Potential Election Changes?

Now, don't misunderstand me: I am not advocating the overthrow of the government, I am not advocating the change in system from the Representative Democracy (read: "Republic") we now have, and I still think America is the "last, best hope of the world."

But, some changes have to be made in The Noble Experiment. The Founders weren't stupid men - they did a good job. But, mind Lord Acton's (Unfinished) Dictum - "Power Corrupts. Absolute power Corrupts absolutely."

Unfinished? Yeah - he left off one more key point. "Power attracts the corruptible."

Let's throw out a few potential changes to the way we're doing things now - since what we're still doing is what's getting us into trouble (I think voter apathy and ignorance also have a lot to do with it, as well as a constitutional inability of the average member of the public to think farther into the future than the end of his own nose. WAKE UP! I can't do this all myself...)

OVERALL CHANGE: Retirement packages for "elected officials" - self-funded or no - go away entirely. Put them all on Social Security and Medicare. Hell, put them all on Medicare while they're in office. That should get those systems fixed!

Basic Change #1: We don't elect our representatives and officials anymore. Instead, they are selected by lottery from the rolls of registered voters and prior servicemen.

How would this help? It's been said that, "The idea man to wield political power is the man who oes not want it." No more running for election - you get selected at random. It takes a genuine hardship to become exempted from this - nowhere near as easy as it is to get out of jury duty.

How many people have said they could do better, given a chance? This makes it more likely that they get their chance.

CAVEAT: Once you have finished a term in office, you are disqualified for a like period of time from holding "elective" office at any level. If you spend six years in the Senate, you can't even get elected City Dog Catcher for the next six years. The two-term limit on President still stands.

This disqualification works up the chain as well - if you serve a four-year term as, say, Mayor; you are thereby summarily disqualified from holding office at any higher level until four years have passed.

The only real "professional" exemption I can think of offhand would be to medical practitioners - they have to stay in practise and have to deal with too much Continuing Medical Education as is. No, I'm not going to exempt lawyers - the CLE is there because Congress passes laws on altogether too regular a basis, and maybe we can slow them down this way...

Basic Change #2: Hard term limits. Two terms in any one office. I am unsure if they should still be allowed to ascend the ladder - but elimination of retirement benefits should make that a much more carefully-considered decision.

Basic Change #3:

A) Officials are still elected, but are disqualified from holding office for a like term after having served a term in office - AT ANY LEVEL. The two-term limit for POTUS still applies.
B) Retirement packages are, naturally, revoked.
C) (And this one is the kicker!) The party that previously held the office is summarily disqualified from posting a candidate for the following term! Democrats have a Senate seat for six years, then they have to give it up. Ditto Republicans. This should make the "third parties" rather more viable, and should (I hope) break up the "40/40 voting bloc" that helps to screw everything up.

(C) is going to be the one that sticks in everyone's craw the most, but I honestly think it would be a useful and progressive change, meant to turn over personnel and keep things from getting entirely too entrenched in Washington. It should also help to force a "Party balance" in the two Houses.

Basic Change #4: Candidates for President may no longer have running mates. Return to the way things were before - the man who got the most votes became President, the one right behind him became Vice President. This was a good idea - it helped to make the Parties work together (I'm not sure why they're called "parties" - they're not that damned much fun.)

Basic Change #5: Someone may only run for elected office if he has previously served in a military capacity - for a term or a career, and has not been dishonourably discharged. This shows a dedication to the betterment and protection of the Nation - something the current crop of pols seems to neither have nor want.

Now, some basic changes to the legislative process:

#1 - No Riders. Period. The bill is about what it's about, and if you want to pass something else, write another bill. I'm tired of all of the stuff getting tucked into bills - you expect me to believe that anything that is 1500-2000 pages is just about one subject? I remember the "heathcare bill" being bandied about as 1900-odd pages. No way is was all about healthcare - and I seem to have been right about that.

#2 - Fifty-Page Limit. If it can't be written out in fifty pages and fully summarised (skipping nothing) on the front and back of a single page, it goes back for a rewrite. "Page" referring to the common letter-size page, or 8-1/2"x11" sheets.

#3 - Constitutiuonal Review. If the law as written would fly in the face of the Constitution, it gets scrapped in committee. It has long been held that the Constitution is the Supreme Law of the Land, and that "any measure repugnant to it is null and void of Law." When did we forget this? And, any laws currently in effect are to be reviewed against the Constitution, and any law that violates it is to be scrapped. Anyone prosecuted under a scrapped law shall have their case reviewed - the review board may release the individual and/or expunge the record as indicated.

#4 - Static Growth. In order to pass a new law, an old law must be rescinded. We have a number of measures still on the books that just don't apply anymore - at all levels! - but you can still be prosecuted for them (ex: I grew up in Indiana. Every time I shaved my own face, I was guilty of a misdemeanour - under law, I had to go to a barber for a shave. Not enforced anymore, but it damned well could have been.) Most of these laws are hangers-on from 100-150 years ago, and circumstances have changed drastically.

#5 - Common Sense. "I'm sorry sir, that doesn't pass the Common Sense test." If you've done a term in service, it's a good chance you heard a senior non-com saying this to some lieutenant. If you did a career as an enlisted man, you probably said this to some lieutenant at some later point in your career. A similar measure should apply in the Senate and House chambers - catch stupid laws before they become "problem laws." If it doesn't pass the Common Sense test, it gets killed on the floor. Problem solved. This should take care of the various "unenforceable laws" out there - the Electronic Communications Protection Act of 1986 leaps irresistably to mind.

That should be enough to prime you into thinking for now. Let me know what you think.