The mission of the Primary Branches shall be to apply the Powers delegated by the Citizens to the Federal government to secure the Rights of the People. (The citizens, not the States, are doing the delegating. “States Rights” advocates like Ron Paul, Murray Rothbard, and other anarcho-libertarians would say the States are doing the delegating. Problem is, the States have no rights: INDIVIDUALS have rights, GOVERNMENTS have powers, so the States can’t delegate. I could also get into an argument that a State delegating its powers would create a CONfederation, not a Federation, but why get abstruse? Ahem.)
ARTICLE 1: LAW MAKING
Section 1: Federal Government Functions Provided For
All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives, and in the People, by the Citizens Ballot Initiative. These Powers shall be used to exercise the Legitimate Functions of the
Federal Government, which are as follows:
(You always hear about the “legitimate functions of government” of the [real] Constitution, which boil down to:
1. Provide for the “common Defence” of the United States
2. Provide for the “general Welfare” of the United States
3. “To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes”
4. “To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.”
…BUT these can be twisted to mean anything-look at all the ambiguous and contradictory Supreme Court decisions on the Commerce Clause alone! What is “necessary and proper”? Did the “Marbury v. Madison” case settle that? What is “common defence?” – would NATO be permitted? How about the Gulf War? Or the Korean Conflict War? Who decides on war? Congress? The President? People say “legitimate functions” – almost anything can be a “legitimate function” with these standards- it varies from person to person! Why not just clearly lay them out to tie up the loose ends? The Federal government has undergone
‘mission creep’ from hell and I stand amazed that it hasn’t gotten even bigger than it already is. I clarify “legitimate functions” in this Constitution, and state in clear terms that those are the only things that money can be spent on. Here they are, all nice and pretty and enumerated, and government, now unambiguously knowing what they are, is strictly limited to them. Some of you purists will say I am legitimizing some illegitimate functions [which, again, are…what?], and you may be right. In my defense, I would say that while this is definitely a fantasy Constitution, I am employing “stare decisis” in order to split the baby and make continuity with the current Constitution and the laws that have evolved over two centuries. In that sense, my fantasy acknowledges reality…and minimizes disruptions. It’s also much more limited than today, and I don’t think any of these functions is unreasonable. That being said, this section is the heart of the Constitution, and I need you [yes, YOU, the reader], to help clarify “legitimate functions” – is this too broad, too narrow, what can be done for clarification, what can be rewritten, what?)
[1] To protect the Rights and Responsibilities of the People;
[2] To protect the United States, its People, and Property, from invasions and overseas violence, and promote advantageous relations externally:
- To raise and support the Armed Forces (including the National Guard when called to Federal Service), to make rules for the government and regulation of the Armed Forces, to wage or declare War on foreign nations or organizations which have the effect of protecting the United States (but never for conquest or plunder), and to honor Treaty obligations and Alliances;
- To provide for the calling forth of the National Guard to repel invasions; To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the National Guard, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the appointment of the Officers, and the authority for training the National Guard according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
- To protect the national borders and enforce customs laws;
- To have Relations with foreign nations and organizations and the creation, maintenance, and alteration of international standards; To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas and offenses against the Law of Nations; To make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water, Blockades, the granting of Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and the performance of raids on the Sponsors of Terrorism;
- To ensure that any person in the service of the United States, disabled from war or enemy action, or from injuries sustained from criminal action as a law enforcement officer, be medically retired, and receive a pension up to the median national income (or their previous
compensation, if greater), and have all their medical care paid for by the Federal Government. (No hero should ever be lumped in with the indigent. All disabled troops and cops should be provided for, both happily and as a duty.)
[3] To ensure harmonious movement of people and trade, and protection of rights and property, between the citizens of the several States, and with foreign Nations:
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- To provide for the calling forth of the National Guard to execute the laws of the nation and suppress insurrections;
- To prescribe the manner for the commercial and non-commercial movement of people, goods, and services across State and International borders, including the building, purchase, lease, and maintenance of roads, waterways, airways, ports, magazines, forts, arsenals, dock-yards, and other needful structures;
- To establish an uniform rule of naturalization, and the status and disposition of foreigners living within the United States;
- To constitute tribunals inferior to the supreme Court, the general manner of settlement of federal disputes, and the enforcement of federal Laws;
- To create a convenient and effective non-judicial process for the People to challenge unreasonable decisions of executive and administrative bodies; To make Rules concerning organizations or groups showing a pattern of sedition, terrorism, or organized criminality, to force them to cease and desist certain activities, to ban them from certain named areas, and to provide for their disbandment if necessary, but every group shall have the opportunity to defend itself in Court. Rules shall be made for the expulsion or extradition of those based within the United States and breaking the Laws of other Nations;
(Al-Qaeda, the Italian Mafia, and LA gangs would be affected by this, even when their individual members can’t be proven to have broken the law. Los Angeles has “gang injunctions” which is similar to my intent here. I want to make certain that Congress ensures that this doesn’t become a Bill of Attainder, but also that criminal groups can’t terrify entire areas. I also want to make certain that, say, the Mexican Mafia can’t set up base here to avoid the Federales, then do crimes in Mexico, and look like little angels on this side of the border.)
- To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding
ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for
the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings;
[4] To create standards, ensure stability, and maintain the Departments necessary for this:
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- To pay the debts, contracts, salaries, and expenses of the Federal Government; Congress shall by Law prioritize in what order and manner obligations must be handled, and the Comptroller shall have responsibility for their payment; Congress may create no revenue devices but shall prescribe the manner of the collection of those listed in this Constitution; All federal revenue devices must be uniform throughout the United States; To create new Departments to carry out legitimate functions;
- To create the system of currency and financial institutions; The disposition of bankruptcies of individual persons, organizations, and governments at the local, State, Federal, and ‘other’ levels; The punishment for counterfeiting the securities and money of the United
States; - To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries, through patents, copyrights, and intellectual property rights, and to prosecute infringements thereof;
- To promote military technology and patents, which may be funded by the federal government;
- To transfer the legal liability for non-defective products approved by government regulators to the applicable government and off the producer. The applicable government shall create a compensation fund for those who have suffered injury from approved non-defectively
produced products.
(An example of the application of this Power for pharmaceuticals could be: people harmed by side effects disclosed on the label would not be able to sue the producer/distributor but would receive a predetermined level of compensation from the fund for unforeseen but scientifically validated injuries.)
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- To promote the Progress of Business and Trade by securing to companies the exclusive right to a distinguishing brand, through trademarks;
- To establish post offices, but their expenses shall be paid out of their own revenues;
(The PO needs to make money or go under.)
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- To fix the Standard of Weights and Measures; To create other Standards to facilitate progress in other areas; To create a Bureau of Statistics. The Head of this Bureau shall be popularly elected and he shall nominate his Officials, who shall be confirmed by the Senate in like manner as the President does with his Officials;
(A lot of times progress can’t happen without a standard, which could be arbitrary, but known. “The Devil you know…”
The Bureau of Statistics Head being elected separately from the President means the President and Congress can’t directly cook the books, like President Obama is doing with the BLS and jobs data.)
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- To provide rules for those institutions which voluntarily aid the People in emergencies, and for those disabled to the point of not being able to provide for themselves, but only for those operations which cross state lines;
- To provide rules for issues of sanitation, contagion of diseases, and toxins affecting human life;
- The purchasing or leasing of land only to serve the interests of the People; To dispose of Federal lands;
- Other functions explicitly provided for in other sections of this Constitution; No appropriation may be for an extraconstitutional function or purpose;
- Other areas as the Congress (or People) may determine, approved by functional amendment to this Constitution. No law or appropriation may be passed in advance of such amendment;
(So many functions done by the Federal government today are really State functions. What do I care about road construction in Montana when I live in Texas?)
In order to carry into execution these legitimate functions of the Federal Government, the Congress (or the People through ballot initiative) may make all Laws that are necessary and proper for that specific purpose, and vest their enforcement in the Government of the United States or in any Department or Officer thereof.
(The real Constitution lays out “Powers” and we must assume they are legitimate. This lays out “legitimate functions” and then says that Congress or the People have the Power to create Laws to execute them. It may be a small point, but I make a distinction between “Power” and “legitimate Power” [aka “might doesn’t make right”] and think that explaining it a little better [as I have done] will make confusion and subsequent abuse less likely. This Constitution also specifies, in other areas, the exact manner of carrying out some of these functions, while not denying Congress the power the make laws that are “necessary and proper” under one of these functions. )
Section 2
[1] The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members elected to a non-consecutive two-year term by the Citizens of the Congressional Representative Districts of the several States.
(This is a little different wording, creating an effect with the HoR being slightly more an assembly of districts, and slightly less of States. Why? So people, like students or other temporary residents, can’t just come in, make a mess, and leave. I think all elected positions should be for a non-consecutive term, but politicians could be re-elected after skipping a term, or could get elected to another office. This has many benefits: no incumbents, so no advantage to any candidate, and no power brokers, like a Robert Byrd or Strom Thurmond, who were in their positions for 50 years. A much higher chance of citizen-politicians who serve the people instead of themselves and who have jobs outside government. I see performing a political term
a lot like performing a military enlistment. It also doesn’t preclude a person from staying in government by running for different offices. It also doesn’t preclude experienced politicians, just career ones. The politician who does a good job may be re-elected after skipping a term,
so there is a reward for doing a good job the same as one who does a good job under the current system can get elected to a second term. It also eliminates the pressure of being re-elected. I think there would be enough common people who just want to do a good job that there is still
incentive to do the will of the People.)
[2] Each Congressional Representative District may decide for itself, to elect, either by self-promotion, or by random-promotion, its Representative. Every Representative must be at least 25 years of age and have been a Citizen for 7 years when elected, have been a Citizen of that State for at least 2 years, been two years a resident of that district or an adjoining district that was a part of that district before redistricting, and met the base qualifications for officeholders
in Part II, Article 1, Section 2.
(Doing it this way means the Rep actually is more familiar with his district. Let me also introduce “self-promotion” and “random-promotion”: Self-promotion is the current system where candidates self-announce and almost always look to get the nomination of a political party. They are usually members of the aristocracy (well established, well respected families with money and influence). I am not going to talk bad about the aristocracy: someone needs to be the leader, and they fill this void. They have connections and are able to get stuff done. Some of them are even visionary. They are often honorable, but they use their connections for mild corruption, which as long as it is discreet, is tolerable. The problem comes when they are not honorable and they rig things for their benefit and barely or not at all for the public. They can often be oblivious to how things are at the street level. The way to rectify this is to throw some turbulence in this cozy arrangement by, TA DA!, the democracy. I do this by a blend of sortition (randomly choosing from a qualified pool of candidates like is done with juries…or the way the
Athenians or the Venetians did) who then run for election……not quite random but definitely preventing us from getting railroaded by the “establishment” candidates. The aristocracy might look down their noses and think that the demos is somehow unqualified to hold office. Really?
You think that? You are going to tell me that an utter dimwit aristocrat like Joe Biden can hack it in the Senate, but a mechanic with the skills to survive in the private sector couldn’t? I rest my case. Random-promotion allows for the election of the average Janes and Joes who are middle class and who have some schooling, are at the street level, are responsible for getting stuff done, take their oath seriously, and AREN’T CORRUPT. They generally work in the private sector
and many have their own small businesses. They may be computer programmers, restaurateurs, mechanics, professionals, plumbers, or truck drivers. They don’t have high level connections, but they are commonsensical, frugal, and honorable. They care what their peers think of them. They don’t have hidden agendas. They have little to gain by being in office. They don’t have time to run for politics. They do have time to get certified as candidates and would serve if they are chosen. I would have them put their names in a hat and those chosen would run for office. They couldn’t be “gotten to” before being chosen so corrupt interests would be a disadvantage. The person lives in the district and will suffer for his bad votes. This method of choosing also weakens the influence of political parties: they didn’t get him on the ballot. They could still help him in the general election, of course. At a minimum, it divides power between the aristocracy and the demos, preventing one or the other from reducing liberty. Each district could decide to do elections by self- or random-promotion, either by the lawmaking body or by ballot initiative.)
[3] If a Congressional Representative District opts to elect its Representative by self-promotion, all certified candidates may immediately begin campaigning to get the most votes. Those who get the signatures of one percent of registered voters of the district shall be placed on the ballot. If a Congressional Representative District opts to elect its Representative by random-promotion, all certified candidates may enter their names in a lottery for their district, and then 10 winners shall be chosen in a place open and observable to all members of that district 121 days before the election, who may then immediately begin campaigning to get the most votes. Election officials may not release any names before the lottery.
(I figure a certain number of Reps would be from the Demos, and some wouldn’t even have a Party affiliation, the effect of which would divide power among even more hands and enhance liberty.)
[4] All Candidates may choose to become backed by a political party, subject to the base rules in Part II, Article 1, Section 4.
[5] The person who wins a simple majority of those voting shall be elected, and if no one wins on the first ballot, another election shall be held, composed of only the two persons with the highest number of votes, and the winner shall be the person with the highest number of
votes. Elections that are within ½ of 1% and will determine who wins shall have an equal number of recounts done by all polling places in the District. (not cherry picked places)
Section 3
[1] The Number of Representatives shall be fixed at 435, unless changed by Law, and the total population of Citizens of all the States shall be divided by the number of Citizens in that State to determine the number of Representatives each State receives, but each State shall have at least one Representative. The population of Citizens shall be determined by an actual count of the Census every ten years, and apportionment of Representatives shall be made therefrom, or in such Manner as the Law shall direct. (Only CITIZENS can vote.)
[2] Each Congressional Representative District within the State may be changed by the State Legislature every ten years with each Census, must be composed of nearly identical populations of Citizens, be composed of contiguous territory, compact in structure, consisting of whole counties unless impractical, and may not be constructed so as to give one Candidate (or Party) a decisive advantage in an election.
(Districts are reverse-Gerrymandered, making them competitive, instead of safe.)
[3] When vacancies (or inability to perform duties for longer than 90 days [like Gabrielle Giffords]) happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies within 151 days, and the Person then elected shall serve the remainder of the term of the person he replaced plus an additional term (ensuring at least 2 years in office. Why would a person run for a term lasting only a few months?). The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other Officers;
Section 4
[1] The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State: the Person who shall be Governor of that State when the Senate session begins for the new year shall have the sole power to choose One, and the Person who shall be Speaker of the most Numerous House of that State’s Legislature when the Senate session begins for the new year shall have the sole power to choose the other, and each term a Senator may serve is a maximum of six Years, and may not serve another term without two years intervening from the previous; and each Senator shall have one Vote. A Senator may yearly be reconfirmed by the office which appointed him, or a new Senator chosen, but may not be dismissed by that office before the third day of January. Every Senator must be at least 30 years of age and have been a Citizen for 9 years when chosen, and have been a Citizen of that State for at least 3 years, and met the
base qualifications for officeholders in Part II, Article 1, Section 2.
(This makes a Senator a State’s delegate: he has to take into account the wishes of whoever appointed him, but he isn’t a puppet, because he can be fired only once per year. Doing it
this way also makes the State [Legislature and Governor] relatively more powerful in the Senate, which was what the Framers intended in 1787, without the disadvantage of the endless fights which occurred in the 19th century over who each Senator would be, because only one person
chooses a Senator. I allow the Governor-elect and Speaker-elect to do this so the Senator is not at odds with his appointing office. The Person serving as Senator would likely be a Politician: a person who is very knowledgeable about politics and rhetoric and has a finely-tuned sense of which way the wind is blowing, like Cicero, but who is balanced in the HoR by commonsensical and honorable members of the democracy.
