What Constitutional amendments SHOULD be adopted?

[UrbScotty]

Instead of talking about the FMA and why it should NOT be amended, let's talk about amendments that ought to be added.

I don't expect any of these amendments to even get through Congress with 2/3 majorities, especially the last two, but hey, they can get people talking.

1. Any person who is not a natural-born citizen may become President if they have been United States citizens for at least twenty years. (Affects Art. II, Sec. 1, Cl. 5)

I did a poll on this over the weekend, and among respondents, I seemed to be outnumbered. But that's America, where we can disagree without getting prosecuted (as of July 14, 2004, anyway).

2. The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it, and two-thirds of both houses of Congress concur to do so. (Affects Art. I, Sec. 9, Cl. 2)

This adds a requirement that 2/3 of Congress must approve a suspension of this privilege, so Bush can't do it alone. Of course, this allows for Joe Lieberman and Dick Gephardt to side with Bush again.

3. The President may veto portions of appropriation legislation and not be prohibited from approving the remainder of the bill.

This makes the line-item veto constitutional.

4. Members of Congress shall not be privileged from arrest at any point during their service in the Congress. (Affects Art. I, Sec. 6, Cl. 1)

Congressmen and -women may only be arrested for treason, felony, and breach of peace. They're let off the hook for everything else.

5.No person shall enter into Matrimony for any length of time whose name is Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, or Elizabeth Taylor.

6. No Senator shall be a Democrat whose name is Zell Miller.

What are your ideas? Funny, serious, both... Share 'em!

[Feanorcurufinwe]

1. Repeal of corporate personhood.

[GreenPartyVoter]

14. That, and revise our election processes

--------------------------------------------------------
An Open letter to John Kerry, John Edwards, and the DNC:
http://www.geocities.com/greenpartyvoter/OpenLetter.htm

[meow2u3]

68. Text of Personhood Amendment should read as follows:

Only a natural person of the species Homo sapiens shall be classified as a person.

Congress shall pass laws to reflect this reality.

Amendment shall be in effect upon passage.

[sallyseven]

2. Lets not amend the Constitution!!!

Leave it alone. Abolish the Patriot Act.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

3. I HIGHLY disagree with #1, 2, and 3

1) Even after living in a country for 20 years, one can still harbor extreme loyalty to one's homeland. Such a bias should not be allowed in the White House.

2) Lincoln probably would not have been able to suspend Habeas Corpus under your guidelines.

3) You're opening up a huge can of worms by letting a President veto any part of an appropriations bill. There are a lot of important projects that I KNOW Bush would've vetoed had he been given the chance.

[tech3149]

5. I agree

I would add in response to #1 that it should be considered that no person that holds dual citizenship could hold any federal office or advisory position, either elected or appointed.

[GreenPartyVoter]

16. All hail Rupert Murdoch, POTUS. *shuddering*

--------------------------------------------------------
An Open letter to John Kerry, John Edwards, and the DNC:
http://www.geocities.com/greenpartyvoter/OpenLetter.htm

[Charlie Brown]

25. Could you not say the same about birth citizens?

Most Americans have many oddball loyalties. I've heard that many immigrants still maintain loyalties to their homelands after 3 or 4 generations (look at the ties many Italian immigrants had with Sicily or the support the IRA often received from the Boston vicinity in its hayday). Hell, down here many people genuinely feel greater loyalty to a nation that hasn't existed in 140 years (the Confederacy) than to the U. S. All of these people have the right to become President, why shouldn't naturalized citizens?

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

47. Let's play the odds on that one though

Maybe a lot of life-long Americans have oddball loyalties, but the odds of them having it to the extent that they would put the interests of Italy or Ireland (as the examples you gave) are far, far lower than those of someone that spent their childhood in those countries.

[UrbScotty]

30. Well, Jennifer Granholm isn't showing that kind of bias.

She's the Governor of Michigan. She was born in Canada.

If you ask me or many peoiple in Michigan, though, she has shown no bias toward Canada.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

46. She also doesn't form foreign policy

Sorry, but it's an apples and oranges proposition. And even so, just because she can do it, that doesn't mean others could.

