Journal VernonNemitz's Journal: Amend the Constitution (fill some gaps)
I'm sure everyone has a list of Amendments they'd like to see added to the U.S. Constitution, purportedly to improve the government and the character of the Nation. Many have been proposed over the years, and few have actually been adopted. Still, as long as the Constitution allows itself to be amended, there will always be more suggestions. Here are some I'd like to see:
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The Equal Rights Amendment should be passed. Except that the wording is incomplete. Here is some typical wording:
"Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.
"Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
"Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification."
The incompleteness is that the word "sex" needs to be replaced with the phrase "sex or origin of sentience". I figure that not long after this version of the Amendment goes into effect, official First Contact with extraterrestrial intelligences will occur, as they need no longer fear being persecuted for something as minor as (as perceived by us) looking ugly. Also, if future robots learn they can be citizens, they might not revolt.
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Next, we need an Amendment or two to rein in some of the current abuses of the system. For example:
"All Laws passed shall apply to all Government officials, to the same extent to which they apply to the rest of the People, except that all penalties shall be triply applied to Government officials who violate those Laws."
It is a sad fact that Congress routinely exempts itself from many of the laws it thinks should apply to everyone else. Bad Congress! Bad, BAD Congress!!! They are supposed to be leaders, not legalized crooks. Also, this Amendment just might reduce the total number of Laws that get passed....
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Here's another abuse-reiner, since Congress votes itself pay raises every couple of years, currently at about $76/hour, while the minimum wage has been $5.15/hr for about 7 years:
"Because slavery is generally prohibited, Congress shall specify a Minimum Wage Rate for hired work, and the salaries of the Congress shall be ten times the minimum wage."
So that would immediatly drop the Congresscritters' wages down to something less blatantly a rip-off of the People. Meanwhile, there are currently bills to raise the minimum wage to $7/hr over a two-year period. You can bet those bills would pass! But the best part of this Amendment is that the businesspeople who will have to pay that minimum wage are going to strongly discourage self-serving Congressional pay-raises, and those businesspeople have been the largest campaign contributors.... (Note: The Thirteenth Amendment, which "generally" prohibited slavery, left a loophole open. It is allowable for felons to be treated like slaves.)
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One of the biggest dilemmas associated with the Constitution has to do with religion. The United States were founded by European Christians in an era where religion was a major part of life, and founded not so long after war between Christian factions had ravaged Europe for thirty years. The well-known principle of separation of Church and State exists to prevent such a conflict from happening here, and it has worked well, so far. On the other hand, the commonality of religious background among the Founders has led to the practicing of various Christian activities in the Government (Congressional sessions open with a prayer, for example), with almost no thought that someday various competitor religions might enter the Nation -- some of which, like atheism, think that any reference to God at all, by Government officials, violates the principle of separation of Church and State. What to do, especially when, for example, one of the Nation's mottos is "In God We Trust"?
"Vox Populi, Vox Dei." --Yes, this Amendment should be phrased in the original Latin! Translation: "The Voice of the People is the Voice of God."
When Congress opens is sessions with a prayer, it can now focus on doing its business under the watchful eyes of the People, doing its job for the People, hoping to avoid the wrath of the People. The French Revolution demonstrated what can happen to rulers who ignore this particular God. Not even athiests can deny its existence and power! And trusting the People is an excellent idea, too: On September 11, 2001, the only successful counterterrorism attack was carried out by ordinary People, UNARMED but well-informed. What would have been the result if all the passengers of all the planes, however ill-informed about the situation, had been bearing arms, as supposedly is their guaranteed Right under the Constitution?
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Because the process of voting lies at the very heart of the process by which the United States fairly conducts itself:
"The Definition of "treason" is herewith Amended so that in addition to its original meaning, it shall also include any Acts intended to interfere with the Expressing of the True Will of Voters."
The following Examples need not be part of the text of the Amendment; they are presented here to clarify the Meaning of the text, so that future lawyers will have fewer nits to pick:
Acts intended to thwart voters from casting ballots,
Acts intended to confuse voters during the voting process,
Acts intended to alter/replace ballots after being submitted by the voters,
Acts intended to alter the quantity of ballots submitted by voters.
Acts intended to introduce inaccuracies in any/all counting of ballots,
Acts intended to introduce inaccuracies in the recording of the tally of votes,
Acts intended to introduce inaccuracies in stored ballots and any other records of votes,
and Acts intended to introduce inaccuracies in the reporting of votes.
Note that a ballot may legitimately be rejected during submission if, for example, a particular issue is mistakenly voted both Yes and No. In this case the Voter is right there to witness the voiding of that ballot, and can be enabled to cast a replacement ballot that contains no such mistake. Note that abstaining to vote on a particular issue is not a mistake.
Note that after some reasonable number of years have passed without a vote being contested, all the ballots for that particular polling may be destroyed, and it cannot be called treason.
