FIXINGCONGRESS

IF IT'S BROKE FIX IT
A SIMPLE PLAN FOR
FIXING CONGRESS

The Congress of the United States is broken. If you don't believe this you must think that partisan self interest, pork barrel sweetheart raids on your treasury and legislative activity driven by back room lobbying from big money interests are the elements of good government. Bribery and corruption are virtues only among corrupt people. They are not American values. It is my contention that the growth of influence by national political parties has created a situation where the party in power has become a SHADOW GOVERNMENT. It was never intended to be this by the Founding Fathers.

The premise of this site is simple. BOTH major political parties are to blame for the morass we are in. We have gone beyond the point where so called non partisan action by Congress can fix the problem. Democratic Party leaders would have you believe the problem is caused by the Republicans. Republican leaders, of course, blame our problems on the Democrats. Does the phrase "divide and conquer" come to mind? The Congress must be thoroughly overhauled by the people it is supposed to serve and represent. If you firmly believe you could never live and prosper with honest and responsive Republicans (or honest and responsive Democrats) representing your district you are part of the problem. Remember, I said "honest and responsive." Many of us are so conditioned to view the "other side" as being the enemy that we react first and engage in thoughtful consideration second.

THE PLAN IN BRIEF

1. End the Gerrymandering of districts.
2. Incorporate districts and elect (hire) representatives as 24/7 employees
3. Representatives will be paid at the rate equal to that of the average of school superintendents in the district.
4. Representatives will accept no added funds or benefits from any source.
5. Representatives will be covered by Social Security and a continuation of their own existing retirement and health insurance plans if any.
6. All trips taken by the representative will be billed to his home district except for a liberal travel allowance for travel to and from Washington.
7. All contacts with the representative and his or her staff where government business is discussed, will be recorded and made available via the Internet. National security briefings are excluded.
8. The committee system of Congress will be democratically overhauled.
10. The size of Congress will be increased.

CONSIDER THESE POINTS:

The political parties control the purse strings for candidates seeking election and re-election. It is not practical to imagine someone getting elected to Congress without the controlling involvement of a political party. Most people who become Congressmen and congresswomen do so by working their way up through the party. It is virtually impossible for a representative to take a principled position if it will result in his party failing to enact its program. "To get along go along" is the new mantra of political parties. Party leaders are clever and they can count. It is not unusual for them to allow members to take 'principled stands' on issues right up to (but short of) being the vote to defeat one of the party issues. Representatives have been known to race to the desk to change their vote as soon as the requisite number of votes have been cast to effect the party's demanded results. This kind of subterfuge gives a representative the illusion of being responsive to his constituents while being loyal to his first concern, his party.

As a rule, Congress members sit and vote with members of their own party and not with the other representatives from their state.

Today, each major party has special interest groups which dominate it. Legislators have even explained their votes on certain issues by allowing they have a "wider" constituency than their home district! We partisans accept this by being comforted that at least they aren't from the other (enemy) party. I'm not sure you always get what you deserve but you certainly get what you allow.

If your representative's party is not in control of the Congress, the representative from your district has no voice in national affairs and you are effectively denied representation or equal protection under the law. BOTH major parties do this! With each Congress it gets worse and the trend has been coming for years whereby the majority party excludes the other party from influence. It was wrong when Democrats did it and it is wrong when Republicans do it. If you are a Democrat who feels these proposals are designed to keep Republicans in control, examine them closely. They are designed to force representation to be responsive and truly representative. How could you demand more? If you are a Republican who feels these plans are designed to turn Congress over to the Democrats I would give similar advice with this addition. Democrats will probably some day retake Congress if our current system stays in place. Under which set of circumstances would the want Democrats to be in control...the old partisan way or the new method requiring open and accountable representation?

Today, party leaders look for so called wedge issues to help win elections rather than for sound solutions to real problems. Most people are not 100 % doctrinaire Liberals or Conservatives. They are motivated by certain principles and they take stands on issues based on their concerns and principles and not on some unyielding doctrine...they often see compromises as reasonable solutions and are quick to see things from another person's point of view.

Originally a member of Congress represented the people who elected him for what was assumed to be a short time. The representative would serve for a period and return to private life. Soon, the representatives found themselves in lucrative high profile positions and CAREER POLITICIAN was born as a career. His or her political party became key to election and re-election. Today, these people represent their party and the financial contributors to same.

Because of the Bill Of Rights, we cannot outlaw political parties and should not even try. Instead, we can create election rules which require term limits and a system where representatives actually represent the people of their district. As a Democrat you would be far better served by being represented by someone elected directly by the Republicans in your district rather than someone representing a political party and its major national contributors. The same would be true for Republicans represented by someone who was elected by the Democratic majority in your district.

POINTS OF FACT:

A primary election is a device whereby the political parties can have an election for the members to exercise their control over the party and select the candidates they wish to represent them. In principle it is a great idea. Today, the entrenched leadership of the parties will determine who the candidates will be for the primary election! Allow that to sink in. These political leaders will give you the right to choose from the candidates of their choice. In the event people 'buck' this leadership and force there way onto a primary ballot they will not receive the endorsement of the party! Imagine this...political parties ENDORSE candidates in primary elections! The primary election was supposed to be a mechanism whereby YOU tell the party who you want to represent you!

