Reforming Congress

Steven Pearlstein looks at our broken national legislature and makes a proposal:

So at the risk of sounding naive, I'd like to offer a novel idea for changing the legislative dynamic, restoring majority rule to the legislative process and keeping health reform alive: Debate it on the Senate floor.

That's right, forget about spending another six weeks searching for those elusive 60 votes to break a filibuster, going back and forth with weak-kneed centrists like Ben Nelson and Mary Landrieu who can't seem to decide what they really want, or self-righteous egotists like Joe Lieberman, who thinks he can call all the shots. If they have suggestions for improving the bill, let them do it the old-fashioned way: propose an amendment on the floor and see if they can get 49 other senators to agree.

To get things started, it will be necessary to put Vice President Biden in his rightful constitutional place as presiding officer, where he should make clear he'll do whatever is necessary to restore majority rule to the Senate, even as he jealously protects the rights of the minority to blabber on as long as it wants and offer whatever amendments it thinks necessary. And if that means overturning some outmoded precedent laid down by some dead predecessor, so be it.

As a final step, Majority Leader Harry Reid will need to break out the cots and announce that he'll keep the Senate in session day and night until a bill is passed or defeated or Senators agree to give up and go home.

That's fine as far as it goes and would be a definite improvement over the status quo. But here's my as yet unfinalized plan:

• Replace the House of Representatives with a parliament chosen on the basis of proportional representation elections. Elections every four years or upon a vote of no confidence in the majority party.
• Eliminate the Senate or, barring that, replace it with an upper chamber with sharply proscribed powers.
• The election of President would remain as as it is.
• Public funding of all national elections.

Obviously, there are some details to be worked out but this has the advantage of having absolutely no chance of actually happening.

So on that score, Pearlstein's idea is probably the better one.

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Comments

[gyma]

I think we should take your proposals and work on them one at a time - just like HCR. Let's begin with the financing part. Wonder how lobbyists would work around that?

[spork_incident]

They wouldn't have to - it ain't gonna happen. Any of my proposals, including public financing, would require amending the Constitution. Such an amendment wouldn't even get out of committee. Hell, it wouldn't even be brought up for a vote in committee.

One workaround would be for 37 states to ratify an amendment without Congressional participation...but those state legislatures are also comprised of politicians who benefit from the current system. (Not to mention that states usually have weaker anti-corruption laws than the Feds and state legislatures aren't put under the ethical microscope nearly as much a Congress. But I digress.)

The third way would be for 37 states to call for a Constitutional Convention - but that would likely (but not necessarily) open up the whole damn document for revision. Shenanigans would surely follow.

It's damned hard to amend or revise the Constitution. And that's a good thing. But given how broken the system is these days something has got to give sooner or later.

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[gyma]

Well, bloody hell then.