Constitutional Amendment 28 Will Give Power To The People

This movement will work and it can be done in one of two ways.  Congress can pass a Constitutional Amendment requiring a majority, online vote of the people before legislation is enacted into law.  Two-thirds (2/3) of the states must ratify such an Amendment.  Another way to pass a Constitutional Amendment is by putting it on state ballots, bypassing congress completely.  This requires ratification by a three-fourths (3/4) of the states.

Members of congress will never voluntarily give Americans the online voting right.  We the people will have to do it on our own, by passing an Amendment and ratifying it in three-fourths of the states.  Members of congress are addicted to their power and many of them truly believe they know better than the people who elected them what is best for the people who elected them.  Congress is only.000004% of all American voters and we the people are allowing this .000004% of Americans to destroy America.

Case in point; the House and Senate passed The Affordable Care Act despite outrage from a majority of American voters.  In 2010, many of those members of congress were replaced in The House of Representatives, but they were replaced too late.  The damage was done.  The Affordable Care Act was already passed.

We are now facing multiple issues with The Affordable Care Act.  The issues are so bad that members of congress have exempted themselves and their staff from the Act.  Once again, they have put their own well being over the well being of the people who elected them to office.   The final word on legislation before it is enacted must be taken away from congress and given to the people. 

Congress will still have a very important job; to propose and pass laws for the voter consideration.  After the law is passed by congress, and signed by The President,  the American voter must have 72 hours to log into a secure site and vote for approval, or rejection of the law.  If a majority vote of the people is for approval, the law is enacted.  If a majority vote of the people is for rejection, the law must go back to congress for further consideration.  It really is that simple and it will work every time.

Will all registered voters log into a site and vote on every law passed by congress?  No, but a large majority will, especially on legislation like The Affordable Care Act.  The majority vote of the people will be the final voice on legislation.  That majority vote must be our check and balance on a congress that does not always do the will of the people.

Would we have The Affordable Care Act today if it had to pass a majority vote of the people?  The polls at the time it was thrust upon us by congress indicate that The Affordable Care Act would not have passed a vote of the people.  The 2010 elections indicate that Americans were upset at members of congress who passed The Affordable Care Act.  Many of those members of congress were voted out of office, but voting them out of office was too late to save Americans from The Affordable Care Act.

Every American voter must have the opportunity to vote on all legislation before he/she has to live under the law.  Such a vote will also put an end to congress passing laws, then exempting themselves from the law without our approval.  It's time for this .000004% of American voters to live under the same laws all other American voters live under.

The wording of a Constitutional Amendment must be simple. Here is an example.

The Congress of The United States is granted power, by the people, to pass legislation and send that legislation to the President of The United States.  The President of The United States may sign the legislation, or exercise veto the veto power granted by the people.

If The President exercises veto power, the legislation will be returned to The Congress of The United States for amendment, or the necessary vote to override the veto of The President of The United States.  If The Congress of The United States does not vote to override the veto of The President of The United States, the bill is considered dead.

If the President of The United States signs legislation sent to him by The Congress of The United States, the legislation will then be posted online for seventy-two (72) hours, during which time all registered voters will have the opportunity to log into a secured website and vote to approve, or reject the legislation.

If a majority of American voters who choose to cast a vote on the legislation vote to approve the legislation, the legislation is enacted into law, on a timeline stated in the legislation.  If a majority of American voters who choose to cast a vote on the legislation reject the legislation, the legislation is returned to The Congress of The United States.  The Congress of The United States may choose to amend the legislation for further consideration by American voters, or kill the legislation.

This Amendment forbids The Congress of The United States, or The President of The United States to take any Executive Action that is not in accordance with legislation as it is approved by a majority of American voters.

Term Limits Is Not The Answer - May Do More Damage Than Good

Many are calling for term limits in congress, but that could cause more damage than good.  A member of congress in a final term has no incentive to keep the promises made to his/her constituents.  There will be more incentive for members of congress, in their final terms, to line there pockets from the lobbyists and push agendas that do not benefit the people who elected them.

The voters of each state should decide on the limit of terms for each member of congress at the ballot box.  Setting term limits leaves the member of congress with no accountability to constituents in his/her final term.  Term limits will definitely do more damage than good.

As it is, we have enough issues with congressional members making campaign promises, being elected, then breaking those campaign promises.  These people can be, and in many cases are, voted out of office on our next trip to the polls, but that is after the damage is done by those members of congress.  We must have a way to check and balance congress with each and every bill it passes.

I strongly believe we need a congress.  We need qualified people who will pass legislation that is good for Americans, and who is better to decide what is good for Americans than a majority vote on enactment of legislation passed by congress?  This can be done if American voters have the right to vote on enactment of legislation.  If congressional legislation passes a majority vote of the people, it becomes an enacted law.  If congressional legislation does not pass a majority vote of the people, it goes back to congress, where it can be amended, or dropped. 

This will work and it is possible if we amend the constitution.  Constitutional Amendments have changed the face of America.  Without a Constitutional Amendment women would not now be allowed to vote.  Critics who argue that a Constitutional Amendment giving Americans the online vote for, or against, enactment of legislation will never be ratified.  I remind those critics that term limits will also require a Constitutional Amendment that will have to be ratified.  Either way, we have to fight for a Constitutional Amendment.