The Congress is a fusion of Confederation with Democracy: The States were like little countries who banded together for a few things, especially “common defence”, and were represented in the Senate regardless of population. The House of Representatives was like a democracy, with
majority rule. Instead of having to please either the States or the People, our system requires BOTH before Congress can do anything, resulting in a Federation. Having Senators popularly elected makes the democracy stronger, defeating the balance established originally in the
Constitution. It also changes the dynamic of an Article V Convention, making States weaker and the Congress [Federal Government] stronger.)
[2] The Vice-President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall vote only to break ties. The Senate shall choose their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice-President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United States.
Section 5
[1] Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services equal to twice the median national income (it’s specific, reasonable, and they can’t vote themselves raises), and Senators four times median, per the Bureau of Statistics, and neither may ever receive a pension, nor receive special privileges that all other citizens do not enjoy, nor exempt themselves from any
legislation, and must be subject to exactly the same laws as everyone else, unless impossible. (This reduces the incentives for making a career of being a politician.)
[2] Senators and Representatives shall be paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They, and their staffs (which shall be limited in number by law), shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the
Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.
[3] No Senator or Representative may resign to take a newly created or higher-compensated political position, but must wait until the conclusion of their current term (for Representatives) or the expiration of their yearly reappointment (for Senators). Neither may simultaneously serve in Congress and hold a position in another branch.
[4] Each House shall be the sole Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members (not subject to Judicial Review [like Adam Clayton Powell]), and a Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business, but those who deliberately absent themselves shall count as if they were present (preventing dissident legislators from holding the People hostage like in Texas or Wisconsin); but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the Attendance of absent Members, in such Manner, and under such Penalties as each House may provide. Those deliberately absent for more than fourteen total days during a session shall be considered to have abandoned their position, with vacancies for Representatives filled as normal, and replacement Senators chosen by the office which chose
the other Senator; Abandoner-Legislators shall count as present for purposes of Quorum until the position is refilled; (You are a Senator or Representative and you want to throw a temper tantrum? Great, but your opponents will make the laws.)
[5] Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behavior, and, with the Concurrence of two-thirds, expel a Member. The Chamber of Repeal shall review Congress to ensure it does, in fact, enforce these rules upon itself, and may require Members to appear before the Chamber to explain themselves, and may commission the Inspector General to investigate when answers are insufficient.
(No, I don’t trust them to police themselves, and Charlie Rangel is the proof.)
[6] Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and Yearly publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in their Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members of either House on any question (not specifically exempted) shall be entered on the Journal.
Section 6
[1] The House of Representatives shall assemble once every Year, starting the 3rd of January, and the session shall end the 22nd of May. The terms of Representatives shall end at noon on the 3d day of January.
(I believe Mark Twain’s quip that ‘No one’s life, liberty, or property is safe when the Legislature is in session’ is exactly right. I limited the time for the making of new laws to 140 days, which is enough for the second most populous State, Texas [25 million people], to function, and they meet every other year! 140 days each year is enough for a Nation, especially since their duties are much more limited than currently.)
[2] All Bills shall originate in the House of Representatives, or by Ballot Initiative;
(Yes, ALL bills, not just revenue and appropriations. I take almost all revenue Power away from Congress [see “Revenue” section below], so their duties are more limited. Also, this is the “People’s House” so all Bills should start here, and the Senate only has the Power to pare down
Bills.)
[3] Anyone may initiate an idea for a Bill to a Representative, who may or may not introduce it to the House. Representatives shall automatically introduce a District Initiative: a Bill supported by the signatures of five percent of the registered voters of his Congressional Representative District. The House and Senate shall each have a defined standard period of debate (no filibusters), after which, votes shall be taken. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively.
[4] The Congress shall enact no law except by Bill. All Bills must be descriptively titled and all provisions of that Bill must relate to the title. If a Bill is presented to the Senate or President with multiple topics, each may divide the Bill into separate Bills with a common topic. (Omnibus Bills are a total perversion of the current Constitution. True, it doesn’t allow for a line-item veto, but I also can’t believe that it allowed for Congress to load up bills with completely unrelated topics and thus frustrate the Presidential veto. If I were President, I would take this to the Supreme Court. Of course, Congress has been getting away with this for 200 years, so there is precedent for this unconstitutional practice.)
One title with one topic shall also apply to every Order, Resolution, Vote, or any other business that comes before Congress or the President. Each spending item in an appropriation Bill must be sufficiently specific to allow it to be easily understood. Either House of Congress, for proper purposes in aid of the legislative function, shall summon individuals and organizations to testify to clarify issues. Each House shall have the Power of Contempt and Enforcement; The House shall hear 24 randomly-chosen interested members of the public speak on the floor
for not less than 5 minutes on any bill before voting. The same shall apply to the Senate. The bill shall not be sent to the President without these 48 people speaking.
[5] The House of Representatives shall approve Bills by a three-fifths vote. (and you thought I got rid of the filibuster…well, not exactly, I just made it apply to everything and switched it to the People’s House instead of leaving it in the Senate. This process favors stasis, absent a
compelling reason, but really, if a law is truly needed, it should have no trouble getting passed, and since I have outlawed a lot of stuff that Congresspeople get away with today, there is less for them to argue over. ), which shall be immediately transferred to the Senate for consideration. Bills that the House has not approved by the end of its session, and passed on to the Senate, shall expire, and should a Budget remain unpassed by the end of the session, the dollar amount of funding shall continue unchanged from the previous year. Congress shall have the Power to repeal the acts of previous Congresses by a simple majority vote. Congress has no Power to prevent future Congresses from doing the same.
(This would allow a dedicated “smaller government Party” to simply prevent the Federal Government from growing at all, and actually become smaller as a percentage of GDP as
inflation occurs and also as the economy grows. Since the Democrats can’t even agree to cut a measly two percent of the Budget, and “Timid John” Boehner won’t fight for it, this would allow those Congresspeople with ‘nads to gum things up and save the Republic. I’m not preaching…really I’m not. Well, maybe a little.)
Section 7
[1] The Senate shall assemble every Year, and such Meeting shall start the 3rd of January. The President of the Senate may adjourn the Senate during those times when no business is being conducted.
[2] The Senate shall consider the Bills approved by the House for their suitability to the States, and their Constitutionality. The Senate shall read each Bill and delete each unsuitable or unconstitutional provision by a simple majority vote against each, and shall approve what
remains of the Bill by a simple majority vote. The Senate shall do the same for appropriation Bills, and may reduce each appropriation.
(My Senate is barred from creating laws, but has a line-item veto over what the House approves. Its function is to investigate what the House proposes.)
[3] A Bill approved by the Senate shall be immediately presented to the President; If he approves of it in toto he shall sign it, or if he does not return it to the Senate within ten Days (Sundays excepted), the effect shall be the same as if he had signed it, and it shall be sent to the voters as a referendum for their yea or nay at the next election, and if approved by a simple majority of those voting, it shall become a law.
(The voters have to approve what the politicians have proposed. ObamaCare pushed me over the cliff into believing that politicians are 100% untrustworthy and need to be checked. I think we should approve many of their laws, but can say “nay” when something smells bad and is put together with Cornhusker Kickbacks, Union threats, special deals, and a need to “pass it to see
what is in” 2000 page new laws, many of which have nothing to do with the title of the law, and…Sorry, did I already make clear that after ObamaCare passed, I completely don’t trust politicians?)
[4] If he objects to any or all parts of the Bill, he shall delete those sections (and may also reduce sections in appropriation Bills) (he has a line item veto in my fantasy Constitution), with his reasons, and shall return it to Congress. Each House shall enter his objections into their Journal, and proceed to reconsider the Bill. If after such Reconsideration two-thirds of both Houses agree to pass the Bill as it was before it was presented to the President, it shall be sent to the voters as a referendum for their yea or nay at the next election, and if approved by a simple majority of those voting, it shall become a law. If two-thirds of both Houses do not reapprove the Bill, the Bill shall expire if the President disapproved of it in toto, otherwise it shall be sent, in the form intended by the President, to the voters as a referendum at the next election, and if approved yea or nay by a simple majority of those voting, it shall become a law.
[5] All Bills not ready to put on the yearly ballot by the last Friday of September (including Citizen’s Initiatives), shall expire. [6] Voters shall have time to read Bills from the 1st of October
until the election, and make their choices of which to approve at the elections, which shall be held yearly the third Thursday in November. All new laws shall be delayed one year before taking effect the next January third. Laws may be challenged during this time. (Gasp! Giving the voters time to READ the BILLS! What a concept!)
Section 8: Other Duties of the Congress
[1] Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary shall be presented to the President of the United States; and the procedure shall be the same as in the Case of a Bill, but shall not need to be approved by the
voters.
[2] The Senate, in its role of advice and consent, shall utilize a bureau which uses written standards to determine the qualifications and general record of competence of nominees. The Senate should use bureau recommendations but is free to disregard them.
[3] Secrets (and procedures employed by) military, intelligence, and criminal law enforcement departments shall be released outside their departments only when the President and the applicable Senate oversight committee both agree it is in the national interest.
Section 9: Federal Ballot Initiatives
(Arguably the most successful and envied State, California, has made use of initiatives for a long time. [Too bad a majority of Californians have forgotten that Liberty made the State great, not Government, which has led to their current woes.] I don’t want the Nation to get overloaded with laws from any source, so I make initiatives for new laws more difficult to get done than other initiatives.)
[1] The People may originate Bills for new laws directly, which must meet the standards of a Bill in the House of Representatives, by collecting signatures from two percent of the registered voters in half the number of States, which comprise not less than two percent of the total number of registered voters in the nation, which shall go on the ballot for the next election, and if approved yea or nay by a majority of those voting, shall go to the President immediately after the election, who if he approves it (though he may delete those sections he disagrees with), or takes no action by the day before the start of the new Congressional session, shall become a law, otherwise it shall not be a law, and the signatures must be re-collected to put it on the ballot
again.
[2] The People may originate and pass Bills for new laws directly, which must meet the standards of a Bill in the House of Representatives, by collecting signatures from five percent of the registered voters of every Congressional Representative District in half the number of
States, which comprise not less than five percent of the total number of registered voters in the nation, which shall go on the ballot for the next election, and if approved yea or nay by a majority of those voting, shall become a law, otherwise it shall not be a law, and the signatures
must be re-collected to put it on the ballot again.
[3] Ballot Initiatives not concerning the making of a new law shall require only half the number of signatures (making it easier to repeal or modify actions already approved than to create new laws) and may be for actions on all Federal government branches including but not limited to:
1. To repeal a law.
2. To restore a law as it was before it was changed, reversed, or eliminated (but not later than two years afterwards).
3. To close a Federal government Department, or defund it so it has to sustain itself from its own revenues, or to close a specific location.
4. To change or eliminate a fee or fine;
5. To recall an official, or move or demote him from a position, whether elected, appointed, or chosen in some other manner.
6. To begin an investigation, or to choose, investigate, or recall an investigator or prosecutor.
7. To insist that a law or judgment be carried out, or bring a contempt citation on the official not carrying it out.
8. To freeze overall Federal government spending, or in a particular area.
9. To overturn or limit an act or procedure of an Executive or other Department.
10. To overturn or limit an Executive or Proclamatory Order.
11. To set aside a court ruling, requiring a new decision within one year by another Court randomly chosen of equal level (or one level inferior, if the Supreme).
12. To decide whether an elective jurisdiction shall have candidates run by self-promotion or random-promotion.
13. To perform other actions not prohibited by this Constitution.
14. To put a moratorium on a law, regulation, or rule for a specified period of time.
Initiatives may not infringe a right, usurp a responsibility, or concern War;
(Once engaged in a war, the people tend to have doubts. It must be fought with steadfastness in order to be won. This shall be the strict realm of the President and Congress.)
Section 10: Budgets
[1] At the start of the Congressional session, the Comptroller of Public Accounts shall certify to the Congress the amount of available cash on hand in the Treasury and anticipated revenues for the next year. (see [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Comptroller_of_Public_Accounts].)
[2] No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations (a purpose appropriate, or proper) made by Law for the legitimate Federal government functions in Section 1;
[3] The Congress is not permitted to appropriate any funds in excess of the Comptroller’s certified amounts (except in time of declared war with the approval of both Houses and the President, with the excesses spent directly on the military or in support thereof), and any Budget approved by the Congress must then get the approval of the Comptroller, who must reject and return to the Congress any Budget in violation of this requirement.
[4] Congress shall appropriate no money from the Treasury except by a vote of three-fifths of both Houses, taken by yeas and nays, unless one of the following three conditions should apply, in which cases only a simple majority of both Houses shall be necessary: (1) it is asked for
by the Heads of Departments and submitted to Congress, with a clear breakdown and justification for amounts; (2) it is used to pay its own expenses; (3) it is used for the payment of contracts, salaries, expenses, and other claims against the United States, the validity of which shall have been certified after an investigation by the Comptroller. The following parts of the budget shall be reserved, and the Comptroller shall pay these first, automatically: (1) valid Debts, (2) a total of five percent of the final budget to the Custodial Branches, and (3) three percent of Gross Domestic Product to the Armed Forces, without input from Congress, none of which may be reduced, but amounts may be increased by the Congress.
[5] All appropriations are discretionary (except the final three in the previous subsection); no others are mandatory. However, an abbreviated process to fund existing projects by a Resolution to Continue at the previous year’s spending level plus up to the real rate of growth in Gross Domestic Product may be initiated by the House Appropriations Committee. The Senate Appropriations Committee may then strike those projects it disagrees with, or reduce the appropriation. The remaining projects shall then presented to the President, and those projects he does not strike shall be funded for another year. Foreign policy trusteeships, Military funding during war, and Commitments to Allies, shall be approved for five year intervals. Projects not included in the Continuing Resolution must go through the normal appropriations process.
[6] All Bills appropriating money shall specify the exact dollar amount of each appropriation and the purposes for which it is made; and Congress shall grant no extra compensation, in any form, over what is provided for in this Constitution, to any government contractor, officer, agent, or servant, after such contract shall have been made or such service rendered. No appropriation item may be contingent or be designed to implement automatically without a vote of the entire Congress. (This “supercommittee” of 12 Congresspeople that the leaders of Congress have cobbled together is an illegal delegation of Congressional power, as is “automatic” cuts in Military/Social Security funding.) The Budget shall be listed line by line on a spreadsheet, and in cases of discrepancy with the text of legislation, the spreadsheet shall prevail.
(The $105 billion hidden in the text of ObamaCare [that Michele Bachmann pointed out] would be null and void, since it would have to be disclosed in plain sight on a spreadsheet.)
[7] No subsidies, or any money not earned, shall ever be paid to any person (except the prebate, tax rebates, and subsistence), company, industry, or other organization; (No personal or corporate welfare.)
[8] No appropriation of money for any purpose shall be made with the intention to aid any company, or industry, but may only be made in order to serve the interests of the People. (“We need to take money away from the taxpayers to keep jobs at XYZ Corp by giving them this contract.” Umm, no.)
[9] No one shall receive any government contract or benefit on the basis of race or ethnicity, location, occupation, industry, or activity, either individually or collectively, nor an exemption. (Merit is fair to everyone.)
