Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Congressional Amendment

I’d like to propose the CONGRESSIONAL AMENDMENT OF 2012.
1) No member of Congress can serve more than three (3) full terms. He or she may serve a partial term in addition to the three full terms but only if elected/appointed to fill the remainder of the term of a member of Congress who has either retired or died while in office. They may even serve three non-consecutive terms-but no more than that. The Founding Fathers were “citizen-legislators”-not career politicians.
2) Congress can no longer have automatic pay raises that are based on the complex system of calculations as used by the United States Office of Personnel Management. Congressional raises for any year may either be based upon the Consumer Price Index or can be raised NO MORE than 3% - which ever is the lowest. The members of Congress must then actively vote on their pay raises in “full-view” of the American public.
3) Congressmen past, present, and future will no longer receive retirement benefits through the Federal Employee’s Retirement System (FERS). Instead, all of Congress will have to use the Social Security System-just like the rest of America. ALL future Congressional retirement funds will "flow" directly into the Social Security system. Furthermore, those Social Security funds CANNOT BE moved to any other part of the government financial system but MUST be used for Social Security payments. (Let’s see if the members of Congress try to “tinker with” the Social Security System once they themselves are an integral part of it.)
4) Congress must participate in the same health care system as other American citizens. There will be no more using the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) and having the Federal government-i.e., the American citizen-"pick up the tab" for their excesses concerning their health. They can purchase a healthcare plan from any healthcare provider for the same price as the average American citizen does. (Think we’ll see HONEST AND JUST healthcare reform now?)
5) Once a Congressman reaches the end of his/her term limit, he/she can neither be hired by a lobbyist organization or a "think-tank" nor start either one or the other of their own for a period of ten (10) years. There can be no “trading” on what he/she has learned about the workings of this country on the “open market.
6) ALL members of Congress will be subject to the SAME LAWS as the rest of America. Senate. For example, Congress cannot pass legislation which allows its members to participate in insider trading while making it a criminal offense for the rest of America.
America is tired of the members of Congress using their positions of authority to “pad” the insides of their own wallets and bank accounts at the expense of the general public. Time to climb down out of your “ivory towers”, gentlemen and gentleladies, and get a real job. Welcome back to the REAL WORLD!

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