How to Fix Congress

[Bevo Incognito]

Got this in an email today and wondering what you guys think:



How to Fix Congress

1. No Tenure / No Pension.
A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.

2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.

3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.

4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/12. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen. Congressmen made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.

 

[mcbrett]

The only meaningful point here is no tenure. The rest is nice, but not very impactful.

Congress can not make decisions because they are consumed with their personal re-election campaigns. The solution is clear- extend terms from 4 to 6 years, and cap every Rep at ONE term. It's similar to why all well credentialed universities prefer tenured professors over non-tenured. Voting on what makes sense, or what is best, rather than what will get you re-elected is what we sorely need.

 

[Ag with kids]

 

[msdw24]

I have to say I would agree with 100% of those suggestions.

Not sure how WE THE PEOPLE can force congress to make those changes though, since we keep re electing the same idiots year in year out.

 

[dalhorn1]

good ideas, but, if YOU were in Congress, would YOU vote for these changes? Not the iIDEOLOGICAL YOU, but the REALISTIC YOU, the EGOTISTICAL YOU that encompasses nearly all of Congress' mindset?

 

[Dionysus]

The system is so flawed. I don’t know if these changes are everything we should do, but it’s probably a pretty good starting point.

What can ordinary citizens do anymore? I guess it’s good in principle to have elected representatives, but we keep electing people to a ****** and corrupt system that allows (requires?) ****** and corrupt behavior in its members.

 

[UTChE96]

The first step is term-limits. This will likely require an amendment passed through the States as the career politicians would never limit their politcial power.

 

[FridayNiteLites]

Congressman do contribute to Social Security, so scratch that off your list.

 

[militaryhorn]

FNL a lot of people are under the impression that Congress (House and Senate) have this awesome retirement system. I know wiki isn't the best source but in this case it is factual:

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[hornpharmd]

Don't vote for Republican or Democrat.

 

[Bevo-Stevo]

Without a doubt, term-limits, getting these fools out of the back pockets of corporate America and the lobbyists that buy them off, is the absolute FIRST place to start.

Career politicians and their, "Get mine while I can get it," mentality have got to go. Only thing that will work.....and maybe not even that.

 

[ShinerTX]

Term limits are a good idea, but only second to killing Gerrymandered districts. Take the census data, feed it into a computer program to design geographic districts with zero regards to race and economics, then let the chips fall.

Imagine a Congress with no Sheila Jackson Lees.

 

[TahoeHorn]

Compensation is not the problem. In fact any organization with employees who have responsibility for staggering sums of money would be wise to compensate them well.

Also having long-serving members isn't the issue. GE, Exxon and Microsoft don't get better by having term limits on their employees. They want executives with thirty years experience.

The way to fix Congress is to get rid of gerrymandering and the seniority system. Gerrymandering, the biggest problem, creates safe districts with extreme politics. Approximately 300 of the 435 seats are either extremely conservative or extremely liberal. A Congressman from these districts must be extremely partisan or suffer a challenge from a real extremist. The seniority system produces even more extreme leaders because only those from safe districts have real longevity. Those from the 135 or so purple districts often get bounced whenever one party screws up. (In 2010 many Dems got bounced.) The seniority system also produces too much party discipline. Any centrist who compromises with the other party or bucks party line votes risks losing committee power which is where the real power lies.

Getting rid of gerrymandering and the seniority system would put most seats in play and change the operation of Congress.

 

[A. BETTIK]

Take the fiscal conservative element from one party and the socially liberal element of the other party and form a third party to replace both current parties up to a 2/3 majority and then go crazy passing Constitutional amendments.

Pass

 

[Bevo Incognito]

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[texascoder]

Eliminate all campaign donations. I know this will sound weird, but do not allow anyone to donate to the election campaign of anyone running for a national office (House, Senate, President, etc.). Instead, the federal government will provide a specific amount of funding for each candidate, depending on the office. Removing the "legal bribery" aspect should outweigh the actual cost to the government. Each race should not be about who can raise the most money.