Is the US constitution perfect? What would you change about it?

[Indus]

I've heard a lot of politics about doing things against the constitution, or against how it was intended. So here's something.. what would you like to change today in there?

Personally..

1. Overturn Electoral College (which is probably a solution to a problem that doesn't exist anymore and causes more problems now by gives all the bonus to just a few swing states) and make a Popular Vote for president so that every vote counts.

2. Overturn the 14th amendment so that every baby born in the US isn't a citizenship fixing anchor baby problem and make it by right of blood/ naturalization.

3. Take away state's rights on giving driver's licences and give it to the federal government? Why? it's easy as cheese for an illegal alien to make drivers licenses in some states and impossible as fuck in others but very easy to change residence.

4. Take away power of congress and limit the number of taxes that can be imposed on the people. I'm tired of Federal Income Tax, State Income Tax, Social Security Tax, Medicare Tax, Payroll Tax, FCC Tax, Service Tax, Sales Tax, Inheritance Tax, Capital Gains Tax and I'm not even naming everything here..

5. Limit time of politicians in congress to 12 years so there are no 40+ years in congress politicians.

What would you change in there?

 

[BoomerD]

I think I could vote for all of the things on that list.

 

[monovillage]

The biggest problem with the US Constitution is there's no enforced death penalty on public servants that violate it. Start hanging the bastards that violate it and it would be damn near perfect.

 

[BoomerD]

The biggest problem with the US Constitution is there's no enforced death penalty on public servants that violate it. Start hanging the bastards that violate it and it would be damn near perfect.

Perhaps some modification would be in order. I'd support the death penalty for public servants/politicians who are convicted of fraud, corruption, bribery, and theft.
Unfortunately, it seems like the US Constitution is open for interpretation...based on your personal bias. What might be a violation to you might be strict compliance to someone else.

 

[compuwiz1]

The fact that anyone needs to question the constitution or wants to ammend it is laughable.

If we enforced what is already there, we would have already impeached this president and would not be arguing about immigration reform, as the illegals would already have been gone.

I will admit that it was written when my great grandfather rode a horse to work.....but still, it's the law of the land.

 

[Jaepheth]

I'd add something about elected officials being ineligible for presidential or gubernatorial pardons.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

One of the problems with our Constitution is that Congressmen are elected in a localized "winner-take-all" fashion that results in a two-party system. Perhaps representation in both houses should be changed to a half localized and half delocalized process.

For the House, but the number of local/state-based representatives in half and let the other half be elected on a national level with seats being allocated based on a party's percentage of the vote. Ditto for the Senate. So if the national Communist Party (or Capitalist Party, or Environmental Party, etc.) scored 2% of the vote it could have 2% of half the seats, etc. This way people could actually (practically) vote for candidates who will truly represent their political views, because not everyone is a Democrat or Republican.

We also need an amendments to legalize victimless consensual "crimes" like marijuana and prostitution. I also like the idea of an anti-anchor baby amendment.

 

[JManInPhoenix]

That the federal budget be balanced

 

[Mursilis]

Any document can only be as good as the governing body enacting it. Many dictatorships had "constitutions" protecting the rights of the people. Those documents did the people precious little good.

 

[Indus]

The fact that anyone needs to question the constitution or wants to ammend it is laughable.

If we enforced what is already there, we would have already impeached this president and would not be arguing about immigration reform, as the illegals would already have been gone.

I will admit that it was written when my great grandfather rode a horse to work.....but still, it's the law of the land.

Oh please. There was more reason to impeach Bush than Obama, not that I'm his fanboy. I hate obamacare but I do like gay marriage. I hate higher taxes but I do like ending the stupid war in Iraq.

But my point wasn't about Presidents, it was about the constitution. Where is it outdated.. and after 225 years.. it is pretty ancient and was made before the advent of the steam locomotive, much less our cell phones. They couldn't imagine the issues we face today, home grown terrorists that hit boston, rather than the british taking a month of sailing to attack us because they didn't like the Boston Tea Party.

So you can't just blindly follow the law of the land. It's like trying to defend your home with a Napoleonic era musket when everyone has a AK-47.

