LMAO wrote:Pat Rice in Short Shorts wrote:I'm not disagreeing with him about us continuing as a federation. In fact, I love that we're a federation and not a unitary state like China or England.
That is good, but does not jive with your arguments.
I simply think the Constitution is outdated and needs to be rewritten to reflect life in the 21st century.
Could you provide examples of what you want changing other than the popular vote issue?
• digital bill of rights
• equal rights for all citizens and permanent residents (include free healthcare as a right)
• no term limits for presidents (elections serve as term limits)
• recall election for a president if petition to do so reaches 40% of all eligible voters (we vote for the president, so we should have the power to remove them)
• federal government controls federal elections & state governments control state elections
• ban gerrymandering & independent commission to prevent gerrymandering of House districts
• ranked choice voting for federal elections
• Wyoming Rule to set minimum number of seats in the House
• lower age requirement for president and senator to 25
• if no budget bill is passed (or able to be passed after a presidential veto), instead of shutting the government down, dissolve Congress and call new elections for every member of Congress
• automatic voter registration at 18
• compulsory voting (mail-in ballots guaranteed)
• election day is a national holiday
• publicly financed elections (privately financed and donations banned)
• money isn’t speech & corporations aren't people
• Supreme Court justices approved by bipartisan commission instead of Senate
• make DOJ its own independent body instead of serving under the executive branch
• financial disclosure of every federal public office holder and Supreme Court justice
• federal living wage tied to inflation
• rolling 20-year Constitution (can be renewed or rewritten)
Pat Rice in Short Shorts wrote:As for electing presidents via popular vote, we may finally be doing so within the next 20 years.
https://www.nationalpopularvote.com/written-explanation It's perfectly fair game because the Constitution gives the states the right to award their respective electoral votes how they so choose.
You know fully well that these bills are simply based in political expediency, exactly what the Founders guarded against. Should they get serious consideration in states such a CO. well there is a movement to introduce an amendment to protect the Constitution against such an intrusion. Such bills are seen as a threat to states rights by a political party, which they are. These politically motivated niblings at the Constitution are like pulling a thread on a sweater. There would be massive unintended consequences which I think you and others might regret down the road.
I really would like to hear your take on why tyranny of the majority is a good thing? If we had your way and the political winds switch as they always do, such shallow expediency would bite you politically (just as Harry Reid's nuclear option in the Senate ensures that Trump can get any nominee through the confirmation process and the left is reduced to trying to personally destroy nominees).
Well right now, we have tyranny of the minority, so not sure how that's better.
You are confusing policy with Constitutionality in most of your thinking.
• digital bill of rights
Nobody is excluded from internet access.
• equal rights for all citizens and permanent residents (include free healthcare as a right)
Equal rights are the basic tenant of the Constitution already.
• no term limits for presidents (elections serve as term limits)
Think about that for a bit in context of say Putin.
• recall election for a president if petition to do so reaches 40% of all eligible voters (we vote for the president, so we should have the power to remove them)
Impeachment is the reasonable remedy. What you are calling for is simply chaos.
• federal government controls federal elections & state governments control state elections
Ever heard of the office of Sec of State?
• ban gerrymandering & independent commission to prevent gerrymandering of House districts
Independent? Who would appoint such a commision? States have the right to set districts and courts can call BS if they are overstepping as both parties do.
• ranked choice voting for federal elections
Insanity.
• Wyoming Rule to set minimum number of seats in the House
Tyranny of the majority, and a key part of a totalitarian system.
• lower age requirement for president and senator to 25
Oh my...
• if no budget bill is passed (or able to be passed after a presidential veto), instead of shutting the government down, dissolve Congress and call new elections for every member of Congress
WTF?????
• automatic voter registration at 18
What if someone does not want to be "registered" for voting?
• compulsory voting (mail-in ballots guaranteed)
Ah the budding young totalitarian again.
• election day is a national holiday
Ok...but there is no reason to do so as "election day" is spread out over weeks.
• publicly financed elections (privately financed and donations banned)
No election is funded privately, Or did you mean campaigns? If so I don't want my tax dollars going to Bernie and you don't want yours going to Trump.
• money isn’t speech & corporations aren't people
Corporations are what then if not owned by, conceived by and run by people?
• Supreme Court justices approved by bipartisan commission instead of Senate
Talk about a can of worms. You and your "independent commissions".
• make DOJ its own independent body instead of serving under the executive branch
Why? You wish to remove checks and balances?
• financial disclosure of every federal public office holder and Supreme Court justice
Why? The basis of good governance is our citizen legislator paradigm. We need more successful people who are not professional politicians and weaponizing tax returns and the like is simply a political ploy. I trust the voters to elect someone and they can vote them out just as well.
• federal living wage tied to inflation
So you want government to try to trump market forces. Yup, socialism does just that but the results are the exact opposite of what you think would happen.
• rolling 20-year Constitution (can be renewed or rewritten)
Ya, that's the ticket. Lets let the politics of the hour determine which laws are valid and which are not.
You have not exactly thought all of this through. But I know exactly where the ideas originated. I think you would sorely miss the liberties you enjoy now but reject in favor of political expediency. That is why life experience does count.
He/His/Non-Menstruater/Postmenopausal/non-vaginal male. Yup all man!