VoteKISS

Updated  2/28/24 

The purpose of this amendment is to remind the People of the relevancy of the United States Constitution to their personal lives and of their ability to change how government works with the power of their vote.

Section 1:  The purpose of the first paragraph of this section is to remind federal and state officials of all three branches that the United States Constitution, AS ORIGINALLY CONCEIVED AND AMENDED, is the supreme law of the land and is not open to personal interpretations. The founders left plentiful documentation as to their original intent for the Constitution, and clear amendment procedures to follow when ambiguity or lack of relevance is determined.  The fact that it is difficult to sway enough of the People to add powers or obligations via the amendment process shall not be used as an excuse to "read" politically expedient powers and obligations between its lines.  

The purpose of the second paragraph of the section is to deal with federal government overreach and actions not within the scope of the federal government's enumerated powers.  In its 1803 Marbury vs Madison decision the federal Supreme Court STOLE the power to determine constitutionality because it is NOT AN ENUMERATED POWER and thus belongs to the States and the People. The States shall have the power to decide how they want to handle unconstitutional federal actions in ALL three branches using the process described.  

The final paragraph states that Congress MAY NOT transfer its law making power nor the Presidency its executive power;  bureaucratic regulations shall be considered guidance and not enforceable by law.   The Courts alone have the power to determine if the intent of the law is being side stepped by individual or group behavior; in addition to original intent courts must use the common law instrument of what a "reasonable person" would consider appropriate in any circumstance. Since this section eliminates the power in many U.S. Supreme Court rulings concerning the federal government, case law use shall be minimized.   All Legislative & Executive branch courts shall be transferred to the Judiciary branch.

Section 2:  The purpose of this section is to include in the Constitution those rights which, over the past centuries, have been enacted into law by Congress and have been accepted by the majority of the People but which are not powers or obligations granted by the Constitution as previously amended.  Each right is balanced by limits to federal and/or state authority to enforce them.

•  Sub section one includes the right to clean air and water, sustainable use of our natural resources so that the rights of future generations are preserved; safe buildings, roads, and other infrastructure; and the powers necessary to maintain a safe and sustainable social environment. The caveats are: federal laws developed under this section must be for safety and/or sustainability that can only be reasonably carried out at the national level, and shall not interfere unduly with state or individual rights and liberties.
• Sub section two provides the right to a basic childhood education so that the State benefits from an educated citizenry.  Congress and state legislatures may set general requirements and guidelines for curriculum ONLY.  These may not be so severe that they interfere with learners' rights to adjust them to their level of ability, talent, and interests; nor may they be made without compensating learners or their guardians for the cost of implementing them.  A minimum/maximum reasonable funding limit may be set per learner at the federal and/or state levels with exceptions procedures for learners with disabilities.  Government may require testing periodically to ensure the learner is making satisfactory progress as measured against the individual learner; if not, funding may be removed or the learner must change educational provider.
• Sub section three provides employees with the right to a living wage tied to the cost of basic necessities and to an hourly maximum per work week; their dependents, however, may work for less than the living wage.  It provides the right to a safety net for the elderly and the disabled.  It provides a maximum wage to protect employers who must accept the burden of the minimum wage, and an hourly maximum work week for higher paid employees.  Self employed are exempt as market forces will determine compensation.  By requiring employers to shoulder the full cost of labor, government can concentrate on helping only citizens who can't work and can't meet their needs. Government is also granted the power to collect and disseminate information necessary for compliance to this sub section.
• Sub section four is an over-arching civil right aimed at preventing discrimination of and by citizens and legal residents for goods and services offered to the general public.  It is NOT meant to include goods and services offered to members of privately held social organizations, nor to force businesses to provide unoffered goods and services, nor to force individuals into actions that compromise their legal rights.  It is also not meant to prevent employers from seeking reasonable job specific requirements of employees and employee candidates.

Section 3: The purpose of this section is to unclog the courts and reduce the People's fear of unreasonable litigation as well as unconstitutional threats against their civil rights.

• Sub section one requires judges to quickly dismiss unreasonable lawsuits or prosecution and adjust unreasonable awards or sentencing.
  
• Sub section two authorizes judges to create specialized courts to streamline testimony while providing knowledgeable verdicts.
• Sub section three eliminates plea bargaining; sentencing must be carried out on the basis of the facts and testimony presented at least to a judge and at most to a full jury of peers.  Sentencing guidelines shall be detailed in statute, with the judge allowed reasonable powers for deviation in special circumstances.
• Sub section four reduces appeals yet holds judges responsible for unreasonable behavior or sentencing.
• Sub section five eliminates the vagueness problem of the "good behavior" clause in Article III by establishing term limits.

