Well well, what a mess were in! I guess I need to stop playing games and get this mess sorted out! Without further ado I will solve the nations ills so I can get ready for Assassin's Creed 3.
We all know that the national government has three branches. All three need some fixes and I will deal with each in turn. Today, the legislative branch will face my withering gaze.
First let us talk about pay. Some people are proponents of paying congress people a low salary figuring it's an honor to serve and those elected likely already have substantial income. The other side is in order to get the best people, the job needs to be high paying. I have a middle ground, I will pay representatives 1,000,000 and senators 1,250,000 dollars a year. Those of you who are in the know should realize that this is a huge pay increase. What's the deal Crazy Guy? This new pay comes with three caveats:
1. All government pensions for elected/ appointed officials and their staffs would be gone, forever.
2. Term limits will be introduced.
3. Balanced budget provision.
I'll go into my balanced budget provision right away because it is important.
First, a story.
One day a magic fairy comes along and gives you a credit card. This card can be used to buy whatever you want. A bunch of people have contributed money to this card, but you don't really know who they are since there are so many of them putting money in the account. Guess what is even cooler? If you buy a bunch of stupid things that you don't need or you spend all the money you won't be held accountable. Do you think that you would use the card wisely?
Guess what? The government doesn't either.
Each time a new congress is elected they tell us, "Oh we proooooomise this time we won't spend the money stupidly."
Are we really surprised when they break their promise?
In order to fix this each numbered congress must be fiscally responsible for any debt they accrue. If the government ends its session in the red then each member of the congress (and the executive branch, and the judiciary, see later) is legally responsible for making up the shortfall. No exceptions. Anyone who cannot pay is removed from office and all of their paychecks for the rest of their lives will be garnished.
Harsh? Maybe, but you know what they say, "if you can't handle the heat, get out of the fire."
I imagine the congress will be much more cooperative with each other if it will hurt their pocket books.
Some may argue that this policy would make lobbyists and donors more powerful but to that I have two things:
1. Complete election reform (see later)
2. All congress people upon being elected must have only one bank account that will be checked every month. By being elected the politician agrees that their congressional salary will be the only salary and if at any time they have more money than would be possible that congress person will be dismissed forever from government office and arrested for treason. Having hidden accounts, taking cash, off shore accounts, etc would also be grounds for the above as well.
Again harsh, but guess what? We've done it your way for 230 some years, it's time we tried something else.
Spousal salaries will also be monitored.
Next we need term limits.
No person may stay in the legislative branch for more than three terms. After that they must retire. You can be a mentor for one term at quarter salary if you have been elected three times in a row. You would have NO vote, and NO power beyond mentoring new representatives.
Attendance:
Attendance is mandatory. If you do not have a valid reason and you miss more than one vote of which you must be a part of you will be removed.
Congress runs all year. Hours are Mon- Fri 8:00 A.M- 5:00 P.M. You get two weeks off in the summer and one week off between Christmas and New Years.
You are expected to be in Washington 6 out of every 8 weeks. The other you should be back in your district or home state. Travel is at your expense.
The next big sticking point is raising revenue.
Tea Party members would have it that no new taxes should be levied.
Another short story: If I owed my parents 10 dollars and I wanted to pay off my debt while spending two dollars every week could I pay the debt off if I only spend one dollar? I've cut my expenses by 50% but will I ever owe my parents nothing?
I think for most Americans we don't have a problem with taxes, we have a problem with what our tax money is being spent on.
I'll get to new taxes later. For this section we will focus on legislative reforms I'll deal with taxes in my tax section.
All expenses the government makes must be made public. This must be in a simple form. It will include: Item, cost, what it's used for, and where you bought it.
No exceptions! I don't want to hear, "Oh were the CIA and we need to have secret stuff." Nope too bad, no exceptions is no exceptions. Army? Nope sorry. Guess what? I don't know what makes up your tank armor, list everything as single items and we won't know what magic creations you concoct with them.
Fear me executive branch, you're next.
No comments:
Post a Comment