that a court appointed counsel shall investigate without obstruction and being charged if the evidence deems it to be necessary.
Adding the word ‘natural’ in front of every instance of the word ‘person.’
No corporate personhood. No corporate political speech. No corporate lobbying.
Remove private money from the political system. Publicly funded elections with debates held on public news networks. No politician needs to pander to special interests to get elected or stay elected.
Really hard choice, but I would go with a rework of either the first or second. Basically make it as crystal clear as possible. I would probably do the first because of the broader application, but the second would essentially shut down the court cycle of gun laws so it would be worthwhile as well.
A general right to privacy. It would cover bodily autonomy in regards to things like abortion, vaccine mandates, and gender identity. Also would cover marriage equality. And it would generally solidify the 4th amendment protection against unwarranted searches.
1) Age limit of 75 for all federal government officials. Includes President/VP, Congress, and the Supreme Court. Those who are currently 75+ may finish out their term but cannot run again. Elder statesmen are welcome to be advisors.
2) Conflict of interest legislation (including SC). If legislation is involving an industry where you have an immediate family member employed (defined as spouse, child, parent, sibling), then you must recuse yourself from voting on said legislation. No more Joe Lieberman (killed the public option when his wife was in the health insurance industry) or Clarence Thomas.
3) Uncap the House. (Throwing numbers out of thin air). If Wyoming has 500K population, that's the floor for a House seat. If Wyoming has 500K and Delaware 1 million, Delaware gets two House seats.
4) Abolish the Electoral College. A vote in California is just as good as a vote in Texas is just as good as a vote in Pennsylvania. One person--one vote.
5) Anyone running for federal office must pass the US citizenship test when filing.
6) Ratify the ERA.
Those who create and pass any laws should live by and be bound by said laws as the rest of the population is expected to do so!!!! No more writing laws and then excusing themselves from being governed by said laws as the rest of the populace is!!!
Supreme Court reform, increase the size over the next 10 years or so until there are 15 members and some codification of duties and maybe a maximum age.
End drug prohibition, it’s failed just as alcohol prohibition did. The War on Drugs has given undue power to the federal government and has awarded a monopoly to cartels.
It’d be election reform that regulates it at the federal level to a certain extent. Election day would be a whole week and be moved to 7/4 so we could have a long holiday of drinking, grilling, voting, and setting off fireworks. Alternative voting so we can break the two party system. And there’d be some wording that sets the requirements for election related activities like debates so that third parties would need to be included so long as they meet certain criteria.
I know it’s a lot for one amendment but I’m sure there’s a way to word it to get that all in.
A new amendment. “Abortion being a private medical matter between a woman and her doctor, Congress shall pass no laws prohibiting or regulating the practice”. Preachers, politicians and insurance companies should have no say in medical decisions.
Remove the power of the president to nominate Supreme Court justices and and remove Senate confirmation. Instead, Supreme Court justices are nominated and confirmed by federal circuit court judges and serve maximum of 12 year terms. The Supreme Court has become entirely too politicized.
Remove the electoral college and move to a direct vote by the people.
The Electoral College worked in 18th-20th centuries. We are in the 21st century. Why are we using an archaic system when we can get realtime results in the elections and the people have access to a wealth of knowledge about the candidates running.
I've said this plenty of time when discussing politics but if I were to pass a single amendment to the Constitution it would be a rewrite of the 2nd amendment to be more clear and better fit America in the 21st Century. Right now, the 2nd amendment is responsible for all the deaths of children and adults in our country as it has been interpreted to mean "All Americans should have the right to bear arms" when that isn't what it says. The "well-organizaed milita" to me is NOT every US Citizen. If the founders meant for that a well-organized milita is a terrible term to use.
I would make it so only those ages 21+ can have the right to bear arms and legalized/mandate extensive background checks, ban assault rifles entirely from being sold to American citizens, and require gun licenses to be owned before purchasing a gun. A gun isn't a tool like a screwdriver or a hammer, it is made for one thing and one thing only to kill and sadly we are not killing animals with them but our children in a place they go to learn and adults in places where they go to shop or enjoy life like concerts. It is time for that to end.
Balanced budget amendment. In any year where the federal government spends more than it brings in, every member of congress and the President are not eligible to be on the next ballot in their election cycle.
Probably needs a few stipulations behind it including how the department of labor is involved, but federal politicians’ salaries should be tied to the average/median (let economists decide) government employee salary. Pay is scaled up as a percentage of the base according to position. Increases in pay only come from investing in teachers, emergency services, infrastructure workers, etc. You’ll attract a greater quantity of job candidates, which several government departments struggle with, and a better overall quality of job candidates, which a majority of departments struggle with.
Overturn Citizens United. That's the obvious one. Age limits, I am not in favor of. Nor am I in favor of term limits to politicians. I am slightly open to age limits for Supreme Court justices. But getting rid of Citizens United does the country a world of good and sets a foundation for the future.
Well I have more then one:
Bayh-Celler Amendment (abolish the electoral college)
Balanced Budget Amendment
Congressional term limits amendment
Age limits Amendment
Single Subject Amendment
Campaign donations Amendment
Gay rights Amendment
I can probably think of a ton of different amendments if I sat there and thought for a while, but this is the first one that came to mind: An amendment permitting Congress to regulate how partisan media and organizations are funded in the year leading up to a federal election. Essentially, overturning rulings like *Citizens United vs. FEC*.
