another one bites the, eh......
Senator Larry Craig of Idaho has been arrested and plead guilty to "lewd misconduct" following an incident in a Minnesota airport men's room. Sen. Craig has been a strong critic of gay rights measures throughout his career in the House and Senate, and has repeatedly denied allegations that he is himself gay or bisexual.
Big deal.
OK, it is. But the presence of homosexuality in this episode will cloud a very significant aspect of this and many other non gay related cases. The guy is insulated from real life by his position in the government and his access to power and money and 'strings' that can be pulled on his or someone else's behalf. When the Senator was arrested in the can, trying to pick up a little action in the men's room, he presented the officer with a business card identifying him as a United States Senator, while gloating out load "what do you think of that?".
Apparently not much. The Senator was still arrested. Following his guilty plea, he received a sentence of unsupervised probation. The hit that his political career will take remains to be seen, but it is clear that he resides in the same social strata as Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan. And frankly, the Senator and most of his peers in theCongress have about as much real impact as those two.
Why don't we change that?
I am not sure what it would take, (save for strong leadership from theexecutive branch, the leadership of both houses of the congress, and unrelenting pressure from the electorate....), but it could be done. It would probably require a constitutional amendment spelling out pay & benefits, a re-enunciation of the role of the Congress, certain parliamentary rules for both houses, and the length of sessions. (Yeah, right, so what will we do after lunch....?).
Here are a few ideas:
Line item veto? How about line item legislation? It would eliminate the need for a third party to exercise undue influence over legislation piecemeal, (are you listening George W?), and it would bring a little sunshine into the legislative process. Cumbersome? You bet. It would be up to these highly paid professionals to manage the process, and to eliminate those items that would clog the arteries of government wherever possible. Legislation could still be considered as a package, but each individual expenditure would have to be passed by a roll call vote, with votes being published in a very conspicuous fashion.
Term limits? This is a pretty controversial topic. I go back and forth with myself on this. On the one hand, we have elections, and the notion that if somebody is a crook or a bum or a lush or a pervert or whatever, then we can get rid of them. On the other hand, we have the notion that you really cannot spend years in a cesspool without getting a little stink on you. Limit the stink and a lot of this goes away.
Perq's? Tax the hell out of them. Health care? Make the level of health care above the national average taxable at a rate of 100%. Period. Eliminate the Congressional retirement benefit. How's that for a term limiter? The idea here is to make these positions slightly less attractive, and abit more in line with the position that the average citizen finds him/herself in. A position in Congress should be a tour of duty, not a vocation. Even for the most capable, most reliable of public minded citizens, the job of having to outdo themselves periodically in that circus we call an election season is like sand in the oil of a gasoline engine. It just can't last.
Big deal.
OK, it is. But the presence of homosexuality in this episode will cloud a very significant aspect of this and many other non gay related cases. The guy is insulated from real life by his position in the government and his access to power and money and 'strings' that can be pulled on his or someone else's behalf. When the Senator was arrested in the can, trying to pick up a little action in the men's room, he presented the officer with a business card identifying him as a United States Senator, while gloating out load "what do you think of that?".
Apparently not much. The Senator was still arrested. Following his guilty plea, he received a sentence of unsupervised probation. The hit that his political career will take remains to be seen, but it is clear that he resides in the same social strata as Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan. And frankly, the Senator and most of his peers in theCongress have about as much real impact as those two.
Why don't we change that?
I am not sure what it would take, (save for strong leadership from theexecutive branch, the leadership of both houses of the congress, and unrelenting pressure from the electorate....), but it could be done. It would probably require a constitutional amendment spelling out pay & benefits, a re-enunciation of the role of the Congress, certain parliamentary rules for both houses, and the length of sessions. (Yeah, right, so what will we do after lunch....?).
Here are a few ideas:
Line item veto? How about line item legislation? It would eliminate the need for a third party to exercise undue influence over legislation piecemeal, (are you listening George W?), and it would bring a little sunshine into the legislative process. Cumbersome? You bet. It would be up to these highly paid professionals to manage the process, and to eliminate those items that would clog the arteries of government wherever possible. Legislation could still be considered as a package, but each individual expenditure would have to be passed by a roll call vote, with votes being published in a very conspicuous fashion.
Term limits? This is a pretty controversial topic. I go back and forth with myself on this. On the one hand, we have elections, and the notion that if somebody is a crook or a bum or a lush or a pervert or whatever, then we can get rid of them. On the other hand, we have the notion that you really cannot spend years in a cesspool without getting a little stink on you. Limit the stink and a lot of this goes away.
Perq's? Tax the hell out of them. Health care? Make the level of health care above the national average taxable at a rate of 100%. Period. Eliminate the Congressional retirement benefit. How's that for a term limiter? The idea here is to make these positions slightly less attractive, and abit more in line with the position that the average citizen finds him/herself in. A position in Congress should be a tour of duty, not a vocation. Even for the most capable, most reliable of public minded citizens, the job of having to outdo themselves periodically in that circus we call an election season is like sand in the oil of a gasoline engine. It just can't last.
posted by eccentric recluse at 4:23 AM
2 Comments:
The President has term limits, why not Congress?
One should not expect any American politician to act in any other way than his own best interest. The theories that you mention are unworkable because they require the concurrence of the very people who are the problem. Bad idea to trust of any individual who is connected with the permanent political class. If you really want term limits why not work for them.
The sad position in which Americans find themselves is the direct result of our political process having been rigged for the benefit of the few and to the detriment of the many. The permanent political class will never allow a curtailment of their prerogatives unless there is direct citizen action.
The Six Years and Out movement is the only possible way to bypass the obstacles that have stifled the will of the American majority for more than thirty years. It requires no time or resources. There are no financial contributions to be made no meetings to attend no speeches to endure. A citizen need only make the following pledge to himself then spread the word to others. If you are fed up with pay-to-play government and the corruption of duopoly party rule, you should make the pledge.
Six Years and Out, The Pledge:
With the recognition that there are huge numbers of intelligent, talented and qualified citizens who are prepared to limit their public service. I hereby pledge that I will not vote a second term for any United States Senator and no more three terms for any United States Congressman.
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