[10] The total budget shall never grow faster than the real rate of growth in last year’s Gross Domestic Product, unless in time of declared War to directly aid the War effort. Any increase in the budget over the percentage rate of inflation shall be removed from Congressmen’s pay on
an equal percentage basis, except in time of declared War to directly aid the War effort. The budget shall be calculated in actual dollar amounts. All projections must use this year’s actual dollar amounts from the budget as a baseline. Amounts shall never be figured from previous
projections of increases or decreases.
(As long as the budget stays constant with the real rate of growth, government will never take up a larger percentage of GDP and start strangling the private sector. Also, if Congress wants to increase the budget over inflation, it needs to only do so on projects they are certain are “worthy,” which I define as those that they are willing to pay for partly from their own pockets. If they have “skin in the game,” they will be mindful of expenditures. I also see this as a way to make Congress interested in increasing efficiency and economies of scale, which would make government expenditures continually go down as a percentage of GDP.)
[11] Total Federal spending shall never exceed 15% of Gross Domestic Product (calculated from the last full calendar year before the start of the current fiscal year), under any circumstances, except war. No spending shall be “off budget.”
[12] Budgets, once passed, may not be increased for that year, except when war is declared.
[13] Members of Congress and the President shall forfeit their salary, on a per diem basis (up to 60 days), for every day past the end of the fiscal year that a budget for that year remains unpassed. The fiscal year ends on the last day of the normal session of the House of Representatives. The President may once per year call the House into extended session for 60 days only for the purpose of passing a Budget.
[14] The Federal Treasury must provide funding for what Federal Law mandates. [15] No grants, subsidies, or other money may be given directly to States, nor may special favors in legislation be given to one State that are not available to all other States.
(No “Cornhusker Kickbacks” or any other amounts may be given to States. This money is for the use of Federal functions, only. States don’t get block grants because they don’t pay the Federal government for block grants: the money stays at home without a trip to D.C.)
[16] Numbers 1-11 shall also apply to the States, with ‘President’ changed to ‘Governor’, ‘Congress’ changed to ‘Legislature’, ‘Gross Domestic Product’ changed to ‘Gross State Product’, the recognition that only the Federal government may borrow money, ‘U.S.’ ‘United States’ or
‘National’ to the applicable State, ‘Treasury’ to apply to the State Treasury. Total State Government spending may never exceed 10% of Gross State Product under any circumstances, including war. If anything in sections 1-11 is directly inapplicable to a particular State, it shall
be applied as closely as possible.
[17] Numbers 1-11 shall apply to the Counties and Municipalities, with ‘President’ changed to the Mayor or Chief Executive, ‘Congress’ changed to the City Council or lawmaking power, ‘Gross Domestic Product’ changed to ‘Gross County and Municipality Combined Product’, the
recognition that only the Federal government may borrow money, ‘U.S.’ ‘United States’ or ‘National’ to the applicable County or Municipality, ‘Treasury’ to apply to the County or Municipal Treasury. Total Combined County and Municipal Government spending may never exceed 8% of the Combined Product of the County and Municipality under any circumstances,
including war. If anything in sections 1-11 is directly inapplicable to a particular County or Municipality, it shall be applied as closely as possible.
[18] If, at the end of the fiscal year (not during declared war) the Federal deficit has exceeded 10% of Gross Domestic Product, or outstanding debt instruments exceed 100% of GDP, the Comptroller must declare a state of financial emergency (and shall be in violation of his oath and removed within 30 days of the end of the fiscal year if he does not). The President and Congress shall be called into session, clear all other business to focus solely on the crisis, and have 90 days to reduce federal spending, which shall include the merging or reduction of still needed Departments and elimination of the least needed Departments up to and including the reorganization of all civillian departments (except security services and law enforcement) of
the Federal government. All contracts shall be terminated and be renegotiated. If a plan is not approved by a majority of both Houses of Congress and the President during that time, new elections shall be held in 120 days for all Congresspersons and the Presidency, and the
Comptroller shall have sole authority to implement his own plan.
(A person who mismanages his money has to declare bankruptcy. A company, corporation, charity, or other organization that mismanages its money has to declare bankruptcy. A
government that mismanages OUR money should have to do the same. This would function the same as a Chapter 11 reorganization. While I believe in a Congressional system of fixed terms [because of the stability of it] over a Parliamentary system where a vote of ‘no confidence’ causes the government to fall, in this specific instance, the politicians have been shown to be so indubitably inept that they should have to immediately face the wrath of the voters.)
Section 11: Revenue
[1] Federal revenue may be collected only to the extent necessary to pay for the year’s appropriations for the legitimate functions of government in Section 1;
[2] The Federal Budget shall be paid by the States, and each State shall pay its per-capita proportion (its Federal Levy), no more and no less.
(This one change to taxation would instantly make States not want to run up the Federal budget, because money sent to Washington would be money not available for the State government to waste use, which is how it should be.)
[3] Each State shall collect Federal revenue devices for the Federal Government, with all that revenue within a State counting towards that State’s Federal Levy. Any business that acts as a collection agent shall be paid a fee.
(I have the States collect specifically designated federal taxes to be remitted to the federal government. An alternative way would be for each State to collect its own State taxes and simply remit the amount called for by the federal government. That way, States could experiment with various taxation schemes and retain more control over the money. I’m not sure which would be better: this alternative way allows States more control [and takes some power away from the feds], but the way I outline is more certain to get the feds paid and also retains some evil poison pills to prevent overall overtaxation.)
[4] Should a State not be able to pay its Federal Levy solely from its collection of Federal revenue devices, the next year’s Federal collections for all States must be reduced to the same per-capita
collection as the State with the largest per-capita shortfall.
(This would have several effects: the Federal government would have difficulty getting too much revenue because revenue would be limited by states with the lowest per-capita income, poor states couldn’t be overtaxed, and states that are poor would likely be that way due to oppressive state governments, who would call attention to themselves through their shortfall and make themselves candidates for “Loss of Sovereignty” [listed near the end of this Constitution under “State Governments”] – a way for the Federal government to free them from this situation.)
[5] Any amount collected from Federal revenue devices over the State’s Federal Levy, plus a retain of ten percent (cumulative from all years), shall be refunded by an equal amount per-capita to its people every December 15, or tax collections eliminated starting December 15
and extending into the new calendar year until the overage is eliminated, at the option of each State’s Comptroller. Should Federal revenue collected be insufficient to pay the Levy, the deficit must be made up from a State’s other revenues.
(OK, this is an evil little way of making the People extra mad if they don’t get their rebate. They either get this money in the form of a check, or a tax holiday which starts, TA DA, in time for Christmas. It could be a bit redistributionist with everyone getting the same dollar amount refund, but no rich person is forced to buy anything and thus pay taxes on it.)
[6] Revenue shall be collected first from the least necessary (see subsection [7] (1.) below) and most avoidable activities and progress to the more necessary and less avoidable (see subsection [7] (5.) below), and shall be used for those government functions that are used by everyone. Overages shall be returned to the People by the State Comptroller in reverse order, starting from more necessary sources to less necessary. For those government services that are not used by
everyone, ‘A La Carte’ user fees shall be collected as best as possible only from those who actually use that service and not from those who do not.
(What I mean is: booze is totally unnecessary, and thus completely avoidable, whereas driving to work is probably necessary, and unless you walk or use a bus or telecommute, it is not avoidable. Therefore, if taxes are to be cut, they should be cut on gasoline before booze. On the subject of ‘A La Carte’ government, I think that people should only have to pay for government services they actually use, therefore, everyone should have to pay taxes for the military, but not for filing an incorporation, which should be paid for by the one wanting to incorporate, or an
importer should pay a fee for the customs inspection, and I will help pay that fee if I decide to buy the product. Most cases of user fees should actually be at the State and Locality level, not Federal, because most Federal functions should be for the common benefit of everyone and
not just the members of one State or Locality. Why should I be paying Federal taxes to build a county road in Maine when I live in Texas? That’s a local matter.)
[7] All Federal revenue device types and maximum tax rates shall be uniform throughout the United States, and no revenue device shall be charged on sales (or any other activities) outside the United States (whether repatriated or not), and the Congress shall have no Power to create any new revenue devices, but shall only create the rules of collection for those revenue devices described as follows:
(I completely strip Congress of the Power to tax. In the early days of the Republic, Congress needed this Power. Today, it can get more than enough revenue from the following sources. [It has also proven beyond any reasonable doubt that it just can’t help itself from abusing this
power.] I also don’t think they should be able to help themselves to OUR money. We should have to approve what we give to them. Oh, you think “Gasp! What will government do in dire emergencies?” The only dire emergency is war. Period. [Recessions are the only other possible
addition, and they are self-curing.] When you give the power to tax, expenditures always find a way to soak up all available cash. I give government a fixed amount of the economy, which is exactly fair…and actually, I provide for government as a percentage of the economy the go
DOWN because I give an incentive for government to be more efficient, as it should be with economies of scale. Plus, “we the people” have to tighten our belts in lean times, as should government, and we can party in good times, and government can do the same.)
1. Lotteries and casinos shall be one-third owned by the federal government and its share of profits shall be remitted to the United States Comptroller. Some of those profits shall be used to pay for treatment programs for abusers.
(I don’t want any sort of corporate or direct tax, which would be required because: how do you put a sales tax on gambling? So the alternative was to have the government own a share,
even though I hate the government owning any part of a business.)
2. A sales tax that may add not more than 50% to the final price of prostitution, some of the proceeds of which shall be used to pay for training programs for employees to secure other employment.
3. A sales tax that may add not more than 50% to the final price of alcohol, tobacco, and recreational drugs, some of the proceeds of which shall be used to pay for treatment programs for abusers.
(I don’t get the distinction between a person unobtrusively sitting in their home drinking bourbon and a person doing the same with marijuana.)
4. A sales tax that may add not more than 15% to the price charged to the buyer of a finished, never-before owned good. The Comptroller shall have the sole Power to set this rate;
(I LOVE the FairTax, [fairtax.org] a very credible idea for an American national sales tax that replaces the personal income tax, corporate income tax, inheritance tax, gift tax, capital gains tax, and FICA taxes.)
5. A sales tax that may add not more than twenty five percent to the final price of vehicular fuels, the proceeds of which shall be used for Federal road construction and the maintenance thereof (if collected from motor vehicles), waterways (if collected from shipping), and aerospaceways (if collected from aerospacecraft.)
6. A user fee for importing foreign goods, only to the extent absolutely necessary for executing the inspection Laws and maintaining sea, land, and aerospace ports, not to exceed five percent of the price the importer shall receive from the sale of the goods.
7. Tax rates must be prominently posted at the point of sale, as applicable. The actual tax rates for each of the above taxes shall be set by each State’s Comptroller so that the taxes needed to pay its Levy are neither over- or under- collected during the year.
8. Except for casinos and lotteries, no government may own a share of or operate any business.
9. Congress may, with the approval of three-fifths of both Houses and the President, and a simple majority of voters by referendum, replace one of the preceding revenue devices with another of similar kind and quality, but may not add any without a Structural Amendment.
10. The Federal Government may impose a fee on a Person for those times when he uses a Federal property or service, which shall be equivalent to the price in the private sector, and if there is no equivalent, shall be enough to cover expenses plus twenty percent. Fees or fines may not be charged for a service which is already paid for by current taxes, and fees and fines may be eliminated or reduced by voters via initiative. The manner of imposition shall be: the Comptroller of the United States shall yearly initiate suggestions for new user fees and fines (or adjustments to those existing) to the Congress, who may incorporate or delete (but not add to) those suggestions in a Bill, and send it to the President for approval in the same manner as other Bills, except that voters need not approve it by referendum.
(This expands the idea of ‘A La Carte’ government. Taxes should be for the common benefit; user fees should be paid by those who actually use a government service.)
[8] Each adult in the United States shall monthly receive from the Federal Treasury the amount of sales taxes that a person at the Federal poverty level (per the Bureau of Statistics) would pay on purchases, the effect being that a person shall pay no taxes with that portion of their income below the poverty level.
(The FairTax calls this a “prebate” or advance rebate.)
[9] Congress, by a simple majority vote approved by the President, shall have the power to borrow money on the credit of the United States only when War is declared, for war-related expenditures, which must be paid back no later than 25 years after the declaration, with the option to pay it back sooner, and may not be in any way renewed; (No debt may ever be pushed onto other generations. See Part I, Article I, Section 1, Subsection 4 [12]) The United States shall never guarantee any private or quasi-private debt, (which Fannie/Freddie might be considered)
And the United States shall not assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred by any State that attempted to secede, after it is returned to the Union; (assuming a second Civil War)
[10] Congress shall create uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States, including that of the Federal Government, Individual Departments, the States, and Localities, but no Law of Congress shall discharge any debt contracted before the passage
of this Constitution; No citizen or State shall be taxed to pay for the bankruptcy (or the prevention of) of another jurisdiction or State;
(There is no provision for State bankruptcies now.)
Section 12: Receipts and Disbursements
[1] “The Treasury” shall refer to the sum total of all money deposited in the accounts of the United States;
[2] The Comptroller of Public Accounts shall handle all revenue collections and disbursements;
[3] Federal Government revenues must be deposited into the general Treasury account. The Comptroller must then disburse all moneys appropriated for, or collected from a source, to sub-accounts dedicated to:
1. Each Department, for the amount of the appropriation;
2. Each Source & Function (e.g. Fuel taxes to be spent only on roads);
[4] No money may be diverted for any reason by anyone for any period of time from its proper sub-account. No sub-account shall be under the control of any Department head. The Department shall write vouchers to be drawn from the sub-account, which shall be paid by a dedicated Department Comptroller of equal rank to the Department head and independent from him. Each Source & Function fund shall have an Administrator, to decide who gets how much money, and a Comptroller of equal rank and independent from the Administrator.
(Provides better control over only enumerated functions being paid for, efficiently and frugally. Less ability for Departments to waste. No ability to divert or defraud.)
[5] After being deposited into a sub-account, moneys may not be used, lent (except overnight to earn interest on unused funds), or diverted for any purpose not authorized by the Department’s or fund’s charter, and any overages at the end of the fiscal year must be returned to the U.S. Comptroller, who shall then rebate the money to the taxpayers, or reduce the tax until the overage is used up.
(Returned to taxpayers! Wow!)
[6] The Department and S&F Comptrollers shall be appointed by the U.S. Comptroller, but none may serve more than six years in the same office.
(This provides lots of oversight and controls.)
[7] Comptrollers may not prevent an appropriation (that does not cause the Budget to exceed his certified amounts), but all of them must refuse to disburse funds for functions not explicitly authorized by this Constitution, law, the Department’s charter, or the stipulations of the S&F fund. When a Comptroller refuses a disbursement, Congress may insist that he pay it by showing him the legal authority for it, and the Comptroller is then obliged to research the explanation and reconsider. Should the Comptroller find evidence for the explanation given by
Congress, he shall pay it, and if not, he shall again reject the expenditure. If within 10 days afterwards a simple majority of both Houses of the Congress and the President should then approve the expenditure, the Comptroller is obligated to pay it.
(An official sworn to refuse to waste money? Yes.)
[8] No order of any Official may deny or delay the expenditure of money appropriated in a Budget and disbursed by a Comptroller to an account;
(Presidents such as FDR and Nixon have refused to give out money to Departments that has been appropriated.)
[9] A Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of every dollar of Federal Money shall be published Yearly by the U.S. Comptroller.