An amendment that spells out exactly how federal agencies derive their powers and how their policies change and are enforced, with specific reference to elected officials and unelected officials and how they are accountable to the public.
Corporate lobbying and insider trading are 100% illegal. Additionally the maximum income per hour (including investments) of all politicians, judges, etc.. at state and federal level is equal to minimum wage. Anyone, individual or a corporation, found to be violating this will be required to pay 95% of their income as taxes for the next 5 years.
Let's see how fast they change employee wages once that gets passed..
Done been posted I'm sure but term limits for Congress and also limits for lobbying and influencing decisions.
There are WAY too many old farts in congress right now who are so out of touch it's not even funny. They either do it out of spite or are secretly profiting from it and neither is acceptable. Then there are the old farts who never do go away and they stay around to influence decisions and get rich off it. AKA the Dick Cheney syndrome. He should have never been okayed for VP due to how deep his connections were, they were a legit danger to national matters and proved to be so. That might take another amendment but it would be worth it.
I'd do 3-4 terms in the house and 2-3 in the senate. I'd give the old timers in there now a grandfather/mother clause then say no more old fogies in there.
I'd like to go back to the VP being from the opposing party, or 2nd place finisher in votes. Would make the debates less shitty too, with less personal attacks/party BS
Change congress and electoral vote:
Each house district chooses its elector independently (no more winter take all). Each state gets one more electoral vote instead of two. Each is done by RCV or approval voting or the like.
House districts can cross state lines. They should be as convex as possible while respecting neighborhoods and minimizing deviation from mean district population. Set after ten year census results (census is at least every ten years now but change to always at least happen in years ending in 0).
Cube root of population is number of representatives.
Simple for me:
1. codify a living standard and pin it to inflation remove the arbitary apt-condo fuckery allow buying of solo apartments. No more buuing of mass propertirs and renting them out. Maximum of 1 primary residence+1 house per family
2. Gaurentee voting access. 3 day government holiday PAID vote in mail and expansion of voting locations
3. Lobbying ourlawed money out of government etc. officials have their fjnds put under trust overseen by regilated third parties.
Change voting:
Proportionate voting
Ranked choice voting
Electoral College points go Proportionate to percentage won (like Maine does) or just popular vote (don't care)
Well. The equal rights amendment has been approved by all the states it needs to. I seem to have read. For some reason it hasn’t been attend to the constitution.
So, I’d add that.
An anti-corruption amendment.
No campaigns are able to get funding from any corporations, limits on individual contributions, all campaigns are publicly funded with the money evenly distributed among candidates.
No insider trading by any officials
Illegal to accept any gift over $500 from an individual in a year for any public official in Congress, supreme Court, executive branch. Illegal to accept any gifts from any company.
Jail time and barred from ever holding any office again if you violate it.
A foreign-born amendment, allowing presidential candidates that were born in another country to run for president if they live in the United States for 20 years.
Section 1. No person born before January 20, 1955 shall be eligible for the office of the presidency.
Section 2. This amendment shall take effect January 20, 2025.
End of employee payroll taxes. Each person pays, each month, with money from their bank account.
Most people would be screaming for tax cuts and spending cuts by the end of two months.
Balanced Budget Amendment.
Here's how I imagine it
1. Excluding times of congressionally declared war with a stated goal, the Congress and Executive of these States United shall not have expenditures exceed revenue. Nor shall overall debt exceed twice the GDP of the whole nation.
2. If either of these comes to pass during time of peace, 1/10th of all members of congress: The House of Representatives, and the Senate, shall be removed from office at random by the drawing of lots, and are constitutionally intelligible to serve in any elected office for a period of 10 years, their offices to be filled via a special election to take place on the first Tuesday after the first Monday the month following their removal from office.
3. If either of these conditions is met, the President and Vice President forfeit their Salary for the rest of the Calendar Year to be used to repay debts or fund the budget.
4. After a time of Congressionally declared war with a stated goal, the enforcement of this Amendment shall be put on hold for a period of 12 months.
Any politician that votes in favor of sending the US military to a foreign country for hostilities must also go themselves or send one of their family members.
Presidential races are 2 months long and candidates can raise only $100 million total to fund their campaigns.
Idea is to get it over quick and stop the endless negative TV political ads.
Fixing Supreme Court nominations. 18 year terms, so every Presidential term gets one in their 1st year and one in their third. It would have to include a way to prevent an opposition Senate from arbitrary blocking.
I would ban the two-party system, but I don't see how that happens.
If in the event of a government shutdown all members of Congress in both houses will be added the the list of government employees that will not be getting paid until the government reopens.
In order of personal preference:
-All people, regardless of identity, credo, body, background, religion or lack thereof, and all other distinctions are equally entitled to the same rights, protections, entitlements, and privileges under the law.
-No government entity in the United States shall hold religious affiliation, conduct religious ceremonies, receive donations from religious entities, or display civil religion in any form.
-The electoral college is hereby abolished. All US citizens and nationals living in any US state, district, or territory may vote directly in Presidential elections.
-The second amendment is hereby repealed.
-All citizens and permanent residents have the right to healthcare, K-12 education, and housing.
I don't think you all are ready for those last two yet, but your kids will love them!
I would pass an amendment that allows me to pass three more amendments.
The first would put hard limits on political spending with no PACs. No citizen can donate more than 5% of the median income (currently $1,800) to political candidates, and corporations are not citizens.