[UrbScotty]

58. Governors who were born in their state

Bob Riley: Ashland, AL
Frank Murkowski: Ketchikam, AK
Mike Huckabee: Hope, AR
Ruth Ann Minner: Milford, DE
Sonny Perdue: Perry, GA
Rod Blagojevich: Chicago
Ernie Fletcher: Mt. Sterling, KY
John Baldacci: Bangor, ME
Bob Ehrlich: Arbutus, MD
Haley Barbour: Yazoo City, MS
Bob Holden: Kansas City
Judy Martz: Big Timber, MT
James McGreevey: Jersey City, NJ
George Pataki: Peekskill, NY
Mike Easley: Nash Co., NC
John Hoeven: Bismarck
Mike Rounds: Huron, SD
Rick Perry: West Texas
Olene Walker: Ogden, UT

Governors who weren’t born in their state:

Janet Napolitano, AZ: New York City
Ah-nuld: Graz, Austria
Jodi Rell, CT: Norfolk, VA
Jeb: Midland, TX
Linda Lingle, HI: St. Louis
Dirk Kempthorne, ID: San Diego
Joe Kernan, IN: Chicago
Tom Vilsack, IA: Pittsburgh
Mitt Romney, MA: Detroit
Jennifer Granholm, MI: Vancouver
Mike Johanns, NE: Osage, IA
Kenny Guinn, NV: Garland, AR
Craig Benson, NH: New York City
Bill Richardson, NM: Pasadena, CA
Ted Kulongoski, OR: Rural Missouri
Ed Rendell, PA: New York City
Phil Bredesen, TN: Upstate NY
Mark Warner, VA: Indianapolis
Bob Wise, WV: Washington, DC
Jim Doyle, WI: Washington, DC

(source: www.nga.org)

So, Janet Napolitano, Vilsack, Granholm, Richardson, Rendell, Warner, and Doyle won't make good governors because they were not born in what is now their home state. Right. Dick Posthgumus tried that on Jennifer Granholm a couple years ago. That served him well, huh? I am so much happier to have Vancouver-born Granholm as Governor than Mount Pleasant-born John Engler in office.

Governors are not required to have been natural-born citizens of their state. Same with mayors: do cities only allow you to run for mayor if you were born in that city? If so, I could only run for Mayor of Greensboro, NC.

Are members of Congress required to have been citizens of their congressional district or state at birth? Heck no.

The Presidency and Vice Presidency of the United States are the only offices in this country in which you have to been born somewhere to hold that office.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

59. That logic is flawed

One is not nearly as tied to their home-state as they are their mother country.

Further, the President of the United States is a MUCH MUCH bigger position than any of those mentioned.

[UrbScotty]

67. The point is...

Where you are born DOES NOT MATTER.

Don't you think that you-know-who from the Golden State would still be the idiot he is if he were born in the US? Does his being an Austrian make him an idiot? Nope, he chose to be an idiot.

Now, if you can prove to me that where a politician is born
does affect their policy, go ahead.

[Michigander4Dean]

70. Can you control where you're born? NO

Why should people be limited based on something they can't control?

[69KV]

60. Agreed

I wouldn't support #1, 2, or 3 either, and that was my first thought when reading them.

Line item veto was a Repuke idea from way back. The point of it is so a Repuke president can singlehandedly remove good items from spending bills, the ones that the Repuke spin machine likes to call "pork". Too bad for the Repukes that Clinton used it in ways they didn't like. The courts struck it down and they're right. It gives the Presidency too much power.

And I don't even want to go into the implications of letting AAAAH-NULLLD run for President.

[fairfaxvadem]

4. Amendment: Election Day Shall Be a National Holiday...

And I do think that should be part of the Constitution and not just a law.

The Founding Fathers wouldn't recognize the 24/7 world we live in. I don't think that voting on a weekday posed harship for a lot of Americans for well into the 19th Century.

But with everyone a slave to their car or office, working 50+ hours a week on average, I think an Amendment needs to be there to offer American Workers the real opportunity to vote. I think a lot are disenfranchised by the nature of their jobs, despite laws saying they are entitled to time off work to vote.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

7. i agree...it is a holiday in almost all other countries

[Name removed]

49. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

10. I fully agree

it only makes sense

[TommyO]

11. Even better,

move "election day" to a Saturday/Sunday combination. This will allow more people to vote, and still respect any religious beliefs that voters may hold.

