Election Day Pondering

Many years ago I wrote up a plan for making this country better. Granted, this plan was crafted from my Libertarian/Republican point of view. I didn't exactly write up a plan for liberalism.

So I thought I would review my plan and make amendments, as it were.

The Plan:
1. Get rid of everyone in Washington.
2. Now that the old guard has been taken out of power, we repeal that pesky 17th Amendment.
3. Term Limits.
4. Elections.
5. Special Interest Groups.
6. Campaign Finance.

That's a highlight list of the old plan, from May 2007. Let's revise.

The Plan, Part II:

1. Vote out all incumbents and establish term limits. This is key to returning sanity to our government. Once the old guard is out of power, a limit must be set. I like the notion of either one six-year term, or two four-year terms. That goes for every position in government, with the exception of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court would no longer be lifetime appointments, but they would be appointed to a single twelve or sixteen year term.

2. Repeal the 17th Amendment. This might come as a shock to you, but the people did not originally vote for Senators. The people voted for the House of Representatives. State governments were accountable for electing Senators. This meant that the people and the states had representation in government. Happily, at least to me, the Tea Party is beginning to push a notion to repeal the 17th Amendment. God bless 'em.

3. Campaign Finance. I once thought that a candidate should only spend up to one cent less than they would make in office, but I've changed my mind. I would cap election spending at $1 million per candidate. This includes personal money and campaign contributions.

4. Special Interest. I would still get rid of them.

5. Gerrymandering and Redistricting. Gerrymandering is when a district is drawn to outrageous designs in order to propel a certain candidate to power. For an example of this, simply look at the 4th Congressional District of Illinois (picture to right). The simple solution to this issue is to establish a law stating that districts must be as compact as possible.

The map below is a district map of Congressional districts near Atlanta. Please note the yellow blob that snakes its way around.