Toward a More Perfect Union: A Prescriptive Approach — President & DoJ
President
As indicated under Voting (in Part 2), the President should be elected by popular vote – just like senators and members of congress – and the electoral college disbanded. Since year 2000, we have had two presidents elected by the college who did not garner a majority – or even a plurality – of votes, and those two individuals were – in terms of partisanship, corruption, and even (in one case) collusion with an enemy nation– arguably the two worst chief executives in our country’s history. It is long past time to eliminate the electoral college.
An alternative would be to nullify the electoral college by having all the states apportion their electoral votes based on state-by-state voting results (currently only Nebraska and Maine do this and they do not go far enough.) To be effective, however, this would have to be adopted by all the states at or near the same time. In situations where there is a near-tie, the role of senators would be split the same as representatives. For example, in a state with 20 electoral votes, there would be 10 for each candidate; in a state with 21 votes, there would be 11 for one candidate and 10 for the other. Obviously, this is more complicated than simply removing the electoral college.
The President should be subject to the same ethical restrictions as those enumerated for members of congress, including blind trusts and receipt of gifts (or bribes). The emoluments clause of the Constitution (found in Article 1, Section 9) needs to be strengthened and expressly applied to the executive – as well as the legislative – branch. Experience with the presidency of the 45th occupant of that office shows clearly that requiring the complete divorcing of oneself from one’s business interests is necessary to enhance a disinterested policy agenda. A failure to abide by this rule would be grounds for impeachment and confiscation of wealth. To make this happen, another amendment is probably necessary.
Department of Justice and Special Counsel
No one is above the law, the President included. This logically means that the president – and anyone else under investigation – should not be able to fire a special prosecutor or otherwise disrupt a special investigation, especially one that has the president as a subject. Nor should anyone – president included – be immune from indictment or prosecution.
Since the special counsel is selected by the attorney general or his/her designee, three options exist to separate the investigator from the investigated:
- Revive the Independent Counsel law, insuring its isolation from the Executive Branch.
- Draft legislation that completely removes the chain of command that exists between the two, or
- Change the office of attorney general from a presidential appointment to an elected office over which the President has no authority. This would also remove the FBI from presidential oversight and enhance its independence. Oversight of the FBI would of course still be under the purview of congress.
Any attempts by the president to stifle or disrupt such investigation would be immediate grounds for impeachment. Criminal penalties for a sitting president should also be allowed.
Additionally, the constitution needs an amendment to specify that the presidential pardon privilege is limited to persons and crimes not connected in any way with the president, and that the president cannot pardon himself/herself.
Impeachment
Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution reads: “The President, Vice President, and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.”
While impeachment is, and should be, a difficult process, it should also be less subject to partisanship. There are ways in which this could be accomplished:
- Make it possible for the minority party – or at least the leader thereof – to introduce legislation and impeachment proceedings. Majority rule would still be in effect, but this proposal would at least force legislators to go on record as being in favor of, or opposed to, the issue in question.
- Many members of congress have abdicated their responsibilities in the case of not fully investigating a president and campaign that failed to ensure election security and the safety of the nation in the wake of the 2016 election. Members of congress who are found to have failed in this way – for example, majority members of the House Intelligence Committee in 2017-2018 – have reneged on their promise to “protect and defend the constitution” and should be either removed from office or made ineligible for reelection. Even if nothing were to result from the committee’s investigation, cutting it off when many witnesses remained to be questioned and when the chairman was obviously carrying water for the president, is a dereliction of duty. This would need to be encoded in law, and not just in general practice.
Continued in Part 6 — Campaign Financing
Other options:
Return to Part 1 — Prologue
Return to Part 2 — Voting & Election Issues
Return to Part 3 — Gerrymandering & Courts
Return to Part 4 — Congress
Go to Part 7 — Lying and Ethics
Go to Part 8 — Sexism and LGBT
Go to Part 9 — Abortion & Church/State
Go to Part 10 — Guns
Go to Part 11 — Healthcare & VA
Go to Part 12 — Big Pharma
Go to Part 13 — Environment
Go to Part 14 — Energy
Go to Part 15 — Education
Go to Part 16 — Economics
Go to Part 17 — Unions, Safety Net
Go to Part 18 — Homelessness
Go to Part 19 — Trade, Tariffs
Go to Part 20 — Media
Go to Part 21 — War, National Security
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Above is the fifth of numerous submissions wherein I suggest ways our country, our government, and the world can be made better. I am an old fart in my 70’s and have seen much: the turmoil of the 1960’s; Vietnam (where I served as an infantry officer and was awarded a purple heart and other medals); the anti-Vietnam protests (in which I participated while still in uniform); Watergate, the rise of the right wing attack on the poor and powerless during and after the Reagan years; the continued wars in Grenada, Panama, Iraq, Afghanistan and pretty much everywhere else; the Clinton years, the invasion of Iraq in 2002 and the never-ending war since, the brief glow of sunshine during the Obama years, and now Trump. While my dog in this fight is getting long in the tooth, I still deeply care about three things: my country, my country’s honor, and the future we leave to our descendants. My personal history, other than military service, includes college teaching, computer support, hospital IT supervision, consulting, and now — in my retirement — substitute teaching.
I make my recommendations in all seriousness, recognizing that most of them are not immediately attainable. Nevertheless, if we elect people who share our values as our representatives at all levels of government, we can accomplish much.