If you were to create a 28th amendment.

[bigdaddy]

Congress can not benefit from it's own laws, they have to follow the same rules as everyone else.

Shocking I know, but they have their own retirement plans, own health care, and can vote themselves raises. Also they would have to work 5 days a week, 50 weeks a year just like everyone else. None of this bullshit where they only work 115 days a year. Most people don't even have that many days off a year.

Also make elections a nation thing and not vary per state, the popular vote is what matters and everyone votes at the same time, so like 9am to 11pm Eastern and 6am-8pm Pacific. It would also be a federal holiday where more people get the day off.

 

[T'Girl]

Included would also be a way for Congress to demand an end to military actions

Congress already has this, they control the purse, if congress defunds military action that would force a withdrawl.

Of course they would first have to grow the balls to actually do it.

 

[Venardhi]

Technically they an cut funding, but the president doesn't have to withdraw. I think it was T. Roosevelt that threatened to send the entire Navy to the Indian Ocean if they cut him off.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Line-item veto.

 

[Saturn0660]

I don't believe in a free higher education unless it a degree in the medical or science field to save lives. They must get high grades in High School and their freshman year at college or medical school to obtain this.

That would never work unless ALL high schools graded the same and were at the same level of quality. Inner city school pretty much can't complete with the "suburbs". Sad, but the truth.

 

[Captain Kathryn]

I don't believe in a free higher education unless it a degree in the medical or science field to save lives. They must get high grades in High School and their freshman year at college or medical school to obtain this.

Of course it would be based on grades and one should apply to a college or university as they currently do.

My issue is currently...I do not think that obtaining a Masters or Doctorate degree should be limited only to persons who have the extra money to put out after already putting out so much for their undergrad.

I had a 3.8 GPA in both of my undergrad degrees (Literature was one, Anthropology another). In order to obtain a Masters in Anthropology (which I would qualify for based on grades) or even going back to school for a different field of study would currently be an impossibility for me. I already owe over 70k in student loans and have massive bills for other things (rent, car, insurance, etc.).

Therefore, even though I would gladly keep my 9-hour day, steady job and go to grad school at night and even though I am certain that I could go do it and be successful at it, I cannot do it because of monetary restraints. I think that is very sad...to live in a place where one wants to learn and desires to learn, but is forced not to because of money.

I understand the reason why we "can't" have it. But, I still think it is very sad.

 

[Venardhi]

More importantly it just isn't something that the constitution should be changed for. The constitution protects the people from the government and outlines how the government functions. It is more about what the government can't do rather than what it must do. Higher education needs an overhaul, but that level isn't the place to do it. Look at what Oregon did just recently as an example of where this kind of reform should and will be coming from.

 

[B.J.]

Some interesting ideas in this thread, some I agree with, and some I don't.

One thing I'd like to see (although I don't think it needs an amendment, just legislation), is a limit on the amount of time politicians are allowed to campaign. It seems that we see political ads and campaign tours sometimes around two *years* before the actual election! Most of these politicians are supposed to be doing the job that we already elected them for, instead of running around saying what they will do in the future. Personally, I think campaigning should be limited at most to around 3 or 4 months before the election, but that's just my own gut feel.

Any ideas how long campaigning lasted historically, especially compared to now?

 

[farmkid]

My issue is currently...I do not think that obtaining a Masters or Doctorate degree should be limited only to persons who have the extra money to put out after already putting out so much for their undergrad.

That cost depends on the field. In many scientific fields, graduate students have normally have their tuition paid by their lab or by the department in return for student teaching, and get a stipend to live on. In my graduate program, for example, no one paid tuition out of their own pocket and everyone got about $20-25K/year to live on. Some stipends were paid from grant money and those in labs with limited funds had to TA for it.

Any ideas how long campaigning lasted historically, especially compared to now?

Much shorter. Kennedy announced his intention to run for President in January 1960, only about 1 year before he was inaugurated. Until the last few election cycles, the Presidential election never really got underway until shortly before the first primaries/caucuses.

 

[iguana_tonante]

3. Formation of a three party system instead of the current two party system.

Three party systems don't work very well. In fact, they work horribly: in most cases, the three party position themselves in a rightwing-centrist-leftwing arrangement, which means that the centrist party, no matter how small, ends up dictating the agenda for the whole country. (Recent conspicuous exception, the British Lib Dem, which ended playing bottoms with the Tories.)

I already owe over 70k in student loans

Holy shit. No matter how many times I see them, US students fees frightens me to death.

 

[RoJoHen]

I already owe over 70k in student loans

Holy shit. No matter how many times I see them, US students fees frightens me to death.

