Proposal for a New Constitution of the United States of America

Update June 9, 2012

My thinking on this has evolved.

Preamble

We, the people of the United States of America, hereby state the following to be true:

That all humans have, by factor of being human, certain rights, and that these include, but by no means are limited to, the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness;

That any legitimate Government must have the protection of the people as its highest priority;

That Government is necessary, and can be Good;

That corporations are property, and that property does not have rights;

That the current Government has given corporations rights equal to, and in some cases exceeding, those of humans; and that, therefore, the current Government of the United States is illegitimate, and should be replaced with a legitimate 1.

The Government

There are currently 50 State governments + 1 National government, each as sovereign from each other as the National government is from the national governments of other nations ( that system is called " Federal " ). That is ridiculous and unacceptable; 51 Governments is 50 too many. 1 Nation must have 1 Government; It should be Unitarian and Unicameral.

That Government should have 3 levels: city, state, and national. The national level & the state level both should have 3 branches: Leglislative, Executive, and Judicial. At the city level, the voters should elect an uneven number of heads of departments ( e.g., Mayor, police, fire, commerce, & health) who would meet regularly to vote on issues facing the city, as a city council. The Judiciary at all 3 levels is separate.

The National Level

The Legislature

The Leglislature at the National level should consist of 1 body, to be called The Senate; 1 Senator shall be elected by all the legal adult citizens of each State to represent the interests of all the people of that State ( 50 States = 50 Senators ). Bills in the senate shall pass only with half the votes of the Senate + 1 ( that would mean 26 votes in favor ); Amendments to the Constitution shall require a 2/3 majority of the Senate and the signature of the President of the United States of America. There shall be no such person as " President of the Senate ".

Senators are elected for 4 year terms, with a maximum of 12 years.

The Executive

The Executive Branch is headed by the President of the United States of America, who enforces the laws and administers the programs of the national government. The President shall be elected thusly: the 2 Political Parties ( Democrat and Republican ) shall each nominate a candidate for President of the United States and a candidate for Vice-President ( known as " the Ticket " ); then whichever Party gets a majority in the Senate, the other Party's candidate becomes President. This will ensure that the National Government is both democratic and republican at all times.

The President therefore also serves a 4 year term, but with a maximum of 8 years.

The Judiciary

The Court system should stand separate from the Leglislative and Executive branches ( called " the Independent Judiciary " ) all the way from the lowest level of government ( City ) to the highest ( National ). All judges will be appointed, none elected; Judges should not have to pander to any constituency. The Rational temperament ( see my article " The 3 Types of People " in January 2005 archive at www.jeffreybrauer.blogspot.com ) is strongly preferred for all judges.

Cases can be appealed on the facts, not only on points of Law, all the way to the Supreme Court.

Judges should be promoted from lower levels of the judiciary, with an age limit of 70 years.

The Justice System

The Rule of Law is, by itself, insane; the question, " Was justice done? ", must always be asked, and answered. A perfect system, that automatically produces a Good result, does not, and cannot, exist; Good people are always necessary. Laws are a safeguard against injustice, but become themselves a source of injustice if not tempered by human wisdom.

Some would like a Law they could apply to all situations, to free them from having to think; the only question then becomes, " Was the Law violated? ". Such a system has been proven to violate actual humans, and cannot legitimately be called " Justice ".

The State Governments

The State Governments will operate much as now, with 3 exceptions:

1.) The Governor, though gaining office in the usual manner, will be removable from office between elections by the President of the United States, not for political reasons, but to ensure enforcement of the Laws, and Justice.

2.) The State Leglislature shall, in every State, consist of only 1 body ( Unicameral ).

3.) The Judiciary stands separate, as described above.

The National Defense

The problems with the Military ( the Military-Industrial Complex ) almost always, and in the case of wars with other Nations, always, stem from the vaunted " Civilian Oversight " of the Military. The elected officials, and/or officials appointed by them, use the Military for nefarious purposes, to advance political and/or economic agendas. This is a criminal mis-use of the Military.

The people of the Military are highly honorable, their strength at the group level deriving from their commitment to each other, and to Duty, at the individual level. Therefore, I hereby propose what all will think radical, and some will think terrible:

Let the Military stand alone. No civilian oversight. The vast majority of the men and women in the Military are good people, wanting to do Good, desirous of protecting the people of this nation, and their freedoms, and willing to risk life and limb to protect not only our people, but all people, if so called upon. Let them do it. Let the Military run itself, according to Duty and Honor.

So long as there is civilian oversight of the Military, there will be no such thing as a non-Criminal President.

Funding

How will the Government be funded? Well, I'm glad you asked: