Our Founding Fathers were brilliant.  They conceived a government of distributed power at the Federal level to ensure that no single entity would hold supreme control over our nation, and balanced the authority of the Federal government against the needs of the individual States.  These concepts were unique at the time and have generally withstood the test of time.  

These were men of vision who had the interests of the entire nation at heart.  Unfortunately, as time passed and the nation increased in size and complexity, a growing number of people came into government who were seduced more by power, partisanship, and personal legacy than patriotism and statesmanship. Don’t misunderstand me – there are still many dedicated, capable, and well-meaning officials at all levels of our government today, but there are also those who discard the needs of the nation as a whole, or who wish to corrupt the balance of power that was so carefully crafted by our forefathers. 

Any person who has been chosen to serve this diverse nation on any level must not have these failings, and must be grounded with an abiding morality to do what is right, not just what is politically expedient or self-serving. If we love this country and its fundamental principles, we would do well to remove the impediments that have forced us to become a dysfunctional democracy.  Below are some actions that would help.  We only need the will to execute them. 

 

Set Term Limits for All Members of Federal and State Congresses

Without this constraint, we are saddled with the career politicians that we have today.  This is particularly harmful to a democracy because such representatives often lose touch with the people they are supposed to represent.  Any number of them will want to preserve their career, so they will focus on their next election and the funding needed to achieve that re-election.  These activities take them away from doing the business of the People.  They convince themselves that they need to be re-elected so that they can continue their “good and important work;” but in the process, they become vulnerable to powerful people whose money they need to support their re-election campaigns.  As a result, they can be manipulated by these powerful people to support legislation that is not necessarily good for their constituency or the nation at large. 

I realize that term limits will remove some luminary congressmen whose presence in the legislature will likely only benefit the country no matter how long they stay.  But the same can be said about a dynamic President, yet that office has had term limits for well over half a century.  In addition, I suggest that term limits will have the added benefit of refreshing the views in Washington and potentially eliminating some of its legislative gridlock. 

Because our nation is large and robust, finding willing and competent replacements for the exiting congressmen should not be a significant problem.  And by eliminating career politicians, we will likely reduce the possibility of manipulation by the powerful and the wealthy on our representatives, and strengthen the principal tenant of our democracy – that ultimate power rests with the people of the nation, not the select few. 

Therefore, at least with regard to the U.S. Congress, we should limit the terms of its members to two terms for Senators (12 years total) and three terms for Representatives (6 years total).  These limits should allow each member to effect necessary changes consistent with the wishes for their constituency, without creating a dynasty for each member’s existence.  (Note that the above limits give less time in Congress to the Representatives compared to the Senators.  This is because the Senators represent their entire state, whereas the Representatives represent smaller, more localized portions of a given state.  Since people’s needs and values tend to change at the local level first, it is appropriate that Representatives be replaced more frequently to ensure better alignment with their constituency.) 

 

Make It a Felony To Give Money, Gifts, or Persuasive Incentives to Anyone Holding a Public Office of Authority

This mandate should apply to all levels of government (federal, state, and local) and should be enforced without exception.  One of the adages of honest governance is that even the appearance of impropriety must be avoided.  People are not supposed to get gifts of any kind for doing their jobs, except maybe from their supervisors or internal coworkers to show appreciation for a job well done.  When someone from the outside offers money or gifts to a public servant (except in the case of very small, low-value tokens), there is most certainly the appearance of impropriety, if not outright bribery. 

There is nothing wrong with trying to persuade a public official toward a particular point of view through words of reason, compelling documentation, and honest media.  That is the role of lobbyists who are being paid to represent the view of various industries and special interests.  In fact, I would argue that this function is essential to ensure that the public official considers all sides of a given issue – but that is where it stops.   

 

Remove the Ability To Redistrict (i.e., Gerrymander) as a Means of Determining Representation

Gerrymandering is a purely political device whereby the political party in power takes the map of their voting districts and redraws the lines of the districts to give their party a distinct advantage during election time.  For example, by redrawing the district lines any way they want, they can corral the opposing party’s constituents into one or two oddly shaped districts and ensure that the remaining districts contain more of their constituents than those from the opposing party.  The illustration below from WHQR Public Media (Wilmington, DE) shows how this can be done:

As ridiculous and dishonest as this practice is, only 17 states have made gerrymandering illegal.  The remaining 33 states allow it and/or ignore it.  To make matters worse, the U.S. Supreme Court has provided no help on this matter.  According to an article by the American Bar Association (ABA) on July 26, 2023:  “…gerrymandering is the one area of the law where the [Supreme] Court itself acknowledges that state and local officials are regularly violating the Constitution, but it has refused to allow any federal judicial remedy… in this one field, there is literally no ‘rule of law’ because the Constitution can be violated with no consequences.”