 

[nehalem256]

2. Overturn the 14th amendment so that every baby born in the US isn't a citizenship fixing anchor baby problem and make it by right of blood/ naturalization.

It should probably be changed so that citizenship goes to children of US citizens or lawful permanent(or maybe long-term) residents.

No anchor babies or birth tourists.

3. Take away state's rights on giving driver's licences and give it to the federal government? Why? it's easy as cheese for an illegal alien to make drivers licenses in some states and impossible as fuck in others but very easy to change residence.

4. Take away power of congress and limit the number of taxes that can be imposed on the people. I'm tired of Federal Income Tax, State Income Tax, Social Security Tax, Medicare Tax, Payroll Tax, FCC Tax, Service Tax, Sales Tax, Inheritance Tax, Capital Gains Tax and I'm not even naming everything here..

3 and 4 seem in contradiction with each other. You want to take away power from congress but then put them in charge of driver's licenses.

 

[Tom]

First of all I don't agree with any of your changes.

1. doing away with electoral college would weaken state's influence in favor of federal authority.

2. I'm not a baby hater or an immigrant hater so this makes no sense to me.

3. any reason for this other than hating immigrants ?

4. since you want no taxes its kinda funny you want the government to get rid of immigrant babies for you. How are you going to pay for that ?

5. why not limit it to 2 weeks ? What's magical about 12 years ? You realize what term limits actually do is remove the right of the people to be represented by who they choose.

Things I would change.

1. I would increase the number of representatives so that each district had a population of about 50k. And I would change the method of creating districts although I'm not sure exactly how.

2. I would put rules for the Senate and filibusters in the Constitution. 60 votes needed is fine to DELAY action, not prevent it. I would require a higher number to prevent action, maybe 2/3s.

3. I would stop the House from using it's rules to deny a majority from getting to vote. I mean if there's a majority, even if its made up of members of both parties, it's not right for the House to deny them the right to vote. The House isn't supposed to work like the Senate for a reason.

 

[fskimospy]

1.) Eliminate the electoral college. This is a no-brainer as it massively distorts the power of states based simply on the fact that they happen to be large and fairly evenly split. There is no reason why the concerns of Ohio, Florida, and Colorado should receive so much more attention than the needs of New York, California, and Texas.

2.) Throw out the election system. Winner take all districts restrict the US to a two party system, reduces accountability, and encourages radicalization. This could be replaced with either instant runoff voting or (better) a proportional representation system.

3.) Enshrine an explicit right to vote. Every citizen should be able to vote.

Basically in my opinion the founding fathers screwed up the election part of the Constitution pretty badly. (oh and the whole slavery thing) Everything else works pretty well, but is being strained due to this electoral failure.

 

[thraashman]

First of all I don't agree with any of your changes.

1. doing away with electoral college would weaken state's influence in favor of federal authority.

2. I'm not a baby hater or an immigrant hater so this makes no sense to me.

3. any reason for this other than hating immigrants ?

4. since you want no taxes its kinda funny you want the government to get rid of immigrant babies for you. How are you going to pay for that ?

5. why not limit it to 2 weeks ? What's magical about 12 years ? You realize what term limits actually do is remove the right of the people to be represented by who they choose.

Things I would change.

1. I would increase the number of representatives so that each district had a population of about 50k. And I would change the method of creating districts although I'm not sure exactly how.

2. I would put rules for the Senate and filibusters in the Constitution. 60 votes needed is fine to DELAY action, not prevent it. I would require a higher number to prevent action, maybe 2/3s.

3. I would stop the House from using it's rules to deny a majority from getting to vote. I mean if there's a majority, even if its made up of members of both parties, it's not right for the House to deny them the right to vote. The House isn't supposed to work like the Senate for a reason.

I like your post overall. I would add two more changes.

First a change to clarify the 2nd Amendment. Either we enforce it as its written or remove the language about militias. I don't care as much about other complaints gun nuts have, but if we're going to ignore the first thing said in the Amendment then perhaps we should just remove it.

