College Profs: 'We Need a New Constitution' Writing for Salon.com, two college professors from Louisiana State University emphatically state, "We need a new Constitution."
Andrew Burstein and Nancy Isenberg are both professors of history and they list many reasons why the feel that "it's time to start over from scratch."
"Washington is drowning in lobbyist money and it has swamped the public good. It's time to start over from scratch," begins the article. "Though they haven’t articulated it as such, Americans want a new constitution that actually does what the original Constitution was supposed to do: serve the public good."
Not only are they calling for a new Constitution, but a "more sensible, and decidedly just Constitution." One that would not give "special perks" to the wealthy or "throw crumbs" at the poor. One that would "improve the quality of life across the country." They suggest a preamble and the following sentence in all caps: "TO CALL ITSELF A REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY, A NATION MUST BE REASONABLE AND EQUITABLE IN THE DIVISION OF POWER."
So what does this look like? In the form of bullet points, here is a run down of some of the suggestions:
It would limit the number of terms a representative or senator could serve, so as to introduce fresh blood from a pool of more visible talent
Reform the debased Supreme Court by reducing tenure from life to 10 years
No more fundraising. Period.
Partisan-directed state legislatures would once and for all be denied the power to gerrymander districts
Use tax dollars exclusively to fund national political campaigns
One hundred percent public funding, and a designated campaign season extending months, not years.
Attend first to the poor (rural and urban alike), those who were born with the fewest opportunities to advance in our highly competitive society - Don’t treat poor people–white, black, Hispanic, Native American–as waste people
Give everyone a boost, but especially those from traditionally underprivileged areas
Make college affordable
Institute a two-year national service commitment, allowing students to obtain college admission at the end of high school–deferred acceptance
Tax those who will never hurt, who will never feel the loss of a few percentage points in their accrued wealth
Protect Social Security by increasing the Social Security tax rate of those who earn over a certain amount (say, $300,000) in a given year
Every day is Earth Day
The two professors insist that a new constitution is not a new idea, but one born of President Franklin Roosevelt who in 1944 felt that a new economic Bill of Rights was needed. During his State of the Union speech he said:
As our nation has grown in size and stature, as our industrial economy expanded, these political rights proved inadequate to assure us equality in the pursuit of happiness.
If having a former president's "endorsement" isn't enough, the writers of the new Constitution have a current high-profile political figure behind their ideas, Donna Brazille, who sent out her endorsement in the form of this tweet:
http://www.truthrevolt.org/news/college-profs-we-need-new-constitution