[10] Accounts and sub-accounts shall be with, and deposits and payments transacted from, subcontracted privately-owned financial institutions whose books shall be open to the public. The U.S. Comptroller, Department and S&F Comptrollers, Departments, and their private financial institutions, shall be audited at random times by internal and randomly selected outside private auditors, neither of which shall be held to account for negative reports.
(This makes finances transparent, and allows financial institutions to profit. It also makes for lots of audits. Sunlight is the best disinfectant.)
Section 13: Departments, Civil Service, and Department Subcontractors of all Branches of the Federal Government
[1] All appropriated money shall be available to a Department. Each Department shall be yearly assigned an effectiveness rating from +100% to -100%, to express how well the entire Department’s functions were performed (including subcontractors), determined by an outside auditor.
[2] Five percent of the dollar amount of the difference between what the Department’s budget would have grown to at the real rate of GDP from last year’s appropriation, minus what it actually spends, times one half its effectiveness rating, shall be awarded to each Department as a yearly bonus if the number is positive. The bonus shall be allocated so each Department employee (including attached members of the Civil Service, but not Department subcontractors) receives an equal percentage increase to his base salary. The remainder of unspent funds shall be returned to the Comptroller.
(Departments and employees would have an incentive to save money, but also to not do so by scrimping on their duties. This would cause civil servants to watch their expenditures and
to squeeze subcontractors, who would also have to win a competitive bid. I built in a rate of growth in government expenditures equal to the growth in GDP, which means government never grows as a % of GDP. If the Department can operate for less than that, it will result in government getting smaller as a percentage of GDP. I love the smell of smaller government in the morning…it smells like…liberty.)
[3] The Congress shall provide for the establishment of an Office of Personnel Management, which shall employ all non-military employees of the Federal Government. The Head shall be nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate in like manner as for other Department Heads.
1. Departments shall give notice of needed positions to the OPM, and both the Department and the OPM shall search for candidates.
2. Hirings and promotions shall be based on merit and fitness, demonstrated by examination or by other evidence of competence.
3. Winning candidates shall work for the OPM and their services billed to the Department to which they are attached. The OPM shall add a charge for its services at a rate equivalent to what a private sector employment agency would charge.
4. Only the OPM shall set wages, benefits, pensions, or other compensation. Employees shall be paid 75% of the equivalent private sector median wage for their profession with the same experience, per the Bureau of Statistics, adjusted yearly, plus bonuses from the Department they work for. For those positions that have no private sector equivalent, the OPM shall determine their reasonable compensation, which may be raised every year at a rate not exceeding inflation.
5. Five percent of the profit earned by the OPM shall be awarded to the administrators of the OPM as a bonus. The dollar amount shall be divided so that each administrator receives the same percentage bonus to base pay, which may not exceed 50%, with the remaining profit returned to the Comptroller.
(The advantage of this is that Departments can’t underfund their pensions, have a disincentive to pad payrolls since bonuses are based on amount of money saved [while still being effective], and must account for money going out instead of looking for ways to waste it. The OPM is constrained by law on amount of compensation they pay, so salaries would never get way out of whack like they are today, with Federal government employees averaging $120,000 in total compensation while equivalent private sector employees average $60,000. The law also eliminates the ability of politicians to bribe public sector workers into voting for them by promising wage increases. Also, for the OPM to produce a profit, it must watch expenses [aka look out for the taxpayers’ money], which isn’t being done today. Today, we have public sector unions pushing wage increases without anyone playing the role of management to oppose them–politicians promise them more money for more votes, and the taxpayers pay for it.
So, to recap, this Constitution prevents big spending on government payrolls in several ways: the civil service has a monetary incentive to keep costs low, is barred by law from raising wages, takes wages out of the control of politicians, and returns its profit to the taxpayers. In addition, the 10-year Department reorganizations work out inefficiencies and duplication and having civil servants employed centrally allows them to be moved around to where they are most effective. Departments have an incentive to keep costs low because they pay for each employee, they have to use low-bid contractors for most work, and they get bonuses for returning money to the Treasury. I also assign Departments an effectiveness rating, which can be positive or negative, so we can be assured of them doing their job instead of merely saving money. Positive effectiveness ratings will mean a bonus. Some of you will complain that public sector workers can make more than private, which is partially true: above average departments can make more, but the merely average won’t, and they still wouldn’t make as much as highly effective private sector people. I figure that effective/efficient Departments who can return money to the
Treasury will ensure that government continually gets smaller as a percentage of the economy, which is a VERY good thing that I’m willing to pay for.)
[4] Each Department shall outsource all government functions it can by deputizing private Government Services Companies. These qualified subcontractors shall be picked by competitive bid, backed by both a performance bond and insurance by a private organization, against default of duties, and an oath that they have given a good faith estimate (underbidding may be considered fraud). The Department shall make companies interchangeable, so they may be replaced easily. All records shall be modular, standardized, and transferrable. Records and
paper documents shall be digitized and owned by the Department, and the Department computer network shall be centralized and used by all subcontractors.
(Just having private companies, who can be fired, doing the work, would increase effectiveness and frugality.)
[5] The Department shall have a staff that supports subcontractors and ensures their proper performance. The Department shall create a continuity plan for the transfer of duties to another GSC. No more than 10% of a Department’s duties may be performed by any single company or
owner (to avoid overdependence), and no less than 3/4 of those employed by each Department shall be private contractors (to avoid bureaucratic empire making), unless impossible.
[6] Each GSC shall win 4-year initial contracts, which may be terminated for inefficiency or malfeasance. Contract renewal is reconsidered every 2 years, by an outside board based on their rating from performance reviews, and should the GSC be found inefficient by the board, the board shall either terminate the GSC, or reopen the bidding process where other competitive bidders may attempt to replace it.
[7] Every ten years, all civilian Executive Departments of the Federal Government must justify their existence. (Hello, Dept. of Education, Energy, etc., which the “smaller big government”
Republicans can’t ever find a way to get rid of, or to ever eliminate the many redundant departments and programs in the Fed Govt. Taxes are a necessary evil, but still evil. Therefore, we owe it to the taxpayers to be as minimally evil as possible by being frugal and efficient.) The President shall use the report of the Secretary of Fiscal Responsibility (read on…) to submit a Plan to the Congress for the elimination of superfluous offices and Departments, and the reorganization of the functions, powers and duties of the remaining Executive Departments so as to be most effective and efficient in their duties, who shall then be grouped as closely as practical according to their major purposes to eliminate redundancy and increase synergies. The Congress shall then make any necessary changes to the plan (and may stay in session all year to
accomplish this) and send the result to the President in the form of a Bill, which shall be disposed of as is normal for a Bill. The Secretary of Fiscal Responsibility shall continually investigate Six Sigma ways to make the Federal government more efficient, which he shall present to the President, who shall implement them as he sees fit.
(This is the same as a company reorganization. It would make the government more modern [getting rid of no-longer needed departments or consolidating them], effective, frugal, and efficient. A process of continual improvement within the existing structure would be ongoing during the 10 years that reorganizations are not mandated. [strongamericanow.com] is a very interesting organization which claims to be able to cut government expenditures by 25% by employing modern efficiency improvements.)
Section 14: Outside Contractors
All Outside Contractors (including but not limited to construction contractors) must be chosen by competitive bid, backed by a performance bond and insured by a private organization against default of duties, and an oath that they have given a good faith estimate (underbidding may
be considered fraud). Outside Contractors hired for a project shall also have specific timeframes for completion, and civil penalties may be pursued for unexplainably significant delays, and criminal penalties may be pursued for overcharges or substandard quality of materials or
workmanship. Recourse shall be pursued against contractors for breaches of contract.
Section 15: Interstate & Foreign Commerce
[1] Congress shall have no power to prohibit or mandate any interstate transport or trade, but shall standardize the rules therefor only for when trade crosses over the border of one state into another in order to remove obstructions to trade erected by one State against another, but only as a last resort after two States are incapable of solving a dispute after at least one year and one State complains.
This was the original intent of the ICC: States were screwing each other’s merchants, so there needed to be a standardized way to prevent that. Matters of, say, air pollution crossing state borders would be handled by one State suing another in Federal court, with the decision being incumbent on all the other states.
[2] Congress shall protect consumers by ensuring company (or charity) transparency, product quality, and detecting deceptive practices, but only when these issues cross state lines;
This would allow Congress to protect the citizens of other States proactively. It likely wouldn’t be needed, since a company in one State selling to another would be regulated by its home State, and the next venue for the issue to be solved would be in Federal court that would apply to all other States, without a federal regulation being needed.
[3] Congress shall ensure workplace safety, the honoring of contracts, and payment of debts for services rendered, but only when these issues cross state lines;
[4]Congress shall treat foreign trade exactly the same as interstate, with the following four exceptions:
1. A retaliatory tariff shall be imposed on each country’s imports, equal to their tariff on exports from the United States, and restrictions equal to that nation’s restrictions of U.S. goods, but this
is the sole tax or restriction on foreign imports that may ever be laid by any government;
2. Subsidized imports shall be fined for the amount of their subsidy, which shall be given to consumers as a rebate when they buy goods from a competitor;
(Tariffs just hurt the consumer by making all products more expensive. Doing it this way
punishes the subsidizer while promoting the domestic company and making
goods cheaper for consumers.)
3. For those nations that the United States is not allied with, or has extremely good relations with, as determined by the President and Congress, acting with the advice of the Military Council, a restriction on exports which have Military, or dual Military and Civilian use, shall
be imposed;
(Dual use goods, such as supercomputers, which can be used for atomic bomb modeling as well as weather, couldn’t be sold to any non-explicitily “friendly”-defined nation, which the P.R.
of China wasn’t. Sorry, Loral.)
4. For those nations that either the President or Congress should determine to be hostile, a complete embargo.
(There are currently a lot of protectionist tariffs, quotas, and restrictions, which I completely
prohibit here, but if the President or Congress should determine a nation is hostile (like Iran), there is no need to pussyfoot around it: just cut off ALL trade.)
Section 16: Regulatory Agencies
[1] Congress, when absolutely necessary, in response to significant complaints by the general public, or an analysis based on sound science or data showing a need, may create a Law regulating commerce, and delegate the technical aspects of its administration to a new or
pre-existing executive Agency. The Congress may not otherwise delegate its duties to other entities, nor may it delegate its duties to small numbers of Congresspeople, nor prevent further debate or amendments to proposals, except those provided within this Constitution.
[2] Regulatory Agencies, being a delegation of Congress, may have that delegation recalled, suspended, or abolished by Congress at any time, effective immediately. Congress may vote up or down on all regulations.
[3] The Agency must always perform a cost-benefit analysis of all regulations and consider them in its decisions. An unfavorable cost-benefit shall prevent the regulation from being implemented.
(One part of the original idea of Constitutionalism was that each law needs to be enabled by Congress. The administrative state has supplanted some of this by allowing regulatory agencies to create rules that have the effect of law. I’m not going to override 100+ years of precedents to
return this Constitution to what the Framers intended, for several reasons: (1) Expediency: (a) It’s already in place (b) It would be cumbersome to replace (c) It has the aforementioned precedents. (2) It was unforeseen by the Framers (who lived in an agrarian, non-industrialized country) just how complex society could get (3) I can see how regulations are needed, as long as they are minimal and reasonable: (a) I can’t even understand many products and think there is
a need for some transparency, quality, and safety standards for them, and (2) if I am wronged, it isn’t worth my time to sue over $20, which a regulatory department could potentially prevent (3) there need to be some standards for workplace safety (4) there are other reasonable rules
that I am forgetting. So my solution? I simply incorporated the regulatory state into this Constitution, with the intent to make it more transparent, accountable, and reasonable. And so I don’t have to know how an MRI works…or spend time figuring out how the other 300 consumer
products I use work…or have to sue my bank when they refuse to abide by the law on small “boundary layer” topics.)
[4] Congress must provide an intelligible principle and outline the general goals the Agency is to pursue, and the Agency may then make reasonable (non-arbitrary or capricious) rules for their attainment, based on specific science or data. Congress may not allow too wide a latitude in creating rules. The Agency may initially create all regulations necessary to carry out the purposes of the Law, and may either update the standards or propose entirely new rules every second year after a Congressional election has taken place. This power extends to substantive rules as well as procedural rules. Agencies must create a formal process for the promulgation of rules and may never make ad hoc decisions, and must abide by their own rules and regulations.
[5] Agencies shall have a Head, and fifteen members (Why 15? Division. 8/15 is a simple majority, 9/15 is 3/5, and 10/15 is 2/3. It also allows for continuity longer than Presidential terms, rotation/replacement every year of members, and isn’t so long a term that private-sector people would not want to serve.) of a rulemaking Board. The Board shall create rule proposals, which must go through a suitability process, and shall approve rules with a three-fifths vote, which must then be approved by the Agency Head, who shall have the power to strike those rules he disagrees with. The members of the Board shall have the power to reinstate stricken rules with a two-thirds vote. The Board shall have the Power to eliminate existing regulations with a simple majority vote without the approval of the Agency Head.
[6] The Agency Head shall be nominated by the President in the same manner as other executive Officers, and shall serve at his pleasure.
[7] Three Board members shall be chosen every year to serve a non-consecutive five-year term and be replaced after their term of service ends, or resignation, or expulsion by a two-thirds vote of the Senate (or three-fifths of the Chamber of Repeal) for incapacity, neglect of duty, malfeasance, or other good cause as Congress shall determine. At least half the Board members must have at least two years of experience working in the industry or subject being regulated and at least three must either be trained or have experience as Administrative Law Judges. They shall be chosen in the following manner: the names of each U.S. Representative of the majority Party (or coalition) shall be put in a lottery, and a winner chosen. The same shall be done for U.S.
Representatives not of the majority Party (or coalition), and a winner chosen. Each winning Representative shall nominate three persons (the House need not be in session to do so), and the winner of a lottery of the six shall become a Member of the Board. Representatives may not
nominate themselves, and no person shall simultaneously serve as a member of the Board and another position. Members of the Board shall be subject to the same rules as, and treated in the same manner as, members of the House of Representatives, but paid from the Budget of the
Department being regulated at twice the median national income (per the Bureau of Statistics).
I figure it this way: Regulatory Board members are rulemakers, like legislators, so why not treat them that way? Since they are delegated their powers by Congress, why not have Congress pick the people? To make it decisive, and so the majority can’t trample the minority, why not randomly choose from the nominees? It struck me as somehow wrong that the Board members are currently executives, which gives the President a huge amount of pull on the promulgation of regulations through appointments, as well as their enforcement. This way, they are legislators of a sort, and the Agency Head serves as the executive, and they can check each other’s power the same way the President and Congress check each other. It also prevents
Presidents with sweeping agendas from kicking over the applecart [and all would-be totalitarians have sweeping agendas…])
[8] To make a rule, the Agency must define in a specific way what it believes Congress intended, a plan of enforcement, and penalties. It must give the Public a hearing, and take their concerns into account before deciding on a rule, which must be absolutely necessary, have regularity, predictability and certainty in promulgation and enforcement, and infringe on the public only to the barest extent necessary to achieve the object of the organic legislation. The Agency shall firstly seek to do no harm, and the burden of proof to show that a regulation is reasonable shall lay on the Agency.