[ashling]

56. It should be a holiday for another reason

I spoke to get this added to our county platform here in Western Washington. I was surprised at the number of people who said that we shouldn't force small businesses and others to close and lose the work day, etc. Here in Washington state (where I will NOT be living in another month - YEA ! ) we have very liberal absentee voting by mail. Other states ( TEXAS - where I WILL be living in another month - YEA ! ) have early voting.

I do not negate this as an issue, only whether or not we have to have a holiday to accomplish it. There are all sorts of ways to make sure that people have access to the polls. We need to work diligently to make sure that everyone has a real opportunity to vote. To the extent that a holiday would supply this, fine. But there is another reason for the day being set aside as a holiday.

I think that election day should be a holiday for another, more important reason. I got up at our platform meeting and gave an impassioned speech which got thank yous and ovations.

We, as a culture, have always used holidays to recognize and to "sanctify," if you will, the things that we value most. The Romans had holidays which commemorated conquest, power, and blood. Other European powers have celbrated monarchy, and empire. We have holidays for great persons, and for giving thanks; To honor fallen soldiers, and the American worker. We currently celebrate our independence on July 4 every year in much the same way as other nations celebrate their own nationhood, with coookouts, parades, and a militaristic show of fireworks to commemorate the rocket's red glare.

Why not celebrate and, yes, Sanctify (not in a religious sense) that thing that truly first set us apart from the rest of the world: the vote. Today elections are held aroound the globe, some, possibly our own this year, are overseen by the United Nations. But here is where that trend started. Here in the United States of America we have the right, privalege, and DUTY to vote. We, the people choose (2000 notwithstanding) the people we want to lead our country.

Our own sense of civic pride, of duty - of reverence - has waned somewhat in the last couple of hundred years. We need to reclaim our sense of pride, not in our military might, but in the gift which we first gave to the world.

Election Day - a truly American holiday.

:dem::dem::dem::dem::dem::dem::dem::dem:

[mrboba1]

62. Does that really need to be an amendment though?

I think a plain old law would do the trick.

Amendments should be reserved for the really big stuff, of which I don't think a holiday (even for voting) qualifies.

[newyawker99]

74. I agree. Election Day should be a national holiday.

:thumbsup:

[ElsewheresDaughter]

6. Presidential candidate must pass a psychological battery examination ....

in order to qualify for office.

[sallyseven]

20. Thats a novelty. I support that

Bush would never make it.

[meow2u3]

69. The presence of personality disorders..

such as antisocial, borderline, narcissistic, obsessive-compulsive, and/or paranoid personality disorders disqualifies one for office.

note: designed to exclude Repukes :evilgrin:

[Solon]

8. Uhm....the ERA maybe?

I know it failed last time, but that is one I would support fully.

[beyurslf]

9. Equal Rights Amendment?

[Selwynn]

12. How about the Federal Gay Rights Ammendment

[bigmonkey]

13. Pardons

Presidents may not pardon anyone who committed a crime while working for their administration or for the executive branch during their tenure.
To most of us this seems obvious, but we're pretty far from that now.

[ibegurpard]

15. Line item veto is a bad idea

Measures should be taken to disallow amendments and attachments to bills that do not directly relate to the subject matter of the bill itself.

[Geo55]

21. ZACKLY !!!!!!!!

This has bugged me for quite some time....the amount of CRAP they slip under the door with a popular bill.

[Yupster]

52. What about line item veto, but

president's veto of a line item can be overridden with just 50 % vote of each house?

[OSheaman]

17. Proposed . . .

1. The President of the United States may not bear more than a passing resemblance to a chimpanzee.

2. It shall hereby be illegal to be Rush Limbaugh. Anyone accused of being Rush Limbaugh must apply a "Kerry for President" bumper sticker within 24 hours or be sentenced to life in prison without the possibilty of parole (or oxycontin supplements).

3. All motorists who merge in front of you without a turn signal shall be shot without trial. This includes you, asswipe.

[drdigi420]

18. I have two.

#1 - No govt, federal, state, or local, shall pass any law infringing upon one's right to ingest, by any means, any substance, so long as they harm noone, excluding themself, in person or in property.