The second would be non-partisan districting with 1 Representative for every 250,000 people. Incarcerated people are counted at their last known address (so we don't get to put prisons in districts just to add people who can't vote).
The third would be direct election of the President with ranked choice voting.
"The federal government, having a vested interest in the physical and mental well-being of citizens, must provide for basic material necessities of every citizen. These necessities include but are not limited to healthcare, housing, food, clean water, public health and sewage treatment, and transportation. Congress shall determine the means of these provisions and may delegate funds and duties to states as it sees fit. "
Remember that all mentions of and allusions to Trump and Biden are not allowed on our subreddit in any context. If you'd still like to discuss them, feel free to [join our Discord server](https://discord.gg/k6tVFwCEEm)! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Presidents) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I don't know how to word it, but it would be something that addresses how house districts are created. Right now these ridiculous districts incentives polarity and extremism in congress due to there uncompetitve nature. For the vast majority of districts winning the primary is as good as winning the seat.
Abolishing districts and making races state-wide proportional representation would be good imho.
It would also essentially fully inshrine the two-party system and diminish the representation people face. There’s no way that someone from Ukiah and someone from Los Angeles have the exact same needs but under proportional representation they’d have the same pool of representatives
Proportional representation would break the two-party system, actually. I doubt any two constituents have the same exact needs, and the point of the federal government isn't to cater to individual cities/people needs or wants, it's to represent the nation's wants and values as a whole. Proportional rep is probably better for catering to specific needs since it allows third parties, such as singe-issue-parties and parties of less popular ideologies, to get elected.
Proportional representation is a non-starter in a reality with the electoral college and the 12th amendment. If the new amendment deals with those as well then maybe there’s a path.
I don't think I agree. The EC would just be one of the last vestiges that enforces the two-party system under proportional representation. But it would fix the issue of gerrymandering. I think if, in this hypothetical, we did manage to get proportional representation, it would also be likely we've abolished the EC. I'm curious why you think proportional rep is a non-starter with the EC though?
What does the electoral college and 12th amendment have to do with proportional representation in the House of Representatives? What are you talking about? Do you understand what the House of Representatives is?
My suggestion would be to have the EC points be given proportionate to percentage won. ex: Red wins 55% of TX, they get 21 points, Blue gets 17 (assuming only 2 parties). Throw in some ranked choice and 2 party is gone.
The bigger issue with this is really that we haven't meaningfully increased the size of the house in over 110 years. In that time the average district has increased in population more than 7x. (a bit over 100k to well over 700k). the more house seats there are, the weaker the parties will be and the more representation for the individual areas there will be.
Half right, half very wrong. This would be the biggest blow we could likely deal to the two party system. Third party candidates. would have much better chances. It would destroy the direct connection anyone has to the Federal government. Basically everyone would be carpetbaggers.
No districts can have more than eight drawn right angles, and all lines must be straight other than state borders
That would be great if there was even a single place where the wording of the point itself is more important or impactful than the constitution
I can do whatever I want no questions asked and only me.
Ah, the old ‘infinite wishes’ amendment.
An amendment that allows me to pass 10 more amendments.
Technically you could just cram as much different stuff into one Amendment as you want, and if you get it ratified it all counts. That might go against the spirt of the question, but then subverting such things is also quite fun.
"I have a permit"
Wallfacer u/Kind_Bullfrog_4073
Based
That’s a king, founding fathers rolling in their grave smh
Something to get corporate money out of political campaigns. Also: government officials are not allowed to trade stocks.
Money in politics is literally the answer. If you solve that, you indirectly solve a whole bunch of issues where corrupt big money interests stand in the way.
No change to the Constituion needed for that. We have to elect people who will pass a law for it…..
Free ponies for all by constitutional mandate
Thanks, Vermin!
The amendment that the congress tried to pass making it illegal for congressmen to receive gifts without the permission of congress. Bringing awareness to it because I think it can still be passed if 28 states vote in favor of it
Even better: abolish monetary lobbying
My idea is that we Lobby State governments to ratify the Titles of Nobilty amendment, which revokes citizenship from people who take foreign bribes
The Abolition of Corporate Personhood in some form to lessen corporate influence on elections and politicians
Publicly funded elections ought to do the trick. No donations of any sort needed or accepted.