Ask yourself this question; what would be fate of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) if Americans voted on it before enactment?  If you believe the polls 53% of American voters would vote against enacting it.  Who really knows.  The polls may be wrong.  A majority of voters may  vote to enact it, as written and passed by congress.

Personally, I would not vote to enact any legislation that adds to the national debt.  I would vote to enact only legislation that is designed to reduce the national debt, and eventually pay it off.  If America had a surplus that would cover implementation of a healthcare act, I would vote to enact such a bill in a heartbeat.  America needs a healthcare act, but it needs one that can be paid for from surpluses.

Online Majority will continue to work for a Constitutional Amendment that will give American voters the final word on enactment of legislation passed by congress.  Such an Amendment will leave terms of members of congress up to the voters who send those members to congress and it will render lobbyists irrelevant.

Online Majority - The movement will work!

Congress is .0000004% of all registered American voters.  Those members of congress are elected by a majority vote of American voters in their respective states, and those voters can vote a member of congress out of office.  What is wrong with that process?

There is nothing wrong with the process if you are satisfied with accepting the damage done by members of congress before you have the opportunity to vote them out of office.  The real question should be; what can we do to improve the process and protect Americans from members of congress who ignore their campaign promises, putting their own agendas before the will of the people who elected them?

One twitter follower and I have been exchanging ideas.  I would like to thank him for his thoughts and ideas.  One of his ideas involves term limits in congress.  I wholeheartedly agree that term limits is an option we should consider.  However, let's take that to the extreme and assume a member of congress can only serve one term.  That member, once he/she is elected can choose to ignore campaign promises and promote an agenda that is not good for the people he/she is in Washington to serve.

In fact, if a member of congress is term limited it removes one reason for that person to be concerned about keeping campaign promises.  He/she will not be concerned about earning the trust required for re-election, which makes him/her more vulnerable to lobbyists and the personal gains lobbyists offer to members of congress.  Term limits could be an incentive for a member of congress to ignore campaign promises and support bills that hurt their constituents, for personal gain offered by the lobbyists.

I support term limits in congress, because I believe we need the fresh new ideas in congress we will have as members rotate in and out when their term limits expire.  That said, term limits are not a check and balance on congress while its members are serving.  We must have a check and balance on members of congress while they are in congress.  We can have that check and balance on congress and take away the pressures lobbyists now exert on members of congress.

You are currently using the tool that will give us checks and balances; the internet.  Think about everything you now do online.  You are reading this blog.  You can do your banking online.  You can communicate with others in seconds, using chat various forums.  You can shop online and have merchandise and food delivered without leaving your home.  You can find a mate online if you choose to join one of the online dating sites.  You can even file your tax return online; a definite interaction with the federal government.

Consider for a minute everything members of congress do online, besides the things I have already mentioned.  Most of them tweet on a daily basis, promoting their agendas.  Nearly all of them have websites, complete with a "donate to my campaign" button.  Members of congress definitely rely on the internet as much as other Americans have come to rely on it.

So, why has no member of congress ever proposed a Constitutional Amendment to allow all American voters the opportunity to vote on legislation before it is enacted?  Why has the subject of online voting never been a topic of discussion in congress?  Simply stated, online voting would take power away from members of congress and give it to all American voters, where it belongs.  Members of congress feel threatened by online voting, and they should be endorsing it.  Their jobs would still be important.

Online Majority does not want to do away with congress.  We need congress to pass legislation, but we also need the check and balance of giving all American voters the opportunity to approve that legislation before it is enacted.  There is no good reason for .0000004% of all American voters (congress) to be the final word on legislation before it is enacted.  A simple majority vote, allowing all registered voters the opportunity to approve legislation before enactment should be the law of the land.

Some say it will not work, because the government is corrupt and the online voting process will be corrupted.  Think about the absurdity of argument.  It starts with the premise that government is corrupt, which is all the more reason to install all of the checks and balances we can install, to fight corruption.

Some say the system will be to complicated to install.  It could be designed, written, debugged and installed within six months.  There is ample brainpower in America to do the work, and run it smoothly.

Some say it is unconstitutional.  Yes, it is right now, but a Constitutional Amendment will make it constitutional.  Constitutional Amendments are not unconstitutional.  If you are a woman, you have not always had the right to vote.  A Constitutional Amendment gave you that right.  The same is true for black Americans. Constitutional Amendments have played a major role in reforming American politics and we have an opportunity to continue reforming it for the better.

Would the founding fathers have given us the right to vote online?  I have to believe they would have if the technology had been available at the time the Constitution was written.  They had the foresight to realize times would change the needs of Americans and the Constitution would need to change from time to time.  The Constitution is the document that established our rights as Americans and the Amendments to it have strengthened it.  It's time to strengthen it again.

Join the movement and let your voice be one of the voices that approves legislation, before it is forced on you as the law of the land. Americans must have the final voice over the agendas of politicians before those agendas damage the lives of all who live in this great land.

More will be coming soon on how you can join the movement.  Prepare to claim the power you should have.