A New Strategy: TRIMBLE IS DEMOCRACY

I have undertaken a personal path toward democratizing my corner of the country.  I am running for Congress in Texas’ 25th Congressional district.  The key element of my campaign is that I am promising the people of this district that I will establish a democratic process here that will enable all citizens in the district to express their ideas in a meaningful way, and for the ideas of the people to have a clear path for progressing to me, or whoever the Congressional representative may be.  If I am elected, I can guarantee the establishment of this process, and that I will use that resource to stay in tune with the people of the district, and to ensure that I will vote in Congress as a directed representative of the people of the district, and not for corporations or other special interests.  However, even if I am not elected, if we can develop some momentum in the campaign, then we may be able to continue with the creation of this mechanism for getting the people into the discussions that affect their lives.  Furthermore, if we set up this system, the people will also be able to use it to influence other elected representatives at all levels of government.

For more info about my campaign go to Scott Trimble for Congress.  Remember: A vote for TRIMBLE IS a vote for DEMOCRACY.

A Strategy for Moving Toward Democracy

 

Ultimately, we should amend the Constitution to make our system more democratic, to eliminate the distinction between government and the people, to ensure that we are all represented in the processes of governing, and to require more deliberative decision-making in all aspects of government. However, that is certainly not something that will happen easily or of its own accord. Therefore, we must create a strategy, with certain steps that we can begin immediately.

The most important factors in a successful democracy, and in the success of any people’s movement, are organization and participation, so let us begin by building these. While I do not intend to destroy partisanship, in order to build a truly democratic people’s movement, we must be able to set aside our partisan differences when organizing.

Right now, we have single-member districts in Congress, and single-seat Senate offices elected separately in different election cycles. So, in every Congressional district, we are each supposedly represented by one person, despite our ideological differences. Of course, it is impossible for one person to represent the diversity of viewpoints of over half a million people, so each representative is really only representing the majority who elected him or her to office. The remainder of people in each district are more or less unrepresented. If we presume the average margin of victory in a Congressional election is 60-40 (and I certainly do not know the correct average, but if you do, please fill us in), then about 40% of the voting population is unrepresented in Congress. Furthermore, at least 30-50% of the voting age population either registers but doesn’t vote, or never even bothers to register. Another roughly 30% of Americans are not yet old enough to vote at any given time. By my calculations, as many as 78% of us are not actually being represented. Furthermore, even those who did vote for the candidate who won the election do not have an equal amount of influence over their representatives as do the lobbyists or the corporations and other interests they serve. When viewed in this sense, only those who can make very large campaign contributions and/or offer something else to the political careers of these politicians can really hope to have their ears. It is very hard to even attempt a calculation of how many people this leaves out, but I’d venture a guess that less than 5%, and probably closer to 1% of the population is actually being represented, and another small percentage may agree with the decisions of their member of Congress or other elected officials enough of the time to feel represented.

The question is: what do we do about it?
Well, to begin with, I think we need to organize at the most local levels. That is, we need to form associations in our voting precincts. The two major parties already do this in most precincts, but these are partisan organizations that ultimately work to serve the status quo, which as I’ve pointed out, really doesn’t serve the people. We need to build pan-partisan organizations in every precinct that can assemble occasionally — perhaps once a month? once every two months? — and discuss the issues that concern them. At the local level, we may find there is less polarization of views than we see in national politics, but even if there is just as much, we must not let that discourage us.

Then we must form associations with the other precincts that are in the same counties, congressional district, state legislative districts, etc. In many places (like here in Texas), this may require several different coalitions of precinct organizations. For instance, here in Austin, most of the city is in one county, Travis, but the county is divided into five state legislative districts, and three different congressional districts reach into the county. While there will be several precincts that will share city, county, state leg. district and congressional districts with mine, others will share only some of these.

