Most of the remaining Constitution can stand as is, although I want to do some analysis.
Article IV
Section 1
Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof.
Section 2
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.
A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime.
No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due.
Section 3
New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.
The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular State.
Section 4
The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.
Article V
The original text: The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.
Now, given that this article exists, it raises the question of why my project is even necessary. Well, the fact that we have never had a Constitutional Convention called by the states since original passage, that most Amendments were passed through the Congress or being ratified separately by states, and that the 27th Amendment was the last one enacted (in 1992) but actually proposed in 1789, indicates that while it is supposed to be hard to change the foundational law of the government, the process in practice is prohibitively difficult.
But again, my proposal at this moment is just that, at the proposal stage. It could still be used in an actual constitutional convention, and parts could be ratified by states. There is nothing I propose that would stand against Article V, given that its only real prohibition is against changing “equal Suffrage in the Senate” (two Senators per State) and that remains the case in my Article II.
Article VI
Original text: All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation.
This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.
The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.
This first paragraph would be modified as “all debts contracted and engagements entered into before the adoption of this Constitution shall be as valid against the United States as under the prior Constitution.”
The second paragraph is similar to my Article I section 17, “The laws of each State, and their State Constitutions, remain in effect upon ratifying this Constitution, except insofar as they are contradicted by it.” It is still specific enough to stand as necessary.
I would also add the text of Section 4 of the 14th Amendment, “The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any state shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.”
Article VII
The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same.
There we go. Again, it is presumptuous of me to think I can solve the problems with our Constitution in just this one project, but this is both a first draft and a starting point for debate. Because such radical changes might have been unthinkable to a lot of people, but the need for debate becomes more necessary by the day, and the need for change is coming sooner than most of us would want.
Because in my next post I will have to leave the realm of speculation and return to the here and now, where our political situation has been getting worse by the day.