HolyCoast Rewrites the Constitution Just For You

After reviewing the current state of the Bush Administration and politics in general, and looking over some of the answers from last night's Dem debate, I think it's time to do a little rewriting of the U.S. Constitution to fix some errors which have become more and more obvious.

First, the presidency. Can anyone remember a two-term president who had good years in the 7th & 8th years of their presidency? Let's look back at the last five:

• George W. Bush: The wheels have nearly come completely off the Bush White House. The administration that seemed to be right on the money on all the important stuff during the first term has lost its way. We can apparently look forward to two more years of aimless wandering around in search of meaning for this presidency.
• Bill Clinton: Impeachment. 'Nuff said.
• Ronald Reagan: Iran/Contra nonsense and the 1986 tax bill that undid much of the good that was done in the first six year.
• Richard Nixon: Didn't even make it to years 7 & 8.
• Dwight Eisenhower: The entire presidency was pretty calm, but the last couple of years had the U.S. running behind the Soviets in the space race, our U2 pilot was shot down over Russia, and the plans were started for the Bay of Pigs disaster which took place shortly after Kennedy came into office.

I've come to the conclusion that two 4-ear terms is the wrong way to run the presidency. The HolyCoast version of the Constitution would have only one 6-year term. That way the president won't spend his entire first term worrying about getting reelected, and by the time the country tires of him after six years, he'll be gone.

And what about the electoral college method of electing a president? Not a bad idea in theory, but I'd like to propose a change. Currently each state is given one electoral vote for each Senator plus one for each congressional district. They are awarded on a winner-take-all basis according to the popular vote in each state.

The HolyCoast correction would have only the two votes for Senators awarded to the popular vote winner in each state, and the congressional district votes awarded to the popular vote winner in each congressional winner. This would give each congressional district equal importance to every other and would make the voter in North Dakota as valuable as the voters in California or New York. Candidates would be forced to run a 50-state campaign instead of just concentrating on electoral vote-rich states only.

And now, the Congress. The founding fathers never intended for membership in Congress to be a lifetime appointment, but it has become that for many members. The founders intended for real working people to leave their homes for a few years to serve, and then return to their families and businesses. Unfortunately, the lack of turnover in the Congress makes for a bunch of stale ideas and out-of-touch politicians.

For instance, Teddy Kennedy was instrumental in the passage of the 1965 immigration bill which was supposed to end the problem of illegal immigration. The failure of that bill led to the 1986 amnesty bill, promoted by Teddy Kennedy, which suddenly legalized over 3 million illegal aliens and was supposed to solve the problem of illegal immigration. That bill's failure has now led to McCain-Kennedy in 2007 which will grant amnesty to millions more and will solve the problem of illegal immigration. Do you detect a pattern here?

It's time for term limits in Congress. I think two 6-year Senate terms is plenty, and six 2-year House terms will even things out. After that, out you go.

Finally, the federal judiciary. The founders decided that once appointed to the bench, federal judges would be there for life in order to minimize the impact of politics on judicial decisions. Bad idea. I'm all for keeping politics out of judical decisions, but I think there needs to be a periodic reconfirmation for judicial appointees. Maybe every 10 years or so - just to make sure the crazies are kept off the bench (once they go crazy), or judges who are too old or infirm to put in a full day's work can be gracefully retired.

I doubt that anyone will ask me to rewrite the Constitution anytime soon, but if such a service is needed, I stand ready to serve.