Thinking about Government, or how to make American Government Better

It's the 4^th of July, a day to honor the American Experiment- the promise of a representative democracy with strong protection for individual rights-

so I celebrate the blessing that it is to be a part of the United States of America, and how privileged I am. I know that I am richer, healthier, and safer here than I would be had I been born almost anywhere else, at any time in history (the only competitive options are Japan and Western Europe), and that is because of that interdependent experiment in Democracy we call America. 

However, for the 4^th I thought maybe a few notes on how our wonderful Democracy might improve itself. I usually stay out of politics, because I think it's useful to separate the church and the state. But for the 4^th I thought it would be fun to make an exception, because I've always thought it is fascinating to reflect on government structures-its important in the church, and in the world. I've spent many hours reflecting on how churches can structure themselves politically for maximum effectiveness and faithfulness, and some of the lessons apply to the United States as well. So here are 7 things we might do as a country to make things work better in Washington and in our own states and towns. I think these are all non-partisan, they certainly would have negative impacts on both Republicans and Democrats. Just to note-these are all focused on government structure-the most important thing that we can do as a country to improve ourselves is to pass a cap and trade bill with the proceeds distributed equally to all Americans, striking a significant blow against poverty and global warming in one simple step.

Anyway, with no further ado, after the jump

1. Voting should be better protected. Election day should be a national holiday, early voting should be easy, straightforward, and encouraged, voter registration should be automatic along with all forms of public identification, and lines longer than 60 minutes should be eliminated. No one should have to wait hours to vote in a country as wealthy as ours.
   Fair voting
2. We should get rid of the Senate. There is no good reason to have a bicameral legislature, particularly one where one of the two houses has an effective supermajority requirement and is in no way representative of the country as a whole. When half a million people in Wyoming have as much power as 38 million people in California, something is rotten in Denmark.
   The Senate is bad
3. It should be easier to get federal appointments filled. The idea that major executive positions in the Federal Government go unfilled for years at a time because of partisan bickering is just asking for trouble. This goes along with getting rid of the Senate, and is a problem for both Judges and Executive Branch leaders.
4. We should eliminate the electoral college. Why should Ohio get to pick the President? Every vote should count the same. This goes without saying, almost, and we're about half way to getting it fixed: http://www.nationalpopularvote.com/
5. In a similar vein, if we wanted to get really radical, we could adopt Proportional Representation. Winner take all elections tend to drive people towards moderate extremism-there is no moderate party, and there are no creative outside the box choices either. You pick either the Democrats or the Republicans. This has some advantages, by tapping down the extremes, but I think the disadvantages outweigh, on the whole.  You can learn about other voting systems.
6. We have to many elections-particularly at the local level. Most people cannot name their house representative, let alone their mayor, state senator, or other key positions, yet we vote for judges, city council, school board, and the like. It would make more sense to vote for fewer people, and then have a chance to get to know those people better. to many decisions
7. I'm not quite sure what the best way to handle redistricting in the house would be-but something should be done about Gerrymandering. 

I am sure you have some of your own-what have I missed?