Not Just Critique—Real Policy Solutions
It's easy to complain about Washington. We'd rather fix it. This is where the Common Sense Party moves from diagnosis to prescription—a growing library of proposed constitutional amendments, each drafted around its safeguards, each written to actually pass and hold up in court, and each with its own page, plain-language explainer, and downloadable text.
We're publishing them one at a time so you can take up whichever matters most to you. An amendment starts in Congress—two-thirds of both chambers to propose, then three-fourths of the states (38) to ratify—which means the first, decisive step is the one your own representatives control. That's exactly where public pressure matters most.
A permanent requirement that federal spending not exceed revenue, judged against nonpartisan CBO estimates—with an automatic cut only if Congress fails to pass a balanced budget, and Social Security and Medicare shielded from that cut. Pairs naturally with the Line-Item Veto.
The power to strike individual wasteful items from a spending bill—a tool 44 governors already have—with a bipartisan-fairness guarantee so it can never be a one-sided weapon. Pairs naturally with the Balanced Budget Amendment.
A lifetime cap of 12 years in the House and 24 in the Senate, with partial terms counted fairly and a "clean slate" so current members aren't forced out on day one—the only way a reform like this can pass the very body it limits. Backed by roughly three of four Americans across both parties.
One bill, one subject, clearly stated in its title—no more burying unpopular measures inside must-pass bills nobody has time to read. Forty-three states already do this; we drafted the federal version with a deferential standard so it kills smuggled riders without tying Congress in knots.
Eighteen-year staggered terms with a permanent nine-seat cap, so every President gets the same two appointments and no single death or strategic retirement can reshape the country for a generation. Justices move to senior status rather than being removed, and today's Justices are fully grandfathered.
If Congress misses the budget deadline, funding continues automatically at last year's levels—no furloughs, no unpaid essential workers, no shuttered services. The pressure moves onto Congress: no recess, no other business, and no pay until they pass a real budget.
Let's be honest about what we're proposing. Amending the Constitution is deliberately, brutally difficult—two-thirds of both houses of Congress, then ratification by three-fourths of the states. It has happened only 27 times in the nation's history, and only a handful of times in the last half-century. We have no illusions that six amendments sail through in a single session. This is a long game, measured in years and sustained effort, not a promise to be checked off by next spring.
So we're not trying to boil the ocean. There's a clear order of operations. The fiscal fixes come first—the Balanced Budget Amendment and the line-item veto—because the nation's finances are the most urgent threat and the foundation everything else rests on. Anchor those, build the coalition and the credibility that comes with a real win, and then move on to the structural governance amendments—term limits, the single-subject rule, Supreme Court reform, and an end to shutdowns—that make the system work better for the long run.
Prioritizing doesn't mean abandoning. Every one of these six is already drafted, published, and ready to hand to a willing sponsor. But change this fundamental happens one hard-won fight at a time, and we'd rather tell you that plainly than pretend otherwise.
The founder of the Common Sense Party has made a personal commitment to this fight:
Amendments are the deepest structural fixes, but they're one of three tracks in our broader Fix Washington agenda—alongside common-sense legislation Congress could pass now, and a nonpartisan review of executive orders that need to be repealed, amended, or codified.