Introduction
American founding fathers were brave, noble and great as they pioneered the drafting of the America Constitution. America government has over the years suffered from a series of problems that proves the need for a new constitution. There is the urgent need for amending the constitution while maintaining its legal, ethical, and moral structure. Over 224 years since the ratification of the America Constitution, several amendments have emerged, and only 27 of these changes were approved and included in the constitution. Depending on the challenges faced in the 21st century ranging from corruption and poor leadership the constitution should be reanalyzed, pulled apart and later joined. The new constitution should be just by promoting greater freedom and provide a mechanism of pursuing our corrupt leaders for using corrupt ways. My opinion is that the Constitution lacks a real supreme court that enforces it, and the current constitution is not given respect by our leaders in both the executive and legislative branch of government. There is a great need to cover the loopholes in our law with one coherent document. The American's citizens require a document that tackles every aspect of their freedom and liberty and also provides a clear mechanism to address their issues that are a major pillar of a democratic society. This paper discusses the reasons behind the need for a new constitutional convention that aims at providing provisions that will help solve several issues affecting typical Americans. The paper focuses on three major constitutional flaws; violation of separation of power, reckless federal spending and improper mechanism in judiciary department and president impeachment process.
The American government has over the years had a characteristic of reckless government spending and uncontrollable federal debts; these two aspects have created a monetary disaster in the American economy (Naylor 15). In 1971, President Nixon opened an avenue for unlimited federal spending by abandoning different central bank ability to exchange dollars for gold. As a result, politicians acquire more votes. Little limit on federal spending allows politicians to spend heavily leading to heavy debts. Several attempts such as the balanced budget process aim at limiting the federal spending, but they face severe resistance from the structurally corrupt Congress. The corrupt Congress never reduces the federal spending leading to accumulation of debts. The Congress passed laws to balance the budget but later ignored them leading to persistence of the problem. Congress has over the years proven worthless in the fight against excessive federal spending. The power vested in Congress to monitor the spending should be withdrawn from them and vested in another institution to realize the solution to this problem.
Constitutional amendment through the constitution convention will offer a solution to the spending problem. The America Constitution provides two mechanisms to amend the document. The first process involves modification using the Congress while the second gives an option for a constitutional convention of the various states. These amendments are then ratified by three- fourth of state legislative branch before accepted into the constitution. The constitutional convention will help implement laws that will achieve a balanced budget. Projects such as Obama care mostly impose a burden on the America people. Estimates indicate that this project required an average of $ 337 million and an addition of 12.8 million hours of paperwork.
The various states that constitute the United States of America are forced to pay taxes to the federal government throughout the year (Kerlin 250). They are treated as junior partners, yet the states formed the federal government and not vice versa. It is essential that state taxes serve purposes that are outlined in state legislation and not pay the federal government purposes. A constitutional Amendment is therefore required that prevents the Congress from increasing the state taxes or illustrating how taxes are spent in the various states. The cost of running the various federal mandates should be left to the federal government. The amendment should also limit the direct grants offered to the legislative government. These grants give the unlimited government power to spend public money with little limitations.
Secondly, the executive, legislature and judiciary have over the years expanded their roles beyond those specified by the Constitution. The three branches have failed to respect the separation of powers and as a result led to the violation of the tenth amendment. There is, therefore, a need for a constitutional amendment to reexamine the federal government and ensure the following of constitution's allocation of power that has over the years undergo violation. The American constitution gives all the legislative power to the Congress. The executive branch has no authority to change or interfere with any law. President Obama, an executive member in the constitution, has overpassed his authority and enacted the Obama care law. The enacting of legislation is the duty of the legislature, and an explicit clause should be provided in the constitution stating the penalties for such acts. Another case involving violation of the separation of power is at the Supreme Court in an event between King and Burwell. The judiciary surpassed its mandate by substituting its view on the constitutions meaning that was different from what the Congress meant. If the law is amended providing clear implication of violation of separation of powers, then these problems will be avoided and the powers vested in both federal and state governments will be followed to the latter promoting freedom and democracy. Research indicate that in President Obama tenure, he added 21000 new regulations in the federal register, and this resulted in $ 35 billion unfunded regulatory cost and over 74 million paperwork burden on states and local government.