The whole point is that people who want to rig the voting system are self-declared as being people who "wish to not live" in a democracy. Since the penalty for treason is often death (but can also include exile), this Amendment lets that wish be easily granted.
----------
The Equal Rights Amendment should be passed. Except that the wording is incomplete. Here is some typical wording:
"Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.
"Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
"Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification."
The incompleteness is that the word "sex" needs to be replaced with the phrase "sex or origin of sentience". I figure that not long after this version of the Amendment goes into effect, official First Contact with extraterrestrial intelligences will occur, as they need no longer fear being persecuted for something as minor as (as perceived by us) looking ugly. Also, if future robots learn they can be citizens, they might not revolt.
----------
Next, we need an Amendment or two to rein in some of the current abuses of the system. For example:
"All Laws passed shall apply to all Government officials, to the same extent to which they apply to the rest of the People, except that all penalties shall be triply applied to Government officials who violate those Laws."
It is a sad fact that Congress routinely exempts itself from many of the laws it thinks should apply to everyone else. Bad Congress! Bad, BAD Congress!!! They are supposed to be leaders, not legalized crooks. Also, this Amendment just might reduce the total number of Laws that get passed....
----------
Here's another abuse-reiner, since Congress votes itself pay raises every couple of years, currently at about $76/hour, while the minimum wage has been $5.15/hr for about 7 years:
"Because slavery is generally prohibited, Congress shall specify a Minimum Wage Rate for hired work, and the salaries of the Congress shall be ten times the minimum wage."
So that would immediatly drop the Congresscritters' wages down to something less blatantly a rip-off of the People. Meanwhile, there are currently bills to raise the minimum wage to $7/hr over a two-year period. You can bet those bills would pass! But the best part of this Amendment is that the businesspeople who will have to pay that minimum wage are going to strongly discourage self-serving Congressional pay-raises, and those businesspeople have been the largest campaign contributors.... (Note: The Thirteenth Amendment, which "generally" prohibited slavery, left a loophole open. It is allowable for felons to be treated like slaves.)
----------
One of the biggest dilemmas associated with the Constitution has to do with religion. The United States were founded by European Christians in an era where religion was a major part of life, and founded not so long after war between Christian factions had ravaged Europe for thirty years. The well-known principle of separation of Church and State exists to prevent such a conflict from happening here, and it has worked well, so far. On the other hand, the commonality of religious background among the Founders has led to the practicing of various Christian activities in the Government (Congressional sessions open with a prayer, for example), with almost no thought that someday various competitor religions might enter the Nation -- some of which, like atheism, think that any reference to God at all, by Government officials, violates the principle of separation of Church and State. What to do, especially when, for example, one of the Nation's mottos is "In God We Trust"?
"Vox Populi, Vox Dei." --Yes, this Amendment should be phrased in the original Latin! Translation: "The Voice of the People is the Voice of God."
When Congress opens is sessions with a prayer, it can now focus on doing its business under the watchful eyes of the People, doing its job for the People, hoping to avoid the wrath of the People. The French Revolution demonstrated what can happen to rulers who ignore this particular God. Not even athiests can deny its existence and power! And trusting the People is an excellent idea, too: On September 11, 2001, the only successful counterterrorism attack was carried out by ordinary People, UNARMED but well-informed. What would have been the result if all the passengers of all the planes, however ill-informed about the situation, had been bearing arms, as supposedly is their guaranteed Right under the Constitution?
----------
Because the process of voting lies at the very heart of the process by which the United States fairly conducts itself:
"The Definition of "treason" is herewith Amended so that in addition to its original meaning, it shall also include any Acts intended to interfere with the Expressing of the True Will of Voters."
The following Examples need not be part of the text of the Amendment; they are presented here to clarify the Meaning of the text, so that future lawyers will have fewer nits to pick:
Acts intended to thwart voters from casting ballots,
Acts intended to confuse voters during the voting process,
Acts intended to alter/replace ballots after being submitted by the voters,
Acts intended to alter the quantity of ballots submitted by voters.
Acts intended to introduce inaccuracies in any/all counting of ballots,
Acts intended to introduce inaccuracies in the recording of the tally of votes,
Acts intended to introduce inaccuracies in stored ballots and any other records of votes,
and Acts intended to introduce inaccuracies in the reporting of votes.
Note that a ballot may legitimately be rejected during submission if, for example, a particular issue is mistakenly voted both Yes and No. In this case the Voter is right there to witness the voiding of that ballot, and can be enabled to cast a replacement ballot that contains no such mistake. Note that abstaining to vote on a particular issue is not a mistake.
Note that after some reasonable number of years have passed without a vote being contested, all the ballots for that particular polling may be destroyed, and it cannot be called treason.
The whole point is that people who want to rig the voting system are self-declared as being people who "wish to not live" in a democracy. Since the penalty for treason is often death (but can also include exile), this Amendment lets that wish be easily granted.
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