It would be great for these citizens’ organizations to push for embedded jurisdictions to eliminate these different associations, but each state may have to develop a different answer for that. Here in Texas, we have 34 Congressional districts, 31 state Senate districts, and 150 state House districts. One way we might remedy the problem here would be to change our state constitution to make the number of state senate districts equal to the number of congressional districts, and to make their boundaries identical. Then we might add that each of these districts be divided into five legislative districts, or that each district will elect five representatives to the state House by a proportional representation method. Using proportional representation, we might also push for different divisions, and I believe proportional representation will serve the people much better, but we can reserve these discussions to our assemblies after we form them.

In any case, until such reforms are made, each precinct may need to elect one set of delegates to represent it at the county assembly, and a different set of delegates to represent them at the state House district assembly. Congressional districts and maybe some other jurisdictions may also need to be divided into subdivisions in order to have effective assemblies. I’d suggest each precinct, and each higher level assembly, should elect 3-6 delegates to represent its various constituencies at the next higher level assembly. I’d also suggest that they carry with them proxy votes according to how many people each is representing. At some point in wider area assemblies, it may be more efficient to have each proxy represent 100 or some other number of votes, but by carrying the proxies up through each level, we will still be representing each person.

When the assembly of delegates meets representing the entire congressional district, the decisions reached there can be taken to the member of Congress for that district, and the people can tell him/her that the people of your district want X, and if any member of Congress should make a habit of ignoring the will of the people in that district, there should already exist through these assemblies a strong enough organization to remove that member from office in the next election.

Eventually, we need to force our representatives to propose constitutional amendments to bring in proportional representation with proxy voting so that each of us will be represented, but until then, we can at least each participate at the local level and be represented in these assemblies that will take our issues directly to our elected leaders servants.

In most places, organizing these assemblies will not be easy either. Americans have largely become too complacent, apathetic, or just too damn busy trying to make ends meet to be involved in politics. However, that doesn’t mean they don’t have opinions. So, prior to forming precinct associations, we might need to conduct precinct-level surveys, or surveys for the relevant jurisdiction based on the issues being addressed. Undoubtedly, these will be more informal and less scientific than surveys by professional pollsters, but I don’t think we should let that discourage our efforts. We need to form local polling groups who will try to get opinions from as many people of as many varied perspectives as possible within the relevant jurisdiction to the topic, and take those results to the elected representatives, and to the press. Make sure everyone there knows the results, and knows that the official(s) in question also knows them. If these results are routinely ignored, or ignored on the most important issues, use that information against them in their next bid for reelection. Once the surveys show some clout, it may get easier to get people to get involved. And really, the local assembly is just a survey taken in one time and place. And of course, the larger the percentage of participation, the more valid the results become.

Please share your thoughts, critiques, additional ideas, etc.

Amendment Proposal - 4th revision - legislative branch

In this section, I will use the same technique as I did on the 4th revision page regarding the executive branch. I will begin with the current text of Article I of the U.S. Constitution in italics, and I will add my suggested edits and additions in bold.

Article. I. - The Legislative Branch

Section 1 - The Legislature

All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.

Section 2 - The House

The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States.

No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.

No person who is currently serving, or has served any elected or appointed government office, or as a delegate to an elected Citizens’ Assembly, in the two year period preceding the beginning of the term for which the election is being held shall be eligible. No person shall serve in such office for consecutive terms, nor more than two terms in any ten year period.

The actual Enumeration shall be made every Term of ten Years, according to the United States Census. The Number of Representative Districts for each state shall be determined by multiplying the state’s percentage of the whole population of all the states and the District of Columbia by seventy-four. Fractions below 1/2 will be rounded down, except that no state nor the District of Columbia shall have less than one District.

Each District shall elect five Representatives according to Single Transferable Vote. Each Representative shall carry in the House one proxy vote for every ten thousand votes received in the election, but no Representative shall have less than one proxy vote.

The presiding officer of the House of Representatives shall be The Speaker of the House, who shall be chosen from its membership by the other members at the beginning of each session.

Section 3 - The Senate

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of four Senators from each State, elected for four Years in a single statewide election by Single Transferable Vote; and each Senator shall have one Vote for each percent of the total vote received from the state in the election, so that each state shall have one hundred votes.

No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.