This would end the war on people who use drugs not sold by the corporate power structure.


#2 - Refusal to move to the right to allow faster traffic to pass on the interstate highway shall result in the loss of license and impounding of vehicle and a public flogging.

[ronabop]

55. Amendment to number two (speeding/passing):

As speeding can result in injury and death, any person found willfully and illegally speeding shall be treated as if they had intentionally murdered no less than 20 people in a brutal pile-up.

-Bop

[proud patriot]

19. to go war , must be voted by the people , the people who vote yes

must go fight in the war along with the military ,
in special "I voted for this" uniforms .

:evilgrin:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

73. Or at least,

the draft-age relatives (children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, grandnieces, grandnephews) of the Congresspersons and Senators who voted for the war, as well as the relatives of the president and Cabinet, shall be the first ones drafted and sent to the front lines.

I can just see Congresspersons being lobbied not only by military contractors but also by their extended families.
:evilgrin:

[jbutsz]

22. SCOTUS by POTUS

Even though they require confirmation by the legislative branch, it still seems a conflict of interest for the POTUS to make nominations for SCOTUS.

They should be elected just like the other branches, since it is now obvious that the Congresses are compromised by political parties - especially when one party controls both houses and the executive.

It is no longer enough that Reps and POTUS making nominations/confirmation are elected by the People, because reps no longer don't represent the People.

I also second a previous post about disallowing "bill-riding," the wholly undemocratic practice of inserting irrelevant laws into bills as a stealth means of passing (see Patriot Act II for example) them.

[Charlie Brown]

23. Amendment 28

Presidential Elections shall be decided by the popular vote of the people and not by any system of delegation decided by the several states or any electoral college voting after the holdimg of general elections.

Amendment 29

The right to bear arms shall not pertain to potentially dangerous firearms like lethal automatic weapons or hazardous material or explosives of a toxic or radioactive matter.

Amendment 30

The qualifications for President of the United States shall not include the prerequesite of birth within the borders of the United States or parentage by American citizens. Any U. S. citizen shall have the right to hold the office of President. Furthermore, the right to hold the office of President shall not be denied any citizen of 21 years or older.

Amendment 31

The right of individuals to use their own judgement on matters affecting their own health or of any conditions resulting from impregnation shall not be prohibited by congress or the legislatures of the several states.

[jobendorfer]

24. regular interaction with the congress

I'd like to see a constitutional amendment that requires the
President to appear at a joint session of congress every 90
to 120 days. The appearance must last at least 120 minutes
and be publically broadcast. The president must answer
questions from the members of both houses and from all parties
with seats in the congress. The questions do not have to be
submitted in advance. The president must stand alone, and may
not use teleprompters, written notes, ear radios, or any other
means of communication; that is, he/she must answer hard
questions extemporaneously.

Heck, now that I think about it, we should require candidates
to do this at some point during the election cycle as well.
The skill to do this well is at least a necessary (if not
sufficient) condition for the job.

J.

[UrbScotty]

29. Like British Prime Minister's question time? (nt)

[skippysmom]

26. ERA, once and for all

Election Day made a holiday.

I's also like to see the Electoral College repealed once and for all.

[Commendatori]

27. Just the last three.

I don't want Bush to have a line-item veto, do you?

As for the first one, I'm completely against it. There are plenty of people born here who could do the job, and all of them better than the guy who is doing it now.

[truthspeaker]

28. direct popular election of president

Candidate with the most votes total wins. Screw this Electoral College crap.

[Poiuyt]

36. Abolish the Electoral College

It may have been fine in the 1700's, but it sure isn't needed in the most important election in the world.

[DeaconBlues]

37. yes

and have an amendment to institutionalize runoff voting, so everyone can vote their heart without fearing that they are voting for a spoiler (although I believe it is already possible for states to do this individually).

[mmonk]

31. How about

The executive branch shall not create or formulate privately held groups or commissions without Congressional oversite.

The executive branch shall not formulate any intelligence group not currently an established agency.

The executive branch holds no power to create any type of unelected body that formulates public policy, either domestic or foreign. To do so, Congress shall formally initiate articles of impeachment.

