reply to post by xpert11
The member Don White has a plan for a basis that MMP could operate him. So I would contact Don about any Constitutional amendment. I will out line
what I addressed in my podcast in order to answer your question. Related notes. New Zealand has no lower house. Due to the different levels of support
a candidate can get across geographical areas state by state primary's may no longer be feasible. Note under the parliamentary system there are no
primary's so this is where no man has gone before . All ideas are welcome.
Thanks for the nice words, Mr X11. Background. In 1775, the First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia. It produced the Articles of Confederation
between the 13 colonies. Article 1 gave us our name, “The United States of America.” The name stuck although the Articles did not. Commonwealth
posters may get a tickle reading our optimistic, maybe jingoistic Article XI.
The Articles featured an unicameral legislature. Unfortunately the Articles were filled with other unworkable provisions. Although each of the 13
states was allotted 3 to 7 members of Congress based on its population, each state voted as a unit with but 1 vote. Regardless of population. Worse,
the Articles did not provide for an executive. When the Congress was in session, it exercised not only the legislative power but the executive power
as well.
If it could possibly be worse, when Congress was out of session, a committee of 13, one from each state, served as the executive power. Before a
decision could be taken, a majority of 7 votes was needed. And last, the Congress had no power to tax. Congress could only request money from the
states, based on populations and not on wealth. As it turned out, only 3 or 4 states responded regularly with money when Congress requested. The
others just ignored the requests by Congress.
After gaining independence from Great Britain by the Treaty of Paris in 1783, the 13 colonies staggered along trying to make the Articles work. Aside:
it was widely believed by the ruling class in England that the colonies would return to the Crown after a short time going it alone. End.
By 1787, it was obvious to the leaders of the fledgling country the Articles would not serve for a unified country. A Constitutional Convention was
called to meet in Philadelphia. Meeting in the heat of summer between May and September and pledged to keep proceedings and votes secret, the creme de
la creme of America’s leading people hammered out a document we still use today albeit with 27 additions, deletions, improvements or alterations.
George Washington, for example, was elected president of the newly convened Convention. Elder statesman and in some eyes, the man most critical to the
success of the recent revolt Benjamin Franklin, was in attendance. Franklin was world renowned as a scientific experimenter and a successful inventor
as well as the publisher of America’s most popular book - after the KJV - “Poor Richard’s Almanac,” an annually published book no American
household would be without.
But lurking in the dark was the one issue that divided America. Slavery. Two leading farm crops depended on slave labor to be profitable. Tobacco and
rice. Both were cash crops and were our major export items. Both crops were grown predominantly in the south because each needed lots of sunshine -
long growing season - and plentiful rain. (Cotton only became “king” after Eli Whitney patented the cotton gin on March 14, 1794).
Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia - the most populated state - Maryland and Delaware relied on slave labor for their agricultural
products. The New England states were already agitating for the abolition of slavery. To keep the 6 slave labor states onboard, a means to give the
slave states a veto had to be found, should any future Congress vote to outlaw slavery.
To make short this overly long introduction to the topic, altering America’s present system of governance, let me finish with this recap. Everyone
at the Constitutional Convention knew a strong central government was in the offing. The large differences in population between the 13 states
presented a hurdle hard to overcome. Look here to see how the House membership was allotted before the first census was taken. “New Hampshire shall
be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six, New Jersey four,
Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three.”
A bicameral legislature was determined upon. The Senate or upper chamber, was allotted equally to the states, 2 senators each regardless of
population. To further enhance their senior status, senators were given six year terms. Further, to curtail the commoners impulse for democracy,
senators would be chosen by the state legislatures, the bastion of the wealthy ruling class. To partially restrain the executive branch’s power in
foreign affairs, treaties required a 2/3rds vote for approval.
To offset the power of the Senate, it was provided that all taxing bills must originate in the House, the junior branch. To make it more acceptable to
the lower classes of Americans, House members would be chosen by direct vote every 2 years. This is the “democratic” part of the republic.
The House was given the sole power of impeachment. The power to initiate any removals from office. Charges of impropriety would be brought by the
House but the Senate would sit as the jury to determine guilt or innocence. Last, the judiciary was given life time appointments - during good
behavior - because they really had no other power beyond moral persuasion.
The power of judicial review currently exercised by our judiciary was not successfully asserted until the 4th Chief Justice, John Marshall, who sat
from 1803 until his death in 1835. He is most notable for his precedent setting landmark case holding in Marbury v. Madison. Marshall asserted the
Federal courts had the inherent power to review all acts of both the legislature and the executive. It is still good law.
And therein lies the current form of government at the Federal level. IMO.
[edit on 2/19/2008 by donwhite]
I can see it now TV ads with the slogan " Patriots for
MPP . " 