Yeah, it's obnoxious how much this crap costs. I had a lot of help from my parents, who basically paid most of my tuition, and I still have over 20K in student loan debt, five years after I graduated.

I can qualify for all those student loans, but I can't qualify for a damn mortgage. We have a whole generation of people who won't be able to be homeowners because they've already acquired too much debt from going to school.

I don't necessarily think higher education should be free, but I do think there need to be laws in place limiting how much a school can charge.

 

[T'Girl]

Line-item veto.

Not just the President, I would like to see senators and representatives have a version of it too.

They could go through a final omnibus spending bill and vote yes or no on each budget item. Important stuff goes through, leave behind the "fluff."

 

[publiusr]

The 28th Amendment would be for NASA's budget to be increased to 2.5% of the National budget, and that only a 100% no vote from the House and Senate could ever decrease NASA's budget, but it would only take 1/4 vote in either House or Senate to automatically increase NASA's budget, with no Presidential signature needed.

 

[RandyS]

I'll depart from the usual abolish the income tax.

Not abolish it. Just redirect it so that the rich carry the load.

It makes sense. They're the ones with the money, after all.

Oh, wait. I said "It makes sense". It'll NEVER happen.

 

[Lindley]

My issue is currently...I do not think that obtaining a Masters or Doctorate degree should be limited only to persons who have the extra money to put out after already putting out so much for their undergrad.

I had a 3.8 GPA in both of my undergrad degrees (Literature was one, Anthropology another). In order to obtain a Masters in Anthropology (which I would qualify for based on grades) or even going back to school for a different field of study would currently be an impossibility for me. I already owe over 70k in student loans and have massive bills for other things (rent, car, insurance, etc.).

Therefore, even though I would gladly keep my 9-hour day, steady job and go to grad school at night and even though I am certain that I could go do it and be successful at it, I cannot do it because of monetary restraints.

Many employers will reimburse tuition for classes or advanced degrees relating to the field of employment. Yours does not?

 

[Captain Kathryn]

My issue is currently...I do not think that obtaining a Masters or Doctorate degree should be limited only to persons who have the extra money to put out after already putting out so much for their undergrad.

I had a 3.8 GPA in both of my undergrad degrees (Literature was one, Anthropology another). In order to obtain a Masters in Anthropology (which I would qualify for based on grades) or even going back to school for a different field of study would currently be an impossibility for me. I already owe over 70k in student loans and have massive bills for other things (rent, car, insurance, etc.).

Therefore, even though I would gladly keep my 9-hour day, steady job and go to grad school at night and even though I am certain that I could go do it and be successful at it, I cannot do it because of monetary restraints.

Many employers will reimburse tuition for classes or advanced degrees relating to the field of employment. Yours does not?

Nope, not even if I did want to go for something related to my current occupation.

I currently work in the gaming industry (online games), but I want to either get my Masters in Anthropology (in that field, you need your masters OR your doctorate to do any kind of work in the field) OR I want to go for Computer Science / Web Design. My company does not sponsor any further education nor do my parents or I have money to put out for it. My parents apparently paid for "half" of my undergrad, yet I still owe an obscene amount of money. My mother died last year so I am currently paying for her loan as well. Combine that with normal bills, there is nothing left to spare for me to take any classes.

I am not in the pay bracket that would allow me to go for free or even with a lot of aid. Therefore, I do not make enough money to go back, yet I make too much to be considered for aid.

Not everyone's parents are rich...not everyone even has both parents around to pay for anything. I think a lot of people who have wealthy parents take that for granted. It's not just hard work getting your grad degrees...sometimes even when you WANT to do the work, you are unable because of financial reasons and I think that is very sad. I think qualifying for a grad program should be based first and foremost on grades/qualification/passion and not how much money you have. I feel as though it's restricted to those of a certain pay bracket.

Anyway, this has nothing really to do with the Constitution unless you consider higher education to be a fundamental right granted to all citizens.

 

[RoJoHen]

Anyway, this has nothing really to do with the Constitution unless you consider higher education to be a fundamental right granted to all citizens.

That is a question worth asking, I think. Once upon a time, only select people went off and got college degrees. Now we live in a time where a college degree is expected of us. If the job market and economy requires that we have higher education, shouldn't we then be entitled to it at a much more reasonable cost?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

FairTax.

 

[Venardhi]

Just like with the budget, I generally feel that taxes are a matter of policy better left to the current government and not set by the constitution, due to the changes in need and priority at any given time. If you want some kind of limit on exactly what can be taxed or who can do the taxing, that is valid but it should be presented as such rather than as some specific plan.

 

[Captain Ice]

Kathryn, do you know that being enrolled in grad level courses qualifies you for a deferment on those student loans? Also, what does the scholarship situation look like in the field where you want the advanced degree?