the bottlenecked blog

Additionally, require a nonpartisan blanket primar...

2026-05-21T13:49:41.103-04:00

Additionally, require a nonpartisan blanket primary where all candidates appear on the same ballot and the two highest voted candidates proceed to the runoff election, regardless of party affiliation.

In addition to having the Attorney General and Sec...

2025-10-23T12:14:11.272-04:00

In addition to having the Attorney General and Secretary of State elected, we should also elect the Secretary of the Treasury. So 1 president, 3 other executives who report to, but are not hired by them.

I also think it should be expressly stated that the President is not just capable of enforcing the law, but required to. So if Congress passes a law to spend money, the President must spend it (ex: impoundment).

What I'm trying to solve here is that the size and scope of the federal government has grown enormously and so in turn so has the power of the presidency to oversee all of those offices. As an example: George Washington oversaw a few hundred employees. Now the president oversees over 2 million.

Exact text: "Prohibit presidential pardons wh...

2025-10-23T11:59:20.239-04:00

Exact text: "Prohibit presidential pardons when it relates to crimes committed by or related to themselves, and those persons personally connected to the President or pardons intended to stop inquiry or prevent detection of other crimes"

Another amendment to my amendments: Add the conce...

2025-10-02T13:18:11.044-04:00

Another amendment to my amendments:

Add the concept of Judicial Review as an Amendment and create a forced Congressional vote on impeachment if the President does not enforce the Supreme Court's decision

Here is my regular comments to myself on this: I t...

2025-09-22T19:47:33.452-04:00

Here is my regular comments to myself on this: I think the National Governors Association is the best path to get something like this started.

Maybe I'll just come back here every year or s...

2025-05-02T08:41:59.583-04:00

Maybe I'll just come back here every year or so and add a new idea. Here's one I was convinced of recently: Ban closed primaries. Could be an easy way to remove the monopoly power political parties have gained.

Ha ha, I also have notes for groceries, handyman, ...

2025-04-16T22:10:22.741-04:00

Ha ha, I also have notes for groceries, handyman, and in my case "Constitution Stand-up Comedy"

Hi Harrison! Happy Birthday. This is a beautiful a...

2025-04-16T15:38:13.268-04:00

Hi Harrison! Happy Birthday. This is a beautiful and thoughtful list.most of my notes to myself are along the lines of “buy bread”. Thank you for sharing- Kim from way back MTSdays

Here's another I've considered since Joe B...

2025-01-09T08:02:11.987-05:00

Here's another I've considered since Joe Biden disappointedly pardoned his own son. Addition to my 4th Amendment proposal on changes to the Executive Branch, section 3: Limits on Presidential Pardons:

Prohibit presidential pardons when it relates to crimes committed by or related to themselves, and those persons personally connected to the President.

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I think this would also quell fears about Trump's possible future pardons. At the Constitutional Convention in 1787 George Mason of Virginia was concerned about the proposed power of Presidential Pardons. He said “power of pardoning because he may frequently pardon crimes which were advised by himself. It may happen, at some future day that he will establish a monarchy, and destroy the republic. [...] If he has the power of granting pardons before indictment, or conviction, may he not stop inquiry and prevent detection?”

"Here Batman rises to stop a power hungry sov...

2022-08-31T20:46:26.685-04:00

"Here Batman rises to stop a power hungry soviet Superman" Superman was hardly power hungry in that, and certainly not Soviet in the militant Leninist sense. He simply didn't see the importance of free action for the human power process and development of virtue. Most of the people he brainwashed committed crimes a libertarian could exile or execute for, and much of what he did was give away free stuff. His crime from an anarchic point of view would be not allowing free competition, but he did much less actual crime than the US government ever has.

An additional amendment I seriously considered was...

2022-07-08T13:25:38.322-04:00

An additional amendment I seriously considered was some kind of balanced budget amendment (with a 5 year time horizon to get there) except in times of declarations of war or recession. But I think we need these other amendments first to be sure the federal government can functionally rise to the challenge of balancing the budget.

Very authentic reasons you explained really. Thank...

2021-12-22T00:47:54.264-05:00

Very authentic reasons you explained really. Thanks.

Fair. I find someone can often be very right about...

