Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Copy and paste this link to your friends and family lists: how to fix Congress ... by gimleteye



"I could end the deficit in 5 minutes," Warren Buffett tells CNBC. "You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election."  The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds) took only 3 months and 8 days to be ratified! Why? Simple! The people demanded it. That was in 1971...before computers, e-mail, cell phones, etc. Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took 1 year or less to become the law of the land...all because of public pressure.

The following has been making the rounds on the web:

*Congressional Reform Act of 2011*

1. No Tenure / No Pension. A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.

2. Congress (past, present and future) participates in Social Security. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.

3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.

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

5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/12. 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, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.

If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people then it will only take three days for most people (in the U.S. ) to receive the message. Maybe it is time. If you agree with the above, copy and paste this blog and/or URL. http://eyeonmiami.blogspot.com

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

FYI:
http://www.factcheck.org/2011/03/congressional-reform-act/

Michael Froomkin said...

This is so simplistic it is a waste of time.

The big issues with Congress are about gerrymandering. Energy spent on things like Fair Districts is much more important than worrying about congressional health care - the stuff on is just a distraction. It will NOT fix congress.

PS. Members of Congress should be paid a lot. That will make it a bit less of a millionaire's club, as other people will be more willing to serve. Plus it reduces the likelihood of graft.

Anonymous said...

EMAIL has Nothing to do with Warren Buffet
Snopes Scroll Down to "Origins".....
http://www.snopes.com/politics/quotes/buffett.asp

Anonymous said...

28th Amendment
Only 27 Amendments in the U. S. Constitution......
Snopes
http://www.snopes.com/politics/medical/28thamendment.asp

Anonymous said...

Froomkin, I am just calling it like I see it: fair districts/campaign finance reform. Done. Then let's see what shakes out.

JaneMiami

Anonymous said...

dissapointed that EOM would post an easily debunked and clearly uninformed email chain letter as an actual blog post.

You guys are better than that.

Anonymous said...

Fooey, it is important to keep up with the dialogue, regardless of whether it is debunk-able or not. No man is an island.