Write the 28th Amendment

[Mechaman]

Probably an amendment that would overturn Citizens United.  The details are a little fuzzy since there have been several different amendments proposed, but that's the basic principle.

I'd also favor an amendment banning conscription, but I don't think the draft will rear its ugly head any time soon.

This.

Overturning Citizens United, arguably the worst court ruling so far in the 21st century, should be at the top of everyone's list.  Uncontrolled and unlimited special interest influence in elections is neither good nor healthy in a democracy.  When money rules elections and politics it is the independently minded who suffer the most.  Not the hacks and the cronies.

[traininthedistance]

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Stolen from Justice Stevens.

This is roughly what I'd go with as well, except that I worry that Section 1 is vulnerable to numerous loopholes (how does one define "compact" anyway?), and would do nothing to counteract the negative effects of "natural packing".

I kind of want to just throw the whole system of geographically-based districts out and mandate some sort of PR for the House instead.

Inserting an affirmation of a positive right to vote for all non-incarcerated citizens, not to be infringed by previous criminal record, lack of photo identification, or lack of reasonably long hours for polling places, would make a nice Section 3.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Probably an amendment that would overturn Citizens United.  The details are a little fuzzy since there have been several different amendments proposed, but that's the basic principle.

Overturning Citizens United, arguably the worst court ruling so far in the 21st century, should be at the top of everyone's list.  Uncontrolled and unlimited special interest influence in elections is neither good nor healthy in a democracy.  When money rules elections and politics it is the independently minded who suffer the most.  Not the hacks and the cronies.

This is hardly the most pressing election concern, or for that matter, the most pressing corporate concern.

If you want to rein in corporate America, then what would be most needed is an amendment giving the authority to charter corporations (both for-profit and non-profit) solely to the Federal government (with a possible exception for corporations that do business solely within single State) and thus end the race to the bottom in corporate governance regulations that lead to places like Delaware passing ridiculous laws that give corporations too much ability to run roughshod over both consumers and shareholders because they can make a fair amount for a small State in fees and other revenue sources by providing a place for corporation to shelter themselves from justice and accountability.

[bedstuy]

Probably an amendment that would overturn Citizens United.  The details are a little fuzzy since there have been several different amendments proposed, but that's the basic principle.

Overturning Citizens United, arguably the worst court ruling so far in the 21st century, should be at the top of everyone's list.  Uncontrolled and unlimited special interest influence in elections is neither good nor healthy in a democracy.  When money rules elections and politics it is the independently minded who suffer the most.  Not the hacks and the cronies.

This is hardly the most pressing election concern, or for that matter, the most pressing corporate concern.

If you want to rein in corporate America, then what would be most needed is an amendment giving the authority to charter corporations (both for-profit and non-profit) solely to the Federal government (with a possible exception for corporations that do business solely within single State) and thus end the race to the bottom in corporate governance regulations that lead to places like Delaware passing ridiculous laws that give corporations too much ability to run roughshod over both consumers and shareholders because they can make a fair amount for a small State in fees and other revenue sources by providing a place for corporation to shelter themselves from justice and accountability.

Really?  You really can't do much with corporate law to help out the consumers.  What provisions of Delaware corporate law are you referring to exactly?  What changes in corporate law would the federal government enact?

I think the one area where you might have a point is M&A, but we already have federal oversight of that in various ways.  But, ultimately, corporations are run by the board of directors.  The shareholders only get a say in picking the board and in a few situations.

[SteveRogers]

28th Amendment- The Electoral System Reform Amendment

Sec. 1. No person shall be elected to the Senate or to the House of Representatives without receiving an absolute majority of the votes cast in the determinative election for the seat in question. The legislature of each state shall proscribe a manner of election, which may consist of a single ballot or multiple successive ballots, that ensures that one candidate will receive such a majority of the vote.

Sec. 2. The 12th Amendment and Section 4 of the 20th Amendment are hereby repealed, and the electoral college is hereby abolished.

Sec. 3. The President and Vice President of the United States shall be elected by the people of the several states and of the District constituting the seat of government of the United States.

Votes shall be cast for pairs of candidates consisting of one candidate for President and one candidate for Vice President who have both consented to appear on the ballot together as a single ticket.

Each state shall conduct its own vote for the President and Vice President as the legislature of the state may direct, and each state shall be the judge of the elections and returns within its own jurisdiction, but Congress may by law establish uniform rules governing voter eligibility and access by candidates to the ballot.