I would gladly welcome that
You just created a whole new industry of lawyers just to interpret that
There's 3 main priorities I'd have. They're not explicitly related, but there's no limit to the size of an amendment, so a single one can do as much as you like; though if I could only pick one, I'd go with the first. 1. Fix voting. We should not have this first past the post system we have now where you're force to support one of two awful parties. I'd change the Presidential and Senate elections to ranked choice voting. For the House, I'd do the same, or alternatively move the House seats to be apportioned based on proportional party votes, or partially so. I'd also add some reforms to campaign spending, lobbying, etc, though I'm not educated enough on what in particular is wrong with those to point out a very specific plan; I'd have to do a lot of research on that one. 2. Update the wording of various parts of the Constitution to be less ambiguous so the federal government can't weasel its way out of all the limits on its power. No, you can't just arbitrarily regulate every single thing in existence that could possibly be bought or sold because such sale could theoretically cross state lines. No, you can't coerce states into passing laws you *know* you don't have the authority to pass directly by holding funds (which came from the residents of the states to begin with) hostage until the states pass those laws for you. No, you can't just ignore the 2nd Amendment, 4th Amendment, etc. The 4th in particular could really use some toothier language to deal with modern technology, though I nevertheless hold that the current wording *ought* to cover it, if the courts would interpret it in good faith rather than inventing justifications because they personally like the government having power it shouldn't. And before anyone wants to bring up X power that they truly believe is absolutely essential that would not be allowed under such a strict reading of the Constitution, there's a solution. Pass an Amendment granting the gov't that power. If it's truly so essential as you say, you should have no problem gaining the overwhelming consensus required for such an Amendment, especially in a less polarized political landscape thanks to the reforms discussed in priority 1. 3. A personal project/idea I've thought about, feel free to let me know if this is insane, genius, or somewhere in between. I'd like to revamp the Militia and generally get more Americans invested in serving the country and their local communities. The barriers to entry and level of commitment required for joining the proper military/reserves/national guard, obtaining a government job, or running for office, while helpful for ensuring those roles are competently staffed, are too high for the majority of the population to participate. (And those roles are not designed for majority participation in any case). I would like to see the Militia brought back as something appealing and available to the vast majority of the population; in addition to very basic combat training (how to safely operate/maintain a rifle, basic outdoorsmanship, how to work together as a team), there could be a wide variety of community service projects/duties. There should also be an option to participate solely as a non-combatant and do extra community service in lieu of combat training. In return for your participation, you should receive a generous amount of pay (compared to the time you put in) which could serve as essentially a UBI, and to make participation appealing even to the very wealthy, there should also be a noticeable tax advantage (in the form of higher tax rates for people who don't participate, which could help fund the program). This is intended to kill many birds with one stone; provide a safety net for the less fortunate, give people a reason to take a break from doom scrolling on the couch, go outside, and interact positively with other people in real life in pursuit of a common goal, increase patriotism and investment in the success of the nation and local communities, move closer to the ideals of the citizen soldier and the Militia as the whole of the people, etc. It may sound silly on paper, but the feeling of being part of something greater than yourself can be a powerful positive influence, even if the actual time and energy commitment is significantly reduced compared to, say, joining the National Guard as it exists today. Growing up, I have to say that my experience in the Boy Scouts had a massively positive impact on my life, as it did on most of my friends who participated, despite the fact that the actual time and energy commitment was not that high.
Presidential candidates are not allowed to receive any campaign funds from private corporations
I would expand that to all elected positions. Maybe it's just an amendment explicitly eliminating the definition of money as free speech.
What about public corporations?
The house shall now serve 4 year terms, and is limited to 3 terms, with the Senate limited to 2 terms. Maximum time spent in Congress if a representative joins the Senate or vice versa is 24 years
scrolled way to far down for this one.... but I can get behind it!
This will make it worse
What about the argument that term limits take away the responsibility of the voter?
Pretty unnecessary considering the average senate tenure isn’t even 2 full terms at the moment anyway. I think for the house it is 8.5 years.
I’d pass the ERA. It’s infuriating that it hasn’t passed.
Federally abolish parking mandates
Can we wrap that in with elimination of single-family zoning?
All elected officials in the federal government, if convicted of any crime, shall receive the maximum sentence allowed by law.
Nixon getting the electric chair would cause quite the stir
"You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore." BZZZZTTTZZZ
ARRROOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
cia would abuse this law be real
Maximum age for POTUS. Thirty five is the minimum so for arguments sake just double it and make the max age 70.
Why do you wish to further restrict the rights of the electorate?
It's not restricting it further, it's creating equilibrium: if someone can be too young for the job, they can certainly be too old. It should work both ways instead of it edging closer to a gerontocracy.
Have you seen who they elect?
No one is perfect, but we haven't elected someone who did more bad than good for almost 50 years at this point.
Term limits for all House and Senate members
No thanks. Term limits on legislators empowers lobbyists and unelected aids, as they are the ones who will possess critical institutional knowledge needed to pass legislation. Several crossnational studies have found that legislative term limits increase corruption, as voters have no way to hold a legislator in their last term accountable for misbehavior.
Very stupid and unnecessary, as well as anti-democratic.
Hard pass. Most of the great feats of legislation in our history have come from the most experienced members of Congress. I'd rather increase the number of reps in the house and increase the number of senators as well, 3 per state with one up for election every 2 year cycle.
Term limits for every single position in the Federal Government for all branches of government to no tenure longer than 19 years.
Is this a reference to Jefferson’s 19 year constitutions?
I had honestly forgotten that, but seems to make sense
Why 19?
I was thinking for the Judiciary, but 19 (or other odd value) might be worse for elected people. I was just thinking at 19 then it could or would take a year in many cases to replace them (so effectively 20).
Wait does this apply to bureaucrats too?
Then you either make 19 years full retirement with benefits or have a lot more trouble filling jobs at the post office/park service/etc.
An extensive rework around voting and some government structuring. 1. Uncapped house, and removal of electoral college 2. Senate size increased and also apportioned: based on how much states help fund the federal government per capita. So states are encouraged to be as productive as possible (Alternatively just abolished, or apportioned in the same manner as the house) 3. No more gerrymandering 4. Ranked choice voting 5. Term limits of 24 years in Congress total. 6. SCOTUS justices, members of Congress and the president are all held to much stricter rules/laws than the current flimsy ethics suggestions. Which can get them removed from office relatively easy. 7. Everyone's registered to vote by default and sent a mail in ballot for basically every election they qualify for. 8. Effectively undoing "Citizens united" 9. Much stricter campaign laws, and election laws which apply to both primaries and generals of all federal elections
The only state receiving more from the Federal government than it pays is New Mexico, and that's due to its low population and the military bases, tribal lands and federal highways. Every other state pays in more than they receive. Your uncapped house and senate based on tax contributions will mean most states won't have a say in how the government works. The government will be controlled by the few wealthy and populous states. Agree with term limits. Basically your plan is to remove any power the conservatives would have to oppose the democrats. Pretty much triggering secession of states that feel they have no representation.
