Government Repair

[Minor Axis]

There are lots of things that need to be done, but for a starter, how about NO retirement for members of Congress with less than 20 years of service, and then we do term limits of no more than 8 years/two terms?

I'd also suggest that the medical coverage that Congress gets be no better than what medicare provides, they must use the same providers, and that the Reps must pay into it just like everyone else? As Reps, they should be equal to what average citizens enjoy, not above them.

We enforce a strict code of moral conduct. Spinning facts to a point where they become lies will no longer be tolerated.

What else?

 

[Jackass master]

All bills will be for only one thing. No pork or other add ons. Straight up or down votes.

 

[Minor Axis]

All bills will be for only one thing. No pork or other add ons. Straight up or down votes.

Excellent idea.

 

[Kyle B]

Okay, then you have to do the same with Civil Service workers.

 

[Minor Axis]

You want a war?- raise taxes to pay for it and institute a no-loop hole draft for soldiers to die for it.

 

[Alien Allen]

sunset clauses on all legislation

if it is worth keeping then make then vote to continue it after x number of years

 

[Accountable]

Love the sunset thing.

Any bill must contain a clearly stated link to a specific responsibility enumerated in the Constitution, whether federal or state.

War must be formally declared and state the goal. No more "police actions" with nebulous missions.

No federal funding of state programs.

No federal mandates of state programs.

I don't think Legislators need benefits at all after service. That should cut down on professional politicians.

 

[Accountable]

Oh, and no political party affiliation. You're in there to represent your constituents, not your party.

 

[Minor Axis]

sunset clauses on all legislation

if it is worth keeping then make then vote to continue it after x number of years

I'd need to think about this. My first impression is that that it would be unwieldy. Most unpopular laws are overturned anyway, are they not?

Here is a longer list:

• Term limits- no more than 8 years/two terms?
• Benefits- Congress gets medical no better than what medicare provides, they must use the same providers, and that the Reps must pay into it just like everyone else? As Reps, they should be equal to what average citizens enjoy, not above them.
• Code of Conduct- Spinning facts to a point where they become lies will no longer be tolerated.
• Code of Conduct- Institute serious jail time for Congressional fraud, with mandatory minimum sentences.
• Budget- No pork allowed in bills.
• Budget- Have the GAO estimate the impact of each new congressional bill on the federal deficit, job creation, environmental damage, income and opportunity equality, and economic growth.
• Social contracts must be engineered with viability in mind. Stop robbing social security for other budgetary requirements.
• Defense Budget needs to be audited.
• Taxes- Simplify tax code- details needed.
• Taxes- Remove all tax loopholes for anybody earning above twice the median US income (or households earning 4 times the median income or above).
• Elections- Remove most/all private money from elections.
• Elections- Limit personal contributions to campaigns to $1000.
• Elections- Ban corporate funding of campaigns.
• Elections- Full disclosure of campaign donors.
• Abolish the electoral college and directly elect the President and VP by popular vote.
• Federalized standardized voting rules for all States- controversial.
• Health Coverage- Single payer health coverage- controversial.
• Lobbyists- Outlaw and/or ban former members of Congress from serving as private corporate consulates for 10 years after they serve. The same for generals, admirals, cabinet officers, etc.
• Update Constitution- details needed.
• Every law shall relate to one subject that will be named in title.
• Update Bill of Rights- details needed.
• War funding will always include tax increase to pay for it and a no-loophole draft so sacrifice can be shared across the board.
• Federal Contracts- Exclude members of Congress from voting on bills that specifically name companies or government installations in their home district to receive money.
• Enforce government contracts, with contractors who underestimate costs during the bidding process having the additional under estimated costs automatically added to any subsequent bids until they have a track record of submitting accurate bids. The flip side could be that companies that complete contracts for less than the estimated price could subtract that from future bids.
• When the economy picks back up, take measures to eliminate the debt and then to create a sovereign fund that can be used in the next recession to help stimulate employment.

 

[Accountable]

I'd need to think about this. My first impression is that that it would be unwieldy. Most unpopular laws are overturned anyway, are they not?

