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Quote by: SteveA If you had to make a few simple changes to the operation of government, what would they be?
(Preferably something enduring, not just a few laws but something to the underlying fabric that would hopefully have wide and beneficial effects)
My list would be:
1) Supermajority voting requirements to add laws and the ability of a minority to repeal them. (For example 75%-80%+ to pass a law and 25-30% to repeal a law). The more unanimously agreed upon the laws are, the fewer conflicts over, and resources used by government. (Our courts use this principle already to protect minorities by requiring a unanimous verdict of 12 people).
2) A fixed % flat tax rate for everyone, with unspent resources returned to everyone without means testing or other discrimination. (For example, a 15% flat tax, that's unincreasable. Everyone, including Bill Gates, gets a welfare check that is just what money is left over after government spends its share out of this, so everyone has an incentive to monitor government spending and keep costs low).
3) Votes by representatives are based upon the number of people who support them. You can place your vote behind any representative you desire and be allowed to change who you support during their term. (Instead of having a winner takes all system, where a 2 party system tends to rule, if you allowed people for example to pick their favorite Congressional representative and put their vote behind them, then each Senator could have a differing number of votes. This would not only give individuals a greater ability to reflect their desires, even if their candidate lost an election, but also give much more incentives to representatives to not renege on campaign promises, because their support could literally vanish - I'd put my vote behind Ron Paul).
Any other possibilities? |
At little different:
(1) impeach Bush and Cheney;
(2) get rid of the Electoral College, use popular vote to elect the president;
(3) explore alternate voting schemes;
(4) revive Congress, which has surrendered too much power to the presidency.