The Back Alley Archives

Obama has set up a web site where you can submit your own ideas to change the government:

http://change.gov/page/s/yourvision

Somehow, I don't think he'll agree with my ideas, but I'm going to submit some anyway.

For starters, I'm going to propose my single-subject rule Constitutional amendment idea.

What about you?  What changes would you like to see?

Dear President-Elect Obama:

Let me preface my remarks by telling you that I am a lifelong Republican and that I did not vote for you.

Nonetheless, you will be my President and you have promised to bring both hope and change to my country and my government.

I humbly submit that government spending is out of control. Even before the $700 billion bailout of the financial services industry, the federal government spends an enormous and inexcusable amount of money on all kinds of things: defense, social programs, farm subsidies, state infrastructure projects and countless other ill-conceived or -executed expenditures.

One small piece of government waste that I believe we could easily do without is the practice of earmarking. Senator McCain, as you are aware, has made his opposition to earmarking well-known. Unfortunately, Senator McCain notably fell victim to the insidious evil of earmarking when he voted for the recent bailout bill (as did you).

So how do we end this practice of sneaking Congressional pork into otherwise-unobjectionable bills?

I propose a "single-subject rule" Constitutional Amendment, similar to that enacted in certain states. Minnesota's state constitution, for example, has the following provision:

"No law shall embrace more than one subject, which shall be expressed in its title." Minn. Const. Article IV, Section 17.

Simple and plain. No earmarks, no last-second riders. As an added benefit, no Senator or Congressman will be able to claim that he voted for or against a bill because of an unrelated amendment, providing the public with a much clearer picture of what their elected leaders stand for.

Enforcement would be, of course, up to the federal judiciary. Any taxpaying citizen could have standing to challenge such bills as unconstitutional. I realize this may place an additional burden on the courts, but I think such a burden would be short-term, as Congress would soon learn which kinds of amendment practices are acceptable and which are not.

Mr. President-Elect, if you truly embrace change, then I urge you to consider my proposal. I realize that you alone do not have the power to change the Constitution (and I fully expect that such a radical departure from Congressional practice will require a Constitutional Amendment).

You, however, now have extraordinary power to influence others. You are the leader of the free world. You are the leader of your party, which has a sizable majority in both houses of Congress. Most importantly, you have the ear of the people and occupy what Theodore Roosevelt called the "bully pulpit." If anyone can spearhead such an effort, you can.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

The Obama Administration will call on Americans to serve in order to meet the nation’s challenges. President-Elect Obama will expand national service programs like AmeriCorps and Peace Corps and will create a new Classroom Corps to help teachers in underserved schools, as well as a new Health Corps, Clean Energy Corps, and Veterans Corps. Obama will call on citizens of all ages to serve America, by developing a plan to require 50 hours of community service in middle school and high school and 100 hours of community service in college every year. Obama will encourage retiring Americans to serve by improving programs available for individuals over age 55, while at the same time promoting youth programs such as Youth Build and Head Start.

Isn't that his thing where if you do the community service, you'll get a grant for tuition? I forgot how much I had to do, but there was a requirement to earn a Bright Futures scholarship. I don't see how it can be mandatory if you don't want/need the grant, but think it's good to have to earn the grant if you do.

^^Wasn't there a Saturday Night Live skit where Ross Perot proposed just that?

^^Wasn't there a Saturday Night Live skit where Ross Perot proposed just that?

Okay, here is what I wrote. I'm sure no one higher than some 18-year-old punk volunteer will read it, but you never know.

Dear President-Elect Obama:

Let me preface my remarks by telling you that I am a lifelong Republican and that I did not vote for you.

Nonetheless, you will be my President and you have promised to bring both hope and change to my country and my government.

I humbly submit that government spending is out of control. Even before the $700 billion bailout of the financial services industry, the federal government spends an enormous and inexcusable amount of money on all kinds of things: defense, social programs, farm subsidies, state infrastructure projects and countless other ill-conceived or -executed expenditures.

One small piece of government waste that I believe we could easily do without is the practice of earmarking. Senator McCain, as you are aware, has made his opposition to earmarking well-known. Unfortunately, Senator McCain notably fell victim to the insidious evil of earmarking when he voted for the recent bailout bill (as did you).

So how do we end this practice of sneaking Congressional pork into otherwise-unobjectionable bills?

I propose a "single-subject rule" Constitutional Amendment, similar to that enacted in certain states. Minnesota's state constitution, for example, has the following provision:

"No law shall embrace more than one subject, which shall be expressed in its title." Minn. Const. Article IV, Section 17.

Simple and plain. No earmarks, no last-second riders. As an added benefit, no Senator or Congressman will be able to claim that he voted for or against a bill because of an unrelated amendment, providing the public with a much clearer picture of what their elected leaders stand for.

Enforcement would be, of course, up to the federal judiciary. Any taxpaying citizen could have standing to challenge such bills as unconstitutional. I realize this may place an additional burden on the courts, but I think such a burden would be short-term, as Congress would soon learn which kinds of amendment practices are acceptable and which are not.

Mr. President-Elect, if you truly embrace change, then I urge you to consider my proposal. I realize that you alone do not have the power to change the Constitution (and I fully expect that such a radical departure from Congressional practice will require a Constitutional Amendment).

You, however, now have extraordinary power to influence others. You are the leader of the free world. You are the leader of your party, which has a sizable majority in both houses of Congress. Most importantly, you have the ear of the people and occupy what Theodore Roosevelt called the "bully pulpit." If anyone can spearhead such an effort, you can.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Dood, looking at that webpage, it looks like Obama is proposing a vision of government where the VP is under the executive branch and the executive branch itself is answerable to the Constitution. These guys truly are dangerous radicals!!!

Dood, looking at that webpage, it looks like Obama is proposing a vision of government where the VP is under the executive branch and the executive branch itself is answerable to the Constitution. These guys truly are dangerous radicals!!!

Yeah, that is pretty radical. No more Dick the Shooter in his tomb at the Undisclosed Location running a shadow government. And Biden knows that the VP is in the Executive Branch of Government.