The U.S. Constitution

If you could ammend the U.S. constitution, what would you want to see allowed or banned?

I'd probably want to simply clarify stuff that should already be protected under it, like the right to life. I'd probably have a few other things here and there but I don't feel the document severely lacking. We just don't like adhering to it.

I would change nothing. I think the problems with our government are the people who elect our representatives, and the people who do not vote.

Now see, one that I would want to see is an amendment forbidding private donations or funding of political campaigns. If you are on the ballot, you get x number of dollars for your campaign. The same amount as everyone else. It would help take our government out of the hands of the special interest groups like Big Oil and trial lawyers. It wouldn't solve the problem completely but it would be a big step. Money = Freedom of speech is bullshit. If it's in the Constitution it can't be unconstitutional.

And yes, Chris, much of the problem is with We the People.

Chris wrote:I would change nothing. I think the problems with our government are the people who elect our representatives, and the people who do not vote.

. The Constitution is fine. People just don't adhere to it. Or they only interpret what they want to interpret.

Alan Smithee wrote:Now see, one that I would want to see is an amendment forbidding private donations or funding of political campaigns. If you are on the ballot, you get x number of dollars for your campaign. The same amount as everyone else. It would help take our government out of the hands of the special interest groups like Big Oil and trial lawyers. It wouldn't solve the problem completely but it would be a big step. Money = Freedom of speech is bullshit. If it's in the Constitution it can't be unconstitutional.

And yes, Chris, much of the problem is with We the People.

We've effectively lost our democracy. Much of our government is controlled by monied interests.

Chris wrote:I would change nothing. I think the problems with our government are the people who elect our representatives, and the people who do not vote.

I agree with MOST of that. I don't think the constitution really needs to be changed. It functions adequetly as it's designed to and was written to be just specific enough, yet also open enough that its intepretation could be flexible to the changing times.

However, I don't think that people who do not vote necessarily represent a "problem" with our government. At best that could be a problem with the citizens of our government, but the government itself is structured in such a way that it will function properly whether the majority of people vote or not. In addition, just because people choose not to vote doesn't mean that they represent a problem. Perhaps they are content with the government with the way it is. Perhaps they realize that their individual vote doesn't count (because not every vote counts). Perhaps they have no interest in participating in secular politics. There are many reasons (including but not limited to pure lazyness) why people would not vote. But NOT voting isn't nearly as bad as VOTING from a selfish perspective, or voting without having all the facts (which is what most people do).