How the legislation process should work

I'm new at this so forgive me my ignorance and naivete but it appears that the Legislative Branch spends too much time in party fighting, in campaigning for their next stint and in wasting time.  I have worked with and sat on several boards, however, and it is tempting to forget the purpose of any public body and become just a group of personalities who can't seem to get anything done, homo sapiens being homo sapiens, especially now that they get air time to spew their every opinion and fantasy with cameras and microphones in their face every day.  Aren't We Special.

Let's get to work.

Every law enacted should have a clearly stated aim; should include in its test all arguments for and against and a test against the preamble of the Constitution:

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

If it doesn't meet on of those very broad aims, it's unnecessary and should be a state matter.

In addition, all laws are dated and it should be the work of Congress to review, revise, update and remove all laws on a scheduled basis.  That will keep them busy.

Article I. Section 6. of our Constitution addresses the compensation of Congress but, other than the Senate's sole responsibility in impeachments, nothing, before Section 6 addresses the job of Congress until after Section 6.  That is poor personnel practice.  You do not discuss compensation before definition the job.  It is, after all job.  A variety of types of legislation, imagined by the founding fathers, is outlined in Sections 8 and 9 but no where is there a clear definition of the actual work of the Legislative Branch, particularly as it applies to the clear aims of the Preamble, as shown above.  Therefore, I propose the following Constitution amendment:

Proposed Amendment:  It shall be the job and function of the Legislative Branch to enact such laws are determined useful in satisfying the aims of the Preamble of our Constitution which will preface each resolution and proposal.  In addition, it shall be the function of the Legislative Branch to review, revise, update and/or remove any laws previously enacted, on a scheduled basis.  Included in the text of each proposed legislation will be the justification of that proposal as it applies to the aims of our Constitution.  Also included, will be a proposed period of time for the first and subsequent reviews.

Let's be clear, the founding fathers were predominantly aristocrats.  They did not envision a Boebert nor a Santos being in office.  They did not envision many things.  That assessment is obviously biased and I am in the process of reading at least some biographical information about each of the founding fathers and will, hopefully, include a brief biographical sketch of each in the Resources.

That's it for now....

No parties

I'm not interested in parties.  Some new ones are emerging.  Too bad.  Political parties are dividing us.-

I'm also not interested in individuals, in personalities; they also divide us.

We had better start looking at what our problems are and whandarat the solutions might be.  As long as we focus our attention on parties and on personalities; we're not looking at our problems and solutions.

Our problems:

The economy - it's askew, top heavy.  We have a handful of powerful, disgustingly wealthy people who are influencing the supposed representatives of ALL of us.  That has to stop.  Passing legislation is not the answer, government contracts may be.  By setting criteria of government contracts intelligently, we can blunt the influence of the super rich.

Stupidity and incompetence - it's everywhere.  We  have to beef up our education in this country.  Set standards; what everyone should know and what everybody should be able to do.  Again, not legislation but standards that are required for support from the federal level.

Lack of consequences - we have become a supremely permissive society.  We don't think a former president should be indicted let alone convicted - mistake.  A president is a PUBLIC SERVANT - and should be most severely dealt with, of all criminals.

I am running - in this little exercise - as an absolutely Independent.  I have no backing.  I have no money.  I am a citizen with family history going back to pre-Revolution colonial New York.  I have every right to run - just an exercise.

The aims of government, according to Our Constitution are:

• to form a more perfect Union, 
• establish Justice, 
• insure domestic Tranquility, 
• provide for the common defence, 
• promote the general Welfare, 
• and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.

Despite the antiquated misspelling of defense, it's clear what the intent of the drafters of the Constitution had in mind.

Since then, over time, our government has been infested with profiteers who seek to gain, for themselves, against the American people; who have little or no intent to serve, but only to gain, for themselves.  We have to work - hard - against this.

Every oath of office should repeat these aims and annual reports must be required on how everyone and every agency is working toward these basic goals.  Some of you may not remember but presidents used to be on the radio and on television answering the question of how well they were meeting these goals.

Certainly neither the Democrats, nor the Republicans are working to form a more perfect Union; rather, they are working hard to discredit each other in order to get reelected to serve their financial supporters.  It's become criminal.  It's the same with each of these aims.  Who's working toward these aims.

There are, fortunately, a few decent human beings in government and they are usually those who don't get that much press because they are working to do what they were elected to do, fulfill those aims of the Constitution, not perpetually campaigning for the next election or fight with "the other side".

Further definition of what I believe these aims mean in detail in the future.

More Stances

What I believe and feel and what I would try to do, if I were President.

