Time to amend the US Constitution
This post is simple and sweet.
If I were a congressman my first work in office would be to offer amendments to the US Constitution. I want you to know that I deeply respect our founders and the intellect they brought to creating this nation, crafting the declaration of independence, and writing the constitution. That said… it is time for a few amendments.
So… if I were elected, these are the amendments I would offer:
Amendment 28 – Congressional Term Limits and Benefits
Section 1. No person shall be elected more than twice to the office of Senator with a maximum of time in office of 14 years.
No person shall be elected more than three times to the office of representative with a maximum of time in office of 7 years.
Section 2. No person who has held the office of Senator or Representative shall collect retirement or benefits from the United States after they have completed their term.
Section 3. Persons serving as members of the Congress shall be entitled to benefits matching but not exceeding the lowest US military pay grade.
Amendment 30 – Balanced Budget
Section 1. Prior to each fiscal year, the Congress shall adopt a statement of receipts and outlays for that year in which total outlays are no greater than total receipts. The Congress may amend such statement provided revised outlays are not greater than revised receipts. Whenever three-fifths of the whole number of both Houses shall deem it necessary, Congress in such statement may provide for a specific excess of outlays over receipts by a vote directly to that subject. The Congress and the President shall ensure that actual outlays do not exceed the outlays set forth in such statement.
Section 2. Total receipts for any fiscal year set forth in the statement adopted pursuant to this article shall not increase by a rate greater than the rate of increase in national income in the last calendar year ending before such fiscal year, unless a majority of the whole number of both Houses of Congress shall have passed a bill directed solely to approving specific additional receipts and such bill has become law.
Section 3. The Congress may waive the provisions of this article for any fiscal year in which a declaration of war is in effect.
Section 4. The Congress may not require that the states engage in additional activities without compensation equal to the additional costs.
Section 5. Total receipts shall include all receipts of the United States except those derived from borrowing and total outlays shall include all outlays of the United States except those for repayment of debt principal.
Section 6. This article shall take effect for the second fiscal year beginning after its ratification.
Amendment 31 – Tax
Section 1. All federal taxes are now abolished and Congress’s ability to levy and collect taxes is restricted to this amendment.
Section 2. The only taxes that Congress may levy is the US Federal Income Tax and National Sales Tax.
Section 3.The Congress may levy a Federal Income Tax not to exceed 10% to any one individual or business, public or private.
Section 4. The Congress may levy a National Sales Tax not to exceed 1% on the sale of goods and service sold in the United States and abroad.
Amendment 32 – Effects of Law
Congress cannot exempt themselves from the effects of any law of the United States.
Amendment 33 – Radio and Television Transmission
Congress shall make no law, pass no regulation that impacts radio or television transmissions if such are political in nature.
Amendment 34 – Federal Funding
Congress shall make no law restricting the utilization of federal funds offered to states to be contingent upon states adopting set standards or laws as a condition of receiving funds. Congress may restrict how funds are expended but not through contingency of a State adopting, passing, or creating laws or regulations.
I know these will need a little work… but it is a start!
Until we meet again… may God bless you and may God bless the USA!!
Posts
Exciting! These are refeshing ideas that seem to summarize the problem areas in our current system. I am happy to help critique your proposal:
ReplyDelete(At the risk of sounding cynical...)
Do you think written laws mean anything to liberals in office or on the bench? While I completely agree that these Amendments chart a course for greatness(IF FOLLOWED), I fear that these would be as willfully discarded and twisted as the established Constitution has become.
How do tyrannts decide which laws to follow?
How long until these Amendments become "living" like the others that have been stretched?
Would term limits and benefit exclusions attract less-tyrannical politicians?
I think you need a paragraph that requires congressmen to spend at least 10 months of each year in their district/state; No federal pay during that time, either :) ...and publish/track their whereabouts like a sex offender!
The budget clause featuring the "declaration of war" exemption should specify that deficit spending can only be used on things marked for weapons of war or soldiers' provisions.
Then again I return to my first point: what good is being specific when the law itself is disregarded? Dishonest people always find a way around words.
Didn't the founders also contemplate the problems with governing an immoral society?
Great response. Feel free to rewrite with your edits and I will review, tweak, and post....
ReplyDeleteAmendment 31 - Tax
ReplyDeleteSection 1. The sixteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.
Section 2. Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective numbers.
Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.
Amendment 35 - Repeal of 17th Amendment
ReplyDeleteSection 1. The seventeenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.
Section 2. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote.
Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.