Liberals: “Is it time to torch the Constitution?”

[hexumhawk]

I'm not supporting the man who attempted a coup. I'm simply looking at our political system and noting that it's not running very well in comparison to others.

Were people who wanted to dump the Articles of Confederation traitors? Maybe you are the traitor since you clearly prefer the constitution to the Articles of Confederation.

They system is fine. The people are the problem. Nobody can be bothered to be a citizen anymore because we have to look at look at the over/under for the games this weekend in between runs to Burger King. Until we become way more uncomfortable, this will be the way.

 

[Hawki97]

1. There's nothing particularly magical about 'lifetime' but long tenure is appropriate to secure independence of the branch.
2. Meh. Don't really see this as a particularly problematic flaw, or why this would be so and not as to other legislative matters. (That said, see comment 6)
3. This is supposed to be hard. It's the foundational document that everything is subject to. And with that said, the only reason it's 'hard' is, frankly, because of the political divide of economic interests by geography.
4. I'm not sure I follow this one, either or in terms of the problem or the causal link you're suggesting.
5. If it were the national government, the problem would be accentuated because there would be one winner, who would really take all. Politics doesn't magically disappear by elevating it to the national level.
6. The power of the purse is sort of an interesting point, but for my money, the only reason the Senate is overpowered is due to the filibuster rule/custom, which is nonconstitutional and I would not lose sleep if it were eliminated.
7. This is bunk. 270 is 270. While I like the district allocation method NE and ME use, you still gotta get there, and us electoral stats have always been such that some states are 'safe' in elections. Beyond that, if it were really the case that only a few states decide things, I would not receive 1/100th of the spam texts that I do.

Boy did we phuck up #1.

 

[noStemsnoSTICKS]

Donald Trump is the only presidential candidate who believes we should terminate, “all rules, regulations and articles, even those found in the Constitution.”

Still full of faux rage, op?

 

[Hoosierhawkeye]

1. There's nothing particularly magical about 'lifetime' but long tenure is appropriate to secure independence of the branch.
2. Meh. Don't really see this as a particularly problematic flaw, or why this would be so and not as to other legislative matters. (That said, see comment 6)
3. This is supposed to be hard. It's the foundational document that everything is subject to. And with that said, the only reason it's 'hard' is, frankly, because of the political divide of economic interests by geography.
4. I'm not sure I follow this one, either or in terms of the problem or the causal link you're suggesting.
5. If it were the national government, the problem would be accentuated because there would be one winner, who would really take all. Politics doesn't magically disappear by elevating it to the national level.
6. The power of the purse is sort of an interesting point, but for my money, the only reason the Senate is overpowered is due to the filibuster rule/custom, which is nonconstitutional and I would not lose sleep if it were eliminated.
7. This is bunk. 270 is 270. While I like the district allocation method NE and ME use, you still gotta get there, and us electoral stats have always been such that some states are 'safe' in elections. Beyond that, if it were really the case that only a few states decide things, I would not receive 1/100th of the spam texts that I do.

1. Agree and 18 years is enough. I support the idea that each judge gets a term of 18 years ensuring they have long tenure to outlast multiple presidents but allowing each president to appoint judges on a regular interval with perhaps some inbetween appointments to fill out for unexpected deaths and resignations. This would also encourage the bench to get a little bit younger.

2. Because it has allowed bad actors in senate leadership to hold up the confirmation of judges to their own political gain.

3. 3/4ths of the state legislatures is ridiculous. It should be a national referendum requiring 60% of the vote to pass. Let the electorate vote on it and not just state legislatures but you need a more widespread agreement than a 50/50 decision where one side gets a few more votes than the other.

4. Single member districts always lead to 2 party systems because it forces all political interests to gather into one of 2 grand coalitions which try to take power. There is no reason why your feeling on taxes for example necessarily have to correlate to your feelings on immigration. However single member districts ensure that only one of 2 grand coalitions have any chance of winning. So you are forced to pick.

5. In legislatures coalition governments are a positive thing because it prevents one party from attempting to take complete control and just enacting their personal wish-list as they have to take into account the interests of their coalition partners and keep those coalition partners on-side.

6. The filibuster is part of it and part of what prevents us from making changes but it's not all of it. Upper houses are usually less representative of the population than lower houses. So they are inherently problematic by themselves. However there does appear to be some benefits to a less representative body having some hand in government. The problem becomes when that less representative body becomes too powerful as the senate is. The senate should lose the power of the purse completely which would go entirely to the House of Representatives. This would leave the senate as a body which would confirm judges, cabinet positions, military officers, declare war, and ratify treaties.

7. When the outcome of an election is known ahead of time it has a depressing effect on votes. In Indiana I know that our state's electoral votes will go to the Republican as has been true for every year I've been alive save for 2008. I also know how my state wide and county offices will all go. So I ask myself the question of why I still vote. My vote clearly isn't going to affect anything. And that's true for just about every office, because I know the winners right now. The county offices will all go D, the state legislative offices will go R, the house seat will go R, the senate seat will go R and all of the state offices will go R.

 

[Jim Grizzly]

It's wild that there are so many MAGA in here calling people all sorts of names for wanting to change a document that's been changed 27 times already. You are all in a cult MAGA. I think it's important for you to hear that often.