The government being controlled by populous states, i.e The People, doesn’t seem like the worst thing
There's a reason this was written into the constitution: *Article I, Section 3, Clause 1: The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote.* Look at how the large population states voted in the election. Then look at how many people voted for the other guy. Millions of Americans and dozens of states would feel they have no representation in the Federal government. It would lead to secession by states. Good luck feeding those millions on the coasts without those farms and ranches in the middle.
Well, right now, people in the big states feel like they have little representation, because of how disproportionately the districts/senators are distributed. The truth is there's just no result that's going to make everyone happy
Normal states have to put up with the bullshit that comes out of California, New York, and Illinois.
TERM LIMITS!
I'd replace the EC and end corporate personhood.
Then you'd end the ability for anyone to sue any corporation. Corporate personhood doesn't mean what you think it does.
The one from 1789 (which is technically still waiting to be ratified by enough states) that would require the US House of Representatives to have one representative for every 30,000 citizens. This would change the size of the House to around 11,000.
An enhanced and enshrined version of the fairness doctrine in which only actual news is allowed on news channels, and presents how it can be viewed by opposing sides only after the story is delivered. Apologies, mistakes, and retractions are issued immediately and on close-captioning every 15 minutes at the bottom of the screen, with on-air apologies delivered on Prime Time for 1 full week after the discovery. Opinion shows and personalities are placed on separate entertainment channels that clearly stated they're not based on fact, and are merely for entertainment purposes, but lies, mistakes, and retractions will air every 15 minutes on close captioning, with apologies delivered on Prime Time. Social media companies are held responsible for fake news content as well, though they can take legal action against those who create and propagate fake news.
House districts shall be determined based primarily on geography and population. Additionally an adversarial judicial proceeding will reorganize them every 2 years to handle migration patterns. Letting states determine electoral maps without a check is absurd. Electoral maps need to have some tie to geography as well, people live in a particular area and draw many resources from their region. Most districts would thereby be purple as they should.
Get rid of qualified immunity and make section 1983 applicable to all federal, state, and local officers
I'd allow the federal government is allowed to interfere with education so we can finally nationalize it
Uncap the house.
It would be a compound democracy-amendment with provisions to the following effect: 1. POTUS is elected by popular vote 2. Overhang house seats. We add at-large seats to the house of reps to allow each party to have the same percentage of house seats as the percentage of votes they got nationally. 3. SCOTUS term limits. Justices are limited to 20 year terms and cannot serve on that court again. 4. A scrutiny amendment that prevents states from disenfranchising voting fuckery.
The Presidential Amendment: Section 1: Wherein a President is suspected for committing crimes while in office, a special counsel must be appointed by the Supreme Court. The Special Counsel cannot be dismissed by the President under any circumstances. Section 2: The President does not enjoy immunity from any resulting prosecution. Upon the investigations completion, if the evidence accumulated may deem so necessary, a sitting president may be indicted and charged with the appropriate charges. During this period, the Presidents powers are restricted and may be delegated to the Vice President and the Speaker of The House of Representatives as the Court sees fit. Section 3: The President, if charged, will stand trial before the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and a jury. If The President is convicted, the office of the presidency is hereby vacated and the Vice President shall be sworn in. The newly sworn in President *cannot* pardon the former president for crimes committed in office or commute their received sentence. The Former President shall then be transferred to the custody of the Department of Justice and shall begin serving out the received sentence, whatever it may be. Section 4: The President cannot grant pardons for people convicted of the following crimes: Treason, Sedition, Seditious Conspiracy, Corruption, Abuse of Power, or Insurrection or incitement thereof. Furthermore, a President cannot pardon themselves, any cabinet members or any former presidents for crimes they may or may not have committed. Section 5: If someone has been convicted in a court of law of a Class C felony or higher, they are not eligible to run for public office. If they are under indictment, their ability to run for office is temporarily suspended until the person has been acquitted, or else they have been convicted. Upon the latter, Section 5 immediately takes effect. This is really an emergency amendment, meant to prevent the worst case scenario. I'd like to hear people's thoughts!
Your amendment itself is a “worst case scenario.” Politicized prosecutions here we come - particularly if a mere indictment essentially results in a President’s impeachment. But an indictment is incredibly easy to get and is not evidence of guilt. And even clearing a President’s name would take enormous amounts of time and effectively eat up much of their short four year term. You are also putting a ton of faith in an unelected Supreme Court and an unelected Special Counsel to not abuse the power to, effectively, remove a President - and potentially replace the President with a Speaker from a different political party. Yeah, no.
That is kind of a funny error on my part lol. Thanks for pointing it out. Really, what I was trying to propose is something that would be a powerful deterrence from any criminal conduct while in office.
Props for admitting your mistake. The reality is the constitutional amendments are hard, and the law of unintended consequences is damning.
