I don't understand the first question.
It was a sort of "what would you do if you were President, Congress, and the Court system all in one." question - which you more or less answered with the main body of your post.
The 14th Amendment is fine. I have no problem with dual citizenship, but people must be aware that they are citizens of both the states and the US government.
Hmm. Oddly enough, I seems that I think of myself as a US citizen first and a Pennsylvania citizen second. I assume that is the reverse of what you would prefer.
I'd remove the 16th and 17th Amendments since it gives the federal government too much power and allows them to turn a blind eye to the restrictions that are in the Constitution while restoring the power stolen from the states by the federal government back to the states.
I don’t know the constitution well enough to determine if other issues would result from such a change, but the idea seems sound – I dislike the “federal gov > state gov” being used so often on too many issues.
I'd modify the 24th Amendment by removing the section about President and Vice President since the office of the Executive represents the states and not the people as the primary duties of the Executive is in the defense of the states.
Hmm, again, my limited constitutional knowledge bites me in the ass…But I can’t see much wrong with that, it seems to fit with one of my basic views – namely that, the Federal gov (and in most cases, the state govs) is too large and invasive.
I'd add an Amendment that reinforces that the federal government can only pass laws that affect their territory only or pursuant to one of the other delegated powers and every bill must specify which clause in the Constitution that it has a basis plus only deal with one issue. This Amendment would also add in a treason penalty to any member of government that fails to live up to their oath of office.
The first part seems somewhat reasonable, but the second might be an issue, depending on other factors – can you imagine how many treason accusations would be flying around D. C., at least with the current political/social climate? I doubt anything would ever get done…wait, maybe this is a good idea after all. :mrgreen:
I'd add in a balanced budget amendment and line item veto. Part of the balanced budget amendment would be the requirement that any spending bills of money will follow the amendment regarding specification and one subject.
Seems good in theory, but I don’t know enough to determine what other repercussions would result, if any.
The next Amendment would be the abolishment of political parties, special interest groups, lobbyists, and corporate fund raising with a penalty of treason against the people of the United States for failing to adhere to the amendment.
I don’t know if that would violate the 1st or not – didn’t someone argue that political parties and all those others fall under it’s free speech protections?
My final Amendment would specify exactly how a state can leave the Union of States peaceably. The amendment would cover how much the state has to pay to the federal government to any lands owned by the federal government and their share of the deficit.
Hmm…
I don’t entirely agree with your apparent underlying theme of “states need to be FAR more independent”. I like the idea of most people thinking of themselves first as US citizens and second as *insert state here* citizens. I think that is a
positive. I’m not sure you agree
I'd leave holidays up to each of the states and force government workers to work them or if they still want to take the day off they must do so for free. No more extra holidays just because you're a government employee over what anyone in the private sector gets.
Seems reasonable, given that I think you would have far fewer Fed workers in each state anyway. “When in Rome…”