This amendment overrides but does not repeal the 17th Amendment.
States may determine the manner in which their Senators are elected via their State Constitutions. If no such determination is made, the default is that found in the 17th Amendment.
Author: admin
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Term Limits
No person may be a member of Congress for more than 2 full terms. No person may serve as President for more than 2 terms. No person who has served 2 terms as President may be included in the line of succession for the Presidency.
A partial term served before the first full term does not count towards a full term. No partial terms may be served after 2 full terms have been served.
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Balanced Budget
Each year Congress shall pass a balanced budget for the coming year, before the end of the current fiscal year. Failure to do so will result in mandatory recall elections for all members of Congress. In such cases the previous year’s budget will continue until a new Congress can be formed and pass a budget.
No member of Congress that has had 2 mandatory recall elections may ever hold Federal public office again.
Deficit spending is not allowed except in times of a war declared by Congress, that war being fought on US soil, or in times of a national emergency declared by Congress. All deficit spending must go towards the applicable war or emergency. Any other increase in spending in such times is fraud and all members of Congress who vote for such increases will be personally held liable for that fraud.
Financing deficit spending will preferably occur by taking out a loan from a Sovereign Wealth Fund managed by the Treasury. 10% of all revenue, over and above that required for repayment of outstanding financing, must go to the Sovereign Wealth Fund in times where no applicable war or emergency is declared. The Sovereign Wealth Fund will keep the lesser of 50% of all funds, or $10 trillion indexed to inflation, in liquid assets. The remainder will be invested in public works projects and randomized short term micro-loans to Citizens.
If there are not enough funds available from the Sovereign Wealth Fund, a public bond auction open to all Citizens may be used. No such bonds may be purchased or transferred to non-Citizens or other legal entities which are not 100% Citizen owned.
In all cases, the deficit spending may not be financed by loans or issue of bonds exceeding 10 years duration for war, 3 years for emergency. Loans taken and bonds issued for this purpose may not be rolled over. They must be fully repaid within the applicable maximum years.
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Money and Speech
Any item or experience of value given to a candidate for political office, before, during, or after campaigning, is bribery. Exceptions made for small gifts from family or friends. Candidates must disclose such gifts and if exceeding the maximum value allowed per year ($1000) have the excess value deducted from their pay.
Candidates for political office will adopt a standard of living at or below the median standard of living for American citizens for the rest of their lives. Any excess wealth will be confiscated by the state. Repeated offenses of exceeding that standard of living via any method will be punished with imprisonment for all parties involved in the transfer or use of the excess value.
They are public servants, not masters.
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Corporations are not People
Corporations are not People.
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Co-ops Not Corporations
We too often look to government to enact worker and environmental protections against greedy corporations. Those same corporations and their majority owners are the ones who buy politicians, shape laws, and of course they do so in ways that give advantage to themselves.
However there is another way that we can go about ensuring that we all have the opportunity for a good life, that the natural resources of this world will not be squandered; voting with our wallets and our time. We can organize into co-ops that produce valuable goods and services, and in so doing direct the nature of those industries. We can choose as consumers who to support and who not to.
Obviously the choices are limited currently. A handful of giant corporations own almost everything, they control production and employment. Most workers and consumers are barely making ends meet. We have to act in whatever little ways we can to increase the choices available to ourselves and others, so as to increase our ability to choose to pay more for better quality, better worker treatment, and less environmental harm. Don’t let perfection be the enemy of progress. Even changing what you eat, and where you got the food, for one meal can make a difference.
There are sacrifices we must make to escape the traps that the greedy have set for us. Minimize consumption so we can afford to invest in better options. Targeted boycotts to show we do not voluntarily consent. In these ways we can create an economic environment where corporations have to do better or lose to their competitors.
Most of all we need to be united. The working class produces all necessary value. It is only by dividing us that the capitalist and political classes can devalue our contributions. United we hold all the cards. They cannot feed themselves. They cannot build their own homes. They cannot build or maintain the infrastructure. They need us. They would die without us pampering, feeding, and protecting them.
We must organize so that we don’t rely on their capital. Then we can be free.
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Regenerative Life
The answer is found in nature.
A cell divides to become two, then four, on and on. Each iteration leading to something greater. So too can our actions grow in effect over time. This concept is at the core of Bilisan. To start truly regenerative processes.
The goal is simple: a meaningful, abundant, hopeful life for everyone. A healthy, vibrant environment where diverse ecosystems thrive. An economy where people can be productive in harmony with nature. A world where we all have freedom to live where and how we choose.
It seems an insurmountable task. It is for any one person. It is for any one action. But nature shows us the way. Regeneration. Exponential growth. A seed planted today becomes a tree tomorrow. A tree spreading it’s seeds becomes a forest. We can plant those seeds. We can grow into that forest.
So we start small. A homestead regenerating degraded land. Improving the soil. Producing healthy food and habitat, renewable building materials and fuel. Doing this with minimal inputs, good stewardship, and partnering with nature instead of fighting it. Welcoming life, both wild and domestic, back to desolate places.
We do this in ways that provide economic benefits to those working the land. They earn their new home, and produce a surplus with which to pay back the opportunity. Paying it forward as an opportunity for someone else.
A co-op of these homesteads work together to share resources. Multiplying the value of equipment, infrastructure, marketing, and knowledge. The co-op itself earns it’s keep, producing a surplus with which to start new co-ops in other lands or economic sectors.
And so it spreads across the face of the Earth. Regenerating land, people, communities, and economies. Healing our home.
All are welcome here!