Changes
Posted on November 4, 2004 in Citizenship
I retain after this election three visions for America. I plant these seeds of constitutional reform deep because the day will come when Democracy will flower in this country. Our voter participation rate remains low despite “our freedom”. Even Afghanistan did better at getting out the vote and it’s infrastructure is hell. We don’t have terrorists shooting at us when we go to vote any more than any Liberal is out to padlock the doors on the Crystal Cathedral. Yet the election once again shows that Americans lack faith in the process. And we ache, oh how we ache.
There are three amendments to the Constitution that I propose in remedy of this and other recent problems:
- Abolish the Electoral College. John Kerry could have stolen this election by pulling a Rove in Ohio. But mercifully, he didn’t. Bush showed nowhere near as much character in 2000 with Florida, even after saying that he thought Gore should be prepared to give him the election in the event that the popular vote went for him and the Electoral College went for Gore. Let’s put an end to these unclean finishes.
- Once the Senate and the House have approved new constitutional amendments, let ratification depend on a 2/3rds vote of the People rather than state houses.
- Require a 2/3rds majority of both houses of Congress for the deployment of U.S. troops off U.S. soil. If someone is invading or there is an active insurrection, let a simple majority suffice. (We will have to define insurrection.) Note that this would not have stopped us from entering World War II. It would have probably saved us from the Gulf Wars.
What about a national initiative? Perhaps if it takes the form of a mandate to require the Congress to draft legislation that meets certain criteria AND allows for options other than what was conceived. The process that I see would be different from that we have here in California. In the first step, the voters declare that they want to see health care reform, for example. The initiative passes and then the Congress must come up with answers to the call. These are then put to the people for approval or a “Go back and do it again”.
That last one is a half-baked idea and could stand thinking. The other three, on the other hand, are simple and elegant: they are ready to roll. Can we make it our life’s work to enact them?
