Camp David Accords II
Camp David, Maryland
Transcript of President Carroll’s opening remarks at yesterday’s press conference
“Good afternoon.
In his farewell address, our first President warned us that political parties, in their lust for absolute dominance, will inevitably misrepresent the intentions of their opponents, sow dissention among the People, and threaten the democracy. Too often in the brief history of America, this prophecy has proven true. This past decade, however, has seen a disturbing escalation of this destructive competition as the parties have employed new weapons and allowed their disdain for each other to infect institutions both inside and outside of government.
Last week, an event occurred which so shocked the sensibilities of the American People that they used every means of communications available to send a message to their nation’s capital. The message was “Enough — Fix This!”
In response, I invited the leadership of these entities to a long weekend here at Camp David with the intent not just of calling a truce and of putting safeguards in place to ensure that hostilities never again escalate to current levels, but to see what measures we could jointly agree upon to restore the People’s trust in their government — their trust in our ability to lead.
Our discussions these last three days have been far ranging, occasionally heated but mostly civil, often going well into the evening, but insightful and enlightening for all of us.
My colleagues will elaborate on the results of our endeavor, but I will provide a summary.
1. We concluded that unchecked partisanship can indeed tear at the fabric of society, but that political parties do have a role in the maintenance of a healthy democracy. Nevertheless, both parties have agreed to dismantle political mechanisms they have put in place to prevent third-party candidates for office from competing successfully. We will open the game and level the playing field.
2. Even those serving in Congress abhor their dependence upon corporate funding, political action committees, and wealthy donors to run for election or re-election. We are all in agreement that this system fosters corruption and must be replaced by some form of equitable public funding available to all eligible candidates. Real campaign finance reform is coming at long last.
3. We have also agreed to put an end to gerrymandering before the next federal election cycle. Henceforth, political district boundaries will follow established county lines or the equivalent thereof.
4. Congress has agreed that it can no longer claim any exemptions of any sort from the laws it has imposed, or will impose, upon others.
5. Congress has also agreed to end the practice of attaching riders to bills that are unrelated to the core legislation. This has too often been used to hide pork-barrel spending from public review and debate. Enough!
6. A further major change in the way the two houses of the Legislative Branch do business is that the prerogatives of the leadership will be curtailed. For too long we have tolerated a system that sets a few members of Congress as more equal than others. New equitable mechanisms will be designed for controlling the scheduling of debate on proposed legislation, for making committee assignments, and especially for making changes to the standing rules of the body.
7. To further encourage cooperation and communication between all members of Congress, seating arrangements will be changed to alphabetical by state.
8. Finally, we have agreed that there must be much harsher penalties for members of Congress who publicly defame their colleagues to gain political advantage. I am hopeful that from this point forward, all our elected representatives will set the standard for civil discourse in America.
The parties are turning over a new leaf. I trust the national media, state and local governments, and all responsible Citizens will follow their lead.”
For more information on President Carroll’s ascession to office and his administration, read “The Democracy Saga” by B. Thomas Marking
