The plan I have to change our government and ensure that it represents the real United States of America is not unique. It is all inclusive beginning with two major changes which are mandatory.

Term limits for Congress are a must. Just in the last few months we have watched old, white men lie to us and make decisions which are harmful to most Americans. Their purpose was to protect their party and their illegitimate president, not to represent the people.

Orrin Hatch has been in the Senate for more than 40 years. That is nothing to brag about. In his earlier years he was a voice for the right wing and served the people of Utah. He is now a senile old man who has long outlived his usefulness. Fortunately, he has decided not to run again.

Mitch McConnell will be remembered as the worst Senate Majority Leader in history. He has been in the Senate for over 30 years. McConnell does not have a single accomplishment to his credit in those 30 years. Quite to the contrary, he has frequently been a traitor to the people of Kentucky and to the people of the United States.

The Electoral College must be repealed. The people should elect the President of the United States. In last November’s election, if you lived in states such as Alabama, Texas, and others, your vote did not count if you cast your ballot for Hillary Clinton. This must end. The fact is that if the popular vote selected the president, a Democrat would be living in the White House today. The numbers show that if the Electoral College did not exist, a Democrat would have been sitting in the Oval Office since 1992. Both Al Gore and Hillary Clinton won the popular vote in 2000 and in 2016; Bush would never have had a second campaign.

Our nation is primarily ruled by old, white, faux-Christian men. This is not representative of America. The average age in the House is 57 years of age; in the Senate, 61. The average age of all 320 million Americans is 37.8.

Congress, the House and Senate, has 535 seats. Only 106 women hold office, which is less than 20 percent. There are only 27 women who represent the Republican Party. The 2010 Census revealed that women numbered 157 million; men composed 151.8 million. That is a proportion of 50.8 percent to 49.2 percent. Although the average working woman continues to experience a ‘wage gap,’ the majority of our our national wealth is controlled by women. Women control 51 percent, or 14 trillion dollars. The article I researched was written in 2015, and this same article expects the combined wealth of all women to reach 22 trillion by the year 2020. For the first time in history more women entered our colleges and universities than men in 2016.

So here’s how we fix our dysfunctional government.

Any man or woman who is 60 years of age or older must be voted out of office. They are out of touch with the average American, and have likely served more than two full terms. They have no understanding regarding the needs and wishes of the majority. We must encourage younger men and women to run for office. We can begin in November by voting in the midterm election for progressive and younger Americans and send old and useless congressmen and senators home.

Just as importantly, encourage many, many more women to run for office. Our government will not represent the demographics of the United States until more women are elected to the House and Senate. Based on our nation’s population, there should be 218 women in the House, and 51 in the Senate. Old, white men have failed us for far too long.

Our government must serve us; not we them. Our government must represent all of the American people; not just a small percentage.

In the last year, 71-year-old Donald Trump, and his failed party have proven that they are unable to govern, and will never lead us into the 21^st century. They will fail every America with the exception of old, white, wealthy men.

I have frequently said that my ideal president would be a 40-year-old black woman, who is a member of the LGBTQ community, and her choice of religion is either Muslim or atheism.

Time for real change. Time to elect a government which is representative of all Americans.

Please spread the truth; thank you.

Op-ed by James Turnage

SOURCE

My five novels are available on the free Amazon Kindle app; CLICK HERE