Let’s be clear – Gerrymandering is a threat to our democracy.  It essentially prevents the voters from choosing their desired representatives and empowers the politicians to do the choosing for them.

The lines of the districts within our states should be fixed, have regular borders, and remain unchanged, regardless of the political party that is in power at any given time.  The American people have the right to vote without manipulation.

 

Work To Align the Needs of Government Representatives with the Needs of Their Constituents

To serve in a position of authority is a complex task, requiring strong communication skills, the education to understand multifaceted issues, sound judgement, and honest execution.  Those who serve in this capacity are certainly entitled to a good salary, rent-free office space near their legislative bodies, a reasonable travel budget to visit their constituents, access to free parking when traveling on official business, and a respectable savings plan for retirement purposes.  These are the necessary elements for our representatives to function efficiently in their positions, even if these benefits are far greater than those of some of their constituents. 

What is not acceptable, however, is to gold-plate their benefits such that the representatives become desensitized to the needs of their constituents and less likely to fervently represent them on issues that concern them.  For example, the health care benefits of our U.S. Congressmen are far better than that of the vast majority of their constituents.  According to “Open the Book,” a website dedicated to transparency in government, Congressional members “… choose a gold-level Obamacare policy and receive federal subsidies that cover 72 percent of the cost of the premiums … They also have access to “free or low-cost care” through the Office of the Attending Physician as well as ‘free medical outpatient care at military facilities’ in the D.C. area.”  With benefits like these, how likely is it that they will fully appreciate the angst many citizens go through as they see their healthcare benefits grow in cost year after year, sometimes having to decide whether they should start rationing their use of a drug or abandoning it altogether?

Another example stems from the fact that Congress creates our laws and holds the nation’s purse strings.  With this power, they can and have created an environment where they are insulated from various legal issues.  Specifically, they have appropriated a fund to bail themselves out of #MeToo scrutiny as well as other troubles.  Settlements paid out from this fund alone are in the millions.  Actions like these set a bad precedence, since they lean toward making our elected officials above the law in some instances – and no one, especially our civil servants, is above the law in a free country. 

 

Fund All Major Federal and State Elections using Federal and State Taxes

This recommendation is an attempt to level the playing field for the major candidates who are on the final ballot before an election.  It will ensure that we, the citizens, are given equal exposure to each candidate, without being over-saturated by one candidate because he/she has more money to spend and can claim more air time or media coverage. 

Let me clarify this recommendation a bit more.  By major elections I mean those that vote into office the U.S. President/ Vice President, all U.S. Senators, all State Governors and all State Senators.  The Federal officials should be funded by Federal tax dollars; the State officials should be funded by State tax dollars and by the local districts that comprise their constituents.  By final ballot I mean the actual chosen candidates after any caucuses and conventions have occurred.  By funding I mean the dollars that are allocated to each of these candidates to communicate their platform, position, and views to the American people, regardless of what media is used.  Note that this funding should be separate from any money that may be used for collective candidate debates and the like.        

By giving each candidate the same budget to conduct their individual campaigns, no single candidate can spend more than another.  This restriction will disable the financial influence of Political Action Committees (PACs) and give the American people a more balanced picture of each candidate’s qualifications without excessive hype.  For the plan to work well, however, funds must be carefully controlled and expenditures carefully monitored to ensure fairness.  This, of course, would not be an easy task.

 

Hold All Citizens Accountable for Misusing the Freedoms Granted to Us by the Bill of Rights

We need to recognize that freedom requires responsible behavior.  Freedom can never be a “free for all,” enabling a person to say anything he wants (e.g., maliciously lie, defame, or bully a person) or print anything he wants (e.g., with the intent to undermine a person or entity without cause, evidence, or justification). While these restrictions on freedom are well understood and already codified into our system of government, holding people accountable for damaging behavior is not.  Just look at how misinformation has been used to confuse the population and how more and more media platforms are being created whose main intent is to present speculation, falsehoods, and political biases as facts.  We need to do a better job holding people accountable for their actions and ensuring that malicious behavior is swiftly dealt with through the use of severe penalties. 

I may add more items to this list as time passes; but for now, this is a good start.