Date: July 23rd, 2026 9:12 PM Author: iridescent personal credit line
What exactly is so funny about this? It's a far larger voter pool than most nations for most of history. And these are obviously the people best positioned to balance current needs against future planning.
Date: July 23rd, 2026 7:52 PM Author: narrow-minded boyish coldplay fan
I was just explaining to my son today how citizens united basically ruined the government and now legislators just sell their vote to the highest bidder and there’s nothing anyone can do about it
Date: July 23rd, 2026 7:55 PM Author: pea-brained flushed goal in life
cr. it's crazy that some people still don't see it bc they're so mad about things like trannies in bathrooms. people are squabbling over culture wars shit and whether the DeMoCrAtS or RePuBlIcAnS will save them as if politicians aren't all corrupt pieces of shit beholden to their donors
Date: July 24th, 2026 8:19 AM Author: cruel-hearted temple water buffalo
It mever would've gotten to a Trump presidency if the franchise hadnt been expanded. Trump is a reaction to a lot of changes and phenomena that never would've happened in the first place like mass immigration.
Date: July 23rd, 2026 7:59 PM Author: cruel-hearted temple water buffalo
You cant really have functional businesses without safeguarding their property and due process rights. Novody could even build a single house for sale, let alone a factory, without fear of having it seized without compensation by the govt, or otherwise building it under their own name rather than using a corporation, and bearing unlimited liabilty if it goes bankrupt.
Date: July 23rd, 2026 8:02 PM Author: pea-brained flushed goal in life
interesting, I hadn't thought about that. there's no way that outcome is intended by the people who wrote it but that's a good catch; they'd need to explain how those would work
Date: July 23rd, 2026 9:09 PM Author: Provocative sandwich
A well ordered State, being necessary to the Enjoyment of Titles, the Right of the People to keep and play Games, shall not be infringed
The Admission of Foreigners into the Several States shall be regulated with due Regard to the Wages, Dwellings, Security, and general Welfare of the Citizens; nor shall any Employer procure dependent Labour from abroad merely to diminish the Price or Independence of Labour at home.
No Citizen shall be excluded from any Profession, Office, Clerkship, or Employment by reason of Want of Family, Patronage, fashionable Manner, Clique, or private Acquaintance, where his Learning, Judgment, and Capacity may be fairly ascertained by Examination or the Work of his own Hand.
No Jew within the Jurisdiction of These United States shall be denied the equal Protection of Person, Property, Worship, Education, Employment, or public Office; nor shall Threats or Violence against Jews be excused by political Cause, foreign Controversy, collective Accusation, or any Pretence.
A well guarded Election, being necessary to the Preservation of a free Republic, no Person shall collect, possess, or deliver the Ballot of another, save a Member of the same Household, a lawful Caregiver, or an Officer appointed by Law; nor shall any Reward be given or received for the gathering of Ballots, and the Chain of Custody of every Vote shall be secured by public and equal Rules
No Game shall be denied Review, Publication, Award, or equal Consideration by reason of its Japanese Origin; nor shall any Reviewer, Journal, Platform, or Association receiving public Favour conceal material Conflicts, apply unequal Standards, or knowingly publish false Statements concerning the Quality, Contents, or Character thereof.
The thirteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.
The nineteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.
Date: July 24th, 2026 4:34 PM Author: Cordovan filthy crackhouse
Not a bad idea insofar as: (a) It's a lot harder to buy and corrupt 11,000 members of congress than it is to buy and corrupt 535 members of congress. And (b) there are a lot of things the majority--often the vast majority--of Americans support that don't get done because Congress isn't really pursuing the will of the people. This 11,000 member body would get closer to doing that.
Date: July 24th, 2026 4:31 AM Author: Self-centered pontificating dingle berry whorehouse
hey lib op, you just need an amendment explicitly overruling cooper v aaron. then shit like mcconnell v fec (the case that overruled your precious mccain feingold, OP lib) isnt a concern and you can pass all the bullshit 'campaign finance reform' you want without worrying about scotus interference
Date: July 24th, 2026 9:41 PM Author: maize very tactful home
Isn't it obviously some sort of repeal of birthright citizenship, as well as some sort of humane yet severe punishments/sanctions for undocumented immigrants who are here?
