OT: How About These Ideas For Change?

Norma White of Amarillo is a retired network engineer for Southwestern Bell.

Maybe it's time that "we the people" started pushing OUR agenda instead of letting Congress do their own thing (and without proper supervision at that)! How about these ideas for change as expressed by Norma?

Each Presidential candidate is giving his rendition of the changes he wants for America.
Here are a few that I believe all Americans want.
Limit Congress from serving more than two terms. That is all the Presidents are allowed.
Stop Congress from voting for their own pay raises. How did that ever get started?
[*I believe that was changed quite some time ago to a separate entity determining Congressional pay raises. I remember Bob Traxler (MI) wringing his hands and whining about a pay raise being turned down, so he "retired" whilst he could still take his campaign war chest w/him, the last year before it became illegal to do so). I also remember that Congress voted themselves additional "franking privileges" that cost the taxpayers more than the pay raise would have cost. * jka]
Stop paying for lawmakers' high-priced insurance premiums. After all, they are only part-time employees. They might pass some law changes on the insurance companies, if they had to find one.
Stop paying lawmakers their full salary after serving just one term, or at retirement. We need to get rid of that pension plan; they've let other companies get rid of theirs. You were lucky to get 40 to 50 per cent of your salary after working somewhere for 35 years, but they get 100 per cent.
Make Congress pay into the Social Security System. They make laws for it. If they spent some of their own money, they might be interested in making it solvent.
Stop handing out aid to illegal aliens. If we did then Medicaid and the food stamp program would have enough money to aid the aged and the poor.
Secure our borders.
Stop allowing babies born to illegal aliens in the United States automatic U.S. citizenship.
Stop the abuse of our benevolent welfare system. We feed children free meals three times a day until they are 17. Churches give away good, clean clothes. Companies buy and donate school supplies. Emergency rooms provide health care at taxpayer expense and the food stamp program is buying food at home. What are parents doing for their children?
Have a computer program that cross checks Social Security numbers with finger prints to stop fraud on many fronts. Use it on voter registration too.
Stop bailing out mortgage companies and banks that give loans to people who cannot afford them.
Stop companies from paying CEOs and other executives outrageous salaries and bonuses while doing away with workers' pensions.
Stop all unnecessary spending so we will have the money for our nation's security, and to help needy and elderly Americans.
Stop permitting anyone to have a photo with their face covered on drivers' licenses.
Whoever wins the Presidency won't be able to make these changes.
Only members of Congress can do this, as they are the lawmakers.
I don't believe Congress is interested in changing anything, do you?

If you agree, pass this on.

Slinky, That's a pretty good list. I would address one other issue and that is the power lobbyists hold over Congress. Thomas Jefferson had a solution for this over 200 years ago. He warned that we need to have about one Representative for each 40,000 poplulation. Today that would mean about 7,500 Representatives where we have been stuck at 535 for decades.

With that many Representatives the lobbyists could not afford to have the influence they have today. And coming from smaller districts the Representatives would know us better and we would know them better and be able to choose and monitor better people.

Of course our Representatives would fight this tooth and nail because they don't want to give up their power.

I always said that the House of Representatives should be exactly that.

It should be representative of the people.

The Members should be drawn by random computer drawing from the list of people who voted in the previous Presidential election.

They should serve 1 six year term and go back to the same house they left to go to Washington and the same job. Companies should have to hold their job just like they are supposed to hold the job of reservists who get called up.

Then their bank accounts and the accounts of their family members should be audited watching for delayed payoffs for the rest of their life.

All lobbying by corporations should be outlawed.

Representatives ( and Senators ) should be allowed to accept NO GIFTS WHATSOEVER ... not even lunches.

All elections should be publically financed. Each candidate given the same amount of money.

No political ads etc. by any political organizations other than the candidates campaign.

Geesh I could go on and on ..... and frequently do

HERE HERE!!!

Arizona-Willie wrote: ...........

The Members should be drawn by random computer drawing from the list of people who voted in the previous Presidential election.

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I forget which economist was known for saying, "Take the first 100 people in the Boston phonebook and I will trust them more to govern that our elected Congress."