. . .
“They need to be treated like us; we need to be treated like them. It’s that simple and that difficult. The only mechanism to deal with the conflict of interest between elected officials and ordinary citizens is to put them in the same bed and on the same boat. That is the real ‘Contract with America.’”
. . .
Bumper sticker of the week:
1. Term Limits. 12 years total pursuant to one of the three options below:
A. Two six-year Senate terms.
B. Six two-year House terms.
C. One six-year Senate term and three two-year House terms.
2. No Tenure / No Pension. A Congressperson collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when he or she is out of office.
3. Congresspersons, past, present and future, participate in Social Security. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund transfer to and all future funds are deposited with the Social Security system immediately. Congress participates with the American people.
4. Congresspersons can fund their own retirement plan just as all Americans do.
5. Congresspersons will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.
6. Congresspersons lose their current health care system and participate in the same health care system as the American people.
7. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people without exception.
8. All contracts with past and present Congresspersons are void effective 1/1/11 absent some compelling reason. The American people did not make these contracts with Congresspersons. Congresspersons concocted these contracts for themselves.
(For some variations on these big bumper ideas, see the “e-ssays” dated March 5, 2007 titled “Congress Should Increase Congressional and Judicial Pay; Shareholders Should Reduce CEO/CFO/COO Pay,” dated May 14, 2007 titled “Term Limits,” and dated February 25, 2008 titled “’American Medicine’ Not ‘Socialized Medicine.’”)