The Constitutional Cure

Want a one shot Constitutional cure for what ails America? Actually, I'm going to give you two choices.

The first suggestion is to revamp voting rights; overturn one man (or woman), one vote. We should have a vote that is weighted, perhaps a point for every tax dollar paid? So, if you pay $50,000 in federal taxes, your Presidential vote counts 50,000 points. If you pay $1,000, your vote is 1,000 points.

If you're among the 40 percent who remit no tax money, sorry.

In the formative decades of our nation, only the landowners voted. And, yes, only the male, white land owners, but my proposal does not discriminate according to race or gender. It's more of a pay to play system and, admittedly, there are details to work out, such as husbands and wives filing jointly splitting their points.

State and local elections would need their own voting qualifications, be it income, payroll, or property taxes.

Pardon me for forgetting who foretold hundreds of years ago that "a democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It only lasts until the people realize they can vote themselves a largesse from the public treasury."

I believe it was the French philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville who said that, one of his thoughtful observations circa 1830. But while not finding that exact remark at BrainyQuote-dot-com, Tocqueville indeed said something similar:

"The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money."

He also said:

"Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word, equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude."

Memo to Nancy Pelosi...and Barney Frank, Harry Reid, and the darling of ACORN, President Barrack Obama.

It was not the Frenchman but Thomas Jefferson who warned:

"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."

We have the technology to make this voting system function. Unfortunately, we have existing laws on which a lot of non-tax-paying voters can weigh in.

Constitutional amendments take three-fourths of the state legislatures, or three-fourths of the Congress to ratify. Afterward, they require Justices who don't pervert their intent, which is another tyranny to fear.

This formidable task is worth the pain and agony of pursuing. In fact, "we the people" should perfect our amending skills. Here is the second suggestion:

Disband Washington.

With today's technology, our supposed "representatives" can telecommute. This will keep them away from the parties and the backrooms, and enable them to serve at much lower tax-payer salaries. It will also keep them integrated into the communities that elected them.

In fact, we should put them into a virtual fish bowl, monitoring everything they do.

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Jefferson.

Now, if we can accomplish nothing else, print a copy of this, note your agreement and send it to your elected representatives.