[DaveSZ]

32. .

Equal Rights Amendment for women

Balanced Budget Amendment

Amendment to end corporate welfare and corporate personhood

Amendment to allow for proportional representation of presidential electors in all states

[DaveSZ]

34. ERA

http://www.equalrightsamendment.org/

[mrboba1]

63. ERA - yes.

and not only for just women. Your third and 4th sound good too.

As for balanced budget - that can't really work at the Federal level.

In case of times of war, there would have to be a clause or something to allow for deficit spending, because you cannot force the Feds to cut domestic spending to defend the country. That would be disastrous.
(Of course, it currently is disastrous right now anyways, but that's beside the point).

And now that I type all that, all that a clause would do is make a President (or a pResident) start a war b/c he can't get a balanced budget, so I just say no to that altogether.

[mmonk]

35. Oh yeah, I nearly forgot

Congress shall pass no resolutions that gives it's constitutional duty to declare war to the executive branch.

[TahitiNut]

33. Conflict of Interest

No person, while serving in an elected or appointed position of trust as an employee of the United States, shall engage in any compensated activity of any kind not wholly consistent with the duties of their office and their service to the entire nation.

---

Perhaps better worded, this would eliminate fund-raising for political campaigns (even their own) and any 'honoraria' for speeches or appearances. I believe it would level the playing field and prevent incumbents from participating in their own campaigns for reelection - or election to higher office. IOW, they'd have to resign first.

[sweetheart]

38. some amendments

All human beings are equal and have equal rights economically and
socially to all aspects of society.

The public airwaves belong to the public, and must represent the
plurality of public views. (equal time as well as positive
intervention in media markets to achieve a full range of editorial
viewpoints)

All human beings have the right to medical treatment and care

All corporations and corporate agencies are non-citizens and have
limited rights granted in a new article... revised federal reserve
system with democratic open markets committee (read: elected and
transparent)

The right to life supercedes all other rights in this consitution
and where other rights cross this right, they are misinterpreted.
(ends handguns, assault weapons, police carrying armaments)

All people have the right to consume any foods/ chemicals they wish
as they see fit. (ends drugs war, and changes FDA to and advisory
capacity)

The government budget shall be zero-based every year.

Every person has the total absolute right to privacy and government
has no right to keep secrets from the people who grant it power to
govern for longer than 10 years.

[shraby]

40. Bills presented to congress

to vote on shall not have any riders. Riders must be presented for voting have to be in a separate bill.

This would eliminate things like Patriot Act II and porkbarrel projects.

[LibLabUK]

50. Umm..

"All people have the right to consume any foods/ chemicals they wish as they see fit. (ends drugs war, and changes FDA to and advisory
capacity)"

You really want to end the regulation of pharmaceuticals?

[sweetheart]

51. End the mandatory regulation of phamaceuticals... yes

The FDA can print an honest advisory on the label. I have libertarian
bones, and i believe that every single person has the common sense
to know their own body and chemistry... what works and what
does not... not some moron in washington with money in his pockets
from a big phamaceutical company.

[LibLabUK]

54. Interesting.

"The FDA can print an honest advisory on the label."

I'd imagine labels would have to get pretty big. Some drugs have quite large lists of contra-indications and side-effects. For instance some antibiotics require liver and kidney function to be monitored closely after a certain dose is achieved (which is why these antibiotics are only administered in hospital).

"I have libertarian bones, and i believe that every single person has the common sense to know their own body and chemistry"

Not sure how one follows the other.

If everyone has "common sense to know their own body and chemistry", why do we need trained doctors and pharmacists?

How come up until the early 20th century people thought that Arsenic was curative, and took it frequently for all sorts of maladies?

Do you know what the interactions are between the many drugs that make up the modern pharmacopoeia and all the other substances that you ingest?

How about the less scrupulous individuals, who will exploit sick individuals (as many in the alternative medicine community do now) by producing coloured water and other less innocuous potions and claim that they're curatives?

How do you go about enforcing the safety testing of drugs with no regulation?

Who will fund it, when it's no longer a requirement drug companies will revert to their old ways in an effort to eke more profit out.

