I can fix this. Call an Article V Constitutional Convention by the State legislatures. Pass the following:
Pass a Constitutional Amendment requiring a Balanced Budget
1. Legislation passed by Congress and signed by the President may spend in deficit only when both of the following occur:
a. Signed Declaration of National Emergency by the President.
b. Five-Sixths approval of both the House and the Senate
2. Deficit shall be defined as “Spending more than previous year’s Federal Tax Receipts”.
3. Each branch of the Executive Branch must have its own separate spending authorization “Omnibus” spending authorizations are forbidden.
4. No Federal Monies shall be appropriated without a recorded vote of the individual members of both houses.
5. Violations of this law shall be punishable by 5 year mandatory prison sentence. Violation is defined as:
a. A member of the House or Senate casting a vote to deficit spend.
b. President not vetoing any law that deficit spends.
6. Allow 5 years to produce the first balanced budget from date of ratification
Pass a Constitutional Amendment requiring Term-Limits for Elected Officials and Federal Judges
1. The President of the United States
a. The President may serve up to four terms in office. No president may serve more than 16 years.
b. Any Second, Third or Fourth term must also win the popular vote in addition to winning the Electoral College. A sitting president who does not win the popular vote shall not be re-elected. The candidate with the next most Electoral votes shall be declared the winner.
c. Any Third or Fourth term must also be won with 60% of the popular vote.
d. Candidates for President shall be prohibited from taking any money, goods or services from any corporation, business or organization for the purpose of supporting a campaign or remunerating a candidate.
e. Only United States Citizens may contribute to a Presidential Campaign Fund.
f. An Individual Campaign Donation to a Candidate for President shall be limited to $5000 dollars in Total for a 4 Year Election Cycle. That $5000 may be given to any candidate.
g. Each Candidate shall disclose the source of each dollar and donor contributing to the candidate’s campaign within 24 hours of receipt of the donation. This shall include any pledge or agreement to reimburse money that has been spent. Any candidate who spends his or her own money shall disclose within 24 hours of receipt of the donation the personal monies, goods and/or services contributed to the campaign.
h. All campaign donations left unspent on each campaign shall be donated to a charity supporting families of soldiers killed in active duty.
i. No President or Vice-President shall receive the benefits of the signing a bill, or casting a vote, to raise the compensation for their respective offices.
2. United States Senators
a. Shall be elected by all Houses of State Legislatures.
b. Terms shall be limited to a Lifetime Total of 2 six-year terms.
c. Terms for the Senators in each State shall be staggered by 2 years.
d. A Senator may be recalled at any time by a two-thirds vote of Both Houses of the State Legislature.
e. A Senator serving in a recall capacity shall serve the remainder of that Senate term. That Senator shall be eligible to serve 1 additional term.
f. No person shall serve as a Senator for more than a total of 12 years.
g. No Senator shall receive the Benefits of a Vote to raise the Compensation for their office.
3. Members of the House of Representatives
a. Representation shall be set at 1 for every 50,000 persons.
b. The Decadal Census of the United States shall set the official population of the States.
c. Terms shall be limited to a Total of 4 two-year terms. No person may serve more than 8 years as a Representative in the United States House.
d. Candidates shall be prohibited from taking any money, goods or services from any business or organization for the purpose of campaigning or remunerating a candidate.
e. Only United States Citizens living in their district may contribute to a campaign fund.
f. An Individual Campaign Donation to a Candidate for the United states House of Representatives shall be limited to:
i. $1000 dollars in Total for a 2 Year Election Cycle.
ii. 1 candidate per 2 Year Election Cycle.
g. Each Candidate shall disclose the source of each dollar and donor contributing to the candidate’s campaign within 24 hours of receipt of the donation. This shall include any pledge or agreement to reimburse money that has been spent. Any candidate who spends his or her own money shall disclose the personal monies, goods and/or services contributed to the campaign.
h. All campaign donations left unspent on each campaign shall be donated to a charity supporting families of soldiers killed in active duty.
i. No Representative shall receive the benefits of a vote to raise the compensation for their office.
4. Federal Judges
a. Shall be appointed for one 10 year term only after being approved and confirmed by the United States Senate.
b. Judges serving 1 term may be re-appointed to 1 additional 10 year term only after being approved and confirmed by the United States Senate.
c. Any Federal judge, upon having 3 opinions, whether individual or majority, overturned by the Supreme Court shall be ineligible for a second term in office.