[9] The public must be involved in the rulemaking promulgation process, and the Agency must provide hearings therefor, which must include:
1. A statement of the time, place, and nature of the proposed rulemaking proceeding;
2. A reference to the authority under which it is issued;
3. A description of the subjects and issues involved or the substance and terms of the proposed regulation;
4. A statement of the time within which written comments must be submitted; and
5. A statement of how and to what extent interested persons may participate in the proceeding.
[10] The stages for creating a Rule shall be:
1. Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking,
2. Proposed Rule,
3. Public comment on the proposed rules,
4. Ability of the Public to access the rulemaking record and analyze the data and reasoning backing up a proposed rule,
5. Department analysis and response to the public’s comments,
6. Creation of a permanent record of the Agency’s analysis and the process,
7. And lastly, a Final Rule after giving a full response to issues raised by public comments and an updated analysis and justification for the rule.
8. The public may challenge the correctness of Agency decisions at every stage.
[11] Agencies do not have the power to enact a regulation where:
1. The regulation is an unconstitutional delegation of power;
2. The organic statute explicitly denies authority;
3. The regulation is not based on factual findings;
4. The regulation is not clearly within the intent and scope of the organic statute;
5. The Congress itself objects on grounds that it is contrary to the legislative intent;
[12] If a regulatory Agency has the power to issue permits, it must approve or deny within 60 days. The petitioner may challenge a denial with an internal appellate Judge, and a decision rendered within 60 days.
(This would prevent endless delays if an oil company needs to get a drilling permit, but I already make it difficult for a regulatory body to infringe the Right to use land unless it can prove an adverse effect.)
[13] If a company gets approval from a regulator, its tort liability is removed or reduced except for specific instances to be defined by law.
[14] Four years after their implementation, regulations from any government that cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt to be effective in their stated purpose shall expire.
[15] The Congress, by simple majority vote, may strike those regulations it says are inconsistent with its legislative intent.
[16] The President may suspend enforcement of those regulations he has good cause to disagree with. Congress, within 90 days, by simple majority vote, may reinstate enforcement, and any regulation not reinstated within 90 days shall be stricken permanently. He shall have the privilege of striking two regulations per year per regulatory Agency which Congress may not rescind.
(The previous two clauses should make regulatory Agencies much more accountable to complaints of overregulation or misregulation.)
[17] Agencies shall have an internal appellate body composed of administrative judges, which may review the rule after passage to ensure the correct process was followed, be the fact finder in contested cases involving Agencies or their officials, and hear requests for injunctive or equitable relief. Decisions of administrative law courts shall be binding on that Agency, and the head or the members must comply.
[18] All Agency administrative law judges shall be members of the Administrative Review Branch (What the heck izzat? See “Custodial Branches.”) and shall be free to exercise their independent judgment on the evidence, free from pressures by the parties or other officials within the Department, and shall have the protections and powers of outside judges. They shall be compensated at the rate of four times median national income (per the Bureau of Statistics) by the Department for which they adjudicate. All decisions of an administrative law judge are
subject to appellate review, except as determined by law. An Agency’s own reading of a statute shall be afforded deference if the intent of Congress is clear, and the reading reasonable. The Court’s hearings and proceedings shall be open to the public unless confidentiality is allowed or required by law. The public shall use this body until all appeals have been exhausted, after which a party may have the right to file an appeal in a higher administrative court, or the general courts when the rule, decision, or analysis appears illegal, irrational, incorrect, or relevant factors were not considered, or irrelevant factors were considered.
(Administrative courts [like Article I tribunals] rule on whether procedures were followed by the Department and are reasonable to the party affected. They don’t determine if the law behind the Department or regulation is correct or Constitutional, which is handled by general Courts like
Federal District, Appellate, and Supreme.)
[19] Congress shall create a Regulation Review Board, which shall have the Power to review all federal regulations within 31 days of passage and strike those it finds unnecessary, counterproductive, or excessive. Those regulations not stricken within this time period shall
stand.
(This is a “Regulatory Senate” meant to check the looniest of loony new regs.)
Section 17: Monopolies & Hegemons, Consumer Affairs, Dominant Products, and Industry Standards
(“Hegemons” are heavyweight companies that are not monopolies.)
[1] No government may grant a de jure or de facto monopoly to anyone, but neither shall it prevent a monopoly that comes about through market forces, nor shall it favor certain companies, but shall rectify abuses from the power disparity in disputes between a large and small company. The Deputy Commerce Secretary for Small Business Affairs shall investigate, plead suits, or prosecute cases on behalf of small companies. The DCSSBA may immediately collect operations money from the large company to fund the small company during the entire legal process, and may request injunctions to aid the small company. The DCSSBA shall enforce contracts, and infringement of patents, inventions, trademarks, copyrights, intellectual property rights, and similar things.
(You frequently hear about big companies crushing little ones under their boots, like Detroit automakers with Tucker, or software giants who copycat software and then get lawsuits delayed for years until the affected small company expires from lost sales and legal fees. This is obviously slimy, crooked, and illegal…and common. When a big company says “Sue Me!” they didn’t plan on this Constitution, which would see to it that the weight of the Federal government would come down on it, and that the small company would still be around to see Justice done.)
[2] There shall be a Deputy Commerce Secretary for Consumer Affairs, which shall investigate, sue, or prosecute companies or their products which are deceptive, or confusing, or are hazards to safety. If a product is, to a reasonable person, obviously dangerous, an injunction may be brought to prevent its sale until its specifics can be determined more thoroughly.
(I’ve said before that I think regulations should be minimal and reasonable. I never said that they shouldn’t exist. While “Caveat Emptor” should always be followed, that doesn’t always work, and this subsection takes care of that.)
[3] Certain products become so dominant, and so many people come to rely on them, that they become a public utility. In such cases, in response to significant complaints, the inventor must relinquish some control over the product, and not take actions which hugely disrupt those that depend on the product. The Commerce Secretary shall hold hearings between the company and those affected by its product, and shall arbitrate a solution, and set the regulations therefor, and either party involved may protest the ruling within 15 days by filing a lawsuit, which shall be heard within 90 days, otherwise the decision shall be binding.
(I’m thinking of Microsoft Windows here, though it can be applied in other areas. So many
people depend on Windows [Thank you, Bill Gates, and I mean it] for their livelihoods, even lives, that even though MS owns it, I don’t think they should be able to just say “okay, we’ve decided to shut it down.” A lot of people would be out of work…doctors might even be unable to care for patients. What if they said “to continue using Windows after your license expires, you need to pay us $10,000.” Technically, they own it, but should they be able to control it so
thoroughly as to cause severe disruptions to hundreds of millions of lives? I gotta say: “No.” They are still owed licensing fees, but they shouldn’t be able to make massive changes: I say it has crossed the line from product to public utility. I’m very interested in counterarguments
to this view!)
[4] Each industry shall be encouraged to come up with non-mandatory generally accepted principles and standards.
(GAAP comes to mind. I don’t think any company should be FORCED to follow those standards, but if it doesn’t, customers will likely see it as either crooked or weird, and it will likely go out of business. Then again, some companies thrive by breaking the “rules.” [Apple?] Let the marketplace decide.)
[5] Congress shall create, and the Commerce Secretary shall enforce, structures, organizations, and rules so that the owners of copyrights, trademarks, and intellectual property can conveniently protect their property.
(A lot of musicians, actors, software writers, authors, and product makers are being hurt by piracy and knockoffs.)
[6] Neither Congress nor any other government shall create a law or regulation on a new industry until it is five years old, absent an overwhelmingly compelling reason.
(Existing industies try to quash competition in the cradle by upstarts [like the internet].)
Section 18: Labor Contracts
[1] Congress shall create a Standard Labor Contract, which must be used by all companies, governments, or anyone paying for work services, applicable to employees and independent contractors, which shall allow private companies to hire, not hire, and fire for any reason, if they so desire, as long as those reasons are written and it is disclosed to the person doing the work in the contract, and to the public, so opprobrium may be laid on those employers who are unfair with those who work for them. (I think that if you created a company, you should be able to not hire anyone you don’t want, for any reason, but you have to disclose that in the employment contract. If you are white and don’t like black people, you don’t have to hire them, but everyone needs to know that, so people like me can boycott you and hopefully put you out of business. Meaning: you wouldn’t actually be “forced” by law to hire people you don’t want, but you would be “forced” by the marketplace into doing so by losing a lot of money by right
thinking people shunning you. If you get cute and hire a few tokens but treat them wrong, they can sue you for violating their employment contract.) All civilian government employment, whether directly for a Department, contractors, or anyone who does any business with a
government, may not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity, handicap, sexual orientation, or other reasons, to be determined by law. Violations shall be handled as a breach of contract, or perjury, as applicable.
(Government employment is for everyone, and thus may not discriminate for factors not related to ability to best do the job. Note that I include the ability to work with others in my definition of “ability to best do the job,” which is why I exclude homosexuals from the front line military jobs like the Infantry and combat arms. See “Military Council.”)
[2] Nothing shall prevent labor unions, except that no contract may require it, no person may be forced to join a union to secure or maintain employment, and no employee (or contractor) may be fired for being a member of a union.
(Fair to both sides.)
[3] Union members shall vote on what percentage of union dues go to particular candidates and political parties.
[4] Employees may form or join a labor union in the following manner:
1. A list shall be circulated to all applicable employees to see if a simple majority agree to have a unionization election;
2. If employees agree to hold an election, a vote by secret ballot shall be taken. If a simple majority of all employees agree to a union, the location shall become unionized. Members may not have dues automatically deducted from their pay, but shall need to presented with an invoice. (No forced Union slush funds.) Employees may opt out as they see fit, and no person shall need to pay dues for a union they are not part of, nor suffer any discrimination for
non-membership.
Section 19: Currency and Financial
The Congress shall:
[1] Create the Department of the Mint to Coin Money. Provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States; Make the dollar worth 25 milligrams of gold, and redeemable to the bearer at the low of the previous week’s market
equivalent in gold, silver, platinum, palladium, copper, petroleum, grain, foreign currency, or other valuable commodity, at the option of the Mint. (I want my money to be backed by more than government promises…I don’t care what it is: gold, pork bellies, land deeds, old Elvis records, etc.)The Mint shall maintain sufficient reserves to back the currency, may obtain the
remainder off the open market as needed, and may redeem at a rate slow enough to prevent a large change in market price;(So there isn’t a run on reserves…you’ll get your money, but you won’t be able to manipulate it.) The United States Mint open operations shall buy and sell, rent out, and option the commodities held in reserve to back the currency, to earn money to increase the reserves backing the currency. (Many financial institutions and traders already do this.)
The money earned shall be released to the Federal Government every 20 years, and first be used to pay off Federal debts, and the remainder shall then be returned to each person of the age of majority in the form of cash at the end of the year based on years of majority or citizenship since last disbursement. (This would ensure that debts don’t become multi-generational…a forced
government savings plan. Since the currency is backed by commodities, this shouldn’t be inflationary, either, and people would be able to buy, save, and invest with this money. But, too much money chasing too few goods is inflationary, right? Who said there would be too few goods? And who said you can’t sit on your money if prices get out of whack? And no money may be borrowed except in wartime.) Whatever surplus was created shall be announced after the Federal budget for that year is passed; (So there isn’t a temptation to spend it…though appropriations can’t grow faster than GDP, so there is a built in check, anyway.) No government shall make any Thing but the dollar a Tender in Payment of Debts, but also shall not prevent the People from establishing private currencies;
Competing private currencies would probably be a better store of value than a central government currency. Just as a thought exercise, why couldn’t each State have a central bank that could figure out a way to compete with the other States with some sort of currency? This competition would likely be good for consumers and prevent the national government from inflating the currency…we would be able to shift to States with the soundest money.
[2] Provide for financial operations of the government;
[3] Ensure different avenues of settling transactions anonymously, with paper money of sufficient denomination to be portable, precious metal coin, and other means; (What you spend your money on is no one’s business.)
[4] Facilitate and regulate a centralized exchange for financial institutions to borrow from each other, which may not be a Central Bank, (which can create money from thin air…and inflation, which steals from the people. It is also reduces competition over the price of capital by fixing interest rates [price-fixing, anyone?], instead of the financial institutions having to attract borrowers with low rates and depositors/investors with high rates. The interplay between the two [a.k.a. ‘the market’] would set rates. Able financial companies would succeed and the incapable would be bought out or fail. [I provide for private deposit insurance with government as guarantor.] Another reason to be suspicious of a central bank is witholding of rewards as a means of oppression. What I mean is: a tyrannical government can use guns/force to get what it
wants, or it can use a central bank to cripple money transfers to those it disagrees with. It can also easily snoop on people’s finances or report/enforce oppressive taxation. A bunch of private banks would have no government power and would not be a centralized snooping point because they wouldn’t be centralized.) with interest rates set by a tradable index in response to supply and demand; Create standardized features for, and facilitate and regulate a system of liquid markets for: short-term loans, other loans, stocks, bonds, futures, indices, currencies, mortgages, insurance policies, companies to loan to each other, individuals to directly make loans to other individuals or entities [like Prosper.com used to do], and other markets as needed; No government may manipulate these markets; (This would function like the discount rate does now, and all the other exchanges would be basically the same as today.)
[5] Mandate that all financial institutions carry private insurance to reimburse their account holders in the event of failure, and that no taxpayer funds may be used to prevent failure, nor be paid after a failure, and a standard portable account shall be created, which may be sold to other financial institutions, to expeditiously prevent loss to the accountholders, and to help discharge the debt of the failed institution;
(No bailouts would have happened in 2007. [Of course, there wouldn’t have been marked-to-market, either. Or Fannie/Freddie…so there would have been few government failures to
precipitate events.] I am utterly amazed at how many financial wizards have made utter fools of themselves insisting that bailouts were necessary “to keep the system from collapsing.” I guess I’m biased: what I know of the markets doesn’t support that view. Hundreds of economists
came out against it, too. It certainly hasn’t helped in the years since, and I can make a strong case that Keynesian-style stimulus is like pulling yourself up by putting both feet in a bucket and pulling the handle: ludicrous, and destructive. Has it ever worked? It didn’t work in the 1930’s. Where does this delusion come from?)
[6] Mandate that only Credit Unions, solely owned by their depositors, may conduct consumer and mortgage lending and checking operations. Banks may serve other types of customers and have any type of ownership arrangement. No credit union may own sovereign debt.
(Hey, guys! Let’s loan our money out to some third-world dictators! We’ll get some extra interest out of it! Can you imagine a credit union suggesting that? Of course not. Because it
isn’t Other People’s Money, it’s their own. These institutions are inherently conservative. They also do a huge number of transactions, so keeping most consumer operations there would prevent most of the abuses seen at banks. Commercial, investment, industrial, or other types of
banks wouldn’t engage in basic consumer operations, so they would be free to do all sorts of things tailored to their clientele. Having Banks specialized in different areas also would mean they have no cause to get a bailout, and would be much weaker sources of corruption than
current banks.)
Section 20: Reputation
[1] Congress shall by Law ensure that the People have a means to check and judge the character or Reputation of others for the avoidance of those they are likely to have a dispute with, in business, employment, purchasing, and all other matters, and for the issuance of credit.
[2] Congress shall create the rules for Private organizations and Government Departments to collect, with bona fide reasons in areas that are necessary for the function of their duties, information about individuals and organizations. Both private organizations and government
Departments shall require the permission of the person involved for dissemination of information, except in those instances reasonably allowed otherwise by law.
[3] All information must be screened for factualness, and all non-factual information removed. Administrative means shall be created in private organizations and all government Departments for people to challenge and correct information regarding their reputation. Courts
shall issue permanent gag orders for proven cases of libel, slander, or defamation, and require the guilty to issue a prominent public retraction, and be liable for damages the same as if the reputation were damaged personal (or business) property.
