At the risk of seeming blasphemous, what upgrades would you make to the greatest national, foundational document...

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Last edited Tue Jun 25, 2024, 11:29 PM - Edit history (2)

of the presnt millennium, the US Constitution?

IMO, and I'm sure not mine alone, the most obvious one:

No 1. Is of course clarifying and modernizing the 2nd Amendment.

No 2. Article 2 Section 1 Clause 3 (the Electoral College clause). Get rid of it asap. This could actually be a tie for No 1.

No 3. Make the 14th Amendment, Sec. 3 absolute by closing the backdoor workaround that is Sec. 5 of the 14th. This one ranks right up closely to the first two as it's so topical because of a certain treasonous, orange turd.

No 4. Article lll of the Constitution which gives lifetime appointments to federal judges/justices. Again, topical because of the obvious corruption of a certain 6 individuals.

No 5. Maybe combine the 9th and 10th Amendments as they seem to do about the seme thing.

That's it for me. Additions and opinions pls DUers.

[Silent Type]

1. Those are high on my list. My concern is a Constitutional Convention and the process of getting

state approval would take forever. Worse, in today’s divided country, we might come out with less rights/protections than now.

But not opposed to trying.

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5. Yes, a Contitutional convention is a high obstacle to get past...

as rethugs have an advantage in state houses held.

[Silent Type]

8. I'm still interested in seeing what others think. Just getting rid of Electoral College would be huge.

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16. Yes, HUGE.

[elleng]

9. a HUGE obstacle; hence, I (usually) oppose suggestions to re-do it.

[jimfields33]

23. I think we will probably have a constitutional convention in the next 20 years.

I think it’s inevitable.

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25. You're right if our democracy survives. If not, it won't be needed.

[msongs]

2. access to free birth control pills and condoms on request n t

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3. Absolutely. Agreed.

[The Wandering Harper]

4. make the senate more representative

and the house could use an increase in size to keep up on that end too

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6. Yes, the larger states like Calif. should have more representation...

in the House and Senate.

[bottomofthehill]

28. The House does not require a constitutional change.

The 435 seat limit was set by the legislative branch and signed by the president.

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29. What's the process to increase it as populations increase?

[ITAL]

39. The Senate is likely the only thing that is not amendable

And I mean ever. Given the way the document is written many scholars don't believe trying to change its makeup is even Constitutional.

Article V mentions:

that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.

So, if even one small state complains that its Senate representation is not equal, then the whole Amendment wouldn't be legal. There is debate on that, but on a realistic level...getting a bunch of small states to agree on giving away their power in the upper chamber won't happen.

[stopdiggin]

7. great question! but my answer came fairly easily

The separation between church and state would be both clearly articulated - emphasized, and clearly delineated.

No funding, no tax breaks, no crossover, no collaboration or joint project, no usage of government holdings or property
(looking right at you, schools, parks - military bases and installations)
No monuments, no prayers nor invocation (and if you want to be buried at Arlington, it will be with a plain, non-religious marker)

And the government shall have no word on the subject of god, or belief .... PERIOD.

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11. I so agree on delineating cleary the separation of church and state.

As well as you other great suggertions.

[NoRethugFriends]

10. scrap it and start over

Too many things are totally different than they were 250 years ago

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20. It's the basis for everything. Throwing it out would be chaos and no agreements coud be reached with the country....

being so polarized...and no base to start from.

[NoRethugFriends]

21. it was a hypothetical. whole thing is not going to be amended all over the place

So my thought is no less valid than any of the others

[Takket]

12. i would add.......

more rigid definition of separation of church and state. no more religious overtures in any government school, ban the teaching of creationism in government schools, and ban the use of vouchers. so, you can go to religious school if you want to, but you pay for that.

enshrine the civil rights act into the constitution and extend it protection to all LGBTQ+ persons, including their rights to make their own medical decisions (i.e. no more banning transgender healthcare)

provide women's healthcare, including uncumbersome access to abortion, into the constitution. so not only getting rid of bans but getting rid of this nonsense about doctors needing admitting privileges at some hospital (i.e. pointless laws designed to simply make something legal more difficult)

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15. Absolutely. No creationism and 10 commandments in schools like Louisiana just enacted.

[BlueSpot]

13. Equal Rights Amendment

Either finish it or start it over and see it through. It's long past due.

If you want to be really mean, scrap the second and replace it with the ERA, forcing all the jerks to scrape off their bumper stickers!

[Mz Pip]

14. Define

“Well regulated “ in the Second Amendment .

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17. Yes, clarify it.

[3catwoman3]

18. I would be OK with naturalized citizens being...

…eligible to be POTUS.

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19. Naturalized for how long?

[3catwoman3]

50. 15-20 years.

[PeaceWave]

36. So that Schwarzenegger and Musk can be President? No way!

[3catwoman3]

51. Natural born citizenship is obviously no guarantee of a...

...quality candidate.

I think it's unfortunate that people like Ted Lieu and Jennifer Granholm are not eligible.

[pfitz59]

22. Maximum of 40 years combined service, or upper age limit in elective or appointive office.

Minimum and maximum age to hold elective or appointive office. Peg wages for all government employees AND contractors as a lesser percentage of the President's salary. Set minimum and maximum wages, No CEO can earn more than 10 times his lowest paid employee. Outlaw stock options in lieu of salary. Reinforce the 'no titles of nobility or aristocracy' by hardening estate tax provisions. Clean up the first amendment regarding separation of church and state. 'There shall be no state religion, and no public funds spent supporting any religious institution including schools, hospitals and other programs.' Outlaw PACS. Set sundown provisions on all corporations. Fix patents, copywrites and trademark protections at a firm 50 years. The list is endless...

