The Constitution of the United States is written in two parts: The Constitution itself defines the limits and scope of governmental power, and the Amendments, particularly the first ten, convey powers of the people that government cannot take away. Both parts are necessary. But Congressional action on the Constitution is still in order.
The Constitution is our only Guide, and I have written about the need only to clarify, not to change.
The amendments, after clarification, should no longer be “amendments”. They need to take their rightful place as well written Articles of the Constitution. Then we can have a Second Signing Ceremony and create brand new Historical Documents. Do not imagine that I am a dreamer. I know exactly what this would take.
I have written in previous weeks about some of the amendments, so I will continue and conclude as follows:
The 9th. amendment supposedly clarifies that United States citizens have more rights than those currently listed and that the inability to foresee the exact nature of those rights does not diminish their importance. It should be rewritten to say that in the future additional individual rights and freedoms may be added, but that individual rights and freedoms may not be Constitutionally taken away.
The 10th. reserves unspecified powers for the States or the People. Congress should do the hard work of deciding which governmental functions should be specifically left to the individual States to decide. As a general statement, the 10th. just guarantees the States the right to act as an additional level of bureaucracy. I see no particular benefit to adding levels of bureaucracy, however, I have no immediate objection to opening the door for certain actions to be “legal” in one state and “illegal” in another as long as we know exactly what those are.
Several Amendments cover nominations, elections, terms of service, and removals from office. These should be consolidated into one Article. There has always been a lot of disagreement about the proper balance between the Electoral College and the Popular Vote. These conflicts need to be resolved. In my Opinion (IMO), the Electoral College is an antiquated stumbling block to the free exercise of the Will of the People. Another issue recently is the disagreement about election security. Again IMO, the election process should be as free and easy as possible with measures in place to ferret out any and all fraud. Our technology will now allow us to accomplish it.
Several Voting rights amendments need to be consolidated into one Article.
The 16th., the taxation amendment, fails to adequately cover this most incendiary issue. It only says, “The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on income….” I have three opinions: 1. The government should never be in a position to pick winners and losers in societal economics, so taxes should be approximately the same for every citizen. 2. A Progressive alternative to the Income Tax would be a Consumption Tax. Instead of grabbing our money from our paychecks, we should have the flexibility to decide when and how much to invest in our governmental benefits package by deciding when and how much to buy. 3. There should be a maximum annual total of Tax Revenue the government can collect. I would suggest a clause to allow the maximum allowable Tax Revenue to increase in times of armed conflict, wars.
We don’t need the 18th. amendment on Prohibition, nor the 21st. amendment which repeals the 18th.
What would all this take?
It would only take you and I to decide to make it happen!
It takes more than you and me to decide to amend the Constitution: either a convention of states, or Congress. The duty to interpret, apply, defend, and protect the Constitution is the responsibility of all members of government in all branches. Voters too.
The purpose of the 10th Amendment is to limit federal powers only to those listed in the Constitution. The idea of states, counties, and communities having some autonomy is to have government closest to the governed. This has been turned upside down.
No to abolishing the Electoral College because it would give advantage to the Democrats who legislate, administer, judge, and rule as if federal power is unlimited. They will define the Will of the People, as in People’s Democratic Republic, and People’s Liberation Army.
Yes to repealing the 16th Amendment that authorized a federal income tax. Just because it is one of those “progressive” ideas found in the Communist Manifesto, doesn’t mean we have to do it.
Richard, you said, “It takes more than you and me to decide to amend the Constitution:”
Yes, but it would start with you and me!
You also said, “The idea of states, counties, and communities having some autonomy is to have government closest to the governed. This has been turned upside down.”
I agree with the ideal of local autonomy as long as the local autocrats don’t use it as a way to impose their will on their neighbors. The reason we have not, so far, come close to that ideal is that some people do not embrace the prerequisite ideal: Live and let live!
As to the debate on the electoral college, I believe it is sometimes a necessary hedge against the spur of the moment vagaries of the populace, a populace too easily swayed by the flash in the pan popularity of every tin god that captures the media’s attention, but there must come a time when people mature enough to thoughtfully speak for themselves. When that time comes, the electoral college will be recognized as the anachronism it has always been.
We are agreed on the need to replace the income tax with a more progressive consumption tax. I personally do not like the graduated aspect of the current tax system. As I have said, many times, the government should not be in the business of legislating winners and losers.