Our beloved Constitution has flaws. Only a very few, but these few have cost the Nation dearly, and, unless corrected, will continue to do so. It is very possible that unless corrected, they will lead to the Nation’s demise. These flaws have been and are being taken advantage of by the worst among us, and used against the rest of us. The electoral college, that most undemocratic of bodies, has, in just sixteen years, seated two of our most incompetent presidents, both of whom have greatly damaged the nation. The Senators from states with less than one-million population have as much say in our nation’s affairs as do those from states with forty-million population. The structuring of the Senate has from our early days allowed abhorrents like Mitch McConnell
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Ken Melvin considers the following as important: constitution, history, Hot Topics, law, politics
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Our beloved Constitution has flaws. Only a very few, but these few have cost the Nation dearly, and, unless corrected, will continue to do so. It is very possible that unless corrected, they will lead to the Nation’s demise. These flaws have been and are being taken advantage of by the worst among us, and used against the rest of us. The electoral college, that most undemocratic of bodies, has, in just sixteen years, seated two of our most incompetent presidents, both of whom have greatly damaged the nation. The Senators from states with less than one-million population have as much say in our nation’s affairs as do those from states with forty-million population. The structuring of the Senate has from our early days allowed abhorrents like Mitch McConnell to extort the nation and stuff the courts with right wing ideologues. Presently, we have a supreme Court majority that would use the Constitution to deny some of our citizens the right to vote. A Court that has recently interpreted the Constitution as allowing for gerrymandering and other forms of voter suppression. In the face of such flaws, the ratifying of amendments is nigh on to impossible. Amendments have not, can not correct these flaws. Not some but all native born and naturalized citizens must have equal rights in every way, and know full and equal representation. We know well of the difficulty of the bargaining, fault not those who bargained; but it is time to save all the good and great parts of our constitution and rid it of those few that paid paeanage to colonial governments, wealth, and slave holders in the barter for votes of ratification. Amendments can not adequately append modern concepts of personage and rights to the Constitution’s august body. There can be no full solution for these structural problems other than direct addressment of their cause. It is time to appoint a constitutional commission to list and correct these known flaws.
In Article. I. Section. 2. See also Amendments XIV and XV
In the first sentence of the third paragraph:
Strike all reference to the Numbers of free persons, those bound to service, Indians, and three-fifths of all other persons, and replace with – the total of Persons residing therein.
Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of the total of all Persons residing therein.
In Article. I. Section. 3. See Amendments XVII, and XXIII
Replace the first sentence with something akin:
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote.
Each State, including Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, shall have at least two Senators
and any State with a population of more than three-million shall have an additional Senator for every additional one fifty-second (1/52) of the Nation’s population residing therein.
In Article. I. Section. 4.
The first sentence should be stricken in its entirety and replaced with something akin:
The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.
The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed by the Congress, and shall be the same for all States.
In Article. I. Section. 9.
The first sentence should be stricken in its entirety:
The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.
In Article. II. Section. 1. See Amendment XII
In Article. III. Section. 1.
The second sentence is to be changed to something akin to:
The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices as long as they are of good physical and mental health, of good Behaviour, and are less than seventy years of age. Terms in Office for the supreme Court shall not exceed eighteen years. The Judges of both the supreme and inferior courts shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.
In Article. IV. Section. 2. See also Amendment XIII
The first sentence is to be stricken and changed to something akin:
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. All the Citizens of any State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities accorded to any and all citizens of the United States.
The third sentence should be stricken in its entirety:
No person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but shall be delivered up on claim of Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due.
Amendment XII. Replaced the procedure provided in Article II, Section 1, Clause 3 by which the Electoral College originally functioned.
The Amendment is to be stricken in its entirety and changed to something akin:
In each State, the voting for President and Vice-President shall be concluded when all its Citizens’ votes have, in a manner, and within a time frame, prescribed by Congress, been cast and accurately tabulated. Each State shall certify the accuracy of its tally, then promptly forward this certified tally of votes to the Senate where all the certified State tallies will be combined to provide a National tally equal the sum of the State tallies. The accuracy of the combined tallies will be attested to by the full leadership of the Senate and the results made public. The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, and the person having the greatest number of votes for Vice-President shall be Vice President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of votes cast; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President and the Vice-President.
The electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate;–The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted;–the person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. [And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in case of the death or other constitutional disability of the President. –] The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.
Amendment XIII. A portion of Article IV, section 2, of the Constitution was superseded by the 13th amendment.
The second clause of the first sentence of Section 1 shall be stricken in its entirety.
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction
Amendment XIV. Article I, section 2, of the Constitution was modified by section 2 of the 14th amendment.
The first sentence of Section 2 shall end with a period following the word State in the second clause. The the remainder of the second clause of the first sentence shall be stricken. The second sentence shall be stricken in its entirety.
Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age,* and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.
Amendment XVII. Article I, section 3, of the Constitution was modified by the 17th amendment.
The first sentence shall be replaced in entirety with something akin to:
Each State, including Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, shall have at least two Senators
and any State with a population of more than three-million shall have an additional Senator for every additional one fifty-second (1/52) of the Nation’s population residing therein.
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.
Amendment XXIII. See Article II, section 1, and Amendment XII
The second paragraph of Section 1 shall be replaced with something akin to:
Unless or until it becomes a State, in the district constituting the seat of Government, the voting for President and Vice-President shall be concluded when all its Citizens’ votes have, in a manner, and within a time frame, prescribed by Congress, been cast and accurately tabulated. The District, or State if it shall be a State, shall certify the accuracy of its tally, then promptly forward this certified tally of votes to the Senate where all the certified State tallies will be combined to provide a National tally equal the sum of the State tallies. The accuracy of the combined tallies will be attested to by the full leadership of the Senate and the results made public. The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, and the person having the greatest number of votes for Vice-President shall be Vice President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of votes cast; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President and the Vice-President.