Heard JD Vance rightfully report on Rogan how housing costs are finally not rising anymore because we don't have a flood of illegal immigrants coming over and renting / buying (often times with government money). Our schools are flatlining (and like 70% of kids are on free lunch), etc.
I wonder if you get rid of birthright citizenship, don't let non-citizens vote, restrict government benefits, and then tax their income at 2x the normal rate (with a min of 30%) - if that doesn't solve a lot of the problems...
Date: July 25th, 2026 2:54 AM Author: coiffed public bath
The proposals ITT are the essence of Thinking Small. Repeal citizens united? The fucking electoral college, which makes a difference in 8% of potus elections?
Jfc wtf is wrong with u risk-averse faggots. The actual, literal Congress--giving answers with their IRL names attached--would brainstorm bigger and more daring proposals than this.
Date: November 5th, 2026 3:41 AM Author: harry potter and the nihilists of azkaban
Terrible, terrible idea that will lead to more Rome style conditions faster than you can say "Attila is a mile outside of the capital. Sell the pope's golden cross for the city's ransom" or "Gaius Marius is, once again, calling for the ass-rape of Senator Titus over his refusal to vote for new colonia for veterans"
Date: November 5th, 2026 3:27 AM Author: harry potter and the nihilists of azkaban
Spitballing but some kind of civil service requirement needed to obtain the voting franchise
Even if it's just a single year cleaning Hmong language branded cigarette butts out of national parks, providing shock labor for rectifying national disasters, and telling tourists not to get gored by buffalo it would restore the actual value of the vote and ensure that fickle magpie people aren't deciding crucial elections while cutting back on some of the dirt and grime of the electoral circus
Hardship, poverty etc waivers are a necessity and should not be onerously withheld or subject to political-partisan scrutiny but should require perhaps some face to face interviewing and forms to fill out as well as a "thoughtful and sincere essay required" portion as to explain to the proctor of the state as to why the franchise is being pursued. This portion would be judged very lightly and the main thing to judge within would just be 1. sincere effort and 2. some basis of clear thinking regarding the topic from the interviewed. "I am seeking this to engage in political life" ✅ "I want to give back my time to the nation writ large and its government" ✅ "I am disappointed with the current quality of government and wish to express this and enact major---even radical, including the repeal of this proposed amendment--- change via the vote" ✅ without question or exceptional scrutiny "My neighbor/uncle/son votes Dempublican and I want to vote Republicrat to balance it out (i.e. spite them.") ❌ "I am seeking the preferential treatment that this status will get for me in the job market" ❌ with an attendant investigation launched into the complaints of the essay author and more over
There must be a time/effort cost associated with the prospect. Slots open up as jobs open up and you are considered to have the franchise so long as you're locked into the queue. Very possible to be in the queue and never be called for civil service as well; the franchise is granted so long as the attempt has been made. The private sector should be expected to do their civic duty and make transitioning in and out of life prior simple and painless (scaled exceptions for smaller businesses, of course) and this is a non-negotiable necessity that will weed out who does business in America because they care about the land and its people vs those who do it just to make a quick buck. Costs can be defrayed in part by private-public sponsorships with major firms and some classy, optimistic EPCOT style advertising/branding can be allowed for to provide some extra PR value. Not sure about monetary reimbursement during the period of being held at the convenience of the US government but budgets can be appropriated in portion from departments using this labor pool and it could perhaps defray general costs and lower the overall inefficiency of the state by departments being able to fill out costly permanent employee slots and all the heavy budget drain that it entails for untrained/semi-skilled positions with this labor pool
Shouldn't be any moral value attached to this process by the propaganda arms of the state btw nor should non-voters be treated as a lesser breed of people. Explicit private sector discrimination on this basis would be strictly disallowed. Just a simple risks-benefits analysis made publicly available and let people decide for themselves. Having the franchise will not be necessary to run as a congressman, perhaps make it a necessity for the senate, perhaps not. Lower/upper house distinction needs to be requantified and senate prestige needs to be restored after decades of scoundrels.
