BLUEPRINT for a more Democratic, more representative, more perfect Union: elect a president on Tuesday, work to build super majorities in each house of Congress, and majorities in 38 state legislatures; then pass two Constitutional Amendments.
TUESDAY: The most important election of our lifetime, the most important election since 1860. Yes, we keep hearing how important it is, how important it is for the democrats to win “up and down the ballot.” Great. But why? This BLUEPRINT answers the long-term, structural question, not the easy, short-term ones like we need to retire the president and the senate majority leader.
Longer-term, Democrats need 38 state legislatures, 290 seats in the House of Representatives, and 67 Senators. Those are numbers needed to amend the constitution. And a simple majority in the House and 67 Senators are needed to impeach and remove Trump’s illegitimate judges and justices.
Structurally, our Constitution does not fit 21st Century America. Senators representing small-population red states give Republicans an outsized majority in the Senate. Norman Ornstein at the American Enterprise Institute has written extensively on this topic. Much was made how Senators representing a minority of Americans elevated Brett Kavanagh to the Supreme Court. Earlier, much was made of Sen. Mitch McConnell refusing to even hold a hearing for President Obama’s associate Supreme Court nominee. Though obscene, not illegal; not unconstitutional.
When this Constitution was adopted there were 3.9 million Americans, today there are 100 Americans for each American of 1789. Our country, in fact the world, and the times, have changed considerably in the intervening 231 years. Not only has our population grown to 330 million, so has our land mass grown from 13 states to 50 states and seven territories. Look what else has grown: our transportation system, our communication system, our technology, our labor force, our health/medical systems; and we’ve grown from two regions of the country, the North and the South, to many regions. And these regions need representation separate from the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Hence the need for a Constitutional Amendment to create the third Chamber of Congress. The framers never suggested that two would be the final number of chambers of Congress. It’s time for a small, region-based Chamber, which would have the same powers as the existing two chambers. I suggest a nine-member Council, each member representing one of nine regions of the country. The Council would help end gridlock on legislation as under this Amendment, it would still take just two chambers to pass a bill or override a veto, hence overriding a do-nothing chamber (like the current Senate, if you don’t count judicial appointments).
The Council would have a say on Federal judicial nominees as well. Currently, Federal court nominees need just a simple-majority vote to be seated. That would continue, but once the nominee passes the Senate, the nominee would still need a simple majority affirmation in the Council. For Supreme Court nominees, the simple majority would remain in the Senate, but the nominee must receive a two-thirds vote in the Council.
Each Council member would serve a six-year term, staggered in three classes, just like the Senate. However, all nine would be elected in the first biennial Federal Election after ratification.
A second Constitutional Amendment would make the President the winner of the popular vote. The Vice President would still be elected by the Electoral College: imagine a Gore/Cheney or Hillary/Pence administration.
Our BLUEPRINT to pass Constitutional Amendments, and to impeach and remove illegitimate Trump appointees, relies on a BLUE TSUNAMI in 2020. And 2022. If we want to truly effect change in this country, we need super majorities. Sadly, we need super majorities in order to prevent minority representation from holding us back on most of the top issues of the day, and of this century:
Climate and energy, racial justice, women’s rights, healthcare, a livable minimum wage, a fair and progressive tax system, judicial appointments, and on and on. Current policy does not reflect the will of the majority of the people on any of these issues. Any of these issues. The system needs a reboot. Voters can make it happen.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wonders if the Democrats have the “stones” to play hardball. Sen. Chuck Schumer pleads for a Presidential landslide with coattails to deliver him a majority, so he can pass better legislation, but that’s short-sighted. It’s only a start. He needs to tell us why: We need to change the structure of our government to give people their voice back. And only with supermajorities can we do that. Start Tuesday, finish in 2022.
And, as for state legislatures, win as many as possible in 2020 as the victors write the Congressional and state legislative district boundaries: redistricting. And in 2022, get to the magic number: 38 states.
As we head into our 232nd year under our Constitution, it’s time to plan ahead, to update our living, breathing document so it better reflects the melting pot we have grown into.
Once Democrats have secured a two-thirds majority in the Senate, it’s time to impeach and remove the illegitimate Trump judges and justices. And we’ll do it en masse, with Mitch McConnell precision. Hardball enough AOC? You with me Chuck?
NINE DISTRICTS, with most recent population numbers:
District #1
Northeast, 43,180,814
Maine, 1,344,212
New Hampshire, 1,359,711
Vermont, 623,989
Massachusetts, 6,892,503
Connecticut, 3,565,287
Rhode Island, 1,059,361
New York, 19,453,561
New Jersey, 8,882,190
District #2
East, 39,837,790
Delaware, 973,764
District of Columbia, 705,749
Maryland, 6,045,680
Virginia, 8,535,519
West Virginia, 1,792,147
Kentucky, 4,467,673
Tennessee, 6,829,174
North Carolina, 10,488,084
District #3
Southeast, 45,123,208
South Carolina, 5,148,714
Georgia, 10,617,423
Florida, 21,477,737
Alabama, 4,903,185
Mississippi, 2,976,149
District #4
Rust Belt, 41,210,165
Indiana, 6,732,219
Ohio, 11,689,100
Michigan, 9,986,857
Pennsylvania, 12,801,989
District #5
Central, 39,920,828
North Dakota, 762,062
South Dakota, 884,659
Minnesota, 5,639,632
Iowa, 3,155,070
Nebraska, 1,934,408
Kansas, 2,913,314
Missouri, 6,137,428
Wisconsin, 5,822,434
Illinois, 12,671,821
District #6
SXSW, 40,619,450
Texas, 28,995,881
Oklahoma, 3,956,971
Arkansas, 3,017,804
Louisiana, 4,648,794
District #7
West, 36,687,628
Nevada, 3,080,156
Idaho, 1,787,065
Montana, 1,068,778
Utah, 3,205,958
Wyoming, 578,759
Colorado, 5,758,736
Arizona, 7,278,717
New Mexico, 2,096,829
Oregon, 4,217,737
Washington, 7,614,893
District #8
California, 39,512,223
District #9
Pacific & Islands, 6,080,444
Alaska, 731,545
Hawaii, 1,415,872
Guam, 159,538
Virgin Islands, 106,405
Puerto Rico, 3,667,084
Yes, California gets its own district, and DC and the Territories get representation.
The Council is a win-win-win: the people win because we now have more democracy and get more and better representation in Congress, less gridlock, and policies and judges more in line with us. All of us. Second, the politicians, political parties, and political industries win because we now have nine more national contests, nine more seats from which to launch a presidential bid. And third, the Constitution wins because we’ve shown we can grow from 3.9 million revolutionaries to a 330-million person multi-cultural superpower.
