FAIR AND COMPETITIVE ELECTIONS

1.  Require states to utilize non-partisan commissions to create Congressional Districts based on impartial formulas that prohibit considerations of party membership or voting history.

2.  Pursue a constitutional amendment allowing Congress to enact any campaign finance laws restricting contributions and expenditures, with federal courts retaining the power to override any restriction if they decide that it actually increases the influence of money on federal elections or increases the advantages of incumbency.

3.  Make Election Day a national holiday (e.g., moving Presidents’ Day to November) to maximize citizen participation.

4.   Require ranked choice voting in all Congressional elections with an instant runoff among the top three vote getters, to produce a winner by absolute majority and give independent candidates a fairer chance.

5.  Include “none of the above” on ballots for Congressional elections and require a re-election with new candidates if NOTA receives more votes than anyone on the original ballot.

6.  Require disclosure of all donations larger than $10,000 to federal political action committees.

7.  Make the presidential nominating process a more gradual winnowing based on grassroots campaigning rather than the current Super Tuesday dominated by big money, attack ads and name recognition (e.g., one state voting per week, then two per week and eventually five states per week after the field has been narrowed).

 FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY

8.  Require use of the lowest consensus baseline forecast for economic growth in enacting an annual budget rather than unrealistically optimistic scenarios that Washington employs now.

9.   Require the inclusion of all costs (including interest) in making official federal budget projections.

10.  Compel transparency about the Social Security benefits Americans can actually expect to receive based on real revenues (i.e. a reduction of benefits for all retirees by at least 23% in 2033 if Congress fails to enact big new spending cuts and tax increases).

11.  Include all entitlement spending on the bargaining table in the annual budget process unless and until Congress finally achieves budget and debt responsibility.

12.  Expand the budget window from 10 to 20 years, to reduce the ability of a majority party to irresponsibly enact permanent tax cuts or spending increases while only offsetting them with temporary spending cuts or tax increases elsewhere.

13.  Enact a phaseout to simplify the federal tax code by at least 20% within two years, commit to further reductions in the subsequent congressional term, and establish an outside commission to propose changes if Congress proves incapable of doing so.

LEGISLATIVE EFFICACY

14.  Require periodic rotation of seats on the powerful tax and spending committees (e.g., Appropriations, Budget, Finance, Ways and Means) to increase fairness and avoid the corrupting influence of entrenched power.

15.  Demand an isolated yes-or-no vote on term limits (at least for newly elected members) of 30 consecutive years in any one legislative body and 40 years of combined total service in Congress, if Congress cannot agree to more restrictive term limits.

16.  Prohibit any person over the age of 85 from standing for election or reelection to Congress, if Congress cannot agree to more restrictive age limits. 

17.  Re-establish regular order with committee and floor votes rather than final bills drafted in secret by partisan leaders, expanding the minority party’s right to propose numerous amendments in the hope of moderate and consensus-based legislation.

18.  Prohibit Members of Congress and their immediate family from buying or selling any securities during their term(s) of office other than diversified index funds or mutual funds not concentrated in a single sector, if Congress cannot agree to more stringent limitations.

19.  Require that every committee chair is chosen by every member of that committee rather than exclusively by the majority party.

EXECUTIVE ACCOUNTABILITY

20.  Pursue a constitutional amendment requiring that any candidate for President who receives an absolute majority of all votes cast nationwide by a margin of three percent or more of total votes cast shall win the presidential election, with the Electoral College continuing to dictate the outcome of any closer election.

21.  Prohibit any person over the age of 75 from standing for election or reelection as President.

22.  Reform the Insurrection Act under which the president can deploy the armed forces on American soil, by allowing a simple majority (in both houses of Congress) to immediately override its use.

23.  Prohibit a President from pardoning members of his or her own administration or family.

24.  Formally adopt a “no first use” policy for launching nuclear bombs, and require Congressional approval (by a simple majority in both houses) absent any incoming nuclear attacks.

25. Require that combat operations initiated by the president must end after 30 days absent Congressional approval, and allow a simple majority (in both houses of Congress) to force the withdrawal of American military personnel at any time.

JUDICIAL LEGITIMACY

26. Impose 16-year or 18-year limits on the length of new Supreme Court justice’s terms, to reduce the incentive for a president to nominate young unproven candidates who might serve for decades and into senility.

27. Require the Chief Justice to be chosen by his or her colleagues annually rather than a life term through unilateral decision by the president.

28.  End “shadow docket” secrecy by requiring Justices to sign their opinions and identify their votes.

29.  Require a binding code of conduct (including disclosures of potential conflicts of interest) on Supreme Court justices in the same manner as members of Congress and Cabinet officials.

A PDF copy of the Accord can be downloaded here.

COUNT ME IN! By submitting the form below, I affirm the spirit of the proposals outlined here as a starting point to consider urgently needed legislative actions.