From: bgold@worsel.West.Sun.COM
Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2000 08:52:22 -0800 (PST)

Let's say that Gackkkk gets 52% of the votes (popular or electoral, as
the case may be), while Blecchh gets 48% of the votes.  Every morning
at 8 AM you roll percentile dice.  If they yield 52 or below, Gackkk
is President that day -- until 8 AM the next day.  If 53 or above, Blecchh
will be President for a Day.

You need to partition the White House living quarters to allow both to
live there.  Provide office space for both sets of staff.  You
probably won't expand the White House very much, so in practice that
means 50% less in-house staff for each, if they insist on each having
his own separate staff.  That's OK, most pols have bloated staffs
anyway.  (Bloated staves would be another thing altogether, please
take that discussion to an SCA list.)  Or they could learn to work
together, share some staff and thereby have more people to do the
research they need.

Same thing goes with foreign policy and being "Commander in Chief".
If they insist on acting like brats and countermanding each others'
policies, nothing will get done.  If they want anything to happen,
they better learn to get along.

You probably need a special rule for bills and appointments and
suchlike.  When a vacancy occurs, you wait until 8 AM the next day.
Whoever becomes Pres then gets first crack at the appointment.  (Or
you could say whoever is Pres when the vacancy occurs gets first
crack, this allows someone resigning to choose the date to favor
whichever co-President he prefers.)

Likewise when a bill is passed by Congress.  If there's no delay,
Congress can try to time the final of a bill to let the President
of their own party sign it (if he will).  If you require delay until
8 AM the next day, Congress can't predict which Pres will sign or veto
the bill.

I think either approach is workable.  The 8 AM rule makes it harder
for Congress or an outgoing appointee to "work" the system.  Doing it
immediately allows for a certain amount of whipsawing.  But it also
encourages them to work together and get along.  Otherwise I can
envision the following scenario:

Congress (dominated by Blecch's party) waits until Blecchh is Pres
to pass a bill that Gackkk *really* doesn't like.  Blecchh instantly
signs the bill.  Now Gackkk is pissed, and so is his party.  A few
weeks later, Justice Wrenchh decides his health is failing, waits
until Blecchh is Pres, and resigns.  Blecchh has had advance notice,
of course, and plenty of time to have his staff pick a successor.  He
promptly names one.

Blecchh's party wants to act instantly on the appointment, but
Gackkk's party only needs to filibuster for 1 or 2 days, then Gackkk
becomes President -- and withdraws the nomination!  He names his own
pick instead.  The next time Blecchh becomes Pres, he withdraws
Gackkk's nomination and sends his instead.  And so on, until they get
tired of it and decide to compromise.

The alternative is to use the 8 AM rule, along with one that says a
President can't withdraw a nomination made by his alternate.  It has
to go through the whole confirmation process.  This has some other
benefits... the current system whereby one member of the Senate can
put a "hold" on a nomination, tieing it up indefinitely, would also
mean depriving the President of their own party a chance to name
someone instead.  So he has to persuade the Senate to actually reject
the nomination so it goes up for grabs again.

I suppose the Senate could instantly reject any nomination by Gackkk,
hoping that next time Blecchh will get to make the appointment.  But
this could be frustrated by Gackkk's party - I'm pretty sure you can
use a filibuster just as efficiently against a rejection as against a
confirmation.

You know, this has promise.  It could put a real fast end to the
'politics of meanness' we've been seeing the past decade.  Or, if the
two (or more) parties can't learn to get along, well... not much will
get done.  Please, Brer Bear, don't throw me in that briar patch.
Either way, I think it's an improvement.

Too bad it doesn't have a snowball's chance.


A Pocket Veto requires either a highly unlikely run of luck or for the
two Presidents to cooperate.