Who will fund the efficacy trials (phase I, II, III)? Those trials are extremely expensive to conduct, and there is a limit as to how many non-commercial institutions can finance.

So in conclusion, what you're suggesting is a reversal of the current system of medical care. A return to pre-20th century medicine. A system in which the infirm must take their chances, and gamble that the medicine that they buy won't actually be a sugar pill or worse.

How can you even claim to be a liberal or progressive with such beliefs?

[Seeking Serenity]

39. Amendment 33

Section 1: The Republican Party is hereby abolished in the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof.

Section 2: No person espousing any form of Republican or conservative thought or idea may be eligible for any elective or appointed office in the United States or any territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof.

Section 3: The Democratic Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

[Jack Rabbit]

41. Direct election of the national ticket by popular vote

This would eliminate the byzantine system outlined by the Twelfth Amendment and overturn the outrageous Supreme Court decision in the case of Bush vs. Gore.

It will also put a stop to any further misadventures on the theme of: if our man is ahead but is likely to lose, we'll stop counting votes and if they make us we'll take it to court and if we lose there we'll just have the state legislature award the electors to our guy and if that's challenged it's no big deal because we control the House anyway. You remember that story, don't you?

[Seeking Serenity]

42. kick

:kick:

[bushwakker]

43. Abolish the Electoral College

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

44. Establishment of a parliamentary system, with a Prime Minister

The winner-take-all two-party system is anti-thetical to compromise. This system where candidates must run to the left in the primaries (for Democrats, right for Republicans) and then to the center in the primaries requires that compromises be struck between the various elements in each party before a candidate is even chosen. I for one would like to see an entire spectrum of liberal opinion simultaneously present in a national legislative body, from ultra-left to center, all having the opportunity to speak to the people. The compromises would have to be entered along the way, issue by issue. And can you see a Prime Minister like George Bush having to face a question-and-answer session from the assembled legislators, such as that which Tony Blair must face?

While I DO dearly appreciate what democracy we already have in the United States, I think a healthy debate about changing a fundamental way we conduct the enactment of laws and represent our nation in so doing is worth considering.

[liberalpragmatist]

45. Abolish electoral college, DC voting rights

Realistically?*

1. Abolish the Electoral College
2. DC Voting Rights/Statehood
3. Foreign Born for President, maybe for anybody who is a US resident prior to their 18th birthday, have lived in the US for at least 30 years, and have been a citizen for at least 20.

4. Permit creation of seats in the House that don't represent single states i.e. regional at-large seats or party seats, could be used effectively for Proportional Representation.
5. Ban Gerrymandering
6. Provisions for Catastrophe in Congress - contingency plan allowing for temporary house appointments.

I also favor Proportional Representation, but there's no need for a constitutional amendment for that, unless it's for what I've outlined in #4, which isn't an absolute requirement, but would make it easier for it be done equitably.

Of course, there are many things that I would do if gotten the chance to revise our constitution

1. Change the senate to a more representative body. Stagger seats based on population. Small states would still have somewhat disproportionate representation, but larger states would have many more seats and it'd be much fairer than today. OR give each state 1 senator and have the other half serve as national at-large representatives elected by party-list, similar to Germany's lower house (Check out Mt. Holyhoke College's Proportional Representation library online). 1/3 of the seats would be up each 2 years, as now, with 1/3 of the state seats up for election and 1/3 of the party seats up.

2. Partial parliamentary system - once we have no gerrymandering and PR, have the House elect the president. Sort of like a parliamentary system in that the President would be the party or coalition leader (wouldn't need to serve in the House though). However, unlike most parliamentary systems, a majority would only be needed for the election. Terms would be fixed at 4 years. Have an executive council of unaffiliated civil servants who name judges and serve as government ombudsmen.

3. Give Judges term limits - maybe, say, a 12-year max with possibility for a 6-year reappointment. Reduce possibility for political picks.

NOTE: By (*) I mean things that, while they may not realistically pass anytime soon, I could conceivably see them happening. I can't see the 3 things named at the bottom conceivable at all.

[mrboba1]

64. Change the senate??

1. Change the senate to a more representative body. Stagger seats based on population.

But that is what the House of Reps is. What would that really accomplish?

The whole point of the senate was to not reduce the smaller states amount of power - at least in one house.

