The United States of America has emerged as the wealthiest
nation with the
most powerful military establishment in the history
of the Earth.
Currently the U. S. is spending more on the military
than the rest of the world combined.
The terrorist attack on the
World Trade Center and Pentagon on September 11, 2001
gave the
George W. Bush administration
an excuse to accelerate its plans for world
domination by developing
and maintaining overwhelming military forces on land,
in the seas,
in the air, and even in outer space.
Yet these expenditures are
bankrupting the U. S. Government, whose national debt
is $8 trillion
and is currently increasing at the rate of about $500 billion
per year.
Yet recent military adventures have got the U. S. armed
forces bogged down in
Afghanistan and Iraq.
The corrupt political system allows wealthy interests undue influence
over politicians
by making contributions to their campaigns, and
the two dominant political parties
have so far resisted the reforms
that are needed.
The next chapters will discuss how we can reform our society
so that we can solve
the immense problems we face in this mega-crisis.
Those chapters will discuss how
we can make democracy and the
media more interactive, the economy more sustainable,
the justice
system more humane, and spiritual values more authentic.
Because
the two corporate warfare parties (Republicans and Democrats)
in the
United States have institutionalized their control over
the political process, third parties
such as the Greens do not
have a fair chance to gain political power.
The people do not
get the opportunity to learn of their views or are discouraged
from voting
for them because of the way the debates and elections
are rigged by the two major parties.
One strategy to reform this political system is by amending
the United States Constitution.
I have drafted a revised U. S. Constitution that could
be a basis for discussion
at a constitutional convention. (See
Appendix.)
The original Constitution of the United States is a
marvelous document
and does not require many changes.
Its greatest
flaw was of course the attempt to maintain the institution of
slavery,
and that was corrected by three amendments after the
U. S. Civil War.
However, another undemocratic structure was written
into the original document to
protect the interests of those in
the smaller states.
This occurred because the small states threatened
not to ratify
the Constitution unless they got their demands.
They even tried to put in a killer clause to block any amendment
taking away
the undemocratic privileges given to the small states
by stating in Article V,
“No state without its consent shall
be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.”
This could
be used as justification by the small states to refuse to accept
a revised Constitution, but I argue that the revision I am suggesting
provides a more
equal suffrage for the people in all the states
and therefore may be considered constitutional.
Currently the
Republicans have 55 Senators and the Democrats have only 44.
Yet
those 44 Democrats in the Senate represent more people than the
55 Republicans.
This is very unfair and is discriminatory against
minorities who tend to live in large cities.
The first reform gives those citizens living in the District
of Columbia a voting
Representative in the House according to
population as with any state.
I also believe that the people of
Puerto Rico should have the opportunity
to vote whether to become
a state or an independent nation.
Keeping these and other island
people as territories of the United States
without giving them
their voting rights is to treat them as colonies.
Let us remember
the credo of the American revolution,
“Taxation without representation
is tyranny”
We should give them their voting rights, or
let them become independent if that is their choice.
The same
could be done for the territories in the Pacific Ocean by letting
them
join the state of Hawaii if they vote to do so.
In the revised Constitution the
House of Representatives continues to have 435 members,
and the
District of Columbia is properly represented.
An important election reform for the Representatives is to
allow instant runoff voting
in both the primaries and the general
elections so that the two major parties do not have
an unfair
advantage. Instant runoff voting allows voters to indicate their
first, second,
and third choices for each office so that the winner
must have the approval
of a majority of all the voters.
This method
accomplishes this easily without
having to schedule a runoff election
at a later date.
I am suggesting a major reform for the US Senate by proposing
proportional representation in four equal regions.
The Senate
terms would be four years to make them more responsive to the
voters,
and they would all be elected in even-numbered years that
are not divisible by four.
Each of the four regions would elect
twenty-five senators.
The East region includes Connecticut, Delaware,
Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts,
New Hampshire, New Jersey, New
York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont,
West Virginia,
and the District of Columbia; the South includes Alabama, Arkansas
Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina,
South Carolina,
Tennessee, and Virginia; the Central region includes
Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan,
Minnesota, Missouri, North
Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin;
and the
West includes Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho,
Kansas,
Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington,
and Wyoming.
According to population statistics in the year 2004,
the states in the East and
Central regions had about 75 million
people each, and the states in the South and the
West regions
had about 71 million each.
However, the West and the South regions
are growing in population at a much
faster rate than the East
and Central regions.
After each official census the U. S. Supreme
Court would determine
if a state needs to be moved to another
region in order to make the population
of each region more equal.