A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event more than the least populous State; they shall be in addition to those appointed by the States, but they shall be considered, for the purposes of the election of President and Vice President, to be electors appointed by a State; and they shall meet in the District and perform such duties as provided by the twelfth article of amendment.
Amendment XXIV.
The second clause of the first sentence of Section 1 shall be stricken.
The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.
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The changes proposed for Article. I. Section. 2, Amendments XIV and XV, … were intended to accord full and equal citizenship and personship to all native born and naturalized citizens.
The changes proposed for Article. I. Section. 3, and Amendments XVII, and XXIII were intended to rectify the problem of unfair representation in the Senate.
The changes proposed for Article. I. Section. 4 were intended to address the problem of voter suppression inherent the current system.
The changes proposed for Article. I. Section. 9. were for the purpose of striking the section from the constitution.
The changes proposed for Article. III. Section. 1 were meant to address the problem of having an unrepresentative, unresponsive, supreme Court and were also meant to be a part of the proposed changes to Article. I. Section. 3, and Amendments XVII and XXIII.
The proposed changes to Article. IV. Section. 2 and Amendment XIII were meant to accord full and equal citizenship to all citizens.
The changes proposed to Amendment XII, in conjunction with those proposed for Article II, Section 1, Clause 3, were intended to rid the Nation of the abominable electoral college.
The changes proposed for Amendment XIII were intended to make peonage illegal.
The changes proposed for Amendment XIV, and Article II, Section 1, were a part of ridding the Nation of the abominable electoral college.
Seems the anomaly of Corporations as Citizens is is a figment of the Supreme Court’s imagination. Who would have ever thought that originalists/textualists would be so inclined.
The proposed changes to Amendment XVII, and Article I, Section 3, were a part of making the Senate more representative.
The changes proposed to Amendment XXIII, and Article II Section 1, and Amendment XII were a part of ridding the nation of the abominable electoral college, and a petition for statehood for the District.
The proposed changes for Amendment XXIV, were a part of the ridding the nation of the abominable electoral college.
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In 2000, Karl Rove wasn’t looking to win the popular vote; knew that he couldn’t. So, he went to the county level in states with a high electoral vote to voter ratio and won the electoral college, or, at least came close enough to hand it off to his best buds: Anton Scalia, John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, et al. The electoral college is an anathema to democracy, an affront to fairness, and, a worsening disaster. In 2016, Donald Trump didn’t campaign for the majority vote, knew he couldn’t win it; so he went for the electoral college vote. Trump lost the 2016 election by three-million votes, yet won the electoral college, and the Presidency, by eighty-thousand votes. Unless the constitution is changed, in another 20 years, one-third of the population will determine who is President. Whatever the original intent, no matter how well intentioned, the electoral college is incompatible with modern day America; will destroy America as we have known it. One person, one vote. The whole world is watching.
Readers of history: Know of the haggling precedent ratification of the Constitution, of the Faustian bargains made; bargains that would lead the Nation into a devastating Civil War. Know of the maneuvering in the, then too, unrepresentative Senate that went on for decades in lead up to the Civil War. Today, as then, via the same unrepresentative Senate, the nation is being led backward and extorted by a regressive minority; headed toward disaster. Today, via this same, though even more so, unrepresentative Senate, less that forty percent of the population tyrannizes the rest of the Nation. Though perhaps well intended, the structuring of the Senate was a mistake. One that, more than once, has lead us into war, has kept us in wars for too long. One that, because they could, long denied the rights of personhood, citizenship, to million of American; and are still doing it. All through the years, the inequities in representation, along with seniority, have been used by Senate leadership to extort other States, and the Nation; they did so because they could. Mitch McConnell, during a recent debate, bragged of extorting $17.5 billion from populous blue States for Kentuckians; Kentucky is a State with less than 4.5 million population, or about 1.4% of the Nation’s population. Of late, he has been bragging about stuffing the Federal Courts, including the supreme Court, with right-wing judges, for lifetime appointments. Judges advanced by the likes of the, not in the least bit representative, right-wing Federalist Society and Heritage Society.
It is in a great part due to the structure of the Senate, that reform through the Amendment process is highly improbable; that meaningful reform is impossible. Those States who benefit the most from the current structure can block any changes that threaten their interests. In 18th Century Colonial America, states with less than a million population were the norm, states with 50 million inconceivable; the two coexisting is simply impossible without changes to the Constitution. If nothing is done about the structure of the Senate, within 20 years, States with one-third of the Nation’s population will control the Nation via the Senate.
Today, due to an unrepresentative Senate and the even worse so electoral college, the Nation is saddled with a supreme Court with a majority made up of right-wing ideologues who are in no way representative of the population. A Court that, along with a Senate and President, is given to representing the wealthy. A court given to making it difficult for some Citizens to vote. A Court that doesn’t believe in inclusiveness. A Court that would use the Constitution as scripture to be interpreted so as to impose the will of the few on the many. No measure promoting the right to vote, healthcare, housing, employment, income, … can advance; while those measures restricting individual rights, that serve the interests of the wealthy, religious groups, finance, and business, get the green light. Hardly a Nation of the People. The Constitution’s flaws have, again, come home to roost.