Ten Ideas to Improve Our System

 By Best in Moderation

There is a lot of talk right now about how to ensure the shift in political power happens correctly. I'll leave those discussions to another OP. 

Today I want to talk about fundamental improvements to our system to make abuses less rampant and accepted. Here are ten possible solutions to systemic problems; please feel free to add more or discuss them down below.

Ranked Choice Voting:

Local and state changes to our election process will make them more representative and open to more candidates from more parties. 

You rank your choices and if no candidate meets the 50% threshold, the lowest ranked is dropped and if that was your top selection your next selection is chosen. 

This way you can safely assume your second choice isn’t automatically a person you vehemently oppose.

Presidential Elections decided by popular vote:

The EC isn’t needed. We have the ability to speedily determine which candidate wins the most support from all Americans.

The EC further shifts power to less populated states, giving Wyoming 7 times the voting power of California (more voters needed per ECV in CA). 

Eliminating the EC will in no way take power from smaller states, as the President is the representative of the People of the USA, and should be chosen by them. 

Senatorial Rebalancing:

As of this day, 12% of the nation of the USA decides 50% of the US Senate. That is a massive imbalance of power.

This can be rectified while keeping the intention of the founders to not let less populated states get swept away by adding a single modifier on the state population.

All States retain 2 Senators, no matter how far below the national population average they are. 

Any state that has double the population average gains one senator for each doubling. 

This means California, Florida, Texas and New York would see an increase of Senators (4 for CA, 3 for Texas, 2 for Florida and 1 for New York)

Based on political trends this would make for an even distribution along partisan lines. It would also mean that 50% of the Senate would now be chosen by 24% of the US population. Still out of balance, but more in line with the vision of the Framers

FYI, when founded 50% of the Senate was chosen by 37% of the population.  

Supreme Court Term Limits

The SC has become too political. An appointment will be held up or pushed frantically due only to political considerations, and cannot be undone without severe disruption.

Putting a 16 year term limit on SC Justices gives them the freedom from political influence needed while also providing for a greater representation on the court as well as limited political posturing. 

Presidential Pardon Power Limitations

America was never intended to have a king. To give one person the ability to pardon any person, no matter the crime, is a kingly power. It should be restrained.

Leave most of it in place, but as with all Constitutional power have checks on it. A pardon must go through an advisory board. 

A pardon furthermore cannot go to relatives or direct associates of the President, not the President her or himself. This prevents obvious corruption.

Penalties for lying to the American people

If something can be proven to be objectively false, then repeating this false thing to the American public will be punishable by law for any elected official. 

One infraction will earn a documented warning including the statement, the correction, and the sources proving it incorrect.

Multiple infractions will result in fines and public censor. 

Repeated infraction on the same false statement will engage impeachment and removal procedures. 

Public Servants must be held to the utmost standard of truth or leave office.

Independent Accountability Office:

The DOJ falls under the Executive branch. The SC is selected by it. The GAO has no teeth. 

There needs to be an independent office whose sole function is to check the use of power by any elected official. 

This office will rotate leadership regularly, preventing any established “deep state” from forming. 

It will consist of investigatory officials as well as representatives from all political parties, to provide a check on one another. The latter will be elected by the people of the USA.

This Accountability Office will have the power to pursue legal investigations into and make charges against elected officials only. The charges made by them will need to be reviewed in a civilian court for any criminal proceedings; however any charge serious enough to warrant removal can trigger impeachment proceedings in the corresponding government office. 

Emoluments Guarantees:

Any President of the United States must set all financial interests into a blind trust controlled by an independent party.

Furthermore, all POTUS candidates must pass a national security clearance test. If they fail, they must work with DHS to meet the criteria before being allowed on any national ticket. No government funds or government institutions may help or include these candidates. It is theoretically possible to bypass this condition with a popular election candidate not belonging to any political party or structure. 

Foreign Influence Measures:

Any candidate caught soliciting help from or materials from foreign nations or accepting the help of a foreign nation in their bid for election will be immediately removed from consideration for public office. 

Congressional Pay tied to Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):

Congress will no longer be able to decide on their own pay raises. Instead, pay raises will correspond to specific performance indicators, including state of the economy, bills passed and public approval. 

Failure to meet these criteria will not result in immediate removal but no additional recompense will be given. Downturn of the US economy and jobs will result in lowering of Congressional pay.