The over increasing departments and agencies across the United States may as well be assumed to form the fourth branch of government. These agencies have a large impact on the life of citizens in the United States more than any other branch. While the federal government conducts 95000 adjudicatory proceeding yearly, these agencies conduct over 93900 procedures. Congress through the delegated agencies criminalizes at least one crime per week. It is clear that this is an infringement of the constitution, and precise mechanisms have to be placed in the constitution to prevent such events from occurring. The Constitution demands only elected members of the Congress to perform such activities. The EPA has over the years exercise the powers of the legislature and judiciary branch. Its regulations have surpassed the threshold set by Congress and even defied the Supreme Court ruling. The body expanded the meaning of navigable waters from its original definition of navigating channel for interstate commercial activities. It has included swamps, drains, potholes and seasonal depression on its list. It has over the years assumed powers to write legal requirements and judge an individual and imposing a jail term a duty that is not in its mandate. Such acts have led to incarceration and abused of several Americans and therefore calls for an amendment. Several regulators and government officials often ignore and reinterpret the constitution to suit their views. The solution to such the problem is to withdraw such regulations entirely and prevent the federal government from involving in any activity that is not provided in its mandate in the constitution.
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Thirdly, the Americans need an independent justice department and a clear mechanism for removing traitorous and corrupt leaders (Obrien 20). Some of the American presidents are corrupt and indulge in activities that are not good in the eyes of the ordinary citizen. The current constitution offers an impeachment mechanism, but the mechanism is too slow and has never worked since its deployment in the constitution. Since American's founding fathers introduced the Constitution, no single president has been removed from office, yet most of the president made crucial mistakes that called for impeachment. History records that most of the presidents were removed via assassination, suicide, resignation or health related complications. The America's constitution needs an amendment to provide for a provision of removing the president from office. The process should not be too much time as the current law provides. Several states including California have provisions in their constitution that provide for removal of governors in a well-stated procedure that is short and realizable. Such procedures should be incorporated in the American's Constitution. By having such clauses in the constitution, the American president will be forced to act by the law and provide excellent leadership for fear of losing the seat if he indulges in gross misconduct that may compromise the country. This clause will help limit overspending and usage of the federal money excessively and will promote economic development across the United States of America.
American needs a fourth branch of government known as the independent t judiciary department that is different in the mandate from the legislature, judiciary and executive branch of government. In the current constitution, the justice department is part of the executive, and the attorney general is handpicked by President forming an avenue of corruption and favors in the department. As a result of corruption in this department, many corrupt leaders escape from serving their penalties because the unit is compromised. Countries like Israel have a fruitful and independent justice department that sues corrupt leaders and hold them accountable for violation of various state laws. The American justice system works for the president and is in fear to confront high profile political names. Only low and medium profile individuals are arraigned in this department to answer charges. An independent judiciary branch is thus essential to the America society as it will help reduce corruption and promote good leadership in the country. The members of the department should be appointed independently to prevent a relationship with the executive, judiciary or legislature that would otherwise compromise its mandate.
Conclusion
It is evident that the American constitution needs amendments on various sectors. Although the constitution is one of the greatest documents in the Americans history, it needs smaller alteration to smoothen it and provide a flat platform where every American can grow and exercise democracy while promoting good governance. The problem of reckless federal spending that poses a threat to the American economy and gives tax burden to the American population is avoidable if proper laws are put in place that limits inappropriate government spending. Controlling the taxes paid by the state government to the federal government will play a pivotal role in ensuring the development of states. Separation of powers is a key pillar in the American constitution. It is essential for all the bodies of the government to act independently and not interfere with the mandate of the other branch. In recent years, there is an intermingling of the roles of the various branches of government and this move is a violation of the constitution.
Constitutional amendments will ensure that measures are put in place to prevent violation of the separation of power clause. A clear penalty should be given to the arm of government that infringes on the power of the other branch. Lastly, it is important for the Americans to have a mechanism that can remove an evil president from office and provide an independent body that sues this president based on evidence of his/ her misconduct. These two tools will promote good leadership and ensure the country makes significant steps towards economic growth and prosperity.
Works cited
Kerlin, Janelle A. "Social enterprise in the United States and Europe: Understanding and learning from the differences." Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations 17.3 (2006): 246-262.
Naylor, Robin T. Hot money and the politics of debt. McGill-Queen's Press-MQUP, 2004.
O'Brien, Justin. Wall Street on trial: A corrupted state. John Wiley & Sons, 2005.