After all votes have been cast, each state shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and all persons voted for as Vice-President and the total number of votes cast for each within the state's jurisdiction. The executive authority of each state or an officer otherwise designated by the legislature of the state shall certify these results and transmit them to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate.

Sec. 4.The Congress shall determine the time at which the voting shall take place and the day by which the states must certify and submit to congress their vote totals; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.

Sec. 5. The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates from the various states and the votes shall then be counted and totaled. The individual having the greatest number of votes for President shall be the President of the United States, if and only if such number be an absolute majority of all votes cast throughout the nation.

If no person have such majority, then a runoff election shall be held between the two persons having the greatest number of votes for President.

Sec. 6. Congress may choose the time for the runoff election and for the certification and submission to congress of results from the runoff election, but the runoff election shall take place before the time fixed for the beginning of the term for the President. Congress may by law provide for a case in which one or more candidates for President or Vice President shall have died between the time of the general election and the runoff election.

Sec. 7. Congress may by law provide a method for resolving ties among candidates in either the general election or the runoff election.

[SUSAN CRUSHBONE]

28th Amendment / The "Fck You, Fred Phelps" Amendment
1. Marriage shall be defined by all governmental bodies in the United States as a contract between two adult citizens of the same gender. Marriage shall carry no legal rights nor obligations.
2. Every adult citizen of the United States must be married.

[Randy Bobandy]

Rendering the Constitution null and void and calling for a new one to be written.

This.

[IceSpear]

Rendering the Constitution null and void and calling for a new one to be written.

This.

I don't think this would go the way you guys are hoping it would.

[Randy Bobandy]

Rendering the Constitution null and void and calling for a new one to be written.

This.

I don't think this would go the way you guys are hoping it would.

Unfortunately for us.

[7,052,770]

Easy: An amendment defining personhood at conception.

... you seriously think birth control pills and IVF should be constitutionally banned?  Really??

Remember, Mississippi rejected this 60-40. The Catholic Church rejected it. I don't think there's anywhere in the entire Western world this would go over well.

I assumed this was a "you were just elected with 90% of the vote" fantasy scenario.

Then only focus on the first line.  You seriously think birth control pills and IVF should be constitutionally banned?  Really??

That would depend upon how one defines "conception".   Medically, the term refers to fertilization followed by implantation.  Hence neither birth control pills not IVF would be banned by the proposed amendment since they both interact with human development before implantation occurs and thus before conception is completed.  Granted, some people use it as a shorthand for fertilization, but medically, after conception is the same as after implantation. </jargon>

There was a big public fight between OB-GYNs make when Mississippi was debating the Personhood Amendment in 2011.  Some of them argued that conception means implantation, others said it means fertilization.  Of course the proposed amendment said fertilization, so it was kind of a moot point, but some pro-life anti-26 doctors didn't like the pro-26 side throwing around the word "conception."

I think the moral of the story is that "conception" isn't a real medical term and just means whatever the agenda of the person saying it wants it to mean.

[Sol]

As a socialist, I've always had a bit of a hard time with this whole "scrap the constitution" stuff. Why can't it just be amended to get rid of the unsavory parts (and, tbh, the unsavory parts are not so unsavory as to throw the baby out with the bathwater).

[Antonio the Sixth]

As a socialist, I've always had a bit of a hard time with this whole "scrap the constitution" stuff. Why can't it just be amended to get rid of the unsavory parts (and, tbh, the unsavory parts are not so unsavory as to throw the baby out with the bathwater).

Because the due modifications are so conspicuous that it's just easier to start from scratch.

[Sol]

As a socialist, I've always had a bit of a hard time with this whole "scrap the constitution" stuff. Why can't it just be amended to get rid of the unsavory parts (and, tbh, the unsavory parts are not so unsavory as to throw the baby out with the bathwater).

Because the due modifications are so conspicuous that it's just easier to start from scratch.

But doing a whole new constitution wouldn't be a hassle either?

[Bandit3 the Worker]

I'd like to abolish the Electoral College. But I have an idea for an amendment that doesn't actually abolish it, but keeps the presidential election from being thrown into the House.

Under my amendment, if no candidate wins a majority of the Electoral College, then whoever wins the popular vote shall be the winner. The House shall have no say. None. And if the House doesn't like it, tough.

