Our Constitution Needs an Overhaul: 6 Proposed Measures

          As a Veteran of the United States Army and the Afghanistan War, I care deeply for our Country. And as a Pastor, an Eagle Scout, and a former Scoutmaster, I have been raised to believe that all Americans are called to be actively engaged citizens who strive for a more just, more tranquil, more peaceable, and more virtuous society within which all are given the opportunity to flourish and pursue whatever human endeavor seems to them best to bring about virtue and beauty in the world.

Like many Americans, I am deeply saddened by the worsening political and cultural divide which pulls my fellow citizens into one of two camps and demands total assent to the dominance of their particular political party while demonizing those who belong to “the other” as traitors to our way of life. Men and women rise the political ladder because they are loyal to the Party, rather than to all the citizens they represent, or even their own sense of reason and conscience.

This country fought a Civil War once. By God’s grace it has never devolved into either total mob rule nor into dictatorship. It has at times treated “the other” fairly and justly, or alternatively in an utterly abysmal and contemptible way (our treatment of Native American tribes and historical embrace of slavery and racism come immediately to mind). It was founded on beautiful principles expressed in our loftiest documents and speeches, and yet at times has failed to embody those virtues we most esteem.

Unfortunately, it seems that especially over the past two decades, those ideals have faded more and more from our cultural memory and national discourse. Throughout the 20th century, the Executive Branch has steadily sought more power, to the point that our current President now essentially rules through fiat via Executive Order.

The “moderate” voter is disappearing as fast as our Middle Class, as the rich get progressively richer and the poor get progressively poorer. We have billionaires – and even a trillionaire – with deep pockets and even longer reach as they grasp for more and pull Senators and Representatives into their orbit.

We currently have a Senator from Iowa (where I was born), who is in his eighth term in the Senate and before that he served 8 terms in the House! In the time he has served, I was born, I graduated from the same college as that Senator, I served in a War, I raised 5 kids, I’ve pastored several churches, and now I am looking ever more closely at retirement. When was the last time he struggled for a paycheck? When was the last time he had to navigate the job market, or worry about deciding whether to pay for food or for medicine for his child? When has he experienced the carnage of war first hand?

This isn’t meant to be a reflection on the character of the Senator’s service, as I believe he has served his State laudably. But there is something broken in a system when its representatives have never experienced first-hand the struggles those they represent face each day; when they become a deeply entrenched, career politician in what effectively becomes a lifelong appointment (rather than a temporary call).

The truth is, our system of government is ailing. While another Civil War or a dictator occupying the office of President was once unthinkable, folks wonder openly whether or not we are headed in that direction. We need massive structural changes and a return to the ideals our nation’s government is meant to embody. To that end, I propose the following 5 measures:

Measure 1) Term limits on Congress (Representatives should be limited to 4, 2-year terms; and Senators to 2, 6-year terms). This allows them to still be accountable to the People through subsequent elections, while also ensuring members of Congress can only serve 20 years maximum (which is plenty of time to develop wisdom and necessary relationships); while also ensuring they will have had to work at least another career to make ends meet.

Measure 2) Maximum age limits on POTUS, VPOTUS, Congress, and SCOTUS at 72 years old. Wisdom may come with age, but there also comes a time when we simply cannot make quick, complex analytical decisions across a wide range of issues the way we once did.

Measure 3) The President's ability to enact "emergency" tariffs and pre-emptive military strikes needs to be more directly overseen by Congress, and perhaps more limited (through the repeal of some of the Cold War and Post-911 Acts (such as the International Emergency Powers Act) which led to this massive increase in the Executive Branch's power.

Measure 4) The two-party system needs to be dismantled and overhauled. The 17th Amendment should be amended or repealed, so that members of the Senate are once again elected by their respective State Legislatures. Representatives in the House should be chosen based on the proportion of the population that voted for particular parties. So, instead of each District being won in a "first past the post" manner which favors a two-party system, a plurality of voices would be represented. This would effectively break the dominance of the two main Parties which currently safeguard their power by reducing national dialogue around real, complex problems down to polarizing polemic.

Measure 5) Congress should be required to pass a balanced budget, with exceptions for limited, well-defined emergency situations. The simple fact is that the national debt is far beyond "way out of hand" at over $40 trillion as of this writing. There comes a point where we will be unable to pay off even the interest on the debt, and the confidence in our ability to borrow (without utterly tanking the dollar and leading to runaway inflation) will be irreparably shattered. We may be beyond the point of paying it off in a meaningful way, but we have to start somewhere.

Measure 6) If Congress won't pass Amendments to be ratified by the States to the above effect, then the People need to gather in the streets in every major city. Liberty poles and caps need to be set up everywhere. The Legislatures of the States must then demand a Convention of the States under Article V of the Constitution to bypass Congress's inability (or unwillingness) to govern, and through such a Convention implement the above changes.

        A further note on Measure 4: With plurality voting, the number of Representatives could still be apportioned the same way they are now; but the individual winners would be chosen based on the percentage of votes their party won. So, say 10% of a state's population belong to the Libertarians or the Green Party (just to give an example); then 10% of the representatives apportioned would belong to that party.

        By repealing the 17th Amendment, Senators then would once again be chosen by the State Legislatures in a way that is closer to what the nation's founders intended. Historically, it has been easier for third party and independent candidates to win State elections. And if the individual States likewise adopted proportionate voting for choosing members of their Legislatures, then the picks for the United States Senate on the part of those Legislatures would likewise be more reflective of the diverse views within the individual states.

        The problems in our system aren't merely cultural or individual (though cultural trends and individual expressions of those trends do represent a massive part of the problem); they are also institutional. The above measures would, I believe, at least go a long way toward addressing the institutional issues. I pray, in the meantime, we the People do some deep soul searching regarding what type of nation we want to be going forward, and what system of government we pass down to future generations.