Reforming Congress

     Warren Buffett recently said, "I could end the deficit in 5 minutes," he told 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 problem with "passing such a law" is that there is no chance it would ever be approved by both houses of Congress, and therefore could not become law.

   

    I'm not sure where the proposal for the Congressional Reform Act of 2012 originated, but it says:

 

                            Congressional Reform Act of 2012               
         1. No Tenure / No Pension.
            A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives no
        pay when they're out of office.
        2.  Congress (past, present & 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/women are void
        effective 12/1/12. The American people did not make this
        contract with Congressmen/women. 
        Congress 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.

 

    Again there us no chance that Congress would submit such a bill to the President for his signature to make it  law. To do so would require that the majority of Representatives and Senators be masochists, which they are not (a masochist (plural masochists) is someone who enjoys pain, or who derives pleasure from harming oneself or being harmed by others ... ).

    However, the situation is not impossible to correct.

    The first Amendment to the Constitution allows the people to to petition the Government for a redress (to set right; remedy or rectify) of grievances.

    It would be an almost impossible task to establish a sufficiently large petition with signatures to Institute the Congressional Reform Act of 2012 in one fell swoop. However, it is not impossible, if broken down to separate petitions for local and state individual Representatives and Senators. The message to each Representative and Senator would be the same: "Vote for the Congressional Reform Act of 2012, or we, the undersigned, will vote you out of office in the next election.

    With the breakdown to individual petitions, this would still be a massive undertaking. It will require leadership, organization and money. The last three contenders for the Republican nomination (Ron Paul, Gingrich, and Santorum) could qualify. Ron Paul is a bit old, but his son, Rand could replace him. Ron Paul has also shown an extraordinary ability to develop an effective political organization.These people are now lame ducks, and with success on this project, they could have a good chance at the Presidency. Washington won the Revolutionary War and became President. Eisenhower did the same with World War II.

     While financing the working team will be a major consideration, I believe funds are available through cooperation with  the Tea Party and many individuals, starting with Warren Buffett.

    Pushing the Congressional Reform Act of 2012 on the Internet is great, but it also needs practical application for accomplishment. Perhaps some will be able to pick up on the few suggestions I have made here.