What Should the United States of America Look Like?

The United States should be made up of states that unite themselves according to certain principles, including (but not limited to) the right to life, the right to individual and collective liberty, and the right to the opportunity to make of one’s life whatever he/she wants to make of it, so long as he/she does not violate the rights of another.

There should be a central government which should serve chiefly as a coordinator of those activities expressed in section 7 below on behalf of the states.

Here is what I think the federal government should be like:

1.       There should be three co-equal branches of government: the Executive, the Judicial and the Legislative.

2.       The Legislative branch should consist of two houses: the House of Representatives and the Senate

a.       The House of Representatives should consist of elected officials who represent the views of those who elect them to office.

b.      The Senate should consist of 2 senators from each state, each representing the legislators of those particular states.

c.       Each house should enact those laws that are essential for the well-being of the country in accordance with the rules set out in the Constitution. There should be only one topic per bill. Any amendments should be germane to the initial bill. Either house may propose and pass a bill, but each bill must be ratified by the other house and signed or vetoed by the President.

d.      Senators and members of the House of Representatives should not be able to serve more than 7 years.

3.      The Judicial Branch should be seated in a Supreme Court which should review the laws passed by the Legislative branch to determine whether they are constitutional.

a.       Their decisions should be able to be over-ridden by a 2/3 majority vote of BOTH the House and the Senate as to Constitutionality only.

b.      No Supreme Court Justice should serve more than 9 years and should not be able to be appointed to that office again.

c.       Supreme Court members should be suggested by the President and should have to be confirmed by both houses of Congress.

d.      No issue shall come before the Supreme Court unless it relates specifically and identifiably to one or more of the functions of section 7 below.

 

4.      The Executive Branch should consist of a President, whose job it would be to execute the wishes of the Congress by signature, or by vetoing a law, which veto must be upheld by a 2/3 majority vote of BOTH the House and the Senate. The President and Vice President should be able to serve no more than 8 years, 4 years at a time, after which they shall be ineligible to be elected to either of those offices again.

5.      Revenue for the operation of the three branches of the government should be by a 11% tax on every earned dollar over the poverty level by individuals and/or businesses, whether corporations, sole proprietorships or any other kind of business. The poverty level shall be defined as $20,000.00 per year or the bottom ¼ of the average income of all of those employed, whichever is greater. No other form of taxation should be allowed.

6.      The federal government should not interfere in any way with any person or group’s freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press or the freedom to assemble peacefully for the purpose of expressing themselves regarding federal legislation.

a.        Each state should decide for itself how to run itself without interference from the federal government. If an individual state decides it should be legal in that state to yell, “Fire!” in a crowded theater, so be it. The federal government should not get involved.

b.      The federal government should not enact any legislation or rule that governs how people think, believe or behave.

c.       These freedoms should be exempt from all federal prosecution, period. Federal prosecution should be reserved for those matters that involve unity, justice, defense, wellbeing, encouragement and liberty as each relates to the country as a whole.

7.      The federal government should be responsible for enacting legislation that specifically and directly deals with, and only with, 1) keeping the country united, 2) seeing to it that federal suits, trials and other legal issues are administered justly, 3) defending citizens and their property from all enemies, foreign and domestic who cannot be defended by local peace keepers, 4) promoting ideas and directions that lead to the general wellbeing of the citizens, 5) keeping people confident in the country’s direction so as to allow them to be about their business and 6) making certain that current citizens and their progeny will have liberty and that they will be free of interference from the federal government.

8.      No group should be allowed to exert influence on any governmental official by lobbying either senators or congressmen in the nations’ capital. Those groups should be able to encourage their membership to express themselves to their respective representatives singly or en mass in their state and localities.

9.      Every citizen should be empowered to vote for or against any person running for the presidency or vice presidency without influence from or fear of any persons or force outside of themselves.

10.  People should be able to become citizens of this country by being born to one or more citizens of this country or by a process of naturalization leading them to proclaim their allegiance to this country.

11.  Interstate commerce should not be regulated by or interfered with by the federal government except and unless such regulation relates specifically and identifiably to one or more of the functions of section 7 above.

12.  The Senate, the House of Representatives, the Supreme Court and the President, or any other federal office, should not have any say in determining its own salary and benefits. The salary of the President, Vice President and members of the Supreme Court should be decided by both houses of Congress. The salary and benefits of the Senate should be decided by the House of Representatives. The salary and benefits of the House of Representatives should be decided by the Senate. No branch of the federal government should be allowed to interfere with the salary and benefits discussions of any other branch.

13.  No special programs or funding should be established by the federal government except those that relate specifically and identifiably to one or more of the functions of section 7 above.

14.  Interactions between branches of government, or between political Parties, for the purpose of influencing a vote on a particular issue should be prohibited. Joint committees should be made up of persons from all of the branches of government, and should deal with one issue only. No branch of the government should give testimony that would violate national security, which violation should be demonstrable and verifiable by those holding

15.  Giving false testimony to Congress, regardless of who is testifying, should be a felony offense punishable by no less than 5 years in federal prison. If the person testifying is a member of any branch of the federal government, he/she should forfeit one year’s salary and benefits in addition to the other penalties and should be placed on immediate 1 year probation. Any violation of the probation should result in removal from office and should require his/her district to elect another person to fill the vacancy.

16.  Rules about federal law “trumping” state law should apply only to those items listed in section 7 above.

17.  The federal government should be allowed to serve as a coordinator of those activities that would by nature involve more than one state, such as what is now known as the federal highway system.

18.  No federal agency should exist outside the bounds of section 7 above. Every federal agency should be subjected to an annual evaluation by Congress in the form of a service/financial audit to determine whether it is or is not fulfilling its mission in a proper and economically sound manner.

19.  No branch of the federal government should be involved in the private affairs of citizens, corporations, or states except to evaluate whether they are in compliance with section 7 above.

20.  The federal government should establish a balanced budget in keeping with tax revenues expected to actually be received according to section 5 above.

That’s what I believe the United States of America should look like.

You may disagree. This is America. In my vision of America, you have the right to be wrong.