This is a GREAT F#CKING IDEA!
http://remixpolitics.newsvine.com/_news/2010/02/13/3891500-the-case-for-a-telecommuting-congressOur elected officials no longer run Washington, DC. Washington, DC - and its profane, ingrained system of influence - is corrupting everything. Moderates are dropping out of politics, or getting chased away by the wing-nuts in their own parties. When the rest of the sane folks can't take it anymore, the inmates will truly run the asylum.
Right now, our congressmen and women are truly accountable to their districts but once every seven hundred and thirty days, and our Senators only face the voters every two thousand one hundred and ninety days. Sure, they may hold a town hall meeting once a month, but when those few hours are over, they go home. Then they go back to Washington, D.C., where they joke with their colleagues - and their lobbyist buddies - about the demands of their hysterical constituents. Frankly, this is something like holding an intervention for an alcoholic, then waving goodbye as he returns to the bar.
Virtually every American understands that Washington, DC is a cesspool of corruption where money can buy influence and seemingly good people regularly betray their values and their constituents, yet we accept it year after year after year as if it is somehow reasonable to expect that those whom we elect to represent us will betray our will. Since when is it a foregone conclusion that our Senators and Representatives will sell us out for the benefit of their new friends in Washington? Every so often, we the people get so fed up, so frustrated with our government that we vow to "vote the bums out" and swear that we will "take back" our government. The idea of term limits even becomes popular, but not much changes. Occasionally, the American people really do shake things up in Washington by sweeping one party out of power in favor of the other... and what do we get in return for our civic engagement? We get to feel duped, because the new guys are just as bad as the old guys - or worse.
What if, instead of voting one set of "bums" out in favor of another set, we just bring all of the bums home? Why in the world can't they telecommute? We have the technology. Thousands of Americans currently telecommute, and leading companies have found that telecommuting can increase productivity and reduce overhead. For a moment, then, let's consider something radical - using technology to improve our government. The members of the United States Congress should be brought home to their constituents. We would have to make an upfront investment in technological infrastructure and some modicum of security, but this is a small price to pay to break the monopoly on political influence now held by the powerful - businesses, unions, lobbyists and interest groups. By bringing our Congressional delegations home, we can change the way that our government functions. We can break the cycle. We can increase accountability, institute the most effective ethics reform imaginable, and build our communities at the same time
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