Basically drop down menus suck and require multiple clicks for no reason. So instead I propose we replace them with simple buttons that only require 1 click and aren't hidden behind a dropdown menu
Yes the whole menu is getting a redesign to reduce/get rid of dropdowns. No it's not easy to do and will thus take a lot of time.
I know everyone always bitches about Empires UI code but is it really hard enough to warrant taking lots of time?
In a sense. The current UI code is convoluted and not too pleasant to work with, but is sometimes modified. Most people are holding their breath for the big UI rewrite though, and that is a daunting task.