I have some ideas. Since we’ve seen that it’s easy to slip some wacky crap into huge new bills, maybe someone could slip *these* into some forthcoming law.
1) Any bill put before the House and Senate must be read IN ITS ENTIRETY out loud before the House and Senate. Any Congressman/Senator who does not stay and listen to the entire bill – and *awake* the whole time – does not get to vote on the bill.
2) Pay for Congressmen and Senators is pro rated based on the percentage of bills that came up during their term that they voted on.
3) Strict term limits (2) for all Federal officeholders.
4) All laws (note: this does not mean the Constitution) must be re-ratified every 25 years. The entire body of law.
4A) To re-ratify a law, it must be voted on by both House and Senate with a minimum 66% approval.
4B) The President may veto any law coming up for re-ratification *before* it reaches Congress.
4C) All current US laws must be so re-ratified within the next 40 years, giving them time to catch up. Start at the beginning, move forward.
4D) If there is a backlog of old laws to be voted on, for every new law that’s voted on four of the old laws must be voted on first.
4E) Any Congressman or Senator who does not vote “yes” or “no” on keeping a particular law is recorded as voting “no.” Voting “abstain” or “present” is recorded as voting “no.”
5) All new spending & taxing measures must pass with a 66% majority.
6) Any measure to cut spending or taxes needs a simple majority.
#’s 1 and 4 would effectively tie up Congress, preventing them from doing too much that’s entirely stupid.
7 Responses to “A modest political proposal”
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
2B. Congress’ pay is determined by their approval rating as a whole. If the public gives congress a 55% approval rating they get 55% of their theoretical maximum- also determined by the public. Same for the Senate and the Pres.
Meh, not sure about that. Do we want the elected officals to *do* *their* *jobs,* or *be* *popular?* For me, the popularity contest would come when they get their one chance at re-election. And sometimes good governance comes from doing unpopular stuff.
True. They promise the masses manna from heaven as it is. God only knows what kind of 3-ring circus we’d get if their pay depended on their lies as well.
I’d say the pay of a congressperson, their staff and any allowances should be paid by the state that sent them. I agree with term limits too, except I would not allow consecutive terms of service (take away all advantages of incumbancy). Executive Orders need an experation date and re-up as well as do all federal regualtions (the ones set by the executive, not the ones passed by congress).
My only problem with outright forbidding someone to run more than a certain number of terms is that there’s no point in putting someone in a job, only to force them out again once they’ve learned how to do the job. Also, it keeps the good candidates from getting re-elected as well as the lousy ones.
> force them out again once they’ve learned how to do the job
In my view, “Congressman/Senator/President” is not something that *should* be a job. Do we have permanent juries? *Should* we have permanent juries? I don’t think so. To my mind, de la Paz was onto something when he suggested that one way to run Congress was to fill it via the same process we use to fill juries: send out a summons to random citizens, sit them for a short while, then send them home.
Professional politicians are doom incarnate.
Take a listen to some of the Senators who have been in office for decades. Listen to their ideas, read the bills that they both put forward and vote “yes” on. Do they *really* demonstrate some level of understanding or skill that truly sets them apart from the yutz who just got voted in? Say what you will about Obama, but he’s got a portion of the electorate wrapped around his little finger (or at least some protruding organ of his), and yet he has almost no relevant experience in governance *at* *all.*
[…] a few days ago I wrote: 1) Any bill put before the House and Senate must be read IN ITS ENTIRETY out loud before the […]