No person who is currently serving, or has served any elected or appointed government office, or as a delegate to an elected Citizens’ Assembly, in the two year period preceding the beginning of the term for which the election is being held shall be eligible. No person shall serve in such office for consecutive terms, nor more than one term in any fifteen year period.

The Senate shall elect a President of the Senate and a Senate Minority Leader (maybe we can come up with a better title for this office), who shall be of a different political party than the President of the Senate.

Section 4 - Sessions

The Congress shall convene for four sessions every year. The first shall convene on January 3rd, and remain in session until the first day of March. The second session shall begin on the first day of Spring and adjourn on the first day of June. The third session shall begin on the first day of Summer and adjourn on the first day of September. The fourth session shall begin on the first day of Autumn and adjourn on the ninth day of December.

In the recesses between sessions, Representatives shall meet with their District Councils, and Senators shall meet with their State Councils.

Section 5 - Membership, Rules, Journals, Adjournment

Two-thirds of each House shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the Attendance of absent Members, in such Manner, and under such Penalties as each House may provide.

Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, except those rules that are outlined in this Constitution or elsewhere by Law.

Each House, and all committees thereof, shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and publish the same; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members of either House on any question shall, at the Desire of one fifth of those Present, be entered on the Journal.

Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.

Section 6 - Compensation

The members of Congress shall receive compensation for their services at a salary equal to the median household income for all the United States, according to the most recent Census.

No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time; and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office.

Section 7 - Presidential Veto and Legislative Process

Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States where it shall be subject to a veto process, as outlined hereafter.

Upon a veto of a bill, each House shall reconsider the bill. A vetoed bill that cannot attain at least 3/5 of each House shall be considered failed. If it shall be approved by at least 3/5 but less than 2/3 of either House, the presiding officer of that House must assign an ad hoc committee to amend the bill in attempt to gain the necessary 2/3 for passage. The sponsor of the bill and one other member, chosen by those members voting in favor, and two other members elected by those members voting against, shall convene to deliberate on how to amend the bill to achieve a 2/3 vote. Once amended, another vote shall be taken, and this same rule shall apply until it either shall fail, be passed, or be withdrawn.

Section 8 - Removal From Office and Citizens’ Assemblies

When electing members of Congress, each voter shall be able to choose either a public or private ballot. Those choosing private ballots shall have their votes counted, but shall not be eligible to participate in Recalls of any member of Congress, or in Citizens’ Assemblies. Those who choose a public ballot shall be entitled to participate in both Recalls and Citizens’ Assemblies.

Within 60 days after the announcement of election results in each precinct, the clerk thereof shall deliver, by U.S. Mail, to each voter who selected a public ballot, an invitation to a Precinct Assembly. This invitation shall also designate the Representative and Senator for which that person’s vote was counted. Until the next election for each office, that person shall be considered a Constituent of that Representative and/or Senator. If a person who chose a public ballot cannot be considered a Constituent of any Representative, then he or she shall be considered a Constituent of all the Representative in the District. In like fashion, if any person who selected a public ballot is not considered a Constituent of any particular Senator, then he or she shall be considered a Constituent of all the Senators in that State.

A. Citizens’ Assemblies

Precinct Assemblies shall convene on the 90th day after the election of Congress. This day shall hereafter be a national holiday, and shall be called Precinct Day.

The Precinct Assemblies may designate committees. elect officers, determine or adjust rules, except those defined hereafter or elsewhere by law, set an agenda, and determine any future assembly dates.

The legislature of each state may determine the number of levels of citizens assemblies above the Precinct level as needed for greatest efficiency in that state, provided that:

1. All assemblies shall elect four delegates to the next level of assembly, and all such elections shall be according to Single Transferable Vote.

2. If any Precinct Assembly should have more than three hundred participants, it shall immediately divide itself into a number of separate assemblies such that each shall have fewer than three hundred members. Prior to the next election, the state legislature, or some delegated authority thereof, must then reapportion that precinct, or any number of precincts, so that no precinct will have more than that number of members.

3. No elected assembly shall have more than two hundred delegates.

4. There shall be an Assembly for each legislative district of the state, each federal Representative District, and for the whole state. In states with bicameral legislatures, there should be an assembly for each district of each house.

