A proposal for the 30th amendment to the Constitution of the United States
This amendment, if ratified, will do much to clean up those Augean stables that are known as the American political system. Much of the corruption in our political system is due to the extreme breadth of Congressional power. The twenty-eighth amendment that I proposed earlier would have taken away most of that power (which was unnecessary). It's hard for Congress to sell favors they can no longer grant, but the present way Congress does business leaves room for too many shenanigans.
Section 1. Congress shall make no law from which it or any member is exempt in whole or in part, and any such laws as may exist are hereby voided in toto and ab initio. Neither the Congress nor the Members thereof shall enjoy any privilege or immunity not enumerated in this Constutition, except where such privilege or immunity is accorded to every citizen of the United States. The Senators and Representatives of the United States, and the officials appointed by the President, upon conviction of any offense committed during the term to which they were elected or appointed, shall receive the harshest sentence allowed under law, and every aggravating circumstance shall be held to exist.
We can all agree that it is entirely unjust to have one law for Congress and another law for the rest of us. Congressional candidates agree with this on the campaign trail, but have trouble grasping the concept once in office. Any law that does not need to be obeyed by Congress likewise does not require the obedience of the American people, and it will not kill Congress to do without some benefit that we regular Americans do without.
Section 2. The regulations issued by the President, or by persons to whom the President has delegated authority for the issuance of regulations, shall affect only the conduct of officials, employees, and military personnel of the United States, and then only in the performance of their official duties. No regulation of the United States, not expressly worded in legislation made by Congress, shall affect the conduct of private citizens in any sphere of activity, nor shall they affect the private affairs of the officials, employees, or military personnel of the United States, and any such regulation as may exist is hereby voided in toto and ab initio. Furthermore, no such regulation shall be of any effect, unless Congress shall compensate, by appropriation, the parties upon whom the burden of compliance falls.
It is necessary that Congress directly exercise its regulatory authority. This will certainly reduce the number of regulations that the government will issue, which is a good thing; if a regulation does not merit the attention of 535 Congressmen, then it does not merit the obedience of three hundred million Americans. The practice of delegating regulation writing to the executive branch enables Congress to look like it has done something when it has done nothing, and places into the hands of the executive the power to legislate, which belongs in the Legislature.
Section 3. Prior to exercising the powers of their offices, the President, Vice-president, the Senators, the Representatives, and all officials appointed by the President, shall divest themselves from all commercial interests and investments, and remain disinterested during their continuation in their offices. The compensation paid by the United States to them shall not be increased during their continuation in office. After their departure from office, they shall receive no form of pension from the United States.
The American political system needs the citizen legislature more now than at any other time. No person should look upon public service as a lifetime career, but as something to do for a short time, and then to proceed to other pursuits. The prohibition against pensions and investments will ensure that the public officials will have no choice but to seek honest employment after their departure from office. If they are given to foresight, they will realize that this needs to happen while they are still useful for other work.
Section 4. Prior to exercising the powers of their offices, the President, Vice-President, all Senators and all Representatives, shall take an oath to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, on all matters, for the entirety of their terms. The violation of this oath shall be impeachable, against which the effect of the violation shall not be a defense.
I've had it with politicians who lie.
Section 5. The Houses of Congress shall debate and vote upon bills in the order of their introduction. No bill, once introduced, shall be amended, except that it first be withdrawn by the Member introducing it, and bills withdrawn shall lose their place in the order. No bill shall be withdrawn from consideration, except that the full House considering it shall vote against it, or at the request of the Member introducing it. No Member shall have more than one bill before their House at any time, but Congress shall establish no other restriction on the introduction of bills. At the end of each session of Congress, all bills not voted upon shall be withdrawn. The failure of any Member to cast a vote in favor of a bill or resolution, whether due to absence, abstention, or incapacity, shall be counted and recorded as opposition. All record of votes shall identify by name those Members in favor and those in opposition.
The Congressional committee system concentrates the power of Congress in the hands of a subset of Congress. Legislation that is necessary to the people's interests can be bottled up in committee, never to see the light of day, unless the chairman of that committee supports the legislation. This effectively denies representation to the constituents of the sponsor. Section five, although it might appear convoluted, is designed to ensure that every Congressman is heard, that their legislation is considered and voted on, and that their ideas are not diluted or polluted by others.
Section 6. A petition of one percent of the voters of a state, nominating a particular person by name, shall be sufficient to place that person as a candidate on the ballot in that state for election as President of the United States. A petition of one percent of the voters of a state, nominating a particular person by name, shall be sufficient to place that person as a candidate on the ballot in that state for election as Vice President of the United States. No person, so placed, shall be removed except for failure to meet the qualifications of the office enumerated in this constitution.
The balloting laws have been used to keep popular candidates out of elections. That needs to stop.
Section 7. No moneys drawn from the Treasury of the United States shall be spent upon any petition to the United States or any State. No moneys drawn from the Treasury of the United States shall be given to any organization seeking to affect the outcome of the elections of the United States or of any State, or having an official opinion about the outcome of any such election. No moneys drawn from the Treasury of the United States shall be given to any organization seeking to change the laws of the United States or of any State, or having an official opinion about changes to such laws.
The use of tax dollars to lobby Congress (always for more tax dollars) is inherently corrupt.
Section 9. No person convicted of a felony, finally sustained, is eligible to serve in any office of the United States. Congress shall have no power to remove this disability, and furthermore this disability shall withstand any pardon from the President or the governor of any State.
Criminals are not fit to hold public office.
Section 10. For the President to commit any offense for which any person in the United States is serving a term of incarceration, shall constitute grounds for impeachment. For the President to break any promise made in pursuit of election or reelection to the presidency, shall constitute grounds for impeachment.
Everyone I know expects a certain minimum of behavior from the chief executive.
Section 11. No appropriation from the Treasury of the United States shall be affected by the passage of legislation by any State, nor by any State's compliance with any law or regulation of the United States, nor by any State's cooperation with the enforcement of any such law or regulation.
Congress has used its spending authority to force into being laws that it does not have the constitutional authority to pass. This needs to stop.
Section 12. The power of Congress to regulate trade extends only to the sale of goods, and then only to those sales which transact state borders.
We all know what the phrase "trade among the several states" means, but some people need to have things explicitly spelled out.
Section 13. All laws of the United States shall, expire, becoming of no further effect, upon the tenth anniversary of their becoming law. Congress may, by the procedures established for the creation of law, make another law to replace it.
No law should be one unless it enjoys the continuous support of Congress. Having laws expire after ten years will force Congress to concentrate on the laws that are important and leave the remaining matters to the individual states.
Section 14. No member of the Congress shall hear any petition made by or on behalf of any party which does not consist wholly of residents of the State which that member represents.
Congressmen elected by the people of Alabama work for the people of Alabama, and not the people of any other state or country. The Congressmen elected by the people of Alaska work for the people of Alaska, and not the people of any other state or country. Ditto for the remaining forty-eight states.