(Reputation is HUGE! It facilitates all sorts of trade: business, marriage, friendships, ad infinitum. You deal with people you trust. You socialize with people who have something in common with you. Knowing reputation means you will greatly reduce the number of bad interactions you have, including bad debts and lawsuits, which nobody wins. Many commercial
transactions are done by reputation, and almost all international business is done this way. In the past, it was the ONLY way to do business. Someone had to vouch for you. Then you could trade a few goods on the other side of the Mediterranean from your port in Venice or from
Lubeck to Novgorod. As trust built, you could trade more with more people. If anything, this aspect of life is understated in current law, and nowhere in the [real] Constitution.)
Section 21: Impeachments and Removals of Officers of the United States
[1] The Power of Impeachment shall lie with the House of Representatives and the Chamber of Repeal. Once per year (to avoid endless fights), either may impeach the President, Inspector General, Judges, and all other Officers of the Primary and Custodial Branches, for Treason,
public statements of or for defeat in War, lack of vigor in winning war, obvious perjury or felony in advance of a conviction, cover-up of wrongdoing, pattern of defiance of the Will of Congress (or the People), blantant and consistent demagoguery, attempting to intimidate a Judge
in a court decision, pattern of unequal application of or failure to enforce the laws, or other Causes and Crimes for which the Inspector General is empowered to prosecute in Part V, Article I, Section 2, Subsection 6. The Attorney General shall present any findings of ethics lapses and impeachable offenses to the House. (A much bigger list than currently.) Whichever Branch brought the impeachment shall try the impeachment. No Representative’s or Chamberman’s impeachment vote may ever be revealed to anyone, only the final tally. Judges so impeached shall not exercise their office until acquitted.
[2] The Power of Conviction shall lie with a Superjury composed of two voters from each State randomly chosen from the voter registration rolls. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President, Inspector General, another Executive, or inferior court Judge is tried, the Chief Justice of the supreme Court shall preside. When a member of the supreme Court is tried, the President of the Senate shall preside. The superjury shall determine: 1. Did the act occur? 2. Is it a removable offense? 3. Does it warrant removal? He shall be removed if three-fifths of the jurors present determine he committed a removable offense, but no juror’s vote shall be revealed to anyone, only the final tally.
(I originally had the trial voted on by either Senators or Chambermen, but I reconsidered. In 1787, it took weeks for people to travel hundreds of miles to Washington, D.C., making it impossible to convene a trial in a timely manner for anyone not actually present. In the modern age, jurors can easily be physically or virtually present. The Congressmen of that older era were also more apt to punish dishonorable behavior. Today, Congress is loaded to the rafters with hacks, and I figure these 100 common citizens would be more impartial than politicians, so
Executives/Judges would actually fear such jurors because they wouldn’t be part of political party, would have nothing to gain or lose either way, and wouldn’t be easily “gotten to.” They would also have a low tolerance for frivolous impeachments. Finally, it would be a stark reminder that “We the People put you into office, we can take you out. “BTW, why can’t there be a range of disciplinary actions short of removal, like fines, removal from committees, flogging [I’m kidding], etc?)
[3] Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall result only in removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office in any government position within the United States ever again: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.
(The Senate did not forbid Alcee Hastings from holding Federal office after he was impeached, convicted, and removed for accepting a bribe as a Federal Judge. He would be automatically prevented from ANY office in this Constitution, even local.)
[4] Any officeholder (not only Officers) shall upon conviction of any felony be automatically and immediately removed from office, and be forever barred from any office in any government. The same shall apply to officeholders in the States and Localities.
Section 22: Disposition of Federal Lands
Land owned by the Federal government shall be placed under the trusteeship of a Federal Lands Corporation, which shall be owned by all Citizens, and operated for a small profit, which shall be disbursed every quarter. It shall buy, sell, and lease land, charge fees for the use of parks, waters, and other areas, and use its revenues to ensure the maintenance of Lands and the wildlife thereon. It shall make lands available for mineral exploration, logging, or other uses, and set a reasonable price for these resources, and require that the land be returned to a natural state afterwards. It shall seek civil and criminal penalties for those who infringe upon or despoil Federal lands, the same as if the Land were owned by a private Person, and be subject to the same Laws for private landowners; No law shall prevent the hunting of predators who wander onto private land with livestock, nor shall humans be made to suffer on private land to protect wildlife not on their land, nor shall persons be prevented from using their land as they see fit, absent a compelling and provable reason to the contrary, and shall be compensated for any prohibitions on use of land or losses to property thereon;
(I figure Federal land ought to be taken care of, but be available to citizens for recreation and resource exploitation, and have to pay its expenses out of its own revenues. Making the stewardship of land responsive to debits and credits works very well to keep the land in good shape, as many eco-tourist areas have found out. Making conservation a business actually hurts the stewards monetarily when they don’t do a good job, which makes them want to do a good job.)
Section 23: Unforeseen Natural and Manmade Disasters
The Congress shall create an emergency response and management Department to aid Americans directly affected by an unforeseen natural or manmade disaster. Aid shall be limited to removing them from affected areas and ensuring their subsistence for a limited period of time.
ARTICLE 2: EXECUTION OF THE LAWS
Section 1
The chief Power to execute the Will of Congress (or the People) shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. The chief Legal Power shall be vested in an Attorney General. The chief Accounting Power shall be vested in a Comptroller of Public Accounts. No person except a natural born Citizen (two citizen parents at time of birth and raised as an American), who must provide public proof of same, and have been the chief executive of an organization for at least one year, shall be eligible to the Office of President; The Attorney General must have been a senior-Level Attorney for at least one year. The Comptroller must have been a senior-Level Accountant for at least one year. The President, Vice-President, Attorney General, and Comptroller shall only be eligible to their Office if they have attained the Age of thirty-five
Years, been fourteen Years a Citizen of the United States, met the base qualifications for officeholders in Part II, Article 1, Section 2, and be eligible for a Top Secret security clearance.
(I think a big weakness of the current system is that the Attorney General is an at-will employee of the President. Think of Nixon and Watergate, Reagan and Iran/Contra, Clinton and perjury and dismissal of US Attorneys who were investigating him, and Obama and Black Panther voter intimidation and contempt of Federal court in oil drilling…the AG is supposed to be the chief prosecutor, even and especially on powerful officials. I think making them accountable to voters would be helpful, and many of them could never be elected. [Eric Holder couldn’t!] I think that having a President of one Party and an AG of a different Party might be a good idea. Mainly, the
AG should not be beholden to the President. Another big weakness of the current system is that the people who appropriate the funds and disburse the funds are the same people. There needs to be a modern accounting system put in place for efficiency and honesty’s sake, and also as a
check and balance on the Legislature.)
Section 2
The President, Vice-President, and the Comptroller, shall hold their Offices during the non-consecutive Term of four Years, and be elected as follows:
(One term, then they must skip a term. There are no term limits, but they must run on their record every additional time they run. There would never be an incumbent. I’m hoping people who have a real job run for office as a duty and a public service instead of professional politicians.)
[1] Each State shall have a number of electoral votes equal to its number of Senators and Representatives. The District of Columbia (hereafter “D.C.”) shall receive a number of electors equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the D.C.
would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event more than the least populous State; they shall be in addition to those appointed by the States;
[2] The Person (or President/Vice-President ticket) winning a simple majority of the popular votes in the D.C. shall be allotted all its electoral votes. The Person (or ticket) who wins a simple majority of the popular vote within a State shall either receive all the electoral votes for that State, or a proportion, according to that State’s law. If no one within a State or the D.C. wins a majority on the first ballot, and shall make a difference of who wins the national election, another election shall be held, composed of only the two persons (or ticket) with the highest number of votes, and the winner shall be the one with the highest number of votes.
(Mostly this is a concise restatement of the real Constitution. I also provide for the President and his running mate, and completely eliminate the Electoral College and delegates…but
keep the electoral system to ensure a federal government and not a national one like the anti-federalists feared. Electoral votes would be automatically allocated according to State law.)
[3] In the case of elections within a State or the D.C. that are within ½ of 1%, and will make a difference of who wins the national election, then an equal number of recounts shall be done by all polling places in the D.C. or the State.
(No selective recounts in cherry picked counties, and a recount only if it will make a difference.)
[4] If a State’s or D.C.’s election would not make a difference of who wins the national election, the Person (or ticket) with the plurality of the votes on the first ballot shall be the winner for
statistical purposes.
[5] Polling places in each State (or D.C.) shall report their totals to their respective Secretary of State (or designated official for the D.C.), who shall tally the votes. The Governor, State Attorney General, and the leader of each chamber of the State Legislature (or designated officials for the D.C.), shall be witnesses that the count of the Secretary of State was true, and then sign their names to certify such, and then their Secretary of State (or designated official for the D.C.) shall sign and certify the tally of popular and electoral votes, and immediately transmit the certificate sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate;
[6] The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted; The Presidential candidate having the greatest Number of electoral votes, shall be elected, and if no one has a
majority, another general election shall be held, composed of only the two Presidential candidates with the highest number of votes, and the winner shall be the one with the highest number of electoral votes.
(This provides for a runoff. President Clinton was elected with 43% the first time, and 49% for re-election. A majority should be needed. Clinton would likely never have been elected this way. Of course, George W. Bush might not have been elected, either. I included another election here,
in order to give people time to think, but an instant runoff might also be a good idea.)
[7] If a winner still cannot be decided, then the Congress shall vote, each member having one vote, with the President of the Senate breaking a tie, and a winner decided from the highest number of votes.
(Worst comes to worst, at least we aren’t leaderless.)
[8] No person Constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States, and the Vice-President may not be a Citizen of the same State as the President.
[9] The Congress shall determine the Day and Time of counting the electoral votes, which shall be not more than 10 days after the election (Sundays excepted).
[10] The terms of the President, Vice-President, Attorney General, and Comptroller shall end at noon on the 20th day of January.
[11] The Attorney General shall hold his Office during the non-consecutive Term of four Years, and be a member of the opposite Party (or coalition) as the President. He must be a candidate 90 days before the election.
(I know what you’re thinking: WTF am I talking about? I have the AG opposition-elected: Candidates run, but the loser of the Presidency wins the AG spot. This ensures an attack dog
that will not only do his job to be faithful to the office, but also to gain political points – fidelity and personal interest are merged. The President would have to watch his step and not do anything unconstitutional or he would have the AG chewing on his ass. It would also make the opposition feel better about not having the Presidency. If the AG were elected, he might be of the same Party and possibly a lapdog, but in any case, he gets his job independently of the President
and can’t be fired for simply doing his job. Reagan – Iran/Contra and Clinton – Lewinsky probably would have turned out differently with an independent AG, let alone an independent opposition AG. We the People benefit from officials being held accountable.)
[12] All Candidates may choose to become backed by, or affiliated with, a political party, subject to the base rules in Part II, Article 1, Section 4.
[13] Coup d’états (which also include changing the basic structure of the United States Government to a monarchic, communist, or any other style of government) are illegal and have no force of law, anyone aiding such usurpation shall be guilty of Treason, and the People must take up arms to restore the government to its rightful condition and shall suffer no sanction or detention for doing so.
(The President is the primary wielder of force, and that force needs to be used legitimately. Coup d’états are an illegitimate usurpation of the use of force. Another style of government needs to come about by consensus of the People either peaceably or after a Revolution, but not due to some despot.)
Section 3
[1] The President, confirmed by a simple majority of both Houses of Congress, during war, insurrection, or natural or man-made disaster of sufficiently large size and scope, may order the Rights in Part I to be abridged temporarily (not more than three months), where not taking such drastic action would result in a much larger abridgement of rights.
(This is specific, reasonable, and difficult to bring about, but possible when dire circumstances warrant it.)
[2] The President shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate and the approval of a majority of their members voting, shall appoint the unelected Principal Officers of each of the Executive Departments, Judicial-Branch Federal Judges (who must be a trained lawyer who has served at least two years as a State or Locality-level Judge) [Which would rule out Harriet Meyers and Elena Kagan.] of courts inferior to the Supreme Court (and Supreme Court Judges only when no inferior Courts exist), Ambassadors, other public Ministers and
Consuls, and all other Officers of the Primary Branches of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments, but no Officer (no matter what he is called, czar, etc) shall be put in his position without the Congress making a rule for doing so, which it may change. If the Senate does not reject a nominee within 120 days, the appointment becomes effective the same as if it were approved by vote.
(I allow for the President to nominate, and the Senate to confirm, Judicial-Branch Federal Judges as is done today, but avoid the partisanship and the bald faced agendas of the Senate and any undue-influencers by selecting Supreme Court Justices by a LOTTERY of all Federal judges [including administrative judges-who are nominated by the Inspector General] who have at least five years’ experience. All Federal Judges are qualified, administrative or judicial, or they
wouldn’t be there, so the pool is qualified, but a lottery avoids the “payback” to the President and Senate, making them more objective, and doesn’t make it likely that a chosen “extremist” will get in a position to do damage to the Constitution. Czars are also subject to the rules of
Congress, here.)
[3] All civil officers of the Executive Departments whose Principal Officer was not elected separately from the President may (unless otherwise provided for) be removed at any time by the President, and when so removed, the removal shall be reported to the Senate, together
with his reasons.
(The President couldn’t do anything to the Attorney General or Comptroller or either of their Departments.)
[4] Both the Attorney General and the Comptroller shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate and the approval of a majority of their members voting, shall appoint the officers of their own Departments. They may remove officers of their Departments at any
time, and when so removed, the removal shall be reported to the Senate, together with their reasons.
[5] The President may require the Opinion, in writing, of the Principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, but only after trial and conviction, and not between October 1 and January 21 of any Presidential election year, and not ever for any Cases of Impeachment.
(The President is still the Head of the Executive Branch, so he can still get the opinion of the AG and Comptroller. Also, he can’t “pre-pardon” as he can today, and he can’t pardon guys like Mark Rich as a middle finger to the rest of us before he leaves office.)
[6] The President must enforce all laws passed by Congress or initiative and not found unconstitutional by the Supreme Court or repealed by the Chamber of Repeal. The Inspector General must investigate whenever this is not done, and the President shall be subject to impeachment and all other sanctions provided for in this Constitution and by Law for his failure.
(I thought this was just “understood” but considering that President Obama “found” the Defense of Marriage Act “unconstitutional”, it bears repeating. I never knew the executive could
do the Judiciary’s or Congress’ job. [The DOMA might very well be unconstitutional, but again, it isn’t his place to make that determination: it is either a Court’s decision to declare it unconstitutional or for Congress to clarify or repeal it. It is, at present, duly enacted and must be enforced. The President seems to be in contempt of Congress.])
[7] The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States, and of the National Guard of the several States when called into the actual Service of the United States;
(“Militia” replaced by “National Guard.”)