5. No person serving as an elected or appointed officer in any level of government may serve as a delegate to any elected assembly, but may participate in the Precinct Assembly of residence.

6. Once any elected assembly convenes, the delegates thereof shall cease to be members of the assembly from which they were elected.

7. All delegates at all higher level assemblies shall be compensated for their service for each day of travel and each day in session at a rate of one-fourth the average monthly rental rate of a single-person dwelling in that state per day. They shall not be paid for days the assembly is not in session, or on which the delegate is not in attendance, except for travel days.

8. After the election of delegates to a higher level assembly, a lower assembly shall not meet in excess of two days per month, unless authorized by the state legislature, or called to special session by a higher level assembly, except that Federal District Assemblies shall meet one additional session each quarter, during the recesses of Congress, to advise the District’s Representatives concerning the will of the people. These quarterly sessions shall consist of at least two days of open public testimony, at least one day of deliberation, at least one day of joint session with the Representatives, and not more than ten days total.

9. Attending Citizens Assemblies shall be considered a civic duty. No person attending any Citizens Assembly shall be terminated, demoted, suffer a reduction of pay, except in not being paid for those specific days in attendance of the Assemblies, or in any other way reprimanded by his or her employer for participating in these Assemblies.

10. District Councils shall convene no later than the last Monday of June in odd numbered years, and Statewide Citizens’ Assemblies shall convene no later than the last Monday of September in odd numbered years.

11. Delegates to any elected assembly shall remain members of that assembly until the next assembly is elected two years later, except those elected to higher assemblies.

B. Recall

Each level of Citizens’ Assembly shall have Committees for the Constituents of every Senator and Representative.

Recalls of any member of Congress may only be proposed or voted on in the Committees of his or her Constituents. If the Constituents of a Representative pass a recall measure in the Constituent Committee of District Council, there shall be a thirty day filing period for new candidates to register for a special election. The current Representative shall automatically be registered as a candidate, unless he or she withdraws from the election. Thereafter, all Constituents of that Representative in the District shall be entitled to vote in a special election, using an Instant Runoff Vote to determine who shall serve that constituency for the remainder of the term.

No member of Congress shall be subject to more than one recall measure in a single term.

In case of removal from office for any other reason, including resignation, illness, incapacity, incarceration or death, a similar special election of designated constituents shall elect a replacement.

Section 9 - Powers of Congress

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the people of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;

To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;

To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;

To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;

To establish Post Offices and Post Roads;

To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;

To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;

To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offenses against the Law of Nations;

To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;

To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years, and no army but reserves or reserve state militias may be kept in times of peace, except the necessary personnel to train and maintain those reserves, and those necessary to protect the nation’s borders and air space;

To provide and maintain a Navy, but only a Navy sufficient to protect the nation’s territorial waters, guard the coastlines, and train and maintain a Naval reserve shall be kept in time of peace;

To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;

To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings; And

To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.

Section 10 - Limits on Congress

Congress may not borrow money on the credit of the United States, unless authorized by 2/3 of the Precinct Assemblies and 2/3 of the State Legislatures.

The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended.

No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.

No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State.

No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another: nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another.

No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published every year.

No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince or foreign State.

Section 11 - Powers prohibited of States

No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility. and

No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Controul of the Congress. inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties and

No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.

Amendment Proposal - 4th revision - Executive Branch

 

I have tried to explain my rationale for the abolition of the presidency to a variety of folks on different blogs, but have been met with nearly unanimous opposition to the idea. Apparently, this idea is too radical for even most Americans who are trying to reform the system. Therefore, instead of that concept, I will offer some less radical suggestions on amending Article II of our Constitution. I hope this will meet with more open-minded consideration.

Below I have copied the original text of Article II of the Constitution (italicized) and will add my comments and amendment ideas in bold.

Article II

Section 1. The executive power shall be vested in several Executive Departments, coordinated by a Cabinet, whose presiding officer shall be the President of the United States of America. The various chief officials of the executive branch shall hold office during the term of four years, and be elected or appointed as follows:

The President and a Vice President shall be elected separately in a national election, according to the principles of instant runoff voting.

