Section 1 All legislative powers shall be vested in a Congress, which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives. All decisions by these bodies will be determined by a simple majority of votes unless otherwise specified in this constitution. The Congress shall be empowered to make legislation for any of the powers assigned to it in this Constitution. The Congress shall not be empowered to do anything that is not explicitly authorized in this Constitution.
Section 2 Members of the House of Representatives shall be determined as follows. Each state shall have at least one Representative, and an additional Representative for each individual counted by census divisible by five-hundred thousand. If the remainder is more than two-hundred fifty-thousand, an additional Representative and House District shall be established. A census shall be taken once every ten years. The census shall consist only of the counting of individuals, and will not contain any other questions. Congressional House Districts shall be determined by beginning in the northeastern most corner of the state and shall be drawn symmetrically until five-hundred thousand is reached. This process shall be repeated until all the districts have been drawn.
Within each House District, Locales of 100 individuals shall elect from among themselves one Locale Representative. Ten contiguous Locales will each send one Locale Representative to their Community Board. The Community Board shall elect from among themselves one Community Representative. Ten contiguous Community Boards will each send one Community Representative to their Regional Board. The Regional Board shall elect from among themselves one Regional Representative. Fifty contiguous Regional Boards will each send one Regional Representative to their District Board. The District Board shall nominate from among themselves an individual to be a member of the House of Representatives.
The registered voters of the House District shall vote yes or no for the nominee, and if the majority is yes, the nominee shall be the Representative for two years, but if the majority is no, the nominee shall not be the Representative and shall be ineligible to be a nominee again for four years. If the majority is no, The District Board shall nominate another candidate from among themselves.
One of the goals of a republican form of government is to create a legislature which is most representative of the people. To do this, gerrymandering and manipulation of districts according to voter trends by those in power should be avoided. This can best be done by establishing a constitutional procedure for drawing districts without regard to such trends.
Moreover, the high cost and adversarial nature of contested elections tends toward corruption. The further removed from the voters, the less the voter can really know about a candidate. Often, a voter has been left with a choice between two undesirable candidates. By voting yes or no to a nominee rather than for one candidate or the other, the voter is not bound to accept a bad candidate.
Section 3 Qualifications for membership in the House of Representatives shall be as follows: Each member shall have been a citizen under this Constitution for seven years and shall have been a resident of the district from which they are elected for at least one year. Each member shall not have previously served in the House of Representatives for a time greater than or equal to five terms or ten years.
Section 4 The Senate under this Constitution shall be composed of two Senators from each state whose terms shall be incongruent. They shall have terms of six years, chosen as follows: the elected members of the House of Representatives from each state shall nominate from among themselves an individual to be a member of the Senate. The registered voters of the State shall vote yes or no for the nominee, and if the majority is yes, the nominee shall be the Senator for six years, but if the majority is no, the nominee shall not be the Senator and shall be ineligible to be a nominee again for four years. If the majority is no, the House Members shall nominate another candidate from among themselves. If all House Members are rejected by the voters of the state, a convention of the several District Boards shall meet to nominate another candidate from among themselves. The registered voters of the State shall again vote yes or no for the nominee, and the process repeated until a nominee gets a majority of the vote.
Section 5 Qualifications for membership in the Senate shall be as follows: Each member shall have been a citizen of the Confederation of Free States for fourteen years and shall have been a resident of the state from which they are elected for at least three years. Each member shall have not previously served in the Senate for a time greater than or equal to two terms or twelve years, unless they have held no elected office of the Federal government for the immediately preceding six years.
In addition to residency requirements, it is important for legislators to be true representatives of the people. This can be accomplished by insuring that each legislator does not become insulated from the people by staying in office for extremely long periods of time. Experience has shown that the longer one stays in office, the more likely it is to develop corruption, self-interest, and arrogance. Moreover, one legislator from a certain district should not be more powerful than his peer from another district because of seniority, thus disenfranchising the democratic power of the people from the latter district. Terms therefore should be limited.
By requiring that all legislators originate from the Locale level, the tendency for highly powerful individuals with influence and special interests to be elected to high office is reduced. This tendency is further reduced by restricting the power of the legislature itself.
