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The Only Litmus Test for the Nominee: Reduce Presidential Power

Gabe Zichermann
3 min readFeb 7, 2020
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People love to hate litmus tests for political nominees.

On one hand, we say things like “I’m voting for anyone who isn’t Trump,” and then a few minutes later, “Pete is too conservative on guns.” Even the most strategic thinkers and best-intentioned political activists have litmus tests of one kind or another — abortion, drugs, guns, military spending, education, etc etc etc.

But in this Presidential election of 2020 there is only one litmus test we should be talking about, and I’m very surprised no one is advocating for.

The Nominee Must Agree to Permanently Restore Extra-Constitutional Powers to Congress that have been usurped by the Executive.

Over the last 40 years, the Executive Branch has dramatically increased its power. There are always a variety of reasons and seasons, but one thing always holds true — once they take it, they don’t give it back. And even for powers they don’t explicitly have, they use the cudgel of enforcement to effectively stall/block the legitimate interests of Congress and the American People.

So even when Congress manages to get off its ass and come up with a law that can be passed by everyone, the President can still shape, change and delay/stop enforcement of this legislation.

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Gabe Zichermann
Gabe Zichermann

Written by Gabe Zichermann

Author and Public Speaker on Gamification, The 4th Industrial Revolution, the Future of Work and Failure. More about me: https://gabezichermann.com

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