How would you amend the U.S. Constitution?

How would I amend the constitution?

VERY carefully and very rarely.

 

Repeal 16th and 17th amendments. (We couldn't repeal #19 could we? )

Possibly term limits for the House.

 

I would repeal the 22th Amendment. In the second term, the president doesn't have to care about the will of the public because he knows he can't run for re-election.

I would also like to see an amendment banning elective abortion.

 

I would also repeal the Seventeenth Amendment. I would also support ratification of the Liberty Amendment which would repeal the Sixteenth Amendment, and provide that "Congress shall not levy taxes on personal incomes, estates, and/or gifts."

 

For starters I would be very careful. Then I would:

1. Add a Federal Marriage Amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman and that none of the civil benefits of marriage are to be extended to any other "relationship" (though that language might have to be fine-tuned a little). [copied fromtheright]

2. Add an amendment forbidding the murder of unborn children.

3. Add an amendment restoring the same system of Government to the states that the Federal Government enjoys. That is each county in a state would be entitled to the same number of representatives in the upper legislative body [the Senate]. The number of representatives in the lower house would from each county would be apportioned based on population. This is the way it was before the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional in the 1960's.

 

Return members of Congress to non paid status. They must be businessmen/landowners of good reputation, willing to serve but a single term of 2 years, and elected by their constituents.

 

I believe eliminating the pension plan would automatically result in term limits.

 

Require the federal budget to be balanced annually, with exceptions only by a three-fourths vote of both houses of Congress and the president's signature.

 

Absoluty HORRIBLE ideas!

 

I believe eliminating the pension plan would automatically result in term limits. </font>[/QUOTE]I bet it would too. Removing all financial reasons for service would result in actions on behalf of the nation instead of selves. But we can't go back.

 

What would you hope to gain or avoid by repealing the 17th Amendment?

 

The U.S. Constitution, as originally framed in Article I, Section 3, provided for U.S. Senators to be elected by state legislators. This provided the states direct representation in the legislative branch so as to deter the usurpation of powers that are Constitutionally reserved to the states or to the people.

The Seventeenth Amendment (providing for direct, popular election of U.S. Senators) took away from state governments their Constitutional role of indirect participation in the federal legislative process.

If we are to see a return to the states those powers, programs, and sources of revenue that the federal government has unconstitutionally taken away, then it is also vital that we repeal the Seventeenth Amendment and return to state legislatures the function of electing the U.S. Senate. In so doing, this would return the U.S. Senate to being a body that represents the legislatures of the several states on the federal level and, thus, a tremendously vital part of the designed checks and balances of power that our Constitution originally provided.

 

I would abolish the electoral college and let the vote of the people elect the President. This would prevent situations like we had in the 2000 election in which a President was elected who was not the choice of the majority of those who voted.

I think this would reduce the potential for fraud in the election because the outcome wouldn't be dependent on the result in a single state (FLA in 2000 and ILL in 2004).

 

We should keep the Electoral College. If we do away with it, then we might as well do away with the States as separate governmental units.

By the way, I think you meant OH in 2004.

 

How would I amend the Constitution? I would pass an Amendment declaring an upper limit on the number of laws any state could have on its books at one time. Add a law and take one which is no long applicable off!

Then there would be another amendment saying all Americans above poverty level would be taxed ten percent of their incomes. Clean, simple, clear.

But that would put WAY too many IRS employees and accountants out of work, wouldn't it?