The various departments of the executive shall be administered by a Secretary, a Deputy Secretary and an Undersecretary. The President, the Vice President, the Senate President Pro Tempore, and the Senate Minority Leader shall each nominate not less than one nor more than two candidates for each of these offices. Between the fifth and ninth days after the inauguration of the President and Vice President, the candidates shall be interviewed by the Committee of the House of Representatives responsible for oversight of the relevant executive department. The House Committees shall narrow each field to three candidates, and nominate these to the relevant Senate Committees. The Senate Committees shall nominate a single candidate from these for each position, and submit them to a confirmation vote of the entire Senate.

No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office or any of the chief executive offices described in this article who shall not have attained to the age of thirty five years, and been fourteen Years a resident within the United States.

In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation or inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what officer shall then act as President, and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.

In the case of removal, resignation, death or other inability to carry out the duties of office of any other chief officer of the executive branch, Secretaries shall be replaced by Deputy Secretaries, who shall be replaced by Undersecretaries, and each department shall designate at least five other positions in that department in specific order to succeed these officers, and upon approval by the relevant House and Senate Committees, these orders of succession shall become law.

These officers of the executive shall, at stated times, receive for their services, compensation which shall neither be increased nor diminished during their term, and shall not receive within that period any other emolument from the United States, or any of them.

Before entering on the execution of office, they shall each take the following oath or affirmation:–”I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of [title of office], and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

Section 2.

A. The Military

Whenever there exists no declaration of war by Congress, the command of the military shall be by a Defense Command Committee consisting of the Secretary, Deputy Secretary, and Undersecretary of the Department of Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the President, Vice President, and chairs and ranking minority members of the Armed Forces Committees of both the House and Senate. In deliberations of this Committee, the Secretary of Defense shall have two votes, and the President shall have three.

Upon declaration of war by Congress, or upon invasion by a foreign power, it may designate one member of this Committee to be Commander-In-Chief. Until such appointment is made, the President shall serve as Commander-In-Chief. At any time during such war, the Congress may appoint any other member of this Committee to replace the Commander-In-Chief.

Unless there is a declaration of war, the military shall remain primarily a reserve force, with only enough regular full-time personnel to maintain a defense of the national borders, airspace, and territorial waters against foreign invasion.

B. Executive Departments

Operation of the executive departments shall be by joint decisions of the Secretary, Deputy Secretary and Undersecretary of each. In these deliberations, the Secretary shall have two votes, and in case of a tie, the President shall cast the deciding vote.

All decisions that involve the coordination or cooperation of more than one of the executive departments shall be made by the Cabinet. The Cabinet shall consist of the President, Vice President and the Secretaries of the various executive departments. In sessions of the Cabinet, the President shall preside and shall cast two votes.

The Cabinet may exercise authority over the operations of a department only by a 3/4 vote.

C. Pardons and Reprieves

The President, the Attorney General, and the Party Leaders in each House of Congress of all Parties represented in each House, shall have the power to appoint one member each to the Federal Board of Pardons and Paroles, which shall be the sole authority to grant pardons and reprieves in matters of federal law.

D. Treaties

The Secretary of the Department of State shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of 2/3 of the Foreign Affairs Committees of both the House and the Senate, to make treaties.

Repeal or withdrawal from treaties and other international agreements may be recommended by the President, the Secretary of State, the State Department, or the Cabinet, but must be approved by both houses of Congress.

E. Other Appointments

The President, Vice President, President Pro Tempore and Senate Minority Leader shall each nominate not more than two persons to be considered to be Ambassadors, Consuls, Federal Judges, and other officers of the federal government. The relevant House Committee shall choose three of these to be interviewed by the relevant Senate Committee, which shall designate one person for each position, who upon approval by the entire Senate shall assume that position.

The Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers as they think proper in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments.

If any appointed office shall become vacant during a recess of Congress, the President may grant a commission which shall expire upon the 15th day after Congress reconvenes.

