3 Easy Steps to Fix America

            The three steps to fixing our country are all very antiradical ideas. The process involves passing three constitutional amendments, and that’s all. It is my belief that all it takes to fix our country is this:

1.      limit the terms of our congressmen and women,

2.      convert to instant runoff style elections on all levels of government, but especially the federal level, and

3.      force a balanced budget on our leaders.

By limiting the terms of the members of Congress, we put in place a safeguard for which there was not so much a need for in 1787. We block the buildup of special interests to a very high degree, if not completely. As of March 25, 2009, eleven sitting congressmen have been serving for over thirty-six years. Having that much power for so long is not good for any man, so I seek to strip them of it.

The argument that I have heard the most against my proposal is this:

“If they keep getting elected, then that must mean their constituents still want them around, right?”

Wrong.

Your average American does not know the voting record of his or her Representative except for on the hot button issues at best. He votes along party lines with whomever he is voting for president that year. Turnout is horrible in the mid-term elections, another indicator that mainstream America does not keep up with the goings-on of Congress.

So I propose the following limits on senators:

1.      limit senators to two six-year terms,

2.      hold a special election to fill a vacancy for the remainder of the senator’s term if the senator does not complete half of his term, in effect stripping governors of their appointment powers in such a case, and

3.      allow a maximum of fifteen years service for life for any one person (that is, a person may serve for two regular election terms and one special election term even if they are not consecutive terms)

I also propose the following limits on representatives:

1.      limit representatives to six two-year terms,

2.      vacancies are not to be filled a winner is determined in the next regular election, and

3.      allow a maximum of twelve years service for life for any one person (that is, a person may serve for six terms even if they are not consecutive terms)

            The second phase of my proposal is to abolish the Electoral College and institute Instant Runoff Voting at the federal level. This would allow third parties to truly be represented at the polls. Currently, a vote for a third party is a wasted vote. If you vote third party, but the Democratic Party would have been your second choice, the Democrats lose a vote, effectively helping the Republican Party win the election.

            However, in an instant runoff situation, you may list your first, second, third, etc. choices, depending on how many people have been registered on the ballot by the Federal Election Commission. If when the votes are counted, no one has a 50%+1 majority, then a recount is done (by computer) with the last place candidate eliminated and his second choice votes being distributed. (If your first-place pick is not in last place your vote remains with your first-pick candidate.) This will allow more choices for Americans instead of the same old red/blue dilemma we find ourselves in every two years.

            My last proposal is the largest one of all. First, let me make sure you understand some terms:

• deficit: the amount, each year, that the government spends over what it makes
• surplus: the amount, each year, that the government makes over what it spends
• federal debt: the cumulative effects of many deficits over 220 years

            Under my plan, the government would be allowed to spend only as much as it made the previous year. For example, if the government made $50 last year, then it is to be expected that it will make at least $50 this year, if the population increases. If we make the government work from this conservative amount of $50, even though we expect $60 to come in, we will eventually come out of debt.

            To aid in the process, though, my plan calls for the budget to undercut the previous year’s revenues by at least $50 billion inflation-adjusted dollars. Using this formula, our country will be out of debt in the next half of its life, approximately 200-250 years.

            But of course, there may come a day when even under the system proposed here that an accidental budget deficit occurs from a shortfall in revenues. That year’s deficit would be averaged out over the next ten budgets to ease the burden on the taxpayer, and yet we would still have accounted for the losses.   

            Of course, there will be times when it is in the best interest of national security to spend more money than was budgeted for. My plan allows for this only in times when Congress has declared an official state of war, and only allows spending on relevant and necessary military expenses vital to bringing a swift end to whatever conflict may arise.

            So, in a nutshell, what we’re really trying to do here is help ourselves. I have become mortally afraid of the direction our country has taken under Bush and now under Obama. I believe that if we get these amendments passed – the term limits on Congress, the new system of elections, and the balanced budget – our country will be better off immediately. As I said before, only two of these amendments have immediate effects. It will take twelve years after the time the last one is passed to really see the effect of what we’re doing here. I ask you to join me. Keep our faith alive, spirits high, eyes proud, and arms open wide to embrace that glorious day when America is finally whole again.

                                                                                                Jeremy Faulk

                                                                                                 threestps@gmail.com

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