How to Fix Congress

[emilyg]

1. Term Limits: 12 years only, one of the possible options below.

A. Two Six year Senate terms
B. Six Two year House terms
C. One Six year Senate term and three Two Year House terms

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

2. No Tenure / No Pension:

A congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.






3. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security:

All funds in the Congressional retirement fund moves to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, Congress participates with the American people.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, server your term(s), then go home and back to work.

4. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan just as all Americans.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

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

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.


6. Congress looses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

7. Congress must equally abide in all laws they impose on the American people.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

8. All contracts with past and present congressmen are void effective 1/1/10.

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, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.


Posted By: Anonymous - Thursday, October 29th 2009 @ 8:39am

[DJ13]

1. Publicly financed elections is the answer

No private money allowed.

Couple that with restrictions barring employment (by either the Congress person OR a close relative) in any sector the Congress member voted on during their career for a period of at least 6 years once they leave office, and the corruption would end.

I do like the ideas about Social Security and their health care.

[GreenPartyVoter]

7. +1,000,000

[Wabbajack_]

13. I agree but with the lobbying ban

Banning a "close relative" from employment if their relative served in Congress, is that fair (or legal)?

[JI7]

2. a big reason for the mess in California is term limits of the state legislature

i have no problem with career politicians. i would rather it be a career where they learn to get things done rather than some stupid "honorary" position used for whatever they want to do afterwards.

[PretzelWarrior]

3. must be a republican. this is their only way out of the wilderness--starting from scratch

because as it is, things could actually get worse for them before they get better.

[ThomCat]

4. I like a lot of what you propose.

If we got rid of political office as life-long careers, and structured it somehow so that these offices were something people could only do for brief periods of time periodically then one immediate benefit would be to shatter that bubble around DC that politicians currently live within.

This would never work without public financing though. Otherwise, these temporary, honorary government positions would become nothing but hobbies for rich people. We would need to make sure that anyone is eligible to serve and really has a chance.

[Forkboy]

5. I think term limits are totally wrong.

If people want to vote for the same person over and over then that's their right. I like that I had Kennedy for as long as we did, and that Kerry always wins. Term limits punish the good out of fear of the weak, and seem entirely unAmerican to me. It takes choices away from the voter. If we don't like someone we already have the means to remove them...it's called democracy. Vote the bastard out, and if you can't then that's just the way it goes. Better luck next time. Sure, there are plenty of politicians that I wish didn't win all the time, but hey, if their constituents keep voting for them then so be it. That's how it works, and that's entirely their right.

I like the rest though. :)

:hi:

[OHdem10]

6. Campaign Finance Reform not Term Limits is the answer.

Until we take the "Money" out of Politics nothing changes.

California found out the hard way that Term Limits do not
do that well. They ended up with people who had no historical
knowledge of the Institution. Time wasted trying to figure
out how things operate and all the important ins and outs
of running the Legislature.

The Members view this as a job and they do not show the same
degree of commitment--short termer attitude.

Another point we must consider--Our party has a structural
problem. The Conservatives are always permitted to cancel
Liber-Progressives out.

[Hamlette]

8. Silly

Our country is better because Kennedy served for nearly 50 years. And Kucinich and Barney and Weiner and I want Grayson around for 50 years.

If you make it difficult financially (no retirement) only rich people will be able to serve.

Congress has the exact same retirement benefit I have. 2% for each year worked. They also participate in Social Security.

The answer is to outlaw gerrymandering. Too many congressional districts have been made "safe" for one side or the other. The impact is to encourage/attract ppl at the extremes.


Should have federal law on the subject and non partisan/bipartisan commissions to establish congressional districts.

Then we need to beat up everyone in Conn.

Idiots.

[truedelphi]

9. Term limits is not the answer. The answer is campaign finance reform.

Often those who run are simply figure heads that are backed by those with fat wallets. When they pack and go home, the people backing them just grab the retiring politicians' younger brothers, or sisters, and get the new publicity photos.

[global1]

10. Fix Congress? - Seems Like The Corporations Have Already Figured Out A Way To......

"Fix Congress" (sarcasm)

[merh]

11. My college political science professor had the right idea.

When he posed it I thought he was nuts. I was so naive and believed in the system and in the basic goodness of politicians.

You take everyone's social security numbers and put them in a huge raffle basket and spin it and spin it and mix things up.

Then, the first number that drops out is the president.

The second is the vice-president.


Each state does the same thing for each of their senators and representatives.

In doing it this way you make the jobs about service and everyone has a shot at it.

The disconnect now is because folks are not involved, they feel that their vote doesn't matter. The lifetime politicians harm the nation more than they help.

[Forkboy]

12. The author Kim Stanley Robinson brought up the idea of drafting politicians in his book Red Mars.

It's an interesting idea that will never happen. :)

[merh]

14. No, it will never happen.

It might work and it would make a difference, so no, it will never happen.