Section 3. Removal

These executive officers, or any other elected or appointed member of the federal government, may be removed from office upon impeachment for violations of the duties of office, failure to uphold the oath of office, treason, bribery, or other crimes against the Constitution, the nation, or the people. Such impeachment may be brought by a majority vote of either House, relevant oversight committee of either the House or the Senate, majorities in 2/3 of the states’ legislatures, petitions of 10% of the voters (measured by the most recent presidential election) in 2/3 of the states, a 2/3 vote of the Cabinet, or by a recommendation of removal by the President. Conviction and removal from office shall occur upon a 60% vote of the House and the Senate.

Section 4. There shall be no executive privilege. Neither the President nor any other officer of the federal executive shall be privileged or immune against investigation by Congress or the courts.

Section 5. Veto Power

Upon passage of both houses of Congress, a bill shall be presented to the President who shall have power to sign the bill into law, fail to sign it, upon which it shall become law after 30 days, or recommend a veto, either for constitutional or other reasons.

If the President believes the law that would result from the bill would be unconstitutional, the bill will be presented to the Supreme Court for review. The Supreme Court in this case shall consider only whether or not it would be unconstitutional. If it does not find the law would be unconstitutional, it shall immediately become law.

If the President’s recommendation for veto is for any other reason, the bill shall be presented to the Cabinet. A 2/3 vote of the Cabinet shall be necessary to uphold the veto. In any such vote, the President shall be recused from the deliberation of the Cabinet.

Any bill passed by 2/3 of both houses is only subject to the constitutional veto.

Section 6. Executive Orders

The President shall have no power to create law by Executive Order. The Cabinet may create temporary law by Executive Order by a 2/3 vote. Within 90 days of any such Executive Order issued by the Cabinet, it shall be entered into both houses of Congress as a bill. If Congress does not pass the bill, the law shall be expired. No Executive Order of the Cabinet may counter or circumvent any law passed by Congress.

Section 7. Open Government

All proceedings of Congress, all committees and subcommittees thereof, the Cabinet, and the executive officers of each department shall be available to any registered voter at any public library.

A question about the filibuster

So, the Democrats assumed the majority in both Houses this year, apparently at least in part due to changing public opinion about the conflict in Iraq.  Yet Congress has not been able to get any substantive measure passed to reduce troop levels or end the conflict, even force a veto, much less actually change our course there.  One of the reasons for this has been the Republican filibuster in the Senate.   Most recently, they apparently stopped the Webb-Hagel Amendment that would have forced the military to give active duty military equal time at home to recover following any tour of duty in Iraq, and reservists and National Guard members two or three years at home for each year served in active duty.  Some of you may know the specifics of the matter better than I do, and I will not be offended if you want to help clarify the issue in comments. However, what I really want to talk about is the nature of the filibuster itself.

I guess I’m naive, and don’t watch enough CSPAN, but it seems to me that the filibuster is a measure that prevents cloture, which is to say, that it prevents ending debate on the issue at hand.  It does not kill debate, or kill the issue, but rather extends debate…right? So, why then does the Republican filibuster against the Webb-Hagel Amendment indicate that the amendment has been “defeated,” as has been reported so often already? Instead of defeating it, it seems to me that the filibuster should indicate that either the amendment should still be being debated, or some other measure, such as tabling, or referring to committee, should be required before the Senate can move on to another topic. Have they done something along these lines?

While it makes some sense that a large minority should be able to keep something from moving forward to a final vote prematurely, and that is a legitimate use of the filibuster, but it should not be able to kill anything, unless it is continued long enough to get either more people to vote for cloture, or more people to vote against the measure. However, if something has at least 50% support, but less than 60%, then it should stay on the floor until it is resolved in some way.

So, if there is somebody reading this who understands, and can explain to me, how simply failing to get 60% on one single vote constitutes a filibuster and somehow kills a measure that has majority support, I would really appreciate it.

What if we made ranching illegal?

Now I know vegetarians are less than 10% of the population, and some portion of those aren’t even animal rights advocates, but eschew meat for reasons of health or simple preference.  Nevertheless, this is a purely hypothetical question, probably more aimed at those who would support giving animals like cows, pigs and chickens a legal “right to life.”

