I started paying attention to national politics fifty years ago, in Mrs. Griggs’ sixth-grade social studies class at Potosi (Missouri) Middle School during the bicentennial year when Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter battled it out for the presidency. International events came into focus with the capture of American hostages in Iran in 1979. A decade later, I finished teacher training and began my (as of this fall) 36-year career in education, primarily as a history and government teacher.
After five decades of observations, perhaps I’ve earned the right to offer a few words on much-needed national reforms.
Elections
We’re sick of them. The presidential election season especially is a national disgrace. Let’s shorten and streamline the process:
1. No person may officially announce their candidacy sooner than twelve months before the next presidential election.
2. Caucuses are out, and we hold primary elections on five consecutive Tuesdays, beginning on the first Tuesday in March of election year.
3. The fight over which state goes first in primary season is replaced with state and territory voting order determined by random lottery one year prior to the election, with 10-12 states and territories assigned to each of the five Tuesdays.
Electoral College
The Electoral College has been a disaster from the beginning. See the elections of 1800, 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016.
It’s a weird way to elect a president. Most voters can’t even explain how it works. And there is no other election — town council, state senator, anything else — that uses an electoral college-style system.
Let’s exchange the EC for direct-democracy voting by the people, followed by a declaration that the candidate with the most votes from the people will be the next president.
To remove present-day power considerations, the constitutional amendment required for this change would be effective after the next presidential election.
Age Requirements
The Constitution, written when average lifespans were shorter, set minimum age requirements for U.S. representatives (25), senators (30), and presidents (35).
I suggest we add five years to each of these: minimum of 30 years old for representatives; 35 for senators; and 40 for presidents. (We’ve never had an under-40 president in the entire 237 years since 57-year-old George Washington took the oath of office in 1789, so we’ll be codifying what already is, at least in regard to the presidency.)
We also need to set maximum age limit requirements for all federal offices:
No person shall run for national office upon reaching the age of 70 and federal judges must retire upon attaining their 75th birthdays. (“Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.” – The Desiderata)
The constitutional amendment required would not apply to any person in federal office at the time of its adoption.
Term Limits
The founders did not institute term limits for federal offices, but after Franklin Roosevelt’s long presidency (elected in 1932, 1936, 1940, and 1944), the United States wisely (in my view) ratified the Twenty-Second Amendment (in 1951), limiting a president to two terms.
It’s time to pass a term-limit amendment for all other federal offices:
U.S. senators may serve a maximum of three terms (18 years); U.S. representatives, six terms (12 years); and federal judges, 20 years on the bench.
The constitutional amendment required would not apply to any person holding federal office at the time of its adoption.
Expanding the Supreme Court
The United States has thirteen (13) circuit courts of appeal, and each circuit has a Supreme Court justice assigned to it. With only nine justices, however, some have responsibilities for more than one circuit.
We need, therefore, to expand the Supreme Court to thirteen members – one for each circuit court. Additionally, an expansion of the court would add voices to the conversations about momentous matters that affect the nation for generations.
To remove current-day power considerations, the congressional legislation when passed (this reform would not require a constitutional amendment) would not be effective for a period of five years. In the fifth year and for every two years thereafter, the sitting president (whomever that person is) may appoint one justice, until all thirteen seats are filled.
Adding U.S. Senators to Large States
For good reason in 1787 — a compromise to hold the nascent nation together — the architects of the Constitution settled on equal representation in the United States Senate: two senators for each state.
At the time, the entire population of the United States was under four million. The largest state, Virginia, had about 420,000 (for determining representation); and the smallest state, Delaware, had about 37,000. That’s an elevenfold difference.
Today, our largest state, California, has a population of almost 40,000,000 and our smallest state, Wyoming, has almost 600,000, which makes California’s population 67 times larger than Wyoming’s. In our U.S. Senate, however, both states receive two votes.
To provide for slightly more equitable representation in the Senate, let’s do this: Upon reaching a population of 10 million, a state receives one additional U.S. senator. At 20 million, another senator, and so on at each increment of 10 million.
Implementing this change would add approximately 16 senators across ten states with populations of at least 10 million, roughly equally divided among red, blue, and swing states, so no side would gain an immediate power advantage.
The constitutional amendment required would be effective after the next decennial census.
Additional Much-Needed Reforms
1. Forbidding presidents from altering federal property without the collaboration and consent of relevant federal arts, architecture, and historic preservation councils; and also requiring congressional approval for such changes.
2. Requiring nominees for the presidency to make public their income tax returns for the five years prior to the election year in which they are a candidate.
3. Forbidding presidents, representatives, senators, and federal judges from buying and selling stocks, while in office.
4. Requiring congressional approval for the setting of tariffs.
5. Passage of several important pieces of legislation: the Equality Act, to include all LGBTQ persons; compassionate, humane, welcoming immigration reform; universal, single-payer health insurance covering every person from cradle to grave; increasing the maximum amount of earnings upon which Social Security taxes are paid from $184,500 to $284,500; raising the highest personal income tax rate from 37% to 45%, and the highest corporate tax rate from 21% to 31%; and cutting the defense budget by 25%.
A National Renovation
We have a country from which citizens are withdrawing support. The national house needs attention, sprucing up, a fresh paint job. A period of common sense, camaraderie, and resolve to be better, with suggestions such as these outlined above, and others, could be a homeland renovation that revives the entire system, gives our national life a measure of restored vigor, and renews our devotion to the cause of building a more perfect and more sane union.
Rodney Wilson has been an educator since 1990, currently teaching American history and comparative religion at Mineral Area College in Park Hills, Missouri.