I think the legislative branch works quite well - the way it is supposed to - nice and slow.

[cmf]

48. ERA first and foremost ...

Also, D.C. voting rights or statehood.
Abolish electoral college

[jmowreader]

53. Revamp the election calendar

All states shall hold a Primary Election on the first Saturday after the first Monday in May. The member of each party who receives the most votes shall stand for the general election.

All citizens who wish to vote in the election shall be registered to vote not later than 9 pm local time the Friday before the election. States may allow voters to affiliate themselves with a particular party before the primary, but no voter who affiliates with a particular party before the primary election may affiliate with a different party for the general election.

(This is to keep freepers from re-registering Democratic, voting for Joe Shit the Ragman just to fuck up the Democratic ticket, then running back to the Republican party like the pussies they are.)

The general election shall be conducted on the first Saturday after the Fourth of July. The person receiving the highest popular vote count shall be declared the winner of the election.

Voting: Every voter will vote with a device that leaves legible marks on a sheet of paper.

[Warren DeMontague]

57. personal territorial integrity amendment... or something.

The Rights of Adult Individual Citizens of the United States to the integrity and sole domain over their own physical corporal being, or "body", shall not be infringed. Therefore, congress shall pass no law, and any laws now written shall be invalidated, that attempt to legislate what an adult man or woman may do with his or her own body, so long as he or she not infringe upon the rights or integrity of other born citizens as stated in this as well as the 14th amendment- including (but not limited to) what reproductive options she or he shall exercise, what chemicals and or other mind-alterants he or she shall choose to ingest (provided wherefore she or he not endanger anyone else by, say, operating a motor vehicle) when or if or how he or she shall be able to choose a dignified, pain-free exit (or euthanasia) or his or her own choosing, or what sexual activities he or she chooses to enjoy in her or his own home, provided said activities involve other consenting adults. All rights enumerated in the 4th amendment, the right to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall also be fully construed to apply to the bodies of adult citizens as well.

The philosophical core of this amendment shall be construed to mean that adult citizens of the untited states retain full ownership of their bodies, and as such their bodies do not belong to any state, church, invisible deity, or law enforcement agency.

[69KV]

61. Here's a few serious ones

1. Amendment to ban attachment of riders to bills, that do not pertain to the subject matter of the bill. Make the amendment retroactive going back 20 years so all riders passed since 1984 would immediately be struck down as unconstitutional.

2. D.C. statehood.

3. The combination of "Congress declares war" but the "President is the commander in chief" is too vague. Pass an amendment specifically stating that the President may NOT exercise powers as commander in chief to deploy troops outside of U.S. borders, UNLESS Congress has formally passed a declaration of war. Require a 2/3 majority in both houses to declare war.

4. A voting rights amendment: "The right to vote of all U.S. citizens 18 years of age or older shall not be infringed. There are no exceptions to this." Word it in such a way that the courts could not use "compelling state interest" to deny voting rights to any adult U.S. citizen for any reason.

5. "The right of employees to organize into unions or other groups for purposes of collective bargaining shall not be infringed, neither by the Congress, by the several States, nor by any private employer or other entity." This makes Taft-Hartley, right-to-work, etc., unconstitutional.

[mrboba1]

65. DC statehood question

Does DC want to be a state? I thought I saw somewhere that they didn't want to be one. Or am I mistaken?

[69KV]

66. DC residents want it

Repubs keep blocking it because they know it would mean two more Democratic seats in the Senate. But the DC residents overwhelmingly want it.

You might be thinking of Puerto Rico or Guam which vote on U.S. statehood every few years, and have voted it down every time.

[Baltimoreboy]

75. Maryland and Virginia don't

DC statehood also means an instant commuter tax.

[TheMightyFavog]

71. Abolish the Electoral college

Institure runoff elections in the case of no majority.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

72. Instead of the line-item veto...

I would propose a Constitutional amendment like one that many states have:

All legislative bills shall deal only with one subject, and Congress may not add any unrelated riders requiring action on or funding of any matters unrelated to the main topic of the bill.

This would get rid of the need for a line-item veto and prevent Congresscritters from sneaking harmful legislation through by attaching it to something vital and important.