2020-10-13T23:44:13.640-04:00

Fair. I find someone can often be very right about one thing, yet be very wrong about a similar thing.

Here's a third video from the folks at Holy Po...

2020-10-13T23:43:47.417-04:00

Here's a third video from the folks at Holy Post (you can find the second one on the same YouTube page): https://youtu.be/W4eS2E-PoGo

He does a great job at the end of parsing out the differences between why white Americans are often concerns about their "liberties", those things that promise the government can't take from you (property, guns, etc). It's because they often have those things in spades. Whereas black Americans are understandably more concerns with "rights", those things the government promises to actively protect (speech, equal treatment under the law, etc).

Great stuff. I wish Tim Keller and the PCA would e...

2020-10-12T15:24:53.910-04:00

Great stuff. I wish Tim Keller and the PCA would expand their view of equality to include women and LGBTQ+ folks, and . Until they do, I find it hard to listen to their admonishments about racial inequality.

Feels good to back here, commenting on a good frie...

2020-06-25T10:51:42.789-04:00

Feels good to back here, commenting on a good friend's blog, like the good ol' days before social media ruined everything. I think everything you said here is on point. It is crazy how all of that was in a single week. Time doesn't make sense anymore (https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/heres-how-time-works-now). Your encouragement to "turn down the flow" is sorely needed. I suck at it.

Hope you'll keep coming back here once in a while. I remember we once had an argument where I said "nothing worth reading can be written in 140 characters" and you said "everything worth reading can be written in 140 characters," so I just want to say I thought this post was worth reading. ;)

Couldn't help throwing a in a little dig at the end. Great stuff, friend.

Can't agree more. In fact I sent a proposal t...

2017-03-21T09:39:07.688-04:00

Can't agree more. In fact I sent a proposal to Ben the other day talking about wanting to hire more Alchemy folks as consultants for a creative production team here.

Totally. Same for terrorism. http://harrisonbrook...

2017-03-02T11:38:27.813-05:00

Totally. Same for terrorism.
http://harrisonbrookie.blogspot.com/2011/01/why-most-political-assassinations.html

I have wondered if increased political tribalism i...

2017-03-02T11:24:11.244-05:00

I have wondered if increased political tribalism is symptomatic of failures in more immediate communities. Like how people who become radicalized online often start out feeling lonely/isolated/ rejected from mainstream groups.

Spot on about the President not being that importa...

2016-11-08T13:04:22.267-05:00

Spot on about the President not being that important to the issue of abortions. Here's a good look at why abortion rates are declining: http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-abortion-rate-is-falling-because-fewer-women-are-getting-pregnant/
Perhaps restrictive laws help prevent abortions, but this article has some good arguments that prevention of unwanted pregnancies is a better strategy to minimize them.

Yeah man! As I see it, you and I have both become ...

2016-08-12T01:43:35.027-04:00

Yeah man! As I see it, you and I have both become more moderate at least in tone and emphasis.

Well said, brother. It's cool to see how we...

2016-08-10T10:07:29.405-04:00

Well said, brother. It's cool to see how we've both changed over the years through the lens of your writing here. I think my response to your 2008 poll would be different if I wrote it today. We should talk soon, I'd love to hear more about your move and what's going on with that.

Wow that was bass akwards. So close yet so far. ...

2015-07-15T18:32:32.568-04:00

Wow that was bass akwards. So close yet so far. Capitalism,seeks to satisfy some innate need for fulfillment through material goods. Consumerism on the other hand, is using the price system to allocate goods and services to their highest valued use, and require unlimited resources & Growth.

It sounds like you currently get paid to "do ...

2015-01-19T13:58:08.795-05:00

It sounds like you currently get paid to "do economics". That sounds like an economist to me!

I "only" have a Bachelor's Degree in...

2015-01-19T11:51:52.115-05:00

I "only" have a Bachelor's Degree in Economics. But I currently conduct research, collect and analyze data, monitor economic trends, and develop forecasts for the firm I co-founded. I directly supervise my firm's resource and capital usage, I lead the in house cost-benefit analysis team for 90% of our projects, and I handle most of the government correspondence our firm has. Our firm has posted a net profit of $6.43 million as of last quarter. Oh, and I scored a perfect eighteen on your macro test. I'm gonna call myself whatever I want.