[8] The Secretary of Defense, the Undersecretary of Defense, the three Secretaries of the Armed Services, and the four General Officers of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, shall comprise the
Military Council. They may be reconfirmed every year by the President, but once reconfirmed, may not be dismissed during that year, except for cause by the Senate. Each shall have one vote, and they shall make decisions by secret ballot, and have plenary power over the following: Domestic Military base locations, openings, closures, and level of operations of each, operational security requirements and enforcement, and deciding the requirements for military personnel selection and exemption from the laws and rules of personnel selection in all other areas of the Federal government, but the Secretary of Defense shall explain to the Senate such deviations; The President shall otherwise set policy and objectives during peacetime and wartime, but the Military Council shall have operational control over accomplishing such objectives, and any order by the President to insert himself into operational control shall be unlawful, as is obeying such an unlawful order;
(President Johnson picked targets to bomb in Vietnam, and otherwise took over the Powers of Generals to fight the war. President Clinton did the same thing in Yugoslavia. The President
should delegate the fighting and winning of wars to his Generals/Admirals (within his overall objectives), and not interfere with them. The Generals know better than the President what
qualifications their soldiers need in order to fight cohesively, and they should have the Power to set those qualifications. The biggest qualification for soldiers is to not have those among them who disrupt their cohesiveness or who will present discipline problems. For this reason, gay servicemembers are unqualified. Why? Because they disrupt the ability of a unit to function as a team. Think of it this way: have you ever worked with a person who was competent, but who just caused problems in working with others? Your organization’s ability to function was compromised. That person might have been good, knowledgeable, and able, but put everybody in a bad mood, created divisions, uncertainty, infighting? How about a quarterback who knew all the plays, had a good arm, and a good eye, but wasn’t able to sync with the other players, and
as a result, lost games? Would you tolerate that? No, you wouldn’t. He might have been personally capable, but was organizationally incapable. When soldier’s lives are on the line, that is intolerable, and thus, Generals need to have the Power to choose those who can execute the aims of the organization. I think all these people patting President Obama on the back for wanting to have openly gay servicemembers are good examples of true believership trumping good judgment. His plan should be called the “servicemember’s death warrant act,” because it will make all services much less cohesive.)
[9] The President shall have Power to make Treaties, provided that both Houses of Congress concur, though Treaties shall never trump this Constitution (there have been efforts to make the U.S. subservient to foreign organizations and laws), no branch of the United States Government can have powers conferred upon it by treaty that have not been conferred by this Constitution, no eneumerated Right may be abridged, and treaties shall only be valid with
extant entities; Concurrence shall need a simple majority for commerce, three-fifths for military alliances, and two-thirds for all others. (Treaties with the Soviet Union stayed in place even after it collapsed.)
[10] The Secretary of State shall be the chief advocate of the American way with foreign Nations.
1. He shall coordinate political, economic, scientific, cultural, and military diplomacy.
2. He shall ensure that foreigner-Leaders are educated in the United States and are able to appreciate our principles and seed them in their home Nations. Within the United States, no foreigner shall own or fund schools, organizations, or news outlets, unless his home nation shall allow the same on an equal basis.
(This will make for the spreading of Liberty, and good relations with foreign nations.)
3. He shall oversee Foreign Policy trusteeships, to be set up for at least five years with funding, to provide continuity of humanitarian, civil, or military aid and ensure that the winds of politics do not leave foreign allies out in the cold. The trusteeship must contain provisions for dissolution upon completion of its mission. (Foreign nations cannot trust us if they don’t know what we will do next year. They won’t want to throw their lot in with us if we might pull the rug
out from underneath them.)
4. He shall oversee foreign espionage operations and coordinate with the Attorney General for the internal security of the United States;
(The Secretary of State is the Head Spymaster, and when he gets wind of a foreign plot, he needs to share that information with the FBI and other relevant domestic security agencies.)
5. He shall maintain a paramilitary capability for those parts of shadow, irregular, or guerrilla wars the President should delegate to his Authority;
(The CIA supplies and coordinates friendly guerrillas, like we did in Laos and Nicaragua. Many of these operations overlap with Special Forces and other Special Operators in the training and coordination of foreign troops. Maybe we should do this with Iran?)
6. He shall coordinate with the Secretary of Defense, particularly at the intersection of Paramilitary and Military Special Operations;
[11] The Secretary of Epidemics and Subsistence may force inoculations and prevent movement which would spread an epidemic and is able to deputize all law enforcement officers in the nation for this purpose, as needed, subject to restriction by the Senate. The Secretary shall oversee the chartering of charities and fraternal organizations, the lending of money for Citizen’s Emergency Subsistence, and determination and distribution of Citizen’s Disability Subsistence, as follows:
1. The People, when planning for unforeseen economic, medical, and other emergencies, shall make use of family, insurance, fraternal organizations, charities, and other private means, in order to provide for their needs of food, water, clothing, shelter, temperature control, and medical aid. (People need to be the ones primarily responsible for their own welfare and that of their families. President Obama appeared to not understand that he should have been the primary one to help his Aunt and Brother. He didn’t have $2/day to give to them? This shifts welfare back from the government to the private sector-instead of government charity, it would be private charity. Americans give $350 BILLION per year to charity…and that’s with the huge government expenditures on transfer payments and the resulting high taxes. With the lower tax rates, and all fines going to charity, there would be no shortage of money for the “less fortunate” but there would be a shortage for bureaucrats who are primarily concerned with
their careers and not in using their own money or volunteering to do charitable deeds.) Congress shall have no power to appropriate any money as an act of charity, except Citizen’s Emergency Subsistence and Disability Subsistence, (Using your own money for charity is laudable. Forcing another to give charity is contemptible.) which are the only moneys that are authorized by this Constitution for any government to aid a person, and must be handled by the Department of
Epidemics and Subsistence, and must be by voucher for a cash amount, with the money coming only from gambling proceeds and fines.
(This greatly limits government “charity” and generally prevents governments from creating dependency [and the buying of votes] by using other people’s money. If you propose robbing
Peter to pay Paul, you can always count on the support of Paul. This is another reason that the indigent are disqualified from voting: they can’t just help themselves to another person’s money.)
2. Fraternal organizations and charities may apply for a charter, in which they agree to certain conditions, and the Federal government shall investigate and certify their legitimacy. Special franchises (privileges and immunities) may be offered for different types of charters. No chartered organization may kick any money back to any government.
3. The following two classes of people may receive money from the Federal Government:
A. Citizens, when in dire straits and needing money for necessities, have the Privilege of automatically borrowing money backed by the credit of the taxpayers. The amount lent may be up to the Federal poverty level per month, the intent being to provide the minimum of food, water, clothing, shelter, temperature control, and medical aid or insurance needed to survive, and the citizen may receive this for two years, and may draw more on the behalf of any children. The interest rate shall be set at the rate of inflation plus six percent, with borrowing fees paid
by the Federal government, and must be paid back within 10 years, and the citizen is considered indigent until all money is repaid.
B. Individuals who are profoundly disabled and unable to work at any job, of which Congress shall come up with the definition and conditions that qualify, and how to certify they are true for that person, shall primarily make use of family, insurance, fraternal organizations, and
charities, to provide for their food, water, clothing, shelter, temperature control, and medical aid. In order to cover any remainder needed to ensure the providence of the minimum of food, water, clothing, shelter, temperature control, and medical aid needed to survive, the Federal Government shall issue a monthly voucher which may be used at a chartered fraternal organization or charity, or outside private medical practitioner or insurer. A citizen receiving subsistence from the government is considered indigent.
4. Private health insurance, Private unemployment insurance, Private indigency insurance, and Private Lawyer insurance, may be written with any provisions, and no provisions may be mandated in any way, and may be sold across State lines, and the Federal government is the only government which may make any rules therefor, which shall consist solely of ensuring insurers’ standards of solvency and adherence to their contracts with consumers. Where government pays for health insurance, it shall pay the premium of a private insurer, and shall never set up a socialized health system (de jure or de facto).
(Our current government geniuses think that limiting competition is a good idea. I think this is an unconstitutional restriction on commerce, where the Federal government is supposed to prevent the erection of barriers to trade between States. Why can’t I buy an insurance policy from another State? Unemployment insurance should be private, and they should probably give you a make-work job until you (or they) can find you another one. I could see a joining together of unemployment insurance, headhunters, and temporary agencies filling the needs of people seeking employment. Endless government mandates should be illegal, with you being free to buy an insurance policy completely tailored to you, but they should be solvent and have to pay without you having to sue them.)
5. Private retirement funds shall be encouraged by governments.
6. Chartered Legal fraternal organizations, charities, and pro bono lawyers shall be encouraged for the criminal defense of, and lawsuits on behalf of, the poor or indigent.
(Less need for contingency lawyers and more likelihood of justice. Lawyers will be more likely to get paid for meritorious cases but less likely to get rich.)
[12] The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, equal to 10 times the median national income, per the Bureau of Statistics, and the Vice-President, Attorney General and Comptroller seven times median, which shall neither be increased nor
diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them. The compensation of other Officers not herein provided for shall be set by Congress, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the Period for which they shall serve.
Section 4: Executive Orders and Proclamations
The President shall have the Power to issue Orders to make clarifications of how to proceed to carry out this Constitution or the Will of Congress (or the People), but not unilaterally make law, or violate existing law, or act in clear defiance of the Congress (or the People), and must cite which specific laws under which he is acting. Executive orders bind only the executive Departments of the Federal government, not the people. Proclamatory orders shall bind the People when the President is acting under and within Laws duly enacted. Orders become effective immediately but may be modified or deleted by a simple majority vote of the Senate within 60 days (which any Senator may call for during that time); Orders may thereafter be revoked by a simple majority vote of both Houses of Congress, or by general or administrative Court decision, or by Ballot Initiative, or by the current and future Presidents;
(The real Constitution makes no provisions for XO’s and leaves many things unclear, even though Presidents have been using them for a long time. It also doesn’t seem right that the President can effectively make law when that is Congress’ job. Congress has a devil of a time overriding an XO. Here, the President’s power is limited, but still easy to exercise. The inertia is still with the President, because he gets what he wants unless the Senate or Congress opposes him.)
Section 5: Dealings with Congress and Ambassadors
The President shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and clear the agendas of both, the time for which shall be returned to the House if during its normal session, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Military and Foreign Service Officers of the United States.
(I clarified “Military and Foreign Service” from the real Constitution.)
Section 6: Internal Security
[1] Federal, State, Territorial, County, and Municipal law enforcement Departments may run informants to learn of planned crimes, and shall share information with each other, but must obtain a warrant for surveillance and may not use informant testimony against the accused.
[2] These Departments shall, after obtaining a surveillance warrant, infiltrate groups that consistently and actively advocate violence against other Americans, eliminating enumerated individual rights, or changing the basic structure of the United States Government from that
of a limited liberal democratic constitutional capitalist republic. Should a member of one of these groups infiltrate a Department, the Department may, without informing that person, place that person in a position where they can do the least damage, or may, after an impartial
hearing showing the person to be a member of such a group based on a preponderance of the evidence, terminate that person’s employment.
[3] Law enforcement shall use appropriate force to apprehend suspects caught in flagrante delicto.
(If law enforcement learns of a planned crime, it can surveil the potential lawbreakers, wait for the act, and stop it just before it occurs. If one of them should resist arrest and be shot and/or killed in the process, that would be tragic. 😉 No informant testimony is needed because law enforcement officers are witnesses to the act [or attempted act] in flagrante. Informants also
tend to be untrustworthy and thus not suitable as witnesses for a prosecution.)
Section 7: Foreigners Inimical to the United States
Congress shall create rules for bringing dangerous foreigners to trial, trials in absentia if they do not appear, and if convicted in absentia, their potential assassination. Upon conviction, they may be nominated by the President, the Secretary of State, or the Secretary of Defense, for assassination, and whether the level of danger warrants performing the assassination shall be decided by a special assassination court, the rules of which shall be provided for by the Congress.
Permitted targets include those who engage in significant espionage or release of secrets detrimental to the interests of the United States, terrorists, officials of governments that aid terrorists, and those who abet an enemy, but none may killed within the confines of the United
States. All Officials of a Power the United States is already at war with are subject to targeted killing at any time, without trial, on the order of the President or military Officer he alone shall designate.
(The President should be able to neutralize foreign threats, but not unilaterally [or simply because he doesn’t like someone]. The target can avoid assassination by appearing in court to answer the charges. Failure to appear is the trigger. The subsequent nomination needs to be approved by the assassination court. If approved, due process has been followed, and the assassination can go forward. I would use this against this clown Julian Assange, who caused
a massive amount of damage and actively aided evil [the Taliban is evil, right?]. Saudi Arabia is an active supporter of Wahhabism, which performs all sorts of terrorist acts. Saudi officials should be permitted targets. Iran also supports a huge amount of terrorism. It goes without saying that this Power should be used with discretion.)
Section 8: War
[1] In order for the President to wage an undeclared overt foreign war (or request a Letter of Marque and Reprisal), he must first present his plan outlining its scope and objectives to Congress. Congress must decide how to dispose of the plan within 10 calendar days or the
President’s plan shall be implemented verbatim. Congress shall dispose of the plan by: (1) approving it in toto, (2) disapproving it in toto, which shall prevent the waging of the war or granting of the letter, or (3) modifying the plan, which shall be returned to the President to
implement as modified. The presentment and vote may be done in secret [or not] at the decision
of the President, except in cases of shadow, irregular, or guerrilla wars, when both the presentment and vote shall be done in secret.
(This is geared towards the President getting his wish. Aiding the Contras, an Iranian resistance, or stirring up trouble in Saudi Arabia for their support of terrorists who kill Americans is what I mean by “shadow, irregular, or guerilla war.” Somali pirates should have their fetid existences ended. Letting them know they are targets may be a good idea, or not, depending on circumstances. Certain terrorist organizations could likewise be terminated under a Letter.)
[2] The President may, with notice to Congress but without its approval, place troops anywhere for training and also conduct small-scale, short-term military operations not involving more than several hundred personnel.
[3] The United States shall have a totally integrated warmaking operation, able to employ the entire spectrum of regular U.S. forces, military Special Operations, State Department paramilitary operations, American foreign legion, former U.S. military hired as contractors,
outright mercenaries, letters of marque and reprisal, and foreign nations/proxies, to never stop until an enemy is destroyed. Operations may be overt or covert with maximum plausible deniability to accomplish that. Wars undertaken with allies may be fought with various levels of
investment and intensity such that we do not dishonor our commitment to them and do not stop until victory is achieved. The Senate foreign affairs committee shall have oversight of warmaking and each member must currently have the highest security clearance. This committee shall have two advisory subcommittees whose advice (with an emphasis on what is reasonable) shall be considered on the conduct of any warmaking (no matter how large or small): One shall be composed of former military and intelligence officers. The other shall be composed of capable members of the public. Members of both subcommittees must currently hold high level security clearances.
[4] Congress may declare war, with all its expanded powers, by simple majority vote. War is automatically declared, with all its expanded powers, on any Nation-state, or organization, which attacks the United States, its troops, or allies, or declares war on it, or when a State
should attempt secession, or a coup d’état be attempted, and censorship about this war shall be allowed, and propaganda spread in favor of this war effort.
[5] The United States must make a five-year commitment to its Allies in any war, and shall provide troops and materiel during that time, and funding shall be for five years (but disbursed in not more than three-month increments by the Comptroller), and the President’s Military
Council may request more money or more time as needed, but neither may be reduced.
(Allies need to rely on our steadfastness.)
[6] If losing, we shall permanently evacuate our direct allies and their extended families to the United States to prevent them from falling into the hands of the enemy, and offer them permanent alienship.
(Like the Vietnamese and the Laotians who were our allies, or those exposed by Julian Assange.)
[7] The expanded powers of the Federal government during Declared-War, not available during undeclared war, shall be as follows:
1. All war reporting in the media must be run through a Federal government censor, which shall delete reporting that may give comfort or encouragement to the declared enemy. No non-Federal government may ever operate a censor.