[Antonio the Sixth]

As a socialist, I've always had a bit of a hard time with this whole "scrap the constitution" stuff. Why can't it just be amended to get rid of the unsavory parts (and, tbh, the unsavory parts are not so unsavory as to throw the baby out with the bathwater).

Because the due modifications are so conspicuous that it's just easier to start from scratch.

But doing a whole new constitution wouldn't be a hassle either?

Yes, it would definitely be, mostly because a Constitutional Convention elected in these uber-polarized times would probably devolve into an absolute quagmire and fail miserably. Ideally, this should have been done either in 1945 (right after WW2 and FDR's transformative presidency), in 1965 (in the days of the Civil Rights / Great Society consensus), or in 1975 (right after Watergate). Any constitution written from the 80s onward would probably turn out pretty awful. So my support for a Constitutional Convention is mostly theoretical, in practice an Amendment would be good enough.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Section 1. No State shall make or enforce any law that is based on religion of any kind. While it is acknowledged that everyone has the right to free exercise of religion, this does not condone discrimination. No law shall be made based on the Christian doctrine, and no law shall be made that allows an employee, public or private, to refuse to serve a member of the public based on that person's sexual orientation because of that person's religious beliefs.

Section 2. In order to protect the rights of all to vote from the Republican Party's constant and unrelenting attacks on the Fifteenth Amendment to this Constitution, no State shall make or enforce any law that requires a picture ID to vote, or any other attempt to make voting lines longer, make it more difficult to vote, or any other law designed to prevent minorities, women, or any other group from voting because of the political party they tend to vote for. However, an IQ test must be passed in order to vote, and anyone holding radical right-wing views, including belief that the President was born in Kenya, George Zimmerman is a saint, reading Ayn Rand, having an intense, burning hatred of Hollywood, or viewing of Fox News shall be ineligible to vote for the rest of his or her life. The above list is not all-inclusive.

Section 3. No state shall make or enforce any law that bans or restricts abortion. Any such laws on the books presently, be it made by the States or the Federal Government, is repealed and considered null and void.

Section 4. Marriage in the United States shall consist of one man and one man, one woman and one woman, or one man and one woman. No couple blood-related closer than second cousins shall be eligible to marry, and only human beings over the age of 18 and legally capable of consenting shall be eligible to marry. Any gay couple shall be given equal treatment in matters of adoption, and religious organizations shall not refuse to place a child with a gay couple simply because the couple is gay.

Section 5. Citizens United is overturned, corporations are not people, and money is not free speech.

Section 6. The President of the United States shall serve a six-year term. No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than once, and any person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than three years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be considered to have served his term and therefore ineligible to hold the office again.

Section 7. Both Representatives and Senators shall serve two-year terms. No person shall serve more than one term in Congress for the duration of his or her lifetime.

Section 8. Congress shall set up a universal health care system that is funded by taxpayer dollars. Private insurance companies are hereby illegal, and no hospital may charge more than 15% of the actual cost to deliver the health care service, nor charge the patient any copay.

Section 9. Antonin Scalia, John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito shall be removed from the Supreme Court and replaced by Justices who will rule based on the Constitution and not the GOP Platform.

This is almost entirely ridiculous and arbitrary.

[© tweed]

Section 1. All Bills for raising Revenue or to draw money from the Treasury shall originate in the House of Representatives. Upon passage by the House of Representatives, the Senate shall have thirty session days to assent to the Bill, to propose Amendments, or to reject the Bill. If any such Bill shall not be considered by the Senate within twenty-eight Days after it shall have been presented to them, the Same shall be deemed to received assent, in like Manner as if they had approved it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be approved.

doesn't this create a perverse incentive for leadership of the Senate not to bring the bill to a floor vote if they'd like to see it passed?

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Section 1. No State shall make or enforce any law that is based on religion of any kind. While it is acknowledged that everyone has the right to free exercise of religion, this does not condone discrimination. No law shall be made based on the Christian doctrine, and no law shall be made that allows an employee, public or private, to refuse to serve a member of the public based on that person's sexual orientation because of that person's religious beliefs.

Section 2. In order to protect the rights of all to vote from the Republican Party's constant and unrelenting attacks on the Fifteenth Amendment to this Constitution, no State shall make or enforce any law that requires a picture ID to vote, or any other attempt to make voting lines longer, make it more difficult to vote, or any other law designed to prevent minorities, women, or any other group from voting because of the political party they tend to vote for. However, an IQ test must be passed in order to vote, and anyone holding radical right-wing views, including belief that the President was born in Kenya, George Zimmerman is a saint, reading Ayn Rand, having an intense, burning hatred of Hollywood, or viewing of Fox News shall be ineligible to vote for the rest of his or her life. The above list is not all-inclusive.