Section 4:  The purpose of this section is to improve federal employee efficiency and effectiveness by:

• removing from federal employees the ability to set their own compensation.  Unlike in the private sector, there is no productivity level that sets the stage for wage negotiations in the public sector.   This is especially apparent in Congress, which has approved for itself a completely separate compensation package than even other federal employees. Setting public compensation at the same rate as private compensation for similar positions eliminates such self-serving behavior.  
• curtailing federal employee travel, much of which is unnecessary with current technology, by requiring public accountability.
• providing citizens access to government employees every day of the year--while decreasing annual employee work days  without reducing annual compensation levels--is as easy as adding one more day to the business week.  This has the added bonus of cutting office real estate and parking needs in half, decreasing traffic congestion, and providing an opportunity to cut federal positions without having to lay off workers--since it requires 2 employees to share each position and work half of each week.

Section 5:  The purpose of this section is to eliminate the purchase of political office by reducing to a minimum what donations to a campaign can purchase--particularly those 30 second commercials and page ads that tell you nothing about the candidate or issue!  It eliminates spending that focuses on particular candidates outside of a legitimate campaign, and requires organizational donations to be used for inclusive candidate activities .  It eliminates "war chests" by requiring donations to be given away at the end of each campaign.  Finally, it requires that all donations and expenditures be independently audited and publicly displayed.

Section 6: The purpose of this section is to eliminate professional politicians and replace them with citizen representatives.  It requires these representatives to have minimum education and experience requirements as do most private and public sector positions. Finally, the importance of the Presidency precludes time off for weekend leisure or vacations; by role sharing the President and Vice President can create an executive presence every day of the year.

Section 7:  The purpose of this section is to eliminate Washington D.C. as a focus of political power.  Congressional representatives shall live with their constituents except for brief trips to the Capitol for voting sessions.  They shall have unusual business trip expenses monitored by the President to ensure that these trips are in the best interest of the country. 

Section 8:  The purpose of this section is to take the writing of legislation out of the hands of special interests' lawyers and return it to the People.  By keeping legislation short and simple all the People have direct access to and understanding of the bills that may become law and legislators cannot bury their favorite project within massive unrelated bills.

Section 9:  The purpose of this section is to:

•  end the practice of gerrymandering (creating voting districts that have a history of voting for a particular political party) and ensure congressional districts represent only U.S. citizens and legal residents.
• eliminate time zone voter apathy by stopping exit poll surveys; eliminate survey fraud by requiring certification standards
• ensure election integrity nation-wide by requiring proof of U.S. citizenship and state residency before receiving a ballot, manual ballot counting in small precincts to eliminate computer tampering, and strong punishment for ballot tampering.

Section 10:  The purpose of this section is to slay the many-headed, fire-breathing dragon that consumes a third to a half of the earnings of current taxpayers and is swallowing the earnings of future taxpayers through insatiable borrowing and spending.  The measures utilized are draconian but must be for the People to kill this dragon; our only other recourse is to allow a mercenary (dictator) to do it for us.

•  Sub section one requires a reinstatement of the gold standard abandoned in 1938, modified so that it is NOT tied to the market price of gold. Inflation caused by the ability of government to print money un-backed by anything of value helps government at the expense of the governed, for it buys what it can't afford at pre-inflation prices while the devaluation of the dollar is born by wage earners. It rewards taking on debt and discourages saving. It is a form of taxation without representation. This is one head of the dragon.  It must be slain!  This can be done in the simple manner described in subsection one. 
  
•  Sub section two halts the common practice of financial institutions investing deposits without the explicit understanding and consent of the depositor to the investment risk. A "bank run" cannot happen if deposits that can legally be demanded back at any time remain with the bank.   Banks may use depositors' money only with permission, ie certificates of deposit.  This sub section creates standardization of investment risk to help stabilize financial markets without undue government interference. 
  
• Sub section three halts the practice of creating unfunded mandates, another dragon head.  It creates a clear process and clear targets for the federal budgetary cycle.  It requires long term planning, total debt and annual deficit restraints, and automated decision making in the event of a political deadlock.
  
• Sub section four halts the insidious effects of subsidies and other special interest attempts at controlling market forces.  This dragon head is especially difficult to destroy as so many of the People are hypnotized by its allure.  How can we not help people and organizations in need, especially if help comes from the communal pocketbook instead of our own--and most especially if we perceive ourselves in need? We must slay this dragon here--in the Constitution--so we all are weaned from its power at once and together.  To help with the pain, all existing programs that are considered unconstitutional due to this sub section shall have their funding for six years after ratification returned  to the People as a whole in the form of individual rebates (sent every election cycle to registered active voters) before the funding is dropped from the budget.    
  
• Sub section five slays the main head of the dragon, which began as an inconsequential worm in 1913 .  Nearly all the major legislation of the past 100 years is tied to the 70,000 pages of IRS code (https://www.politifact.com/missouri/statements/2017/oct/17/roy-blunt/tax-code-so-long-nobodys-really-sure-its-length/).  It will take a great deal of work from the time this bill is passed in Congress to two years after it is ratified by the States to disentangle our laws from its clutches, but this must be done! In addition, the practice of pelting taxpayers with small taxes shall seize with this sub section's requirement that only two universally applied tax instruments may be used to generate federal revenue.  Fees, penalties, tariffs, etc shall be returned to the People as a whole in the form of individual rebates sent every election cycle to registered active voters.