State of the Republic I

Current Status
The status of our republic is barely adequate and weakening. The federal government has expanded its role far beyond the intent of the founders. It is currently governing a country of 300 million from a small city on the east coast. It is inefficient, wasteful, and on the verge of bankruptcy. The States have held a substantial role in the daily lives of its citizens but relies heavily on federal funds and some states have gotten so large and inefficient, they too are on the verge of bankruptcy. It seems to be the destiny of an over-sized Republic to become far too fat, too centralized, and bankrupt. Meanwhile the private sphere, something that dominated for most of the first 120 years of this country, has become steadily weaker, and in its own way, cooperative in the concentration of power and wealth. It is not capitalism but a hybrid of large corporations establishing oligopolies and protecting it through cooperation with the national government. This "Too Big to Fail" phenomena.

What Should be Done?
Walter Russell Mead, a well-known expert on politics and international relations, makes five recommendations, some of which I agree. I highly recommend reading his blog at http://www.the-american-interest.com. Anyway his recommendations were (1) federalism, (2) Congressional Term Limits, (3) Grow the House, (4) Go Nebraska, and (5) add stars to the flag.

Federalism
Federalism is the system the Constitution setup, the national government and states have distinct jurisdictions and share power. The purpose is to allow more government institutions to be "closer to the people" because the best government is closest to the people (local rather than state, state rather than national, etc.). Mead argues that individuals have near zero impact on federal politics but can influential state and local affairs. Therefore, more tasks should be done at the state and local level. I agree entirely. The national government in Washington must be reduced in size in absolute terms but also in the number of tasks it does. These must be left to the states and local governments. It will also include the federal government shutting off the money tap and eliminating the strings they attach to federal money. It gives states greater flexibility, more power, and more independence.

Purposes of Federalism: (1) prevent federal tyranny through specifying distinct jurisdiction for the states, (2) enhance democratic rule with government closer to the people, (3) allow states to be laboratories for new political ideas. The first two have been discussed. The third has eroded since the Civil War. States are routinely limited through reliance on federal money and federal debt to do it only one way, rather than experimenting with new ideas of governance, political power, and administration. This third purpose needs to reinvigorated and we need to take the handcuffs off the states.

Term Limits
Congressional Term Limits is a good idea, somewhere between 8-14 years perhaps.

Increase size of the House
To grow the House would make each district small, rather than each Congressman representing 700,000 people it would be lower perhaps 500,000. In the past a House member represented far less than that. Making the U.S. Congress closer to the people in this manner seems far too minimal in its effectiveness. I don't see any reason to change the size of the House in any dramatic fashion.

Go Nebraska
The Nebraska idea I think is a no-brainer. Nebraska is the only state with only one chamber in the legislature. The rest of the states have two. It is not clear why. The U.S. Legislature has two chambers (Senate and House) to give smaller states greater influence and also to provide a similar pattern as Britain, a lower house to be more reactive to popular sentiment with two year terms, and a higher house of statesmen able to think long term and represent the interests of a larger constituency. This doesn't really apply to the states since there are no "sub-states" that need greater influence. More states should adopt a unicameral (one chamber) system.

Stars to the flag
Mead argues that states like California, New York, Michigan, and Illinois have simply become ungovernable due to their size. Their budget troubles appear to be case and point. Further partitioning of the United States, however, I feel is not necessary. The problems in these states are often symptoms of the erosion of federalism and states rights. If states were left to be more independent and less reliant on federal funds, some of these problems would not be present. They could not wait for a bailout. Despite that plenty of large states do just fine without being partitioned: Texas & Florida. The problem is not size just bad governance.

Additional Thoughts
My top addition to Meads recommendations would be to end the practice of gerrymandering. Gerrymandering allows political parties in control of state legislatures to draw districts to protect incumbents with bizarre looking districts that add supporters while getting rid of areas that are more in opposition. It minimizes the number of competitive districts, strengthening incumbency, and making it near impossible for the people to get what they vote for. Some states use independent panels, bipartisan panels, or a mathematical formula to draw their districts. I think a Constitutional Amendment should be introduced to adopt one of these practices for all the States that have multiple districts.

National Elections should be on a Saturday and not Tuesday in order to encourage turnout and participation.

Increase contribution limits for individuals. We should encourage individual contributions rather than PAC or organizational contributions. It would also make it slightly easier for candidates to raise funds for elections. Making Congressmen less reliant on a handful of wealthy organizations and donors will decrease their special interest focus. A rich individual cannot buy a Congressman with a $2600 contribution (the current maximum). The maximum for an election should be doubled to $5000 or $6000 per election per candidate.

See? I just solved all the country's problems. No need to thank me, this is what I do.