Incidentally this would also do much to restore the country's image amongst the youth and help people who'd never get a chance otherwise to spend a year potentially seeing just exactly how beautiful, spiritually rich, and truly culturally diverse the natural land of this country actually is. "America as filtered through FOX news or CNN" is a very different concept from "America, the land, the people, the nation-as-it-exists". The former I curse daily but the latter will never leave me no matter where I am
There are many, many unenumerated benefits to this sort of policy, left unspoken, and I think it being a primarily civil service role will mollify all but the most hardcore of the anarchists on a portion of the left as most who think with a state model will probably see more benefit than malus in the concept of the vote as a reward for, as best as you can, providing directly to the general welfare or civic buy-in for the right to participate in the electoral process. I think sometimes that perhaps this was an end goal that JFK and his type had in mind for institutions like the peace corps. No pro-America propaganda needed for this to work. Just show the people what the country really is on the ground and the land, the fields, the parks, dams, great infrastructure installations, speedy and comprehensive public response to natural disasters, ambitions, efforts, etc of the nation look like and let them aid and improve a bit of any of these things and they'll be convinced
There are probably all sorts of errors with the implementation but the fundamental idea that gaining the franchise should incur some kind of personal investment is probably a sound one. It's an intrinsically "political" program but otherwise shouldn't be trammeled by state propaganda beyond the minimal required for public awareness
The current model has much pro and con as well but the fatigue people are feeling atm about the blind, universal franchise is real and probably needs to be addressed one way or another or at the very least some national conversation needs to be had on the topic. Current voters probably grandfathered in but this is up for debate
Date: November 5th, 2026 7:05 AM Author: Fucking Fuckface
I would delete and replace the entirety of article 1, because most of our governmental evils stem from Congress.
1. Completely undo the regulatory state by disallowing delegation of authority to other branches
2. All votes must be public with names attached
3. No omnibus bills: one subject per bill with no unrelated or indirect subjects allowed to be amended in
4. Only natural born citizens or those who have naturalized and been citizens for at least 25 years
5. Prescribed pre-election activities and method for putting your platform out there--no option to do political ads or go outside of the set pre election activities (this entirely removes funding and advertising as we know it)
6. Ban on all foreign lobbying and involvement
7. Mandatory public audit of communications and finances (including spouse), with spousal consent required for someone to be elected.
8. Criminalize making and breaking campaign promises
9. Much clearer and stronger language that Congress had no authority beyond the subjects granted to them
10. Congress cannot exempt itself or give itself any special treatment with respect to laws it passes
11. Automatic aggravated status for any financial, corruption, or job-related crimes committed
12. Super majority vote required to confirm presidential pardon of members of its own administration and their family members
13. No military action absent attack on American soil or territories or protectorates without express congressional approval
14. Mandatory medication disclosures with drug testing
15. Term limits
16. Age limits
17. Annual cognitive testing with public results
18. Body cams with full public archive of audio and video for all job related activities and meetings (save only classified briefings, with definition of very limited allowance for classified briefings)
19. Legislation written by outsiders must be captioned with who wrote it and on whose behalf, with tests/tracing back to funding sources and whether or not there is any relation (interest or familial or former workplace etc) to members of Congress voting on the bill
20. Restrictions on what public funding at the federal level can be used for
21. Public approval needed to do more than a certain amount of deficit spending or pushing more than a certain amount of spending to certain things (1.5 trillion for the military would definitely trigger this): also inability to reallocate appropriated money for other uses. I prefer a system of earmarks for all spending so it's clear where and how it is to be spent and can be tracked to verify
Date: November 5th, 2026 12:17 PM Author: harry potter and the nihilists of azkaban
Uhh when you think about what the franchise is supposed to be it (many different and difficult answers on this) it raises a lot of questions about creating a politically blind technique for dispersing it and what constitutes actual "discrimination" or "unfair treatment" in its restriction. I definitely don't think old people should be disbarred from the vote and don't like "one size fits all" solutions to inclusion or exclusion based off of just about any demographic marker
This is a very, very difficult question and one that I suspect even the country founders would have a lot of difficulty sorting through if necessity didn't crank something less than perfect out to the public
Date: November 5th, 2026 12:23 PM Author: Fucking Fuckface