(Whenever the enemy sees anything less than unity, it gains encouragement to keep fighting. This gets our troops killed, or may even result in the loss of a war. Vietnam comes to mind. Anti-War [aka Pro-Enemy] people ensured that 58,000 troops and over a million Vietnamese died for nothing, and around 55 million southeast Asians became slaves of the state. Are you antiwar people proud of yourselves? The stipulation here is that war must be DECLARED to operate a censor.)
2. To conscript Citizens into the Armed Forces if volunteers do not provide needed force levels, and no exceptions or deferments shall be made for who shall be conscripted;
(Military service is one of the noblest things a person can do, but being FORCED to do it is arguably slavery. In dire cases, it is necessary [as in World War 2], but in non-dire instances, it should never be used.)
3. In order to prevent a “perpetual war,” a Declared-War situation expires and must be re-declared every five years.
(Government loves wars as a way to expand its power. Orwell had a perpetual war in ‘1984.’ This is a slight check on that.)
4. The President shall not wage a war he does not make every effort to win. When war is declared, all means fair and foul to win shall be employed to make it so painful, exhausting, and hopeless for the enemy that he capitulates unconditionally.
(Iugula! is how we won WW2. The only way to win a war is to kick the enemy in the head until his brains leak out his ears. And he begs you to stop. And then you kick him even harder until you are sure he means it. If Israel did this, they wouldn’t have their current problems. This clause would allow the use of ‘foul’ methods to win a war, the same way ‘Blackjack’ Pershing buried Muslim rebels in pork skins in the Philippines. A modern equivalent would be PORKINATOR bullets: bullets with a drop of pig blood in the center. No 72 virgins, just go straight to hell. Scaring the enemy in this way would likely collapse most resistance, just as it did in the Philippines.)
Section 9: Disability of the President, Vice-President, Attorney General, and Comptroller
[1] If, for whatever reason, the President becomes unable to discharge his Duties, the Vice-President shall become Acting-President until the President is again able, six months pass, or a new President shall be elected.
1. Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice-President as Acting-President.
2. Whenever the Vice-President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive Departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written
declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice-President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting-President.
3. Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice-President and a majority of either the Principal Officers of the executive Departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice-President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting-President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.
[2] Congress shall by Law determine the line of succession after the Vice-President. A member of another branch may not simultaneously serve as a member of the Executive.
[3] If the President is unable to discharge his duties for six months, the Vice-President (or next Officer in the line of succession) shall become President until a special election can be held the third Thursday in November, unless the vacancy occurred after the 31st of August, in which case the election would occur the following year; or unless the vacancy occurred within the last year of the Presidential term, in which case the next election would take place as regularly scheduled. The Officer who replaced the previously elected President shall be eligible to be elected as President.
(Six months is long enough. The Vice-President should fill the Office until an election can be held. This could make for an offset (but smoother) election cycle, where the President serves four years after he is elected after the incapacitated President. I see this as a good thing: it makes for smoother changes, instead of the abruptness of both Congress and the Presidency changing parties in one election. This would not have affected President Johnson, but it would have affected Vice-President Bush if Reagan had been killed in 1981, which would have made the new President be inaugurated in 1982, offsetting the normal 4-year cycle.)
[4] Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice-President, the President shall nominate a Vice-President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress, and until then, the next Officer in the line of succession shall be the Acting Vice-President.
[5] If the President-elect should fail to take office for any reason, the next officer in the line of succession shall take his place, starting with the Vice-President-elect, and such Officer shall act
accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a new President shall be elected.
[6] The Congress shall by law provide for the manner of choosing who shall act as President in the interim if, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President-elect shall not have been determined, and such person shall act accordingly until a President is determined.
(What if the Bush-Gore debacle had dragged on past January 20?)
[7] If either the Attorney General or Comptroller should become unable to discharge his duties, his Deputy shall assume the position until a special election can be held the third Thursday in November unless the vacancy occurred after the 31st of August, in which case the election would occur the following year; or unless the vacancy occurred within the last year of the incapacitated Officer’s term, in which case the next election would take place as regularly scheduled. All members of that Department shall move up one position until the election is held.
ARTICLE 3: DISPUTES AND COURTS – JUDICIAL BRANCH
Section 1
The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. There shall be nine Judges of the supreme Court (specifying the number avoids an FDR trying to pack the Court),
they shall be selected by a lottery from all Judges of all inferior Federal courts that the Congress has created (including the Supreme Administrative Review Court and other administrative review courts) who have served in that position for at least five years, and they shall hold their Offices for a non-consecutive 18-year term during good behavior. One Judge shall be replaced every two years. When one fails to complete a term, the manner of replacement shall be prescribed by the Congress.
(18 years is three Senate cycles, with the Judges rotated in every 2 years, or in a manner defined
by Congress for deaths, resignations, or removals. I figure that 18 years is long enough to ensure that Justices are insulated from the transient nature of current events, but not so long that arrogance, irrationality, or out-of-touch-ness can persist for more than a generation. [These are foibles that anyone less than a saint will begin to be influenced by after a while.] The defined term allows for some predictable change. Supreme and Appellate Justices are already confirmed
for the District level by the Senate, so they are already vetted [so why re-vet them?], and choosing them by lottery avoids the endless Senate fights that always happen anew. It prevents an extremist from being nominated by the President and radical agendas being subsequently
advanced. A Justice sympathetic to the President would not want to resign to allow a replacement to be made because them he wouldn’t get his pension and it would not do any good, anyway. It prevents a faction from being certain of placing “their guy” in the position, since they wouldn’t know who would get the position. Each 2 year rotation cycle and 5 year experience requirement outlasts the Presidential term, so a person he nominated for District Judge would have no chance of becoming an Appellate/Supreme Court Justice while he was in office and being influenced by him. Since Judges need to be in their position for at least 5 years, it would discourage radicals, who are usually impatient, and for those radicals who are patient, there is no guarantee of higher office. [As you can see, there are multiple overlapping checks and
preventions of undue influence and factional advantage.])
Judges of inferior Courts shall hold their offices for the same non-consecutive term. Judges shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office, which for Judges of the Supreme Court shall be eight times the median national income, and six times for other Federal Judges of the Judicial Branch. Judges shall receive a pension at the end of 18 years which shall be equal to one-half of their previous compensation.
(Many people seem to think “democracy” is some great idea but don’t understand why and why not. Democracy can be considered better than the rule of just one person like a King, in that
the majority decides what is best for the most people. That doesn’t automatically mean that “better” is “good”, because pure democracy is two wolves and a sheep deciding what to have for dinner…making for popular decisions that are not necessarily right or just. [Ask black people in history if majority rule was just.] Fact is, the majority is still able to take away people’s Rights the same as a King. The Founders wanted to make it difficult for the majority to take away the rights and liberties of the minority, so they decided on a Republic, which has written rules that are supposed to be applied to everyone equally, and which divides power into different branches. It also divided power among different factions, which became political parties, and different ideas, which jockey for position. A democratic republic distributes power among many hands, preventing any one power from being able to [easily] take away anyone’s liberty. What we really have in the U.S. is factions of aristocraties who share power, which has worked out well in maintaining Liberty, which is really the objective. My intent here is to create a system that
is hard to be “rigged” by any one power for their benefit and our detriment, so I add a level of uncertainty and turbulence into the selection of Supreme Court Justices, in the same manner as the Venetians or the Athenians with their choosing people by sortition instead of election. General court judges are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate, whereas Administrative Judges are nominated by the Inspector General and confirmed by the Chamber of Repeal. Both become part of the pool of judges eligible for the Supreme Court, and then are chosen at random when a vacancy occurs. Representatives and Chambermen can be chosen by self- or random- promotion, a more democratic way to select the People’s Representatives and a check on the aristocracy. Both Judges and Legislators are deliberative, with Judges the more deliberative and chosen instead of elected. I still have the President and other executives elected by self-promotion, because I think executives need to have stronger egos to get stuff done [vs.
think/deliberate], and elections are a good realm for the strong-egoed to engage in the knock-down of distinguishing themselves. Te moritu salutus!)
Section 2
[1] The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority; to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls; to all
Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction; to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party; to Controversies between two or more States; between a State and Citizens of another State where the State is plaintiff; between Citizens of different States; between Citizens of
the same State claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects, but no State shall be sued by a citizen or subject of any foreign state; Military tribunals shall be subject to review only by the Supreme Court and no others; No nation or its citizens may sue a citizen or government of the United States if it does not reciprocate the application of its laws, both de jure and de facto, with that of the United States and its citizens. (I melded the 11th amendment into this.)
[2] In all Cases, a jury shall decide the facts (Why do normal trials reqire a jury, whereas SCOTUS and other Federal Courts don’t? I was wondering this before the incoherent Justice Roberts
decision on ObamaCare on June 28, 2012, but now I am completely certain that Justices are not only subject to making politically favorable decisons, but can be incapable of making even rudimentarily logical decisions…look at Dred Scott and Plessy vs. Ferguson.) and the
Judges shall decide on the law, which shall be reviewed afterwards by a legal standards and procedures board and represented to the Judges for a final decision. In all cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the
supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.
[3] The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed.
Section 3
[1] Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort, aiding a coup d’état, or aiding a State in secession. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses
to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.
(Coup d’états and secession count as treason in my book.)
[2] Espionage against the United States, shall consist of intentional public exposure of secrets which puts the nation at risk or directly puts its allies in increased danger, intentional transmission of secrets to a foreign power, sabotage, propagandizing or being used for
propaganda by a foreign power, or intentionally giving encouragement to an enemy during war.
[3] The Congress shall have power to declare the Punishment for Treason, and Espionage, but no Attainder of Treason or Espionage shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.
Section 4: Scope
All laws and regulations shall be subject to Judicial Review; When a decision of the Supreme Court appears illogical, vague, or in conflict with a specific section of this Constitution, law, or previous decision, or its implementation appears impossible, the President with three-fifths of both Houses of Congress may set it aside (the President may call the House back to session to do so), and remand the case to another general Federal court that has not already made a decision
(chosen by lottery) one level inferior to the Supreme, whose decision must be rendered within one year, and shall be final; (Many Supreme Court decisions are real head-scratchers. This is an additional check on the judiciary and lets another court affirm a decision that Congress and the President are dubious about.) Whenever two-thirds of both Houses of Congress and the President should approve, they shall reverse a decision of any federal Court and affirm the
opposing decision of the Court they most agree with. (The previous 3/5 situation is for when Congress and the President BELIEVE a decision is wrong. This is for when they KNOW it is wrong.)
Courts shall clarify laws only when they are unclear and may not change their fundamental understanding, for which a Structural Amendment shall be required;
(We came within one vote of the Second Amendment being nullified. That is SCARY. This
Constitution prevents that in many areas other than just here.)
Section 5: Insurance of Due Process
Congress shall create a Court Case Review Department, which shall be tasked to examine all criminal cases at random for procedural correctness and protection of the rights of the convicted, and must automatically review all cases where the defendant received either a
life or death sentence. The agency shall interview prosecutors for bias, and prosecute those prosecutors who engaged in a biased prosecution for perjury or other malfeasance.
(How many times have we heard of a guy who was falsely convicted and may have even spent time on death row? Look up Anthony Graves of Austin, Texas. I believe in the death penalty,
but I also believe in the right guy being convicted. Also check out the malicious prosecution of the Duke Lacrosse players by Mike Nifong.)
Section 6: Contempt and Enforcement
All Federal Court decisions (both Judicial and Administrative Review Branch) must be complied with within 30 days, or a civil contempt citation shall be automatically served on the party in contempt (neither Judges nor the U.S. Marshal shall have discretion), which for Departments, shall begin with inferior Officers (Federal, State, or inferior) not in compliance (to prevent political influence) up to the Principal Officer, and all other members of that Department shall also be subject, including members of the civil service. Persons serving at the pleasure of the Department Head shall thereafter be subject to removal only for cause by the Senate for the remainder of the Presidential term. The President of the United States may be served, as
applicable. The citation shall be served and enforced by the U.S. Marshal. Should the U.S. Marshal fail to enforce the citation within 72 hours, he shall be in criminal contempt of Constitution, and any Citizen may take him and all other Officials in contempt into custody.
(The Obama administration seems to think compliance with a court order is optional. It was found to be in contempt by U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman after continuing its deepwater drilling moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico. This is a BIG DEAL. When government refuses to be bound by law, it is despotism. Would it be okay if a bible thumper President refused to comply with a court order to lift a moratorium on abortions?)
Section 7: Standards for Decisions
- A jury composed of twelve citizens, randomly selected from the voter registration rolls of the Court’s jurisdiction, shall decide the facts of cases, but for cases before the supreme Court, not more than one person from the same State shall serve. After each Judge reaches a conclusion, he shall discuss his findings with the other members of the Court. The Court shall then render a preliminary decision three days later. The disputants shall then take issue with factual, logical, and reasoning errors of the Court, which shall note them and then retire to consider them and within seven days render a preliminary final decision. A legal standards and procedures committee, composed of eighteen members trained in law and logic, shall be chosen at random every two years from a pool of two candidates chosen by their Senators from each of the several States, which shall review the preliminary final decision for factual, logical, reasoning, and procedural errors, and clear up any incoherencies, and return their findings to the Court in not more than seven days, which must be addressed by each Judge. The Court shall then return its ultimate decision within seven days.
- No court shall use foreign law or precedent in its decision, nor include political considerations. Courts shall look for reasons to invalidate laws or parts of them not in accordance with the constitution, not search for ways uphold them. Laws are to be considered contracts and the
original meaning of a law may not be changed by a court (only Congress, the people through initiative, or Amendment of this Constitution shall do that) but may only be clarified where ambiguous or contradictory. The Congress shall promulgate decision process forms with decision trees and checklists for all federal (including administrative) Courts (which must be as brief and uniform as possible) to use to ensure that decisions are based on facts, logic, citation of applicable laws, sound precedent (or specifically explain the factual or reasoning errors of
previous decisions when breaking with precedent), original meaning of the law, and not violating this Constitution. Defective reasoning should be obvious with use of these forms. Each Judge, in order to improve decision quality, shall use this form to explain his reasoning. No
Judge’s decision shall stand without using these forms.
(Making standardized decision sheets complete with flow charts, checklists, and can/can’t do’s would keep things organized and also make deviations from the Constitution glaringly obvious, especially to the public. Would it prevent a Justice Kagan from reaching her predetermined
decision anyway? Not definitely, but the jury would ensure a decision on the facts, the post-decision committee would return decisions with flawed reasoning, and it would ensure that certain things can’t be cited as basis/justification for a decision (like foreign law), and that a
logical progression must be followed, and omissions would becaught…which would make trying to make the square peg of illogic/unconstitutionality/flawed reasoning fit in a round hole very
obvious and thus difficult. It would probably take the edge off of radicals if they are forced to see that their decision process is wrong and who knows, they might willingly do the right thing sometimes. [I never promised you perfection, just improvement.] It would make crooked
decisions by inJustices like John Roberts [in his incoherent ObamaCare opinion] very difficult to render. It would allow decisions to be easily read would be helpful for appeals, and the biggest benefit is that Congress would be able to see twisted decisions and take action to have them changed/repealed, which this Constitution permits and the current one doesn’t.
Keep Reading – Next is “Part V: The Watchdog Branches of the Federal Government”