Is the U.S. Constitution outdated??? Congress blocks any meaningful change that would reform itself.?

Question

Should we have a new Constitutional Convention?

It appears impossible to block destructive lobbying, pork barrel legislation that has caused 8 + tril in debt, excessive campaign spending that nets the same politicians at 90% + incumbancy. Politicians seem to ignore the long term public good in favor of short term public opinion / 2 or 6 year solutions to serious long term problems.

How about a Senate (not elected) but appointed by academia - experts in Science (Biology, Chemistry, Physics etc.), Efficiency experts, Statisticians, Public Policy experts, Philosophers, Physicians, Business prof. etc... People that would not only know how to hold a serious fact finding hearing, but would understand the solutions necessary for society re: long term needs

Allow this knowledgable Senate a parliamentary status to elect a prime minister from its midst to be the executive and a cabinet from this inteligencia.
The house stays democratic to voice public needs and advise the Senate

obviously this is a rough outline - but isn't it time we start solving some of the big problems with knowledge instead of popularity. How about real research into Criminal conduct and prevention. Find out what motivates criminals and take away the motivation. Make the Bill of Rights a valuable commodity that must be earned by responsible citizens. Find out if unions are hurting the educational system. Find real long term solutions to energy and transportation policies. We know what they are and why we don't implement them - an impotent congress that does what it can to get elected again without upsetting the lobbyists that pay for their campaigns.

What do you think? Add your own ideas!

Answer 1

Hello J Ford,
Our very own Declaration states that we have the right to abolish the government and establish new.

This was tried and it was called The Civil War. So we see what good that did

Answer 2

Yeah, but aren't you ignoring all the positives?

- The Constitution has been successfully amended 27 times (5 in the last 50 years)

- The core principles adopted in the early days of the document remain unchanged (Bill of Rights, many of the articles, etc)

- Our nation has the highest GDP in the world of any single country by almost 3x the amount of the 2nd ranked country

- Our republic has not slipped into an oligarchy like other republics in history have

- We defeated communism on a large scale

- Consistency is on our side

____________

You've pointed out some of the corruption that needs to be eradicated from the halls of Congress, but the only way that will ever happen is for enough Congressman to get caught flip-flopping around (Kerry) and losing their jobs (Delay). Once the constituency becomes united against it in both political parties, it won't ever go away...

Answer 3

Wow lets face it were civil liberties and free society are really cool history and nobody really cares as long as they can scream that America is free they could give a fat rats *** about the constitution are being truly free actualy most Americans hate the idea of a true free country yet they love to scream that we are free.....Rights and freedoms few really want for anyone to be able to say what they want they allow you say what you want so long as it is popular opinion....they really dont want a free press nobody seems to mind there phones being monitored hell if your not a terrorist then what do you have to hide? nobody wants criminals to have rights so they assume anyone aressted is guilty.....lets face it America isnt even close to the free country our forefathers envisioned and very few give a ****.

Answer 4

NO IT IS NOT OUTDATED! The sole reason a lot of people hate america is because you keep changing your laws to make it like a dictatorship that pollutes the world and keeps its citizens in the dark. To all your questions NO NO NO NO. This is too much like communism, (as a answerer said) the greatest form of politics, that doesn't work because of human nature. NO!

Answer 5

Not all of it but some parts, like the electoral college, are a bit archaic.