Thus the states of Kansas and Nebraska are likely to be moved
from the West
to the Central region in the future.
If the South
region gets too many people, the state of Kentucky could be moved
to the East or the Central region.
If Puerto Rico becomes a state,
it could be placed in the South or East region.
Candidates would run for the Senate in the election years
when
the President is not being elected.
The regional primaries would
be held on the first Wednesday in March, April, May
and June
with the sequence rotating every four years.
During the primary
elections the citizens would vote for the candidate of their choice
within their party, and a list of the candidates within each party
would be made
according to the number of votes received.
Then
in the general election in November the citizens would vote for
the party
of their choice, and each party would elect one candidate
from its list for each
four percent of the vote the party received.
This proportional method is much more fair to minorities of all
kinds that may group
together behind certain candidates and parties
who will represent their voices and interests.
For example, currently
only one Afro-American and two Latin-Americans are in the
U. S. Senate
even though each of these minorities
makes up more than one-eighth
of the U. S. population.
Under the majority-take-all system by states
the minor parties have little chance
of gaining even one voice
in the Senate, but under proportional representation
they could
elect one or two Senators in each region.
From the powers of Congress I have deleted the following:
To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas,
and Offences 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 Ter
than two Years; To provide and maintain a Navy; To make Rules
for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;
but I have retained the following:
To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union,
suppress insurrections and repel invasions;
To provide for organizing, arming (equipping), 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;
except that I changed the word “arming” to “equipping.”
I have proposed that the Department of Defense, which really
has been what it originally
was called, a Department of War, be
phased out and merged with the Homeland Security
Department, which
would be called the Department of Security.
Once the disarmament
process I have recommended takes place, the United States
Government
would not need the authority to punish people outside its national
boundaries
nor should it be involved in any war, raise and support
armies nor maintain a navy.
Real national defense could be organized
by the state militias and should be as nonviolent
as possible
in order to maintain the peace and bring violent criminals to
justice.
Such militias could respond to any attempted invasion,
and the assistance
of the United Nations Democracy could also be
requested in such an emergency.
Otherwise, most of the powers of Congress have been maintained.
I believe that states should have the right to admit immigrants
and should not be
prohibited from doing so by the U. S. Congress.
The primary and general elections for President would also
use ranked choice voting.
In addition I have proposed that all
the people elect the administrators of the federal
departments
by ranked choice voting.
In addition to merging the departments
of Defense and Homeland Security into Security,
I have merged
the department of Veterans Affairs and part of Health and Human
Services
with Housing and Urban Development into one department
called Housing & Welfare.
A department of Health remains an
important department.
I have upgraded the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) and combined it with Interior
to form the Environment
Department.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
would
be part of a new department of Communication.
Other agencies would
be combined into a department of Science & Technology.
I believe
the intelligence agencies need major reforms, especially in eliminating
covert
operations (which are really secret terrorism) and secret
spying on other nations.
Thus the fifteen departments would be Agriculture, Commerce,
Communication, Education,
Energy, Environment, Health, Housing
& Welfare, Justice, Labor, Science & Technology,
Security,
State, Transportation, and Treasury.
The State Department could be renamed the Peace Department.
In the first election after
the ratification of the new Constitution the first five administrators
would be elected for two years, the next five for four years,
and the last five for six years.
After that, every two years five
administrators would be elected for six-year terms.
They would
be responsible for administering their departments and could recommend
legislation to the President and Congress.
They would work under
the President, who is responsible for integrating their operations,
but they could not be removed except by impeachment and a trial
or of course by death, resignation, or a regular election.
The terms of the elected President, Vice President, Administrators,
Senators, and
Representatives would all begin at noon on January
3 following their election.
The President would continue to nominate
judges and other officials,
but they would have to be confirmed
by the advice and consent
of three-fifths of the Senate so that
partisan appointments could not
be made against the objections
of a significant minority.
The President may make recess appointments,
but they only last until one month after the Senate reconvenes.
Judicial appointments are changed from life terms to ten years,
and judges may be re-appointed.
Treason is defined as “levying
war or in adhering to the enemies of the United States.”
In Article IV I have added the following statement:
“The
United States shall not possess nor occupy any territory
that
is not a part of one of the United States or the District of Columbia.”
This is an important safeguard against colonialism and imperialism.
Article VI contains most of the Bill of Rights and other relevant
amendments,
plus some additional rights that are needed.
The second
amendment about the right of the people to keep and bear arms
has been deleted for obvious reasons.