Section 6 When vacancies occur in the House of Representatives or the Senate, the process will immediately commence to fill such vacancy in the same manner described in Sections 2 and 4. In the case of unacceptable behavior, the power to remove a House of Representative member from office shall lie solely with the District Board by a two-thirds majority vote, and the power to remove a Senator from office shall lie solely with the combined District Boards of the state represented. A two-thirds majority vote by one District Board shall be sufficient to call a convention of all the District Boards. A two-thirds majority vote by the convention shall be sufficient for immediate removal from office.
Only the people who send Senators and Representatives to Congress should have the power to recall them. Senators or Representatives from other states or districts too often have political motivations for removing a member. Each House shall have procedures for removing disorderly members, but not to permanently bar them.
Section 7 The time and place for elections and nominations for Congress shall be determined by each Locale, each Community Board, each Regional Board, and each District Board, provided that elections of Representatives and Senators shall occur at least 3 months prior to the expiration of the term of the incumbent.
There is no reason to have a large event such as a national election for Congress on which hinges the direction of national policy. With each District determine the time and manner of the election, any needed change will be both less chaotic and less delayed.
Section 8 Bills may originate in either the House of Representatives or the Senate but must pass by a majority vote in both chambers in order to become law. Bills must be restricted to one subject only and must be concise enough to be read in a reasonable amount of time by the members before being asked to vote on them. Before becoming law, it must be approved by the Judicial Review Board for Constitutionality, which must conduct its review within ten days. Congress can override the Judicial Review Board with a ninety percent vote in both houses, but the bill would still be subject to being voided by the Supreme Court.
The House and Senate provide a check on each other by the requirement of passage in both houses in order to become law. History has shown, however, that even this is not sufficient to prevent unconstitutional bills from being passed, therefore the Judicial Review Board is necessary. Such bills should be kept simple and restrict themselves to the issue at hand, without any "riders".
Potential abuse is reduced by making all tax revenue collection uniform and on the gross revenue of corporations only, thus one industry cannot be forced to supplement another. (See Section 13)
Section 9 The House of Representatives shall choose from among its members a Speaker to administer parliamentary order when in session. In order to conduct business, a quorum of four-fifths of the members of the House must be present. The Speaker shall be the one receiving a majority of the votes. If no one receives a majority, then another vote shall be taken by choosing among all those receiving votes in the previous ballot, excepting the one or ones with the least number of votes. If only two are remaining and still there be no majority, the President shall choose between the two, but if the office of President is vacant, the Senate shall choose between the two by majority vote. The House of Representatives shall have the sole power to bring charges of impeachment for the executive branch and the judicial branch.
Section 10 The Vice President shall preside over the Senate, but shall have no vote unless they be equally divided. In order to conduct business, a quorum of four-fifths of the members of the Senate must be present. The Senate shall choose from among its members a Chairman to preside in the absence of the Vice President. The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When the President or Vice President is tried, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court shall preside. Conviction shall be only by at least three-fourths of the members present and shall extend only to removal from office and the disqualification to hold any office under this Constitution for ten years. Conviction shall not prohibit subjection to prosecution by law. The Senate shall have the sole legislative power to confirm treaties with foreign nations, by a two-thirds majority, and to confirm Supreme Court judges and department heads of the executive branch, by a simple majority.
Section 11 The congress (the Senate and House of Representatives) shall assemble at least once every year, on January 3 unless the congress shall change such meeting time and place by law. A session may also be called by the President or shall automatically be called if the office of the President is vacated or incapacitated. Each house may establish the rules of its proceedings, subject to being in accord with those set forth by this Constitution. Disorderly members may be removed from proceedings by a two-thirds majority concurrence. Members shall be immune from arrest while attending or traveling to a session of congress. Each house shall keep a journal of it proceedings, which shall be published for public view, along with the votes of the members on any bills.
Section 12 Congress shall have the power:
To fix the value of the dollar in gold once and only once, at the outset of this Constitution; To coin money from gold, silver, nickel or copper; To create currency or interest free credit upon application from the prospective owners of new construction on real property; To collect and appropriate revenue from the repayment of credit; To establish laws for bankruptcy;
In order for the people to remain free and sovereign, in addition to their collective will to remain free, it is imperative to lay out exactly what the legislature can do and cannot do.One of the most important aspects deals with the creation of currency. To understand this, we must first understand money. What is money? What is economy?
Economy is simply the way movement of energy or productivity occurs. Mr. Jones can produce all that he needs to live, but because of his aptitude, learned skill, and acquired possessions, he may become particularly adept at one aspect, for example, growing grain. He therefore can grow grain more efficiently than his neighbor, Mr. Smith, who has become efficient at making pottery. If Jones grows more grain than he needs, and Smith makes more pottery than he needs, they can then trade grain for pottery and the living conditions of both will be improved. The more efficiently this is done, the better the economy.