Second a true and complete equal rights amendment. Something that says "No citizens can be denied rights or benefits provided by the government on the basis of race, gender, creed, or sexual orientation. The government may pass no laws which affect only specific races, religions, genders or sexual orientations." Technically this one should already be covered by the 14th Amendment, but some people just don't seem to get it.

 

[waggy]

shit. i would be happy if the government paid attention the Constitution and fallowed it.

 

[fskimospy]

shit. i would be happy if the government paid attention the Constitution and fallowed it.

"Follow the Constitution" almost always means "interpret the Constitution the exact same way I do".

The Constitution was deliberately made ambiguous so that's never going to happen.

 

[schneiderguy]

1. Amendment that stops the Federal government from interpreting the interstate commerce clause as "we can do anything". Set the 10th Amendment in bold type.

2. Amendment that puts a limit on the size of the military during peace time (no more than x% of GDP or x% of the population).

3. Amendment that bans the use of tax dollars for foreign aid.

 

[BUnit1701]

"Follow the Constitution" almost always means "interpret the Constitution the exact same way I do".

The Constitution was deliberately made ambiguous so that's never going to happen.

You understand its written in English? There is no interpretation needed, the words are right there.

 

[fskimospy]

You understand its written in English? There is no interpretation needed, the words are right there.

Oh? Define what an 'unreasonable search' is without interpreting the Constitution.

 

[Doppel]

Find some way to reduce money's power on politicians. I'd honestly put some real thought into an amendment demanding some skill testing process before voting. The stupid masses are screwing things up just as much as money. That last one feels rather unAmerican.

 

[fskimospy]

1. Amendment that stops the Federal government from interpreting the interstate commerce clause as "we can do anything". Set the 10th Amendment in bold type.

2. Amendment that puts a limit on the size of the military during peace time (no more than x% of GDP or x% of the population).

3. Amendment that bans the use of tax dollars for foreign aid.

You can set the 10th amendment in bold type, italics, and 18 point font if you want. In the words of the Supreme Court the 10th amendment 'added nothing to the Constitution as originally ratified'.

I'm always amazed at how much conservatives latch onto an amendment that the Supreme Court has declared to be meaningless.

 

[nehalem256]

Second a true and complete equal rights amendment. Something that says "No citizens can be denied rights or benefits provided by the government on the basis of race, gender, creed, or sexual orientation. The government may pass no laws which affect only specific races, religions, genders or sexual orientations." Technically this one should already be covered by the 14th Amendment, but some people just don't seem to get it.

Why are those categories the only things worthy of special protection?

Although given that your amendment would pretty clearly outlaw affirmative action I guess it wouldn't be all bad

2. I'm not a baby hater or an immigrant hater so this makes no sense to me.

Removing birthright citizenship is not about hating immigrants. Its about not reward lawbreakers and people seeking to abuse the system.

See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birth_tourism

 

[nehalem256]

You can set the 10th amendment in bold type, italics, and 18 point font if you want. In the words of the Supreme Court the 10th amendment 'added nothing to the Constitution as originally ratified'.

I'm always amazed at how much conservatives latch onto an amendment that the Supreme Court has declared to be meaningless.

I think it is more amazing, and dangerous, that Supreme Court would declare an amendment to be meaningless.

I mean did they think that people proposed and ratified the amendment for shits and giggles.:awe:

 

[fskimospy]

I think it is more amazing, and dangerous, that Supreme Court would declare an amendment to be meaningless.

I mean did they think that people proposed and ratified the amendment for shits and giggles.:awe:

Well you have to remember that unlike you they actually know something about the Constitution and the structure of US law.

 

[schneiderguy]

You can set the 10th amendment in bold type, italics, and 18 point font if you want. In the words of the Supreme Court the 10th amendment 'added nothing to the Constitution as originally ratified'.

I'm always amazed at how much conservatives latch onto an amendment that the Supreme Court has declared to be meaningless.

Then set the whole fucking thing in bold type font. My point was that somewhere along the way the scope of the Federal government was changed to be much more broad than the powers given to it in the Constitution allow for.