However, as mentioned above,
the state militias
are retained for the purpose of self-defense.
Otherwise the rights in the first ten amendments are retained.
I have proposed adding the abolition of capital punishment to
the eighth amendment
prohibition of cruel and unusual punishments;
certainly death is a cruel punishment.
The important rights in
the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments are retained.
People may not
be deprived of voting rights because of race, color or sex,
and
I have added religion, political association, sexual orientation,
and previous condition.
The last in my view would include any
criminal record.
I believe the right to vote should be universal
for all citizens over the age of eighteen,
and I suggest that lowering the voting age to 16 or 14 could increase political education.
Two additional rights are made explicit as follows:
The right of citizens of the United States to attend free public schools
and use free public libraries shall not be denied or abridged
by the United States or by any state.
The right of citizens of the United States to receive free health care
shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state,
and Congress shall make no law interfering
with a patient's right to be treated by a physician.
These enshrine in the new Constitution
everyone’s right to free education and health care.
Though no
particular methods of providing for the education and health care
of all
are mandated, the government is thus implicitly obligated
to make sure that everyone
does receive their right to free education
and health care in some way or another.
The patient’s right to
be treated by a doctor means the government cannot ban
or make
illegal any form of health care, which would include the right
of a woman
with her physician to choose an abortion and the right
of people to end their lives
with the consent and assistance of
a physician.
Also no drugs could be made illegal if they are prescribed
by a physician,
and drugs could be regulated and taxed by the
government.
To purify the service of those in public office I have proposed
the following discipline
to make sure that they are not corrupted
by financial interests:
Those serving in the offices of President, Administrator,
Senator, Representative, and Judge shall not receiv
any other income during their term of public service.
Such persons receive ample compensation from the U. S. Government,
and public offices should not be used by those who want to use
their political status
to increase their wealth unduly.
This safeguard
would help to assure that those in these offices
serve the public
interest and not the financial interests
of themselves and their
friends.
Campaign reform is included as follows:
The election campaigns of candidates for the offices of President,
Administrator, Senator, and Representative shall be publicly financed.
Citizens may also contribute up to one hundred dollars to one candidate
in each office for which they are qualified to vote
during each primary and general election.
No other person, group, organization, or business may
contribute to any election campaign for any of these offices.
The contributions from citizens not spent by the campaign
by the primary or general election day shall
go into the Treasury of the United States,
which shall finance the debates broadcast for each office
and for the sample ballots mailed to the voters
that shall give equal time and space to all candidates on the ballots.
Whenever and wherever primary or general
elections for officers of the United States are held,
that day shall be a federal holiday.
Balancing our first amendment rights to express our opinions
on political issues
with the need to remove the corruption of
money from politics is a very difficult issue.
I believe that
placing some rules on the election campaigns
does not limit the
freedom of expression unduly.
Persons would still be allowed to
contribute a small amount to each candidate
but only in an election
in which that citizen has the right to vote for that person.
No
outside money would be allowed.
People and groups could still
express their views on all issues,
but they could not spend money
advocating the election of a particular person.
To safeguard the
interests of the people we need to remove the large amounts of
money
that have corrupted politics in the United States.
Government
financing the debates in the media for everyone who is on the
ballot
will correct a great injustice that has allowed the Republicans
and Democrats
to exclude others from their debates.
Also the statements
candidates are allowed to submit for printing in the sample ballots
at the present time require a large fee; this fee would be abolished
so that every candidate would at least have the equal opportunity
to communicate
in the official publication of the elections commission.
Candidates would no longer be allowed to raise money and then
keep
what they do not spend during the campaign for future use.
Making election days holidays is important
so that working people
will have more opportunity to vote.
Finally ratification of the new Constitution
is either by the legislatures of three-fourths
of the states or
by a majority vote of the citizens in three fourths of the states.
Adopting a new constitution such as this is not absolutely
essential to most of the reforms
discussed in this book, but I
do believe that these political reforms would substantially
improve
our system of constitutional government.
The process by which
we could bring about consensus on a revised constitution
and its
ratification will be discussed in the last chapter on nonviolent
strategies.
Global Emergency
Alleviating Poverty
Disarming Weapons of War
Creating Global Democracy
Reforming the US Constitution
Restoring Justice
Sustainable Economics
Freeing Communication
Spiritual Awakening
Nonviolent Strategies
Appendix:
Global Disarmament Treaty (first draft by Beck)
Constitution of the United Nations Democracy (first draft by Beck)
Constitution of the United States Revised (first draft by Beck)