But suppose Jones needs a broom, but cannot locate a broom maker who needs grain. He could become a broom maker himself, but a more efficient way is to create a medium with the same value to everyone in order for the exchange to proceed more smoothly. Thus money is created, accepted by the broom maker from Jones, then may be given to Smith for pottery. Money then, is simply a representative of the productivity of the people, and because of its flexibility increases the efficiency of the economy and thereby raises the standard of living for everyone.
It has its limitations, however. In order for this system to work, all traders must have full faith in the value of the currency, which is dependent upon the productivity of the people. The creation of money therefore should not exceed the potential productivity of the people, because that would cause inflation, higher prices, and thus lessen the efficiency, and in the extreme case total collapse of the system. It is especially easy for this to be done when money is created in the form a credit, rather than currency. If this credit is created on a grand scale, such as by government, the potential for economic disaster resulting from lack of faith grows with the size of the debt. When economic disaster looms, fear becomes plentiful, and liberty is threatened as people become willing to sacrifice freedom for security.
For these reasons, Congress, should not have the power and responsibility of creating currency or credit unless it is the coinage of gold or other precious metals, or currency or credit that represents durable goods that have been produced. The most easily represented durable good is new construction on real property. Congress should not have the power to create debt for the nation, and it should not have the power to delegate the production of currency and credit to some entity not directly controlled by the electorate, such as the Federal Reserve System.
It is important to note here that credit and debt are not the same. Congress should be able to create interest free credit (cheaper than printing actual currency) for the benefit and use of the people creating goods and services, but it should not be able to create debt, a promise to pay some other private entity (such as the Federal Reserve or a central bank) using the people as collateral, thus enslaving them.
It is also important to restrict congress from prohibiting any group or community from creating its own currency, provided it is done without fraud. Any currency that is not backed 100% by assets of intrinsic value is fraudulent. Except for times of natural disasters such as droughts or earthquakes, it is impossible for a free society with a willingness to be productive to sink into poverty or economic depression. Primitive societies never have depressions. In industrial societies, all poverty and economic depression is caused by centralized control (whether it be by government as done in socialist nations, or by banks as is often done in capitalistic nations) of the money supply. When currency is not available, the economy then becomes very inefficient and Smith and Jones are back to trading grains for pottery, if they can find each other.
To impose and collect uniform taxes on the gross revenue of corporations, not to exceed ten percent;
An equally important aspect of Congress is taxation. Any form of personal income or property tax is criminally immoral and a threat to liberty and the economy. It cannot exist in a free society.
A uniform tax on corporations is acceptable because corporations do not have rights. What they have is the privilege of shelter of the stockholders from liability, and a corporate tax is really a fee for this privilege. However, government cannot play any role in creating a market favorability for any geographic area or industry, therefore all corporate taxation must be uniform. Moreover, deductions for expenses in an income tax inevitably result in inefficiency and higher prices, which the consumer ultimately pays. Therefore, the only constitutional corporate tax should be a uniform corporate tax on gross income, not to exceed ten percent. Any larger percentage would tend to bloat government and thereby inevitably reduce individual liberty.
To provide for the punishment of crimes as defined in this constitution, including graft;
See Article I, Section 5. Graft is a form of fraud.
To secure for a limited time patents and copyrights; To establish Judicial Tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court; To establish Departments within the Executive Branch; To declare war when necessary, but only to defend the nation when attacked; To provide for voluntary armed forces, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years; To make rules for the regulation of the armed forces, but any member of the military shall retain all the rights of other citizens with respect to criminal prosecution; To provide security over such areas which may become the seat of government for this Constitution, or forts, or arsenals which have been granted by the states for such use;
There should be no part of the Confederation of Free States which does not enjoy the advantages of statehood and citizenship. However, there is a need for certain areas, such as forts, arsenals, and seat of government which require special security provisions from the federal government. These areas may be granted or leased to the federal government by the states, but should remain a part of the state with all the constitutional protections provided to the individuals who live within such areas.