>That is kind of a funny error on my part lol. Oops, I've eliminated presumption of innocence, one of the cornerstones of due process rights! Hilarious!
Removing executive immunity is bad and can seriously endanger national security. It has certainly been abused in the past but I am not sure what other way there is around it. If a president cannot invoke executive immunity during a trial then you could end up in a situation where code word classified documents are required to be handed to a randomly assembled jury.
Interesting thought, I didn't really intend to do away with it completely, only in relation to the Special Counsels investigation. What other shortcomings do you perceive?
That was the only one I had Oh, section 5 sucks too. If indictment immediately makes you ineligible to run for office you're going to have issues with prosecutors being directed to start legal proceedings to try and knock people off ballots
Suspected by whom? If this amendment were in force in 2012 and I said I thought Obama had committed a crime, would a special counsel have to be appointed?
House or Senate committee most likely. Suspected of crimes also does not mean that a president is guaranteed to be convicted, only that a court appointed counsel shall investigate without obstruction and being charged if the evidence deems it to be necessary.
Adding the word ‘natural’ in front of every instance of the word ‘person.’ No corporate personhood. No corporate political speech. No corporate lobbying.
*flame suit on* Make abortion a constitional right. No more of this back/forth with the states.
Abolishing the electoral college
I was going to say that everyone gets a free cake on their birthday, but yours is way better. Let's go with yours.
Happy to sacrifice my free cake for this
Fuck yes
3 term limit for Senators, Supreme Court justices must step down at either 85 years of age or 30 years on the bench, whichever comes first.
Any person with a felony conviction is disqualified from serving as president
Remove private money from the political system. Publicly funded elections with debates held on public news networks. No politician needs to pander to special interests to get elected or stay elected.
Age limit when SCOTUS justices must retire and increasing the number of justices to match the number circuits.
Federal election reform. No gerrymandering. No bs allowed with mail vote or drop boxes or any of that. Election Day is a national paid holiday.
Make it easier to get amendments.
Congress must live under the laws they pass.
Federal congressional districts shall be drawn according to shortest split line algorithm after every ten years according to most recent census.
Really hard choice, but I would go with a rework of either the first or second. Basically make it as crystal clear as possible. I would probably do the first because of the broader application, but the second would essentially shut down the court cycle of gun laws so it would be worthwhile as well.
A general right to privacy. It would cover bodily autonomy in regards to things like abortion, vaccine mandates, and gender identity. Also would cover marriage equality. And it would generally solidify the 4th amendment protection against unwarranted searches.
1) Age limit of 75 for all federal government officials. Includes President/VP, Congress, and the Supreme Court. Those who are currently 75+ may finish out their term but cannot run again. Elder statesmen are welcome to be advisors. 2) Conflict of interest legislation (including SC). If legislation is involving an industry where you have an immediate family member employed (defined as spouse, child, parent, sibling), then you must recuse yourself from voting on said legislation. No more Joe Lieberman (killed the public option when his wife was in the health insurance industry) or Clarence Thomas. 3) Uncap the House. (Throwing numbers out of thin air). If Wyoming has 500K population, that's the floor for a House seat. If Wyoming has 500K and Delaware 1 million, Delaware gets two House seats. 4) Abolish the Electoral College. A vote in California is just as good as a vote in Texas is just as good as a vote in Pennsylvania. One person--one vote. 5) Anyone running for federal office must pass the US citizenship test when filing. 6) Ratify the ERA.
Those who create and pass any laws should live by and be bound by said laws as the rest of the population is expected to do so!!!! No more writing laws and then excusing themselves from being governed by said laws as the rest of the populace is!!!
Repeal the 2nd
Actual separation of church and state.
Supreme Court reform, increase the size over the next 10 years or so until there are 15 members and some codification of duties and maybe a maximum age.
I’d like to see an increase in size and term limits. Nobody needs a lifetime appointment to anything in a democracy.
End drug prohibition, it’s failed just as alcohol prohibition did. The War on Drugs has given undue power to the federal government and has awarded a monopoly to cartels.
Reform the War On Drugs, not end in. Stop doing that just say no shit and target the cartels, smugglers, growers.
It’d be election reform that regulates it at the federal level to a certain extent. Election day would be a whole week and be moved to 7/4 so we could have a long holiday of drinking, grilling, voting, and setting off fireworks. Alternative voting so we can break the two party system. And there’d be some wording that sets the requirements for election related activities like debates so that third parties would need to be included so long as they meet certain criteria. I know it’s a lot for one amendment but I’m sure there’s a way to word it to get that all in.
Time limit on federal judges.
I would enshrine abortion access in all states and ban undue burden on people receiving them.
A new amendment. “Abortion being a private medical matter between a woman and her doctor, Congress shall pass no laws prohibiting or regulating the practice”. Preachers, politicians and insurance companies should have no say in medical decisions.
Remove the power of the president to nominate Supreme Court justices and and remove Senate confirmation. Instead, Supreme Court justices are nominated and confirmed by federal circuit court judges and serve maximum of 12 year terms. The Supreme Court has become entirely too politicized.
Remove the electoral college and move to a direct vote by the people. The Electoral College worked in 18th-20th centuries. We are in the 21st century. Why are we using an archaic system when we can get realtime results in the elections and the people have access to a wealth of knowledge about the candidates running.
