SECTION l: FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

A. The Executive Branch.

1. The Executive Branch shall uphold the Constitution, laws of the United States, and international law in times of peace, in times of war, or during a national emergency and shall respect the Separation of Powers contained in the Constitution.

2. The Executive Branch shall not surreptitiously enhance the powers of the Executive Branch. Signing statements by the President intended to circumvent or subvert the letter or intent of the law signed shall be illegal and subject the President to removal from office.

3. The Executive Branch shall not escape oversight of Congress or the people of the United States.

4. Laws or bills that have increased presidential powers or eliminated oversight of the Executive Branch as contained in the Constitution shall be abolished.

5. The Executive Branch shall uphold the international law set forth in the Geneva Conventions and shall not authorize the torture of prisoners held by the U.S., whether such prisoners are foreign terrorists or U.S. citizens.

6. All Presidential papers shall become public eight (8) years after a President leaves office.

7. A President, Vice President, or member of the Executive Branch staff shall be subject to prosecution for criminal acts performed in office.

B. The Legislative Branch

1. The U.S. Congress shall give priority to laws and actions that benefit the people of the United States and create transparency in their decisions regarding the laws governing the United States.

2. Elected representatives shall not receive free medical coverage or other benefits until a National Health Care System is in place.

3. There shall be no "earmarks". There shall be no riders to bills. All bills must address one subject only.

C. The Judicial Branch

1. The Supreme Court and the Judicial Branch shall confine its actions to constitutional mandates.

2. The terms of Justices of the Supreme Court, iincluding the Chief Justice, shall be limited to a total of two seven-year terms.

D. Economics

1. The federal government shall not spend more than it takes in.

2. The Federal Reserve Bank shall be nationalized and run by the federal government.

3. The privatized Federal Reserve Bank shall restrict the creation of dollars to inhibit inflation.

4. The federal government shall close the income gap between the poor and middle class, and the wealthy by altering the tax structure so that the poor and middle class are taxed proportionately less.

5. The federal government shall act to reduce and eliminate inflation in the U.S. economy.

6. The federal government shall return to the gold standard.

7. Larger denominations of currency, such as $500 and $1000 bills, shall be returned to circulation. The penny shall be eliminated

8. The federal government shall provide negative incentives for any company that seeks to ship U.S. jobs overseas. The government shall reestablish tariffs on all goods imported into the United States. An additional 10 percent tax shall be imposed on goods from American corporations that have outsourced manufacturing jobs from the United States to other countries in the last 10 years

9. Federal, state, and local governments and the military shall not buy any foreign product if an American-made equivalent is available.

10. No branch of government, including regulatory agencies and the military, shall pay more than market value for goods or services.

11. Government accounting methods must meet the same standards as mandated for publicly traded corporations.

E. Military

1. The budget for military spending and the Pentagon shall be reduced to no more than double that of any other country. The military shall institute a bidding process for all contracts signed. “No-bidding” contracts are expressly forbidden

2. The US shall not maintain more than 200 military bases on foreign soil.

3. Reservists shall not be subject to multiple call-ups for service.

4. Posse Comitatus shall be restored.

F. Foreign Relations

1. The United States shall not invade or attack other countries unless attacked first.

2. The U.S. military and all government agencies are prohibited from entering a foreign nation for the purpose of drug interdiction.

3. There shall be no free trade agreements.

4. The federal government shall comply with all of the provisions of the Geneva Conventions.

G. Privatization

1. No branch of government, including the U.S. military, or regulatory or administrative bodies or agencies or part thereof, deemed responsible for the common good of the people of the United States shall be allowed to be privatized.

2. No public infrastructure shall be allowed to be sold to any private party or corporate interest. All such sales that have taken place in the last ten years shall revert to public ownership at the original price.

3. Private for-profit corporations, domestic or foreign, shall not be allowed to take over the duties of U.S. agencies. Government programs funded by taxpayer dollars shall not be administered by private, for-profit corporations.

H. Taxes

1. The tax code shall be simplified and readable by the average person.

2. Corporations that benefit from The Commons shall be taxed on the use of The Commons. Such taxes will be used to pay for a national health care system and for the protection and restoration of the environment. This amendment does not allow corporations to evade their responsibility to restore public lands after said corporation uses and exploits the land and its resources.

3. Tax codes shall be altered so that there shall be no state, federal, or local taxes imposed on commodities necessary for survival, including food, water, shelter, and energy.

4. Social Security income shall not be taxed.

5. The federal government shall help close the income gap between the poor and middle class and the wealthy by altering the tax structure so that proportionately less is spent on taxes by the poor and middle class.

6. Federal and state inheritance taxes shall be repealed. Corporate taxes shall be increased to cover the loss of same.

7. The Internal Revenue Service shall not audit anyone with a gross income of $50,000 or less.

8. The Internal Revenue Service shall give its highest auditing priority to large corporations.

9. Corporate taxation shall account for a minimum of 40 percent of Internal Revenue Service income.

10. Inflation must be taken into account on the sale of any real or depreciable asset to compute capital losses as well as capital gains.

11. Any and all medical expenses, including so-called "alternative treatments," shall be tax deductible, regardless of income bracket.

12. Any state that collects a state income tax shall do so as a percentage of the federal return and shall not require a separate return with different rules or exemptions.

13. The threshold for the Alternative Minimum Tax shall be adjusted annually for inflation, using the date of inception as a baseline.

14. No private debt agency or other corporate entity shall be allowed to collect taxes in the United States.

I. The Food and Drug Adminstration and Environmental Protection Agency

1. The FDA's mission shall be altered to encourage a non-pharmaceutical approach to medicine. Prevention of disease and safety and toxicity of food and drug products shall be its primary focus.

2. The FDA shall authorize all pharmaceuticals to be tested for efficacy, toxicity, and safety and shall test all natural substances and non-pharmaceutical products for toxicity and safety only. To determine toxicity and safety of a product, the FDA shall rely solely on the outcome of independent studies and not studies done by or paid for by the manufacturer or associated industry.

3. The FDA, the EPA, or the CPSC shall authorize independent testing to determine whether any drug or product is safe for human and domestic animal consumption, nontoxic, nonpolluting, and does not harm the environment or wild species. Any drug or product found to be harmful shall not be allowed to be produced, sold, or given away in the United States or exported to another country.

4. The FDA, the EPA, or the CSPC shall test all existing manufactured products and chemicals used externally or internally for toxicity and harm to the public, environment, or wild species. None of these products shall be tested on live animals. Any product found to be harmful shall not be allowed to be produced, sold, or given away in the United States or exported to another country.

5. The FDA shall not approve for distribution, sale, or marketing any product found to be toxic or unsafe.

6. The FDA shall test the toxicity of food, cosmetics, perfumes, and toiletries within 90 days of submission.

7. The FDA and other federal agencies shall be prohibited from regulating or exercising jurisdiction over products which are nontoxic or devices which are harmless. The FDA and other federal agencies shall be prohibited from pressing criminal charges against anyone for dispensing or using products that are nontoxic or harmless and are prohibited from confiscating products that are nontoxic or harmless.

8. The FDA shall have no jurisdiction over interstate commerce.

9. Products of nanotechnology shall be banned.

J. Social Security

1. The Social Security fund shall be protected in perpetuity.

2. Social Security shall not be privatized.

3. The legislature shall be forbidden from enacting any budgetary or other legislation that will take funds from Social Security for purposes other than those for which Social Security was intended.

4. The legislature shall be forbidden from enacting any budgetary or other legislation that will take funds from Social Security for purposes other than those for which Social Security was intended.