1. Expand the Senate to 136 members to be more representative: Grant the 10 most populous states 2 additional Senators, the 15 next most populous states 1 additional Senator, and the District of Columbia 1 Senator.
Wrong.
That ignores the purpose of having 2 houses of Congress.
The House is supposed to be represented by population. For more people you would adjust the numbers in the House, not the Senate. The Senate was supposed to be the part of Congress where all States were represented equally regardless of population. Even at the time of the drafting of the Constitution the States didn't all have the same population.
2. Appoint all former Presidents and Vice Presidents to the new office of "National Senator."
I see absolutely NO reason to keep them in any semblance of power after their terms expire.
4. Lengthen House terms to 3 years (from 2) and set Senate terms to coincide with all Presidential elections, so the entire House and Senate would be elected at the same time as the President.
All that does is ensure that the makeup of Congress will shift wildly based on whatever the current scandal is. While I am for replacing everyone in Congress, the only people this change would serve is the party that can sling the most mud in any given election cycle. That would be more damaging than the status quo. In addition, if term limits are changed, they should be made SHORTER, not longer.
7. Add a Balanced Budget Amendment to encourage fiscal fairness to future generations.
That is only a good thing if you are also going to set a limit on how much can be borrowed to achieve that balance and how often. Just saying they MUST balance the budget doesn't do a damn thing since the problem is rampant deficit spending. Without the controls on borrowing, such an amendment would just encourage more borrow and spend.
9. Establish a new 6-year, 1-time Presidential term with the option for the Presidentto seek 2 additional years in an up/down referendum of the American people.
Bad idea as this would in effect strip the President of most of their power (increasing the power of Congress) by in effect making them a lame duck in their first (and only) term. If you want to argue about the additional 2 years, then I would ask what the point is. If they can be on the ballot for essentially a second term, and the total years of a popular President would be 8 years... why bother?