Section 3. No state shall make or enforce any law that bans or restricts abortion. Any such laws on the books presently, be it made by the States or the Federal Government, is repealed and considered null and void.

Section 4. Marriage in the United States shall consist of one man and one man, one woman and one woman, or one man and one woman. No couple blood-related closer than second cousins shall be eligible to marry, and only human beings over the age of 18 and legally capable of consenting shall be eligible to marry. Any gay couple shall be given equal treatment in matters of adoption, and religious organizations shall not refuse to place a child with a gay couple simply because the couple is gay.

Section 5. Citizens United is overturned, corporations are not people, and money is not free speech.

Section 6. The President of the United States shall serve a six-year term. No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than once, and any person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than three years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be considered to have served his term and therefore ineligible to hold the office again.

Section 7. Both Representatives and Senators shall serve two-year terms. No person shall serve more than one term in Congress for the duration of his or her lifetime.

Section 8. Congress shall set up a universal health care system that is funded by taxpayer dollars. Private insurance companies are hereby illegal, and no hospital may charge more than 15% of the actual cost to deliver the health care service, nor charge the patient any copay.

Section 9. Antonin Scalia, John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito shall be removed from the Supreme Court and replaced by Justices who will rule based on the Constitution and not the GOP Platform.

This may be the single worst idea ever proposed on this forum.

[Cassius]

Section 1. No State shall make or enforce any law that is based on religion of any kind. While it is acknowledged that everyone has the right to free exercise of religion, this does not condone discrimination. No law shall be made based on the Christian doctrine, and no law shall be made that allows an employee, public or private, to refuse to serve a member of the public based on that person's sexual orientation because of that person's religious beliefs.

Section 2. In order to protect the rights of all to vote from the Republican Party's constant and unrelenting attacks on the Fifteenth Amendment to this Constitution, no State shall make or enforce any law that requires a picture ID to vote, or any other attempt to make voting lines longer, make it more difficult to vote, or any other law designed to prevent minorities, women, or any other group from voting because of the political party they tend to vote for. However, an IQ test must be passed in order to vote, and anyone holding radical right-wing views, including belief that the President was born in Kenya, George Zimmerman is a saint, reading Ayn Rand, having an intense, burning hatred of Hollywood, or viewing of Fox News shall be ineligible to vote for the rest of his or her life. The above list is not all-inclusive.

Section 3. No state shall make or enforce any law that bans or restricts abortion. Any such laws on the books presently, be it made by the States or the Federal Government, is repealed and considered null and void.

Section 4. Marriage in the United States shall consist of one man and one man, one woman and one woman, or one man and one woman. No couple blood-related closer than second cousins shall be eligible to marry, and only human beings over the age of 18 and legally capable of consenting shall be eligible to marry. Any gay couple shall be given equal treatment in matters of adoption, and religious organizations shall not refuse to place a child with a gay couple simply because the couple is gay.

Section 5. Citizens United is overturned, corporations are not people, and money is not free speech.

Section 6. The President of the United States shall serve a six-year term. No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than once, and any person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than three years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be considered to have served his term and therefore ineligible to hold the office again.

Section 7. Both Representatives and Senators shall serve two-year terms. No person shall serve more than one term in Congress for the duration of his or her lifetime.

Section 8. Congress shall set up a universal health care system that is funded by taxpayer dollars. Private insurance companies are hereby illegal, and no hospital may charge more than 15% of the actual cost to deliver the health care service, nor charge the patient any copay.

Section 9. Antonin Scalia, John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito shall be removed from the Supreme Court and replaced by Justices who will rule based on the Constitution and not the GOP Platform.

This may be the single worst idea ever proposed on this forum.

Oh no my friend. It actually serves as ample proof that the left is by no means morally superior to the right.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

Section 1. No State shall make or enforce any law that is based on religion of any kind. While it is acknowledged that everyone has the right to free exercise of religion, this does not condone discrimination. No law shall be made based on the Christian doctrine, and no law shall be made that allows an employee, public or private, to refuse to serve a member of the public based on that person's sexual orientation because of that person's religious beliefs.