One of the most egregious examples of how parties now have usurped our political rights is the matter of Gerrymandering congressional districts. Here is an explanation of Gerrymandering:
GERRYMANDERING 101

WHAT WE MUST DO TO FIX OUR CONGRESS

Democrats and Republicans in government ARE NOT YOUR LEADERS! THEY ARE YOUR REPRESENTATIVES. THEY ARE YOUR EMPLOYEES. They are NOT your rulers and they were never supposed to be anything more than temporary guardians of the interests of your country and its citizens. Period. Both major political parties are responsible for our troubles. Making this a partisan issue will only insure that our corrupt system will continue.

Grassroots America must organize and demand these changes:

Gerrymandering must end and congressional districts must be fair and designed without political considerations. In this age of computers this is finally possible.

Each Congressional district will be incorporated and elected representatives will be considered employees of that district 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The representative is paid by the district and anything of value given to the representative by any lobbyist or contributor is the property of the district. Just as with any business, we will have the power to hear anything said to our employees when they are on duty.

ALL contact between the representative (or his staff) and any person where government business is discussed will be recorded and made available on the Internet. The only exception will be for matters of national security. All trips made by the representative will be billed to his home district.

Representatives will be limited to three terms in office.

All representatives will be paid at a rate equal to that of the average of the salaries of all school superintendents in the district. Individual districts will provide allowances for health insurance and housing if they so choose. All representatives will be covered by Social Security and by continuation of their own particular retirement system in force at the time of their election.

The committee system must be reformed. Henceforth, congressional committees will have equal numbers of members selected by each of the two major parties in open elections. Click HERE for an explanation of the committee system.

Committee chairpersons will be of the majority party but will be elected by a majority vote of the entire committee. (On the surface this may seem as being unfair to those who were in the majority and elected the most representatives across the country. Keep in mind that committees do not make laws...they simply investigate bills [suggested laws] and report them to the whole body where democratic votes will be taken as always.)

Candidates for employment as our representatives must agree to limiting their campaigns to ones financed by public funding only. Of course the Bill Of Rights will still allow special interests to advertise and campaign but the candidates can be forbidden to cooperate with this advertising. Everyone gives up certain rights when they go to work for someone else. It is possible that it is constitutional to forbid advertising in local elections by entities from outside the district.

And finally, hang on to your hats for this one, the size of Congress must be tripled! That's right. We must increase the size to 1205 (from the current 435) and have each state a minimum of three representatives. Okay, you say, we have a problem with pickpockets so why hire more pickpockets? Increasing the size of the Congress will bring the representatives three times closer to the people and lessen the power of each congressperson. Cost savings can be had by lowering the size of each staff. It is true that meetings of the House of Representatives will be much larger but keep in mind that these meetings and floor debates do not sway positions or determine the outcome of votes. They are publicity opportunities used for personal political purposes by the representatives. Even today, representatives often simply add their comments to the Congressional Record. The greatest advantage of this is the fact that candidates will be able to campaign personally and not rely on the huge contributions needed to run for office in our mega districts.

The vast majority of American people are decent and hard working. They pay huge taxes and have frequently stepped forward to defend their country. They deserve open, honest and representative government. I believe many of today's congressmen and women are decent well meaning people who are caught up in a system they are powerless to reform by themselves. Let's take back the government our Founding Fathers created. There is no better place to start than with a major repair of our broken Congress.

Please take note of those who oppose this plan but offer no suggestions of their own. What do they have to gain by continuing the system which has evolved to what it is? Will they try to twist this plan to appear as a partisan scheme? Will they decry the potential cost even in the face of our recent Congressional history of bloated budgets and out of control spending by a legislative body that owes no accountability to anyone other than its party leaders and benefactors? Do they want you to believe government is working for you?

SO WHERE DO WE START?

You can begin by emailing this URL to everyone you know. Don't expect your congressman to respond favorably. Change won't come overnight but if we could get just one person in each district to run for Congress dedicated to these principles, we would start the process. Congress is supposed to be the grass roots branch of our government.

The author has undergraduate degrees in political science and history. He has worked in the field for over 30 years. He was first published in 1967. He has also studied philosophy and received a fellowship to study law and law education at the University of Cincinnati. He has done graduate work in history at Xavier University.

The author has taught political science, economics, history and natural history. He has worked closely with elements of the criminal justice system both professionally and as a volunteer.

He has recently served as the editor of an international arts journal for 3 years. He has self published 3 books and is preparing a book of fiction and one in philosophy for publication. He has taken the vows of a Buddhist Bodhisattva.

He is a contributing photographer for a local university and local publications. He has done volunteer work in the field of archaeology and formerly had a part-time business as a custom furniture and cabinet maker.

The author has traveled and hiked extensively throughout the "Lower 48" and parts of Canada and Mexico.

He is presently developing a website tentatively called: "The Backyard Naturalist." It will detail and illustrate the natural life found in one small suburban yard. He maintains an interest in politics, religion, religious cults, wildlife photography and sports photography. Having been retired for over a dozen years from paid employment, he now happily and proudly enjoys the freedom of being classified as an "amateur" in everything he now pursues.