 I'm for term limits.  Career politicians were never conceived of.  Of course, neither was the complexity of modern life but career government employees pretty much take care of that anyway.  And, I mean limits, two terms, consecutively or otherwise.  8 years to do damage or good is enough.  The complexity of modern life make it tempting to extend that so "experienced" people continue their work but let's resist that temptation.

I'm OK with a death penalty as long as it's lethal injection.  But, its up to states, unless it's a federal offense.

I have a complete and comprehensive welfare plan that does more but is for a limited time with a lot of controls.  I was a single mother from day one with zero child support ever.  I was on welfare for about 6 months when my son was an infant and I went back to work before he was weaned.

We need to get back to standards: 

• Standards of civil behavior.
• Standards of quality for just about everything.
• Educational standards.
• Work standards.

So many things....

Exacting economic control depends on government standards and regulations.  You have freedom to do business but no assistance without meeting standards and regulations; that includes licensing, etc.

I insist on separation of church and state.

Public, especially elected officials may NOT serve on national anything unless they provide a clear, easy means of feedback and communication from THE PUBLIC.

ALL Executive Branch Departments will be required to present 2 televised reports to The American People a year:  The first to present the mission, goals and plans for the coming year; the second to report on the outcome of those missions, goals and plans.

The pay of ALL elected officials will be, by law, voted on at each election.

ALL government contracts will require of any proposed contractor:

• a current (reviewed and updated in the past 3 years) personnel manual that is available to all employees.
• a current (annually reviewed and revised) pay scale for all classes of employees, including executive class.
• an acceptable gap between classes of employees to be decided among congress and Fair Labor Standards Board.
• Fair Labor Standards will be returned to humane standards and reviewed periodically.
• standards for products and services will be enforced.

Election standards, regulations and laws will be reviewed and, hopefully, improved.  Federal elections basics will be paid for from the General Fund.  Certain regulations will govern campaign activities not covered in that budget in an effort to control excess "dark money" in the election process.

All agencies will develop standards and criteria for their area of activity.  Standards will be available on departmental web sites.  They are not mandates, nor laws, however, federal funds will not be given to those who do not meet them.

I am for elected suicide.  A person's life is the one true thing we own; it's nobody's business when we leave.

I think each person, at birth, has the right to have their DNA sequenced and registered as proof of their existence and their ownership of that DNA and life. This is based on a televised documentary where a corporation obtained the rights to the DNA of a person with a rare disease and refused to pay for the right with free treatment with drugs obtained from that DNA.  Should never have happened.

I am against gender reassignment surgery before the age of majority.

I am against discrimination of any kind in any circumstance.

Publicly funded agencies, services, etc. will not change their policies, hours, content, fees, activities, etc. based on the objection of individuals served.  If someone is offended by something, input will be collected and, if enough evidence of a problem exists, a PUBLIC hearing will be conducted to determine an outcome which may include the removal of public funding and shutting down service to everyone.  In the meantime, people who are offended can find those services elsewhere.

It expected that actions have consequences and that everyone will accept the consequences for their actions.  Everyone does not behave responsibly and there must be consequences.

To be a patriot means to accept the laws of the country you live in, receive services and protection from but work to improve by example, by voting, by participating locally and up through the various levels of government.

Paying taxes is one way each citizen contributes to the vast array of services and protections all our levels of government provide:  roads, sidewalks, streetlights, sewers, water, police, fire, schools, libraries, railroads, the military, and more.  We don't receive all the services, all the time, but jointly, we get more than we pay.

We each have our own perception of the world, our way of doing things, our own tastes, our own opinions.  Sometimes we forget that everyone has their own as well and it's none of our business.

ALL life is sacred.  The energy of life is eternal but physical life is finite.

War is wasteful and stupid but, unhappily, sometimes unavoidable.

The Power of Government

 There's much that I should post before this but I'll get to those things and this is on my mind right now and may need editing later....

One of the things that governments, at all levels can so to achieve a result it feels is in the best interest of the greater good, is a system of incentives and disincentives; in effect bribes and punishments.  We do it with our children all the time, mostly without thinking.  "If you keep your room clean for a week, we'll go ...." (add whatever reward you want here)  Or, "If you don't clean up your room, you can't..." (add your favorite threat here.)

We get tax exemptions for the number of children we have.  Is that not an incentive to have children?  We have deductions of the interest on our mortgages.  Is that not an incentive to buy a house? We fine corporations for polluting.  Is that not a disincentive for polluting?  Probably not enough of one since they still do it.

I think it's a very effective way of getting people to move in the direction you want.  Yes, my friends, manipulation is human nature.

It's certainly a method I would use.  Being a citizen of a country, a member of a society, means you have to conform, to a degree with, what I think, some general norms and behaviors.  The Constitution lays out some very general norms, others are codified in statutes, laws and regulations.

So, if I were President, there are incentives and disincentives I would propose.  Some would be different than those now existing.