Suggestion for a 3rd house of Congress

[Little-Acorn]

This one's on my Christmas list. And I'm sure Santa is just as likely to bring me this, as he is to come down the chimney and bring me other stuff, since I've been so good.

Congress already has two houses, the House of Reps and the Senate. The job of those two, is to pass bills for the Prez to sign into law (or veto). The Framers designed them so that only of both groups agree, can the bill possibly become law. If either house doesn't like the bill, it gets trashcanned, never gets to the President's desk, and never becomes law. The Framers' basic philosophy was that American citizens could mnostly get along fine without laws, except for laws that obviously EVERYBODY wanted. Laws against murder, laws governing foreign relations, other stuff like that.

They should have a 3rd house, whose job is strictly to repeal laws. Sometimes we pass a law, live with it for a few years, and then decide we don't like it after all. If a simple majority of the 3rd House doesn't like a law, it is repealed. No Presidential signature is needed for them to repeal a law.

If the other two houses don't like that, they can then re-pass it, but only with a 2/3 supermajority of both of the first two houses and the President's re-signing.

BTW, the only law the 3rd house CAN'T repeal, is one whose only function was to repeal a law itself. The 3rd house cannot repeal that one and so put the original law back into place.

And the 1st two houses of Congress can still repeal laws on their own if they want... except they cannot overturn an act of the 3rd house except with the supermajorities as described above, and Prez's signature.

What do you think? (Don't run into each other dashing to praise me for this wonderful idea!) :thumb:

[PostmodernProphet]

a third house of Congress with advisory capacity consisting of every citizen of the US with a computer, allowed to submit a vote on every issue....so we could tell them exactly what we think of their proposed legislation.....

[Luna Tick]

That's a creative idea, but I don't care for it. I think Congress is already way too complex with both a House and a Senate. In fact, I prefer Nebraska's unicameral legislature. They have a single non-partisan House and no Senate. The legislative process is streamlined because you don't have to have two different houses agreeing on a version of a bill as you do in bicameral systems. Your system would be tricameral. Ouch.

Here's some info on unicameral:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebraska_Unicameral

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicameralism

[HogTrash]

Shouldn't there also be an iron-clad exemption of Constitutional Law to further ensure that our rights and liberties are not repealed?

[sgtdmski]

If you better want Congress to serve the people, then it is a time to remind them that they are of the people, by the people, and for the people. To best further that reminder, Congress should have to comply with every law they pass. If it affects them then they will be more likely to read the laws, and ensure there are no unintended consequences.

dmk

[Little-Acorn]

I prefer Nebraska's unicameral legislature. They have a single non-partisan House and no Senate. The legislative process is streamlined because you don't have to have two different houses agreeing on a version of a bill as you do in bicameral systems. Your system would be tricameral.

You say that as though streamlining the legislative process would be a GOOD thing.

Why, on earth?

As I pointed out, our Congress was designed to make it difficult to pass legislation, with two different groups having to agree, and then a third to give his blessing, before a law can bind all citizens.

The difficulty was no accident. Remember, the Framers believed in freedom and limited government. And they thought that citizens were generally better off WITHOUT a bunch of laws restricting them. So they set things up so that only the things MANY different groups agreed on, would be come law.

"Streamlining" that process would usually man that we wound up with more laws, more regulations, more restrictions. This is the dream of our big-government advocates, but was abhorred by the people who founded this country, who believed in individual freedom and responsibility instead.

The more obstacles there are to legislation, the better off society generally is.

And the more laws we have, the less freedom. The people who wrote and ratified the Constitution knew this, and carefully designed our government accordingly.

We change it at our peril.

[HogTrash]

I like it and it sounds do-able;
http://goooh.com/Learn.aspx

Mission

GOOOH stands for 'Get Out of Our House' and is pronounced like the word 'go'. It is a NON-PARTISAN plan to evict the 435 career politicians in the U.S. House of Representatives and replace them with everyday Americans just like you.

If you are tired of career politicians, GOOOH is for you. If you believe money has corrupted Washington, GOOOH is for you. If you believe politicians have too much power, GOOOH is for you. If you are weary of the death grip the two parties have on our government, and are ready to return control of our government to the people, then GOOOH is for you.

GOOOH is NOT just another political party. It is a system that will allow you and your neighbors to choose, among yourselves, the person who can best represent your district.

