Whereas, recent history shows that the current Constitution has for the past 80 years been progressively reduced to little more than a document controlling the succession of officers in their office, the need for an updated Constitution is mandatory.
Below are my proposed changes, on which I seek comment or further proposed changes:
The preamble will not include the general welfare clause.
There will be inviolable provisions which cannot be amended except by complete dissolution of the Constitution. First among those is the original prohibition against an Income Tax.
The first three articles of the current Constitution establishing the three branches of government will be employed with the exception of the limitation that bills passed by Congress must be strictly limited to a narrow subject. There will be no omnibus spending bills or other bills where unrelated pork or earmarks are added on. In line with enforcing this provision, the President's veto power shall include a line item veto, which may be overridden by Congress using the same procedures for a general veto.
As there are term limits for the President, so shall there be term limits for Senators and Congressmen--2 & 5 terms respectively.
The various current amendments prohibiting the infringement by the various states on the right to vote shall be consolidated and included in the body of the new Constitution. Also, there will be a provision guaranteeing the rights of those states to otherwise govern who will be eligible for the franchise.
There will be no Bill of Rights. Rather, in Article I on the powers of Congress, bills introduced by that body, and laws on the books in the states, shall deal with nothing more than implementing the goals listed in the preamble (establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense), which includes the power to collect of taxes. Any legislation outside of these basic governmental duties must be justified by a Constitutional amendment, and this applies to the states as well.
The federal and state governments must operate on balanced budgets with a possible provision for a narrowly defined emergency override.
The states shall select their senators as their representatives in Congress, but the procedure for their selection shall be reserved to the individual states.
In accordance with the current Article IV of the Constitution where "the citizens of each state shall be entitled to the privileges and immunities in the several states", the regulation of firearms (licensing, possession by felons, open and concealed carry etc.), will be prescribed by Congress as is currently mandated (but ignored) in Article IV; which is to be carried over into this new Constitution.
Treaties shall not take precedence over the Constitution, but rather become an appendage to it by following the advice, consent and two thirds approval of both houses of Congress, both for ratification or repeal.
The right of habeas corpus and the principle of eminent domain shall be incorporated.
No officer of the government is above the law, nor can the office be "protected" by pardoning the holder of said office, when in fact it would be degraded by it. There shall be no separate laws for government employees or officers. Such policy violates equal protection under the law. A Presidential pardon of a President, Senator, Congressman, member of the cabinet or justice of the Supreme Court for crimes related to their office, or any person where a conflict of interest with the President is indicated, shall require a two-thirds concurrence of the House of Representatives.