“A proposed amendment becomes part of the Constitution as soon as it is ratified by three-fourths of the States (38 of 50 States).”
I wonder if a Constitutional Amendment or two IS a complete non-starter…
Moved from IMHO to Politics and Elections.
I disagree. The democrats control the government in many big cities and several blue states, and for the most part they haven’t done anything about these issues there. The democrats in a state like California can’t blame the republicans for why they’ve done so little because the GOP have no real power in the legislature there.
In Californias defense they have done some stuff on climate change and expanding voting rights, which is nice. But their health care is still a brutal mess. Income inequality is even worse there due to regulatory capture of the housing market. Police brutality is a serious issue.
Are you serious? What country have you been living in for the past few decades?
Yeah, I know… But take the high road, man. Make the pitch. If they reject it, the world will see them as the bad actors they are.
Then, I guess, it’s back to government by Executive Orders…
Yeah, no. None of that is going to happen, nor should it. Sleeping with a porn star as a disqualifier? In what morally uptight, Puritan universe would it be right to make that a law? Porn stars are human beings and do have romantic partners you know. You’re going to bar someone who went through a personal bankruptcy? Or someone who exercises their right to free speech to make shitty comments about people?
Remember we are not talking about Trump, we’re talking about someone like Trump - i.e. a dangerous populist demagogue. You can have a dangerous populist demagogue who is faithfully married to his HS sweetheart and is pure as the driven snow in terms of personal sexual morality. Won’t make them any less dangerous as president. Trump is not dangerous because he is a gross vulgarian. That’s just what makes him disgusting. Trump is dangerous because he is a manipulative narcissist, authoritarian and likely sociopath. But sociopaths come in all sorts of forms and the next one might be a heck of a lot more charismatic. Which is a real problem, but a very hard one to solve.
That one I could probably get behind. It certainly won’t solve all problems, but it helps.
No, high road or low road doesn’t matter, the Republicans are going to fight tooth and nail against anything and everything. They are an existential threat to this county in their present incarnation, we need to win. It’s crucial to take the Senate. And taking decisive steps to preserve democracy is principally what we need to do. The GOP in its current reality-denying regressive incarnation is already unelectable if all votes are counted and the structural bias of the Senate is addressed.
What, more than they’ve already shown themselves to be?
Republicans enjoy support only when they fight progressives tooth and nail. It’s become their one identifiable principle. It sure as fuck isn’t traditional conservativism. They left that station way back when the Tea Party Rabble took over the R train.
We would have thought this would be self-regulating, but…
I agree with making tax return release mandatory.
I also agree with @Joey_P, that holding a lower office for a period of time is likewise mandatory. Running government like a business is an idiot’s perspective.
Eliminate the “honor system” of divestment of personal assets. Make it mandatory.
One ongoing big concern I have is the impatience and short attention span of our citizens. I agree with @QuickSilver the infighting is going to begin almost immediately after the election between progressives/moderates in the Democratic party. Republicans will exploit this division often and loudly. We have to work hard to counter the narrative. If Dems split their own governing party, we’re screwed.
We also have to make sure Americans understand that it’s going to take quite a long time to fix what Republicans broke over the past 4 years. This was part of what Clinton was up against in 2016 after 8 years of Obama. Obama did a phenomenal job, but many Americans missed that. They felt his recovery wasn’t fast enough, never understanding that Obama had actually avoided a global economic meltdown.
Eliminate the Electoral College.
Immediately implement a big infrastructure investment project with heavy emphasis on renewables.
Eliminate subsidies for fossil fuels.
Rebuild our institutions, including DOJ, State Department, FBI, CIA and the rest. Easier said than done, but we must.
Shorten the period between Election Day and Inauguration Day, or at the least, enact some restraints on what an outgoing president can do to damage the incoming president’s agenda.
Settle the notion once and for all about whether a sitting president can be charged with a crime while in office. Prosecution for said crime(s) may wait, but charging shouldn’t be controversial.
Rejoin the Paris Climate Accord.
Shore up NATO alliances.
Punish Putin with crushing sanctions.
I have more, but these are the most important in my opinion.
This is an absolutely terrible idea. It completely throws out the baby with the bath water and is the first step towards a political aristocracy. Where would it end? Can’t run for Mayor unless you’ve been on the city council? Can’t run for Governor unless you’ve been in the state legislature? Can’t run for state legislature unless you’ve been on a city council?
One of the reasons Trump won the primary and got elected in the first place is that voters were tired of career politicians.
If it’s required for candidates for president, why MUST it be required for lesser offices?
Yes, and we can see how well that went.
It’s virtually like this now. Nearly every high office holder has already held a lower position of public service. I don’t think this is in the least onerous. The only person saying it would have to apply to lower offices is you.
campaign finance reform would be a good thing to revisit, as would the laws about surveillance of domestic terrorists, but I realize both are thorny constitutional and civil liberties issues
I think the first priority is to use federal law to ensure every American has equal opportunity to vote. This would be a basket of legislation, including making Election Day a national holiday, increasing the criminal penalties for voter suppression, establishing standards for ballot access and making federal funds available to improve states’ ballot security and voter access. The Carter Commission report is a good place to start.
Another excellent suggestion.
Or just go to 100% mail in ballots like Washington, Oregon, and some others.
Likely a mix of methods. It’s all about ensuring that everyone has access to the ballot box. You’d think that wouldn’t be controversial.
As much as I loathe Trump, I absolutely oppose every suggestion in this thread to add additional qualifications to being eligible for the Presidency. Any attempt to mandate new eligibility criteria so that only the “right” candidates are able to become President is doomed to fail.
Psychological evaluation? By whom? Who determines “the values, ethics, skills and temperament” needed for a candidate to be eligible? How do you measure them?
Pass a security clearance? Anyone who thinks that requiring a candidate to obtain the blessing of the national security apparatus is a good thing hasn’t been paying attention to most Latin American history.
Must have served in lower elected office? Rules out Eisenhower, Grant, Taft, Hoover and Taylor. Let’s say you make an exception for military leaders – what makes military leadership inherently more qualifying for the Presidency than being a CEO? And why can’t voters make that determination themselves?
The corrective for Americans electing a grossly unqualified, narcissistic, bloviating kleptomaniac as President is not to create additional barriers for candidates to be eligible. It’s to reform the election process so that everyone is able to vote and have those votes counted equally. And then let the democratic chips fall where they may.
While we’re at it, we could legally exclude anyone who has a toothbrush mustache, to prevent someone like Hitler being President.
This all looks to me like fighting the previous war, not the next on—and/or fighting the symptom, not the underlying disease.
Getting the money out of politics, slowly but surely.
- Aggressive campaign finance reform
- Federal funding for campaigns for federal offices
- A time limit for said campaigns
- Aggressive lobbying reform
I know SCOTUS has been taking us sharply in the wrong direction, but … given both houses and the WH ?
I also know that those who profit from the current system are those who would need to vote to change that system, but … a fella can dream, can’t he ?