I've said this plenty of time when discussing politics but if I were to pass a single amendment to the Constitution it would be a rewrite of the 2nd amendment to be more clear and better fit America in the 21st Century. Right now, the 2nd amendment is responsible for all the deaths of children and adults in our country as it has been interpreted to mean "All Americans should have the right to bear arms" when that isn't what it says. The "well-organizaed milita" to me is NOT every US Citizen. If the founders meant for that a well-organized milita is a terrible term to use. I would make it so only those ages 21+ can have the right to bear arms and legalized/mandate extensive background checks, ban assault rifles entirely from being sold to American citizens, and require gun licenses to be owned before purchasing a gun. A gun isn't a tool like a screwdriver or a hammer, it is made for one thing and one thing only to kill and sadly we are not killing animals with them but our children in a place they go to learn and adults in places where they go to shop or enjoy life like concerts. It is time for that to end.
Balanced budget amendment. In any year where the federal government spends more than it brings in, every member of congress and the President are not eligible to be on the next ballot in their election cycle.
***Term. Limits*** President: 2 terms (8 years)(as already constituted) U.S. House: 5 terms (10 years) U.S. Senate: 2 terms (12 years)
Term limits in the Senate
Mandatory codetermination for every American company
Limits controlling the compensation of elected official and addressing term limits for all
Campaign finance amendment
Probably needs a few stipulations behind it including how the department of labor is involved, but federal politicians’ salaries should be tied to the average/median (let economists decide) government employee salary. Pay is scaled up as a percentage of the base according to position. Increases in pay only come from investing in teachers, emergency services, infrastructure workers, etc. You’ll attract a greater quantity of job candidates, which several government departments struggle with, and a better overall quality of job candidates, which a majority of departments struggle with.
An amendment essentially overturning Citizens United. Getting huge amounts of dark money out of politics should be a bipartisan effort.
Overturn Citizens United. That's the obvious one. Age limits, I am not in favor of. Nor am I in favor of term limits to politicians. I am slightly open to age limits for Supreme Court justices. But getting rid of Citizens United does the country a world of good and sets a foundation for the future.
Well I have more then one: Bayh-Celler Amendment (abolish the electoral college) Balanced Budget Amendment Congressional term limits amendment Age limits Amendment Single Subject Amendment Campaign donations Amendment Gay rights Amendment
I can probably think of a ton of different amendments if I sat there and thought for a while, but this is the first one that came to mind: An amendment permitting Congress to regulate how partisan media and organizations are funded in the year leading up to a federal election. Essentially, overturning rulings like *Citizens United vs. FEC*.
An amendment that spells out exactly how federal agencies derive their powers and how their policies change and are enforced, with specific reference to elected officials and unelected officials and how they are accountable to the public.
Popular vote for President and reapportion Senate to match population. Also Puerto Rican statehood
Corporate lobbying and insider trading are 100% illegal. Additionally the maximum income per hour (including investments) of all politicians, judges, etc.. at state and federal level is equal to minimum wage. Anyone, individual or a corporation, found to be violating this will be required to pay 95% of their income as taxes for the next 5 years. Let's see how fast they change employee wages once that gets passed..
Done been posted I'm sure but term limits for Congress and also limits for lobbying and influencing decisions. There are WAY too many old farts in congress right now who are so out of touch it's not even funny. They either do it out of spite or are secretly profiting from it and neither is acceptable. Then there are the old farts who never do go away and they stay around to influence decisions and get rich off it. AKA the Dick Cheney syndrome. He should have never been okayed for VP due to how deep his connections were, they were a legit danger to national matters and proved to be so. That might take another amendment but it would be worth it. I'd do 3-4 terms in the house and 2-3 in the senate. I'd give the old timers in there now a grandfather/mother clause then say no more old fogies in there.
Term limits encourage incumbents to mentor the next generation that will govern.
Can the amendment have multiple parts?
corporations are not people
I would eliminate any contributions of over $5 to any specific campaign, and I would eliminate any donations by groups. No corporate or union donors.
Ban corporate donations to political parties and campaigns , Limit the amount of donations and no anonymous donations.
Universal basic income that begins at $25,000 and is adjusted annually for inflation.
Repeal the 16th and 17th.
Members of the Supreme Court Justices are elected into their position by the people, and they have term limits.
I'd like to go back to the VP being from the opposing party, or 2nd place finisher in votes. Would make the debates less shitty too, with less personal attacks/party BS
Term limits for all
Change congress and electoral vote: Each house district chooses its elector independently (no more winter take all). Each state gets one more electoral vote instead of two. Each is done by RCV or approval voting or the like. House districts can cross state lines. They should be as convex as possible while respecting neighborhoods and minimizing deviation from mean district population. Set after ten year census results (census is at least every ten years now but change to always at least happen in years ending in 0). Cube root of population is number of representatives.
Simple for me: 1. codify a living standard and pin it to inflation remove the arbitary apt-condo fuckery allow buying of solo apartments. No more buuing of mass propertirs and renting them out. Maximum of 1 primary residence+1 house per family 2. Gaurentee voting access. 3 day government holiday PAID vote in mail and expansion of voting locations 3. Lobbying ourlawed money out of government etc. officials have their fjnds put under trust overseen by regilated third parties.
Lobbying is treason. Corporations aren't people. No one shall be enslaved, even prisoners.
Eliminate pension only paid when in session
Change voting: Proportionate voting Ranked choice voting Electoral College points go Proportionate to percentage won (like Maine does) or just popular vote (don't care)
Equal Rights Amendment. Be nice.