To provide for the execution of Constitutional laws passed by congress; To provide for the operation of the Executive and the Judicial branches; To take private property for interstate highways and other public infrastructure provided the owners receive fair market value plus any loss incurred by the taking. To provide for and make rules concerning travel into the Confederation of Free States for non-resident aliens who are not immigrating. To prohibit the exportation of any product by any corporation or business with which the Confederation of Free States has contracted for military goods or services. To establish and provide for the compensation for the various employees and officials of the Judiciary and Executive Branches and employees of the Legislative Branch. To establish and provide for the the compensation of the members of Congress, provided it is approved by a majority vote by the people in the subsequent Presidential election. To provide uniform funds for nominees for President, Vice President, Senator, and Representative to present their policy positions to their respective electorates.
Section 13 Neither the Congress of the Federal government, nor any legislature or power of the States, shall have the power to inhibit the orderly immigration of any natural person into the geographic borders under this constitution who has expressed the intent of obtaining citizenship, which shall be obtained by residency within the geographic borders for seven years, and by sworn affirmation of support of this Constitution before a Federal Judiciary;
Nor to inhibit emigration from any State or the Federation; Nor to inhibit the free movement of persons within the Confederation of Free States for any reason, except in the commission of a serious crime or the administration of justice as a result of a serious crime; Nor to delegate any power of Congress authorized by this Constitution to any other branch of government; Nor to grant titles of nobility, nor to make laws which provide exceptions for themselves, other persons, or other groups of persons. No bill of attainder nor any retroactive law shall be passed, neither in civil or criminal cases. No law can take effect before it has been published. No taxation of the income or property of the individual human being shall be lawful, neither at the Federal, State, or Local level, however, an excise tax on the gross income of corporations is not prohibited, but must be uniform for all industries and geographic areas. Neither Congress nor any power of the States may subsidize any industry or corporation, or tax the gross revenue of different corporations at different rates. No tax or duty shall be laid on any article exported, neither by Federal, State, or Local governments. No tariff shall be imposed on articles imported into the Confederation of Free States, however a reciprocal response shall automatically be imposed with a tariff equal to those imposed by a foreign government. No tax or duty shall be laid on the sale of goods and services, or on the sale of real estate, neither by Federal, State, or Local governments. No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce to the ports of one state over another; nor shall vessels bound to or from one State be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another. No Federal, State, or Local government may regulate commerce in any way, except as specified in this Constitution. No money shall be drawn from the treasury except as a consequence of appropriations made by law; and a regular statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published at least annually. Congress and the states shall not have the power to borrow money, issue bonds, or notes except in the cases of emergency, specifically war or natural disasters, and shall be required to repay any debt created in such emergencies as soon as congress can act, but in any case repayment shall not exceed three years. Congress and the states shall not have the power to create a central bank other than the Treasury of the Confederation of Free States or a state Treasury, which shall be wholly, equally owned by all citizens of the nation or state. The listing of prohibitions in this section should not be construed to mean that Congress may do anything else that this Constitution does not specifically authorize it to do.
Immigration and emigration are fundamental human rights. We cannot create a peaceful world if we see other human beings of different nationalities as not deserving to be a part of our society. The demand for immigration should be greatly reduced by the adoption of Article Six regarding admission of statehood.
By prohibiting tariffs except in specific response to a tariff by other nations and providing a method for automatic revocation, trade between nations is promoted. When trade is free, cultural exchange is increased, familiarity and identification increase, and the likelihood of war and global economic stagnation is decreased.
Control of wages, prices, and interest rates can have the same effect as the control of the currency, which can result in depression and economic stagnation.
The sovereignty of the people is to be protected by the constitution, therefore, anything the Congress is prohibited from doing because it infringes on human rights, each of the states or localities are likewise prohibited.
Section 14 Whenever considering bills or issues before the Congress, members shall make judgements solely on the merits of the proposal. Members shall be prohibited from accepting or offering any thing of value or any deed, including consideration of votes on other bills, in exchange for votes on any issue before Congress. It shall be considered the same as bribery and shall be an impeachable offense.
Often, bills get passed without the real majority of congress wanting them because of promises made in order to get other bills passed, which also themselves may not be desirable by the majority. The result is two unpopular bills being passed. By prohibiting this practice, only bills truly approved by the majority of the representatives will become law, which is as it should be.
Section 15 No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation with any other state or foreign power. No state shall grant letters of marque and reprisal. No state shall, without the consent of congress, keep troops or ships of war in time of peace, enter into agreement or compact with another State or foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded or in such imminent danger as will not admit delay.