- Joined
- Sep 3, 2011
- Messages
- 34,817
- Reaction score
- 18,576
- Location
- Look to your right... I'm that guy.
- Gender
- Undisclosed
- Political Leaning
- Centrist
I am against term limits and I am against setting the salaries at lower levels than they are today as a means to reduce corruption in congress.
The problem with corruption isn't the length of time in office or the pay, the problem comes from elected politicians having too much power. Take away most of the power and the corruption will recede. I would enact the following changes to reduce the power of those in congress.....
1) ban anything that looks like an earmark. Every single bill should be vetted by the congressional committees and made part of the public record.
2) every bill MUST be made available to the public for a minimum of 72 hours prior to its vote.
3) every tax/fee/surcharge increase must receive a 2/3's majority vote in order to advance.
4) the legislative calendar should be cut down to six months, other than national emergencies.
5) both houses of congress, and the congressional office buildings, should be closed for six months and the elected officials should be required to return to their states and live with the people they are supposed to represent
6) the personal calendars of every elected official should be 100% transparent and a detailed record of what each politicians did on each day should also be 100% transparent........I see absolutely no reason why we the voters do not know what are OUR employees (congress) are doing when they are working on our nickle.
7) every bill should have extensive footnotes for the person or persons that constructed the language in a bill. This means every word should be traced back to a person(s) that proposed the language.
8) ban all paid-for trips for congress. It makes me sick to my stomach when I read about the extensive boondoggles members of congress enjoy. If they need in formation on a specific country, pick up the damn phone or use the computer to talk to knowledgeable people. The notion a member of congress has to fly to Country X (which just so happens to have great beaches or wonderful restaurants or spectacular ski resorts) is BS.
9) there should not be ANY pension benefits for any member of congress
I could add more to this list but will stop here, I need to go string up more xmas lights and try to forget about the massive clusterfork in DC.
You have some great and though provoking adeas here. Let's see...
1) Agreed. I've said for a long time that every piece of legislation should be restricted to a single issue. No more fire stations for Montana in a bill dealing with hurricane emergency relief in Florida, for example. If the fire station is needed and worthy it can stand on its own merits.
2) Agreed, though I might make it a week.
3) Not sure. 66.7% seems too high to me, though I could go for 55%. 50%+1 doesn't really bother me, either.
4) Agreed.
5) I stop short at "required". I'm not in favor of restricting a person's whereabouts like that. Plus, these days a person can effectively work away from the home or office. Maybe require a minimum numbers of days in their home states/districts and let them choose which days.
6) Not sure about this one, either. While they are technically 'on call' 24/7, they are entitled to some private time as well.
7) I've never heard this before, but i like it.
8) I like this. I would except trips to and from Washington DC at the beginning and end of their sessions, though. That is legitimate. Anything else is on their dime.
And while we're at it, let's ban governors and presidents from touring disaster areas. It's just a glorified photo op and they're only getting in the way. They can still get effective reports, and issue opinions and direction, all while staying out of the way and letting disaster relief people do their work without tripping over unnecessary Secret Service people and their various entourages.
9) Disagree. Just because they are in public office does not mean they should forgo legitimate estate planning for themselves and their families. I'd let them have a pension that operates like a 401k (but not a private 401k to avoid conflict of interest), and subject to all rules and limitations that private 401k plans are allowed. Then, they'd be required to roll it over into a private IRA within 90 days of leaving office.