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24. 40 years total of service is worth looking at. IMO age should be on a case-by-case basis as...

Last edited Sun Jun 23, 2024, 04:01 PM - Edit history (2)

some older individuals, like Joe Biden, are stlll capable of carrying out their duties, and some like trump are in obvius mental decline.

[Jilly_in_VA]

26. Definitely

Get rid of the Electoral College. That's a biggie.

Fix the 2nd Amendment, though I'm not sure how.

No more lifetime appointments to ANYTHING.

Fix the 14th so it's absolute.

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31. Check, check, check and check.

[bucolic_frolic]

27. Fracture and scatter power so it can't be assembled by party factions

Tall order. But the courts have grabbed power, the Senate maximizes small state power, the executive concentrates power. The branches of government are at war, all over power, and at the root of that is self-righteousness.

The judiciary needs to be standardized and made to work at 4x speed. Why are they so slow in the digital age?

Rotating judges with term limits. No repeal of civil rights.

More frequent elections. 1 year in the House, 4 in the Senate, and 3 years for President with 3 terms allowed. The world is going a lot faster nowadays. In 1793 it took 4 months to invade a foreign country. Today it's 12-48 hours.

We're safe, Nothing will ever happen.

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30. Great stuff, especially on decentralizing the power the courts have seized...

and speeding up their deision process in this digital age.

I dunno about 1-year terms in the House. They already spend most of their 2-year terms raising money to ge re-elected.

[Model35mech]

49. Ya, something to replace "winning side takes all control" of the administration

Impose cooperation on them

[Ponietz]

32. A 28th Amendment would fix a lot

Corporations aren’t people and money isn’t speech.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

33. Elimination of the electoral college

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45. Absolutely.

[TexasDem69]

34. I think the 2d Amendment is fine as written

What do you mean by clarify and modernize? It’s pretty clear—the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed, and “well regulated” means well prepared, which makes perfect sense.

I’m on the fence on the electoral college but don’t really see any need to change it.

I would not remove lifetime appointments for judges. There’s a reason we have them, and judges can always be impeached if they truly misbehave.

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44. Heehee. You're kidding, right? Every thing's fine with the 2nd A and all the mass shootings...

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two of three times a week, with the Electoral College that doesn't allow the majority of voters to actully elect the president, and as far as impeaching corrupt jurists, please, that will never happen.

This is a tongue-in-cheek post, right, and you forgot the sarcasm gif?

[TexasDem69]

48. When people talk about "modernizing" the 2d

It’s just shorthand for being able to ban guns they don’t like. I believe in personal responsibility—I don’t blame the gun when somebody shoots someone, just like I don’t blame alcohol when somebody drives drunk and kills someone. Both are the fault of the person. So I’m perfectly content with the 2d as written and interpreted by the Supreme Court. The problem isn’t even the 2d it’s that there’s no political will to act. Hell, republicans won’t even agree to a bump stock ban, which isn’t a gun.

As I said, I don’t feel strongly about the electoral college, and I don’t get up in arms about the popular vote because that’s not how we elect presidents.

Judges have been impeached over the years but it is rare. I don’t see any serious Democrat calling for the impeachment of Thomas, Alito or anyone else though, and of course it would never happen in this political climate.

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53. We think differently.

[JustAnotherGen]

46. It was driven

By the slaver states fear of being a minority - hence the 3/5 Compromise.

That ended in 1865.

We are more than past due a healthy discussion about the ex's value on that alone.

[PeaceWave]

35. Eliminate the U.S. Senate and institute term limits for Federal judges...

Other than that, consider reducing the document to 280 characters or less so that it fits within the attention span of the younger generations.

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42. Heehee. Spoken like a true GenZer.

I wouldn't go so far as eliminating the Senate, but making it a simple majority vote body like the House and every other legislative body in the country.

IMO that makes sense. As does term limits for federal jurists.

[BlueKota]

37. I have said it before the appointment

process of federal judges desperately needs to be changed. A rotating panel of experienced jurists, constitutional scholars and distinguished members of the American Bar Association should be the ones to choose candidates to fill any vacancies on the federal courts. No appointments should be made by partisan politicians period.

Should there be any malfeasance like accepting huge gifts from political partisans by a federal judge, or they fail to recuse themselves from cases where they have blatant bias, a hearing should be held by same panel, and if they find the judge did violate generally agreed upon ethics and their oath of office, the panel should be able to immediately throw the violating party off the court, and said person shold be barred from any future positions in the judicial or political arenas.

Nothing will 100 percent prevent corruption, but I'd take that over a system like the one we have now that lets scum like Alito, Thomas, Canon, etc get away with their blatant protection of Donny boy, and violating people's civil rights, not protecting them.

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41. I like. A written code of ethics for SCOTUS justices, as exists already for other federal jurists...

and no life-time appointments, along with the selection process you outlined, right?

[BlueKota]

55. Correct

on both written code of ethics and no lifetime appointments.

[WarGamer]

38. The only chance is a realignment of the nation into multiple pieces with different Constitutions...

The present day population is ungovernable in the minds of most Americans.

Not as many countries as Europe... 2-3 would probably do it.

[brush]

40. Hope it doesn't come to that. IMO magats are the only ones who want that, and we Dems...

left-leaning indies, trad republicans and never-trumpers outnumber the winger nuts.

And I don't think the nuts really want a split, they just want the power to own the libs and they can't do that from another country.

[JustAnotherGen]

43. 3/5 Compromise

No longer valid - which changes representation and taxes.

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47. H-u-m-m-m-h? The national original sin compromise and the root of all evil.

Good reminder that its legacy still effects us.

[Deep State Witch]

52. All of this Plus

Bake in equal rights for women.

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54. Of coursd, a top priority.