5. Federal Retirement Plans
a. The President of the United States shall be entitled to 50% of salary for life. A Vice-President shall be entitled to 25% of salary for life, unless elected to the office of President or upon election to the United States Senate or House of Representatives. Both a President and Vice-President after leaving office shall, upon request, be provided protection by the Secret Service.
b. United States Senators and Representatives to the House shall not be entitled to any retirement or health care plan funded by the United States. Each Senator and Representative is responsible for their personal finance and health care.
c. Federal Judges shall not be entitled to any retirement or health care plan funded by the United States. Each Federal Judge is responsible for their personal finance and health care.
Pass a Constitutional Amendment Reforming Federal Tax Collection
1. All portions of the Federal Tax Code are abolished.
2. The United States shall be limited to collecting taxes, fees and licenses only by authority of this Amendment.
3. Personal Income Taxes shall be limited to a 17% Flat Tax on wages earned by all Citizens over the age of 17. There shall be No Deductions allowed to offset taxable wages.
4. Wages shall include: Salaries, tips, capital gains, dividends, stock awards, and any other compensation.
5. No deferred taxation will be allowed. All monies contributed to qualified retirement plans shall be taxed before contribution. All monies received from qualified retirement plans after the age of 65 shall not be taxed.
6. Corporations and businesses which manufacture, build, assemble, and provide goods and services in the United States shall not be assessed income taxes.
Pass a Constitutional Amendment Securing Identity and Reforming Immigration
1. All persons in the United States shall be uniquely identified by biometric data (eg, finger prints, Iris scan, DNA, etc…)
2. Create and administer through the States a Secure National ID Card and Database.
3. ALL Federal, State and Local Government agencies and authorities shall be forbidden to use this Database for anything other than the following:
a. Identification of individuals suspected or charged with crimes not related to this amendment.
b. Identification of individuals seeking to transact business with the Federal, State or Local Governments.
c. Identification of individuals voting in Federal, State and Local Municipal elections.
4. All visitors to the United States, regardless of duration of stay or reason for visit, shall be issued a National Visitor Identity Card.
5. All visiting workers in the United States shall be identified and entered into the Secure National ID Database, with detailed work permit information.
6. All employers in the United States, corporate and individual, must use the Secure National ID Database to E-VERIFY for all employment.
7. Any person not entered into the Secure National ID Database shall be ineligible for employment and subject to prosecution. Penalties for violation of sections 6 and 7 would be $50,000 per violation per day.
8. After 1 year from passage of this law, any foreigner caught in the United States without a valid National Visitor Identity Card shall be deported and permanently barred from entry into the United States.
9. Citizenship shall not be conferred to children born in the United States to non-citizens.
a. Exception: A child born to two lawfully married parents, whose marriage is more than 1 year before the date of the child’s birth, when only one parent is a citizen of the United States. Both parents must petition for US Citizenship in writing.
Non-Constitutional Amendment Actions
- Open ANWAR and ALL coastal waters of the US to Oil Exploration and Development
- 100% Nuclear (Utilizing Uranium and Thorium), Hydro-Electric, Solar and Wind Power on the National Power Grid by 2040
- Create and Install a Layered Phase-Out of the Social Security Administration. 30 Year Plan
- Completely remove Welfare from the Federal Government
- Abolish the Department of Education. Restrict the Federal Government’s role in education to developing and analyzing standardized testing for national comparisons and monitoring of educational achievement.
RE:
I am against a balanced budget amendment
because I fear it would just turn into an excuse to raise taxes.
President for 16 years?
Shirley, you jest.
Regarding the size of the House of Representatives...
(Does the house have too much power or too little power?)
(What is the proper balance?)
Should the size of the house be fixed at xx times the number of the senate?
Originally,
representatives were about 2 1/2 times in number as senators (65 vs 26)...
...now, it is 4 1/2 times in number (435 vs 100).
...now, to keep the original 2 1/2 to 1 ratio,
it would translate to 250 representatives.
Or should the size of the house be fixed by population size
(example: 1 rep per xxx # of citizens)?
Originally, representatives were 1 per 30,000 in population
...now, that would translate to 10,000 members in the house of representatives.
The idea for federal judges is not bad.
There should be NO federal retirement plan for elected officials.
Flat income tax vs. national sales tax?
we could go on about that for hours...
Our immigration problems can be solved without all that falderal.
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Nothing but love, my brother.
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