Section 2. In order to protect the rights of all to vote from the Republican Party's constant and unrelenting attacks on the Fifteenth Amendment to this Constitution, no State shall make or enforce any law that requires a picture ID to vote, or any other attempt to make voting lines longer, make it more difficult to vote, or any other law designed to prevent minorities, women, or any other group from voting because of the political party they tend to vote for. However, an IQ test must be passed in order to vote, and anyone holding radical right-wing views, including belief that the President was born in Kenya, George Zimmerman is a saint, reading Ayn Rand, having an intense, burning hatred of Hollywood, or viewing of Fox News shall be ineligible to vote for the rest of his or her life. The above list is not all-inclusive.

Section 3. No state shall make or enforce any law that bans or restricts abortion. Any such laws on the books presently, be it made by the States or the Federal Government, is repealed and considered null and void.

Section 4. Marriage in the United States shall consist of one man and one man, one woman and one woman, or one man and one woman. No couple blood-related closer than second cousins shall be eligible to marry, and only human beings over the age of 18 and legally capable of consenting shall be eligible to marry. Any gay couple shall be given equal treatment in matters of adoption, and religious organizations shall not refuse to place a child with a gay couple simply because the couple is gay.

Section 5. Citizens United is overturned, corporations are not people, and money is not free speech.

Section 6. The President of the United States shall serve a six-year term. No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than once, and any person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than three years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be considered to have served his term and therefore ineligible to hold the office again.

Section 7. Both Representatives and Senators shall serve two-year terms. No person shall serve more than one term in Congress for the duration of his or her lifetime.

Section 8. Congress shall set up a universal health care system that is funded by taxpayer dollars. Private insurance companies are hereby illegal, and no hospital may charge more than 15% of the actual cost to deliver the health care service, nor charge the patient any copay.

Section 9. Antonin Scalia, John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito shall be removed from the Supreme Court and replaced by Justices who will rule based on the Constitution and not the GOP Platform.

This may be the single worst idea ever proposed on this forum.

Oh no my friend. It actually serves as ample proof that the left is by no means morally superior to the right.

Wolverine22: Official standard-bearer of the left.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Section 1. All Bills for raising Revenue or to draw money from the Treasury shall originate in the House of Representatives. Upon passage by the House of Representatives, the Senate shall have thirty session days to assent to the Bill, to propose Amendments, or to reject the Bill. If any such Bill shall not be considered by the Senate within twenty-eight Days after it shall have been presented to them, the Same shall be deemed to received assent, in like Manner as if they had approved it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be approved.

doesn't this create a perverse incentive for leadership of the Senate not to bring the bill to a floor vote if they'd like to see it passed?

Perhaps, but I'm presuming the rules of the Senate would allow a majority of Senators to force a vote if they wanted to vote against it, thus it is more important to be able to keep the Senate from being able to effectively veto such a Bill by not having a vote at all.  I used much the same language as in the current Presentment Clause, save that I gave the Senate more time than the President has to decide before a Bill becomes law without his signature.

Even if it is an incentive, it only works if there is a three-fifths majority in favor of the Bill in the House.  It would be highly unusual for a party to have three-fifths of the House, the leadership of the Senate and yet be unable to pass a Bill in the Senate because of defections in the Senate.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

I'm also inclined to support an amendment allowing revenue bills to originate in the Senate.

I don't trust the House with anything.

[ElectionsGuy]

I'm also inclined to support an amendment allowing revenue bills to originate in the Senate.

I don't trust the House with anything.

What happens when republicans control the Senate and democrats control the House?

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Here's an amendment I'd like to add. It's modeled after a set of laws that are on the books in Massachusetts...

Section 1. The right of students to freedom of expression in public schools shall not be abridged, provided that such right shall not cause any disruption or disorder within the school. Freedom of expression shall include without limitation, the rights and responsibilities of students, collectively and individually, (a) to express their views through speech and symbols, (b) to write, publish and disseminate their views, (c) to assemble peaceably on school property for the purpose of expressing their opinions.

Section 2. School officials shall not abridge the rights of students as to personal dress and appearance except if such officials determine that such personal dress and appearance violate reasonable standards of health, safety and cleanliness.

Section 3. No student shall be suspended, expelled, or otherwise disciplined on account of marriage, pregnancy, parenthood or for conduct which is not connected with any school-sponsored activities.

[fartboy]

I would abolish the healthcare mandate if I could write an amendment but keep certain parts of Obamacare.