(4) Make it possible for 60% of the states to call for impeachment of a renegade president or vice-president.
(5) Add minimum health care and education standards to rights in the Constitution outlined for each citizen.
(6) Add consumer, environmental, health, and labor protections to the Constitution.
(7) Define Human Rights to involve all corporate operations and franchises outside the USA affecting USA corporations, citizens others and their families-leading to more overseas prosecutions according to international and national law.
(8) Recognize International Court of Justice as pertains to all human and most civil rights.
(9) Allow U.S. citizens to take U.S. officials and others to the International Court of Justice.
PROCEDURAL REFORM
The constitutional procedures for making amendments and ratifying in the current constitution are four. These four pathways, according to one Vermont website are:
- Proposal by convention of states, ratification by state conventions (never used)
- Proposal by convention of states, ratification by state legislatures (never used)
- Proposal by Congress, ratification by state conventions (used once)
- Proposal by Congress, ratification by state legislatures (used all other times) [1]
This same website states: "It is interesting to note that at no point does the President have a role in the formal amendment process (though he would be free to make his opinion known). He cannot veto an amendment proposal, nor a ratification."[2] This means that the executive branch is not needed at all for the constitution to be amended. In the days of Bush and Cheney this is good news indeed! The people, their states, and their state representatives can bypass the currently extremely obstructive branch to regain and enhance our freedoms and justice.Further, since the current U.S. Constitution doesn't make clear how to exactly hold a convention of states, there is no clear precedent to keep reformers from calling for such a convention of states starting today. In other words, we can NOW define how this process is done if we get started sooner than any other group in calling out and carrying out such a series of conventions, i.e. starting in August 2007.Alternatively, we progressives can try to get rid of congressional roadblocks in the upcoming elections and get started by voting out those candidates who oppose the convention and the convention's demands. Then, in 2009, we could proceed with the time-worn procedure of making first a proposal in congress which would be followed by votes from state legislature or choose the less-used path of getting state level constitutional conventions to move towards ratification.The internet and other new communication technologies can make it easier than in any prior period in American history to organize such conventions.It will be an uphill battle for us in America to reform the constitution and get better governance in this first decade of the 21st Century because currently � or the U.S. States have to support ratification either through convention process or through the state level ratification process. However, we could seek first to amend the ratification process at an early stage in a progressive constitutional amendment process by changing amendment passage to a lower hurdle of 2/3(or even 3/5 plus 1) majority of states. JOIN THE CALL FOR CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMThere are many sites on the web currently calling for the constitutional renewal and the reforms outlined above are simply a starting point for calling for immediately STATE COVENTIONS by all progressives in America. One such web site on the Constitution and its role in America today is also unhappy with the status quo. The site is run by the Constitution Society, which states the following rationale for its existence: "This organization was founded in response to the growing concern that noncompliance with the Constitution of the United States of America and most state constitutions is creating a crisis of legitimacy that threatens freedom and liberty." [3]Other sites deal with particular amendments, such as the amendment to abolish the electoral college at the National Popular Vote's web page: http://www.nationalpopularvote.com/index.phpA similar site is run by Recapture Freedom's site: http://www.recapturefreedom.com/index.htm also focuses on a few other particular amendments.Many of the amendments floating around on the web these days are conservative-like the "English-Only Amendment". However, other amendments, like the gay rights one are definitely not so conservative. PROPOSAL TO PROGRESSIVESAs progressives and reformers, I propose that in the next two weeks we vet the basic core amendments that we as a group would like to see put into our constitution. Then we need to prepare to take the internet and public officials by storm and get constitutional conventions called by January 2007 in all states in order to take our campaign not to just presidential politics but to the state level congressional sessions leading up to the 2008 November elections. We should try to get some conventions rolling throughout this winter, spring, summer and autumn through 2009. NOTES[1] Constitutional Amendments, http://www.usconstitution.net/constam.html[2] Ibid.[3] Constitution Society, http://www.constitution.org/ Next Page 1 | 2 | 3
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