So, let’s pretend, for the sake of argument, that we (vegans, vegetarians, and animal rights advocates) somehow win over the vast majority of the population, and that most people now want to end animal agriculture, ban the selling of meat, etc.  Whether we are imagining this in some hopeful, distant future, after decades of gradually winning over one person at a time, or combine our cause with the rapidly growing environmental movement, who know that the combination of deforestation and the overpopulation of farm animals, cattle especially, does just about as much environmental damage, especially in regard to global warming, as the combined effect of all the personal vehicles in the US, or whether I find a genie in a bottle and make a wish that it would become the majority opinion is irrelevant.  However we might get there, what do we do then?  What are we going to do with all the cows?  Certainly, we’re not going to kill them all, which means their harmful effects on the environment will last as long as they do.  Of course, we won’t be breeding them as they are now, so with sustained oversight, we could drastically reduce the populations in a couple of decades, but are we going to expect the same ranchers who previously were raising them for profit to suddenly start caring for their welfare when they know they will not be profiting from them?  Would we have to provide financial incentives to keep them healthy?  And if so, how would we measure that?  If we merely used population counts, how could we insure that they weren’t breeding them to keep populations up?  Or would we (the people, the government) have to buy or rent the land and hire caretakers and veterinarians to manage the Former Farm Animal Welfare Program?

I’m not trying to be a downer here, but I was just thinking, what if…and how?

Does pot lead to psychosis?

I just read an article suggesting that marijuana may lead to psychosis.  Of course, it was peppered with statements such as “researchers said they couldn’t prove that marijuana use itself increases the risk of psychosis.”  It also tells us that the increased risk is 40%, but later tells us that the risk factor for most people is 0.5%, which means the risk for pot users, if this research actually could show a direct causal relationship with a 40% increase in risk, that risk would be 0.7%.  In “heavy users” the increased risk was 50-200% (which means an actual risk factor of 0.75-1.0%).  While I haven’t taken many statistics courses, I do feel there is reason to wonder what the margin for error is.  Feel free to let me know in a comment if this question doesn’t pertain to this case for some reason.  The article then says, “Scientists cannot rule out that pre-existing conditions could have led to both marijuana use and later psychoses,” but a few sentences later says,”Some experts say governments should now work to dispel the misconception that marijuana is a benign drug.”  If anything, while this research may suggest that there is cause for further research, it does not prove anything, and is not sufficient evidence to drive any harsher anti-marijuana laws (as if they weren’t harsh enough), although the article suggests that in the UK, it just might do that.

Damning the results of this research even more is the closing paragraph of disclaimers:

“Two of the authors of the study were invited experts on the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs Cannabis Review in 2005. Several authors reported being paid to attend drug company-sponsored meetings related to marijuana, and one received consulting fees from companies that make antipsychotic medications.”

So, while the AP article tries to maintain support for the interpretation of the results of the research that suggests that marijuana use does increase the risk of psychosis, the reality is that it just seems to be yet another attempt by the drug companies and others to cause fear and maintain support for unjustifiable policies.

The so-called “War on Terrorism”

The whole idea that terrorism can be “defeated” by waging a military campaign is asinine, and has been from the start. There are social, cultural, political, and economic reasons that people turn to such drastic tactics to achieve their goals, and bombing innocent civilians, imposing a police state, torture, indefinite detention, etc. are not going to do anything to fix those reasons. The war on terrorism is just going to create more terrorists. That should be fairly simple to figure out, but of course, the Bush administration, and possibly the subsequent administration, whether Republican or Democrat, is hoping we aren’t smart enough to see that. Unfortunately, too many Americans for far too long bought into their lies, and even now a significant enough portion of the population, including many members of Congress, either still believes it, or pretends to for political reasons.