GOOOH is an evolving system and your input is requested. The questions are changing based on the feedback of members just like you. Participate in the forums, take the survey, and send us your thoughts. This is YOUR system. We will perfect it with your input.

GOOOH is a new system that will allow "we the people" to select true representatives, not choose between a Democrat and a Republican. If we continue to elect career politicians who represent their party, the special interests that fund them, and themselves, nothing will change. GOOOH is a non-partisan process that will allow us to effect the change we all know we need.

GOOOH will allow you to:

1.Help select your Representative - while being considered yourself
2.Hold your Representative accountable
3.Replace career politicians - with true representatives
4.Take the money out of the process
The GOOOH process allows Americans of every political leaning to participate in the selection of their District's Representative while being considered themselves. Through GOOOH's Candidate Selection Sessions you and your peers will select the candidate in your district who best represents your district's views. Even if you do not wish to become your district's representative you will want to participate in the process and have a direct say in who is chosen to represent your district. GOOOH will fund a single national campaign to promote the 435 candidates (one from each district) who are selected to run against the party politicians. Because GOOOH is a process for selecting representatives (not an agenda-based party platform) we expect a person left of center to be selected in San Francisco and one right of center in Colorado Springs -- but it will be up to the GOOOH members in each district to decide.

For GOOOH to succeed we will need at least 500,000 participants. We will continue to build our base of supporters until we have the participation we need, at which time we will begin our effort to have the GOOOH party added to the ballot in the 50 states and to select our 435 nominees. There are many variables involved in reaching this level of support, but we believe it is only a matter of time.

Originally, the founder of GOOOH proposed excluding lawyers, members of political families, and individuals with more than $11.5 million in assets (250 times the median income). They were not to be excluded because they are bad people, but because they are overly represented in government today and, generally speaking, no longer seem to represent the common man. However, based on input from our members, the Question Committee has voted to remove the exclusion of lawyers and the wealthy. Instead, it has been decided that members of these two groups must simply declare that they are a lawyer or have more than $11.5m in assets in each Selection Session in which they participate. It will be up to the participants in each pool to decide whether or not that is of concern. We believe this change is indicative of the continuing evolution of the GOOOH system.

We hope you will join GOOOH today and help us take our House back from the politicians!

[Luna Tick]

You say that as though streamlining the legislative process would be a GOOD thing.

Why, on earth?

Because Nebraska has one of the best state governments in the country. There are still three branches. There's still a governor, a legislature, and a court system. Those are checks and balances enough. There's not a need for two houses. Unicameral works great for Nebraska and for countries such as Australia.

[PostmodernProphet]

In fact, I prefer Nebraska's unicameral legislature.

and we've all seen what great things come out of Nebraska lately......

[Luna Tick]

That's right, bitch, you probably ate some at lunch today.

[PostmodernProphet]

That's right, bitch, you probably ate some at lunch today.

I'm Jewish....I don't eat senators......

[SassyLady]

If you better want Congress to serve the people, then it is a time to remind them that they are of the people, by the people, and for the people. To best further that reminder, Congress should have to comply with every law they pass. If it affects them then they will be more likely to read the laws, and ensure there are no unintended consequences.

dmk

Right now the unintended consequences of their political corruptness is that the people are firing them.

I'm not voting for any incumbent........I used to think we needed stability and now I'm of a mind that the "stability" is nothing but "good ol' boys" playing games at my expense. So, new blood coming in, and preferably those who do not have a lot of "political" experience, but tons of common sense.:beer:

[Gaffer]

Right now the unintended consequences of their political corruptness is that the people are firing them.

I'm not voting for any incumbent........I used to think we needed stability and now I'm of a mind that the "stability" is nothing but "good ol' boys" playing games at my expense. So, new blood coming in, and preferably those who do not have a lot of "political" experience, but tons of common sense.:beer:

Common sense is the only requirement needed for the job.

[DragonStryk72]

Gotta say, I'm with Luna Tick here. The overall problem in government is there is too much government. evey time we have an issue hit the floor, there are just too many different voices jumping in, and then as well you have the lobbyists of all shape and color running around mucking it up even further.

Personally, I think we should drop the Senate and move on. That's the place where bills go to die. Seriously, if it doesn't pass the Senate, it doesn't pass at all. It would also be more difficult to spread the influence over the whole of the House, due to there 5:1 advantage over the Senate.