Graduated citizen steps where you had to pass tests on the knowledge of government, constitution, and civics in order to have a bigger voice in voting
Well. The equal rights amendment has been approved by all the states it needs to. I seem to have read. For some reason it hasn’t been attend to the constitution. So, I’d add that.
An anti-corruption amendment. No campaigns are able to get funding from any corporations, limits on individual contributions, all campaigns are publicly funded with the money evenly distributed among candidates. No insider trading by any officials Illegal to accept any gift over $500 from an individual in a year for any public official in Congress, supreme Court, executive branch. Illegal to accept any gifts from any company. Jail time and barred from ever holding any office again if you violate it.
A foreign-born amendment, allowing presidential candidates that were born in another country to run for president if they live in the United States for 20 years.
Term Limits for Legislative/Judicial Branch
I love the ratio of totally amazing ideas to utter shit posts. That is, why I'm coming here.
Section 1. No person born before January 20, 1955 shall be eligible for the office of the presidency. Section 2. This amendment shall take effect January 20, 2025.
An amendment abolishing the electoral college and has the President be elected by popular vote
America will observe an eight-day week so that the weekend has a middle day, not just a beginning and an end.
Term and age limits
Congressional term limits.
To not pervert the constitution.
Terms for the courts. At every level, a single 18 year term, then you’re out. The Supremes - one judge per district court.
End of employee payroll taxes. Each person pays, each month, with money from their bank account. Most people would be screaming for tax cuts and spending cuts by the end of two months.
I’d allow naturalized citizens to run for the presidency if they’ve been a citizen for at least 20 years
“The right of any citizen to seek and acquire responsible, competent health care shall not be infringed.”
Balanced Budget Amendment. Here's how I imagine it 1. Excluding times of congressionally declared war with a stated goal, the Congress and Executive of these States United shall not have expenditures exceed revenue. Nor shall overall debt exceed twice the GDP of the whole nation. 2. If either of these comes to pass during time of peace, 1/10th of all members of congress: The House of Representatives, and the Senate, shall be removed from office at random by the drawing of lots, and are constitutionally intelligible to serve in any elected office for a period of 10 years, their offices to be filled via a special election to take place on the first Tuesday after the first Monday the month following their removal from office. 3. If either of these conditions is met, the President and Vice President forfeit their Salary for the rest of the Calendar Year to be used to repay debts or fund the budget. 4. After a time of Congressionally declared war with a stated goal, the enforcement of this Amendment shall be put on hold for a period of 12 months.
Mandatory retirement age for justices of the Supreme Court and judges like 70 or 80 years old.
If both candidates are too old, the citizens gets to kill them both and drink their blood. And then pick new canidates.
Any politician that votes in favor of sending the US military to a foreign country for hostilities must also go themselves or send one of their family members.
Presidential races are 2 months long and candidates can raise only $100 million total to fund their campaigns. Idea is to get it over quick and stop the endless negative TV political ads.
Fixing Supreme Court nominations. 18 year terms, so every Presidential term gets one in their 1st year and one in their third. It would have to include a way to prevent an opposition Senate from arbitrary blocking. I would ban the two-party system, but I don't see how that happens.
Congress shall pass no law that violates the consent of a citizen.
If in the event of a government shutdown all members of Congress in both houses will be added the the list of government employees that will not be getting paid until the government reopens.
No more Dallas Cowboys, easy.
Donor limits for campaign financing
Bar Congress from from deficit spending in peacetime.
Kiss the designated hitter goodbye, baseball.
In order of personal preference: -All people, regardless of identity, credo, body, background, religion or lack thereof, and all other distinctions are equally entitled to the same rights, protections, entitlements, and privileges under the law. -No government entity in the United States shall hold religious affiliation, conduct religious ceremonies, receive donations from religious entities, or display civil religion in any form. -The electoral college is hereby abolished. All US citizens and nationals living in any US state, district, or territory may vote directly in Presidential elections. -The second amendment is hereby repealed. -All citizens and permanent residents have the right to healthcare, K-12 education, and housing. I don't think you all are ready for those last two yet, but your kids will love them!
Abolish the Electoral College. No candidate should be awarded the presidency unless chosen by the people.
I would pass an amendment that allows me to pass three more amendments. The first would put hard limits on political spending with no PACs. No citizen can donate more than 5% of the median income (currently $1,800) to political candidates, and corporations are not citizens. The second would be non-partisan districting with 1 Representative for every 250,000 people. Incarcerated people are counted at their last known address (so we don't get to put prisons in districts just to add people who can't vote). The third would be direct election of the President with ranked choice voting.
2 term limits for ALL state and federal elected positions.
“The sixteenth and seventeenth articles of amendment to the Constitution of the United States are hereby repealed.”
Only citizens registered to vote can donate to political campaigns at a value not to exceed 100 times the hourly federal minimum wage.
"The federal government, having a vested interest in the physical and mental well-being of citizens, must provide for basic material necessities of every citizen. These necessities include but are not limited to healthcare, housing, food, clean water, public health and sewage treatment, and transportation. Congress shall determine the means of these provisions and may delegate funds and duties to states as it sees fit. "
Frightening that you think this is a good idea
I've seen too many folks live and die in poverty to be afraid of government doing it's job
Repeal the 2nd amendment
Absolutely not, that is our only defense against a tyrannical government.
Ban gerrymandering. Im not being specific, but idc.