However, the only way we are ever going to “win” a “war on terrorism” is to first ask what are the real causes of terrorism, and to honestly search for the real answers. Only then will we realize that it is not a military task and that using the military only takes us farther from that goal. However, if anything positive has come out of our military adventures in this so-called war on terrorism, it is that Jon Powers spent enough time in Iraq to realize the truth. “[M]oved by his experience at war and driven to action, Jon sought to help those in Iraq whose voices are least heard - Iraqi children, many of whom have known only war their entire young lives. Jon returned to Baghdad and founded War Kids Relief, a nonprofit organization aimed at assisting the youth of Iraq, providing them the resources and education needed to avoid recruitment by radical and terrorist organizations.” (from a letter from Jon Soltz)

Apparently, now Powers is planning to run for Congress. If you live in Tom Reynolds’ district in the Buffalo, NY area, please consider voting for Jon Powers in ‘08. If you have some money to donate, consider donating to War Kids Relief or his campaign. If you’d like to check out his blog, go here.

Impeach, Convict & Prosecute

I don’t know how many of you have the time or inclination (or a flat-rate long distance plan), but if you would like to join me, this is the action I am taking today:

I am calling the Democratic members (and Ron Paul) of two subcommittees (which appear from their names at least to be a bit redundant):

The House Committee on Foreign Affairs‘ Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight

and

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform’s Subcommittee on National Security & Foreign Affairs

Anyway, I’m calling them to insist that their duty of oversight with regard to foreign affairs includes a responsibility to censure or otherwise punish the President for violation of Public Law 107-243 (which was popularly known as The Authorization to Use Military Force in Iraq), which authorized the President to use military force in Iraq pursuant to two specific provisions:

(1) defend the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq ; and
(2) enforce all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq .

Undoubtedly, any threat to the US which was ever purported to exist from Iraq was removed when Saddam Hussein and his government were removed from power, and it has now become a matter of public record (and some of us knew long before the invasion ) that Iraq never posed a military threat to the United States. Furthermore, the UN Security Council resolutions of which the previous government of Iraq was held to be in violation all pertained to that previous government, and not the current government, which was established by elections and assembled over a year ago. Also, even before that government was seated, the government which was held to be in violation ceased to exist four years ago.

THEREFORE: The President of the United States, having kept an offensive military force in Iraq well beyond the existence of these conditions, and indeed well beyond a reasonable amount of time after the expiration of these conditions to have removed the offensive military forces, is in violation of US law, and should be punished appropriately, through censure, impeachment, or some other legal proceeding before Congress.

Below is a spreadsheet with the names and phone numbers of the Congress members I am calling. Please join me if you can.

Peace

1	House Committee on Foreign Affairs

Iran

It hasn’t been in the news much in the last few days, but it is still out there.  Our current sad excuse for a president, and many candidates vying for the position for the 2008 race, from both of the “major” parties ,have made statements indicating that attacking Iran could be an option as a means of preventing that nation from getting nuclear weapons.  Even saying such things at this stage is premature and irresponsible, especially when nobody has made any serious or creative efforts at alternative strategies.  So, here’s my idea.

Let’s begin by trying to imagine the cost, strictly in financial terms, of such an attack.  While some of the talk has been of “strategic strikes,” anyone capable of rational thought should realize that it cannot end there.  While the ultimate strategy may fall far short of the efforts in Iraq, it would still cost many billions of dollars.  How many? I don’t know.

Now, let’s try to predict the cost of fitting every house of sufficient construction in Iran with a photovoltaic solar roof.  Probably very expensive… probably in the billions.

Iran’s government claims that it wants nuclear energy only for “peaceful” purposes.  However, even “peaceful” nuclear energy creates nuclear waste and other environmental damage, and is more harmful to the people than going without power.  Solar power, on the other hand, is renewable and causes no noticeable adverse environmental hazards. Having a solar roof usually will entirely take care of a household’s energy needs (even here in America, and we are one of the most energy wasteful societies on the planet), and puts surplus energy back into the grid.  Having every household in Iran outfitted with such a roof would probably handle all of the country’s domestic energy needs, and would certainly obviate any need for nuclear energy.

If the Iranian government should turn down such an offer, it would make their intentions plain, and give the world community a new place from which to negotiate.

While we’re at it, why not outfit all the houses in the US as well?  We could all drive electric cars, and save billions every year in energy consumption, and break our dependence on foreign oil.