Once you have memorialized rules, the game of outmaneuvering them begins. The original set of rules worked until the 20th Century. That's a pretty good run. I think updating the rules to account for the abuses we've now become aware of, would be a good idea and could serve us for another 100+ years before having to have a go at cracking down on unintended loopholes or clever new tricks
I banged this out in about 10 minutes shortly after waking up, so these are far from watertight (and are obviously only a skeleton of high level concepts). Which specific items/aspects do you think are bad ideas
Date: November 5th, 2026 1:19 PM Author: harry potter and the nihilists of azkaban
2. encourages discrimination and leads to, as history has shown, onerous public-private breaches and increased party control at the expense of freedom of conscience. Secret ballot is a superior system for individual voters
4. is not a bad idea in theory but you need some kind of bureau to prevent abuses of aspiring americans that may occur from lack of political status
6. is good and helps to deal with inherent issues that arise from international cooperation and organizations. Imo foreign gift laws and regs should be loosened as it's usually obvious when there's substantial influence being traded and i do not at all like the spirit that clockwork stories like "Rep Xyz prosecuted for accepting 2 cases of cigars from Chilean diplomat; failed to fill out gift registration form properly" speak of
8. is only an issue bc "political promises" are for some weird reason often either conflated with or paradoxically failed to be joined to the concept of a "mission statement". e.g. "we're going to build a border wall" for trump, "we're going to fix healthcare" for obama, is a thing that a politician can strive for sincerely, even in a legislative majority type situation, and still have political realities and unforseen circumstances or various Lloyd's of London-qualified acts of god prevent
12. i'm for the strong executive concept, even after all of this, and think that the presidential branch should be a world unto itself. the idea with the pardon is not to have the man responsible for the "final say" in the nation influenceable by quotidian or mundane concerns when they have an entire set of unique responsibilities known only to the executive and his immediate circle tarnishable by "matters of the world"
14. puritanical, good on paper, in reality opens the door to a variety of other vanquished ghouls from eras past
15. term limits are good in theory as it forces "hard resets" again at least in theory on influence/patronage network building but otoh it also precludes the enablement of the sorts of veteran politicians that eras like the mid 1800s who knew their polity back and forth and were genuinely loved by their constituents for bringing prosperity and stability. ups and downs
18. massive expansions of the surveillance state are not a good thing. don't want "inner party" state monitoring of the "outer party" at the expense of freedom of conscience imo. public servants should be encouraged and forced to engage in a public service mindset but the term "servant" is not a 1:1 with slave and getting into the world of body cams and biomonitoring is basically just throwing in the towel and giving the reins over to dismal cynicism regarding the dignity that should be afforded to political leaders. the topic of "how do we prevent the state police from forming their own cadre with its own beliefs and opinions and exerting undue influence on politicians and the state" is one that analogizes well with the periodic issues that various chinese dynasties had with the eunuch caste as well as what the near east experienced with the janissaries and mamluks
19. is very good and really anything that encourages not just accountability but a non-biased and open ledger of politician thinking on voting is good for the progression of the science of governance. senators should have to include some brief thoughts on their thinking regarding this or that vote in with the vote, and you'll notice that some of the more tech savvy politicians already elect to do this via personal blogs or on their websites. this is a very minor change that would cut down on corruption, incompetence, and weed out puppets overnight. goes without saying that documents submitted should be available to the public in an archive. recorded justifications should be preferably submitted on paper at the time of voting while surrounded by their peers.
21. something to consider vis a vis the rubric of "political expedience" or "effectiveness" vs "absolute order"
generally i'm okay with things like polity slush funds or that nebulous "expenses (other)" category on the ledger that politicians can tap into and move around for various projects so long as the money is tracked by non-biased watchdog groups that, in an ideal world, would be audited periodically in a brief checklist fashion by pro bono work from respectable accounting firms. don't think this stuff always needs to be open to the public
Date: November 5th, 2026 1:37 PM Author: Fucking Fuckface
Oh, I get where you're coming from now. When you read my list, take it from the lens that it specifically applies to the legislative branch / acts by Congressmen. Not to votes electing them (though that is an important subject an a blind spot in my list if that's also in Article 1--can't recall offhand)
Marking this to return to later, because it's great you put some thought into a substantive response. I just can't review and respond substantive myself right now