Unwieldy is good! The unwiediererer the bettererer.
Law by definition limits liberty. Every law should be difficult to inflict, erm, pass, so that only the really important ones make it through.
And no, once a law is passed, it is almost never overturned. All this talk about repealing Obamacare? All smoke and halitosis.

 

[darkcgi]

this should patch things up

 

[Accountable]

Here is a longer list:

• Term limits- no more than 8 years/two terms? okay.
• Benefits- Congress gets medical no better than what medicare provides, they must use the same providers, and that the Reps must pay into it just like everyone else? As Reps, they should be equal to what average citizens enjoy, not above them. That gives them too much wiggle room to allow something "just like medicare". I say put them on Medicare, period. That way they can't point to their million-dollar specialist and say "what? He's just a doctor, just like the underpaid schlep the old folks get."
• Code of Conduct- Spinning facts to a point where they become lies will no longer be tolerated. I like it but can't see how it'll be enforced.
• Code of Conduct- Institute serious jail time for Congressional fraud, with mandatory minimum sentences. Yes
• Budget- No pork allowed in bills. Simplify bills. Only one item, and no legalese. Must be understandable to the average citizen. Want more complex bills? Get more educated citizens.
• Budget- Have the GAO estimate the impact of each new congressional bill on the federal deficit, job creation, environmental damage, income and opportunity equality, and economic growth. Don't they do this already?
• Social contracts must be engineered with viability in mind. Stop robbing social security for other budgetary requirements. Huh?
• Defense Budget needs to be audited. Everything needs to be audited.
• Taxes- Simplify tax code- details needed. Simplify, yes. Don't understand the details part.
• Taxes- Remove all tax loopholes for anybody earning above twice the median US income (or households earning 4 times the median income or above). Straight tax. Budget must adjust to match revenue, not the other way around.
• Elections- Remove most/all private money from elections. Nope. Corporate money, yes.
• Elections- Limit personal contributions to campaigns to $1000. Okay.
• Elections- Ban corporate funding of campaigns. including party, union, PAC, etc
• Elections- Full disclosure of campaign donors. YES!
• Abolish the electoral college and directly elect the President and VP by popular vote. State-by-state or national? I say state-by-state.
• Federalized standardized voting rules for all States- controversial. For federal elections, sure.
• Health Coverage- Single payer health coverage- controversial. Nope
• Lobbyists- Outlaw and/or ban former members of Congress from serving as private corporate consulates for 10 years after they serve. The same for generals, admirals, cabinet officers, etc. Yes, especially once term limits & corporate contribution bans are in place.
• Update Constitution- details needed. If Woodie Wilson et al had not been so dishonest we'd have 100 amendments by now.
• Every law shall relate to one subject that will be named in title. Yes
• Update Bill of Rights- details needed. Mmmmmmm
• War funding will always include tax increase to pay for it and a no-loophole draft so sacrifice can be shared across the board. Nope
• Federal Contracts- Exclude members of Congress from voting on bills that specifically name companies or government installations in their home district to receive money. Yes. Won't make any difference, though.
• Enforce government contracts, with contractors who underestimate costs during the bidding process having the additional under estimated costs automatically added to any subsequent bids until they have a track record of submitting accurate bids. The flip side could be that companies that complete contracts for less than the estimated price could subtract that from future bids. Or just hold them to the bid. If it goes over (within tolerances), the contractor eats it. Making that clear and non-negotiable up front will be the incentive to be more accurate
• When the economy picks back up, take measures to eliminate the debt and then to create a sovereign fund that can be used in the next recession to help stimulate employment. Balance the budget now. No more bailouts. No more blanket approval to increase debt (each increase must be voted on & passed formally). Make Fed Bank fully transparent or Congress takes over their constitutional responsibility of coining money.

Federal legislation must be kept slow and tedious.

 

[Minor Axis]

Unwieldy is good! The unwiediererer the bettererer.
Law by definition limits liberty. Every law should be difficult to inflict, erm, pass, so that only the really important ones make it through.
And no, once a law is passed, it is almost never overturned. All this talk about repealing Obamacare? All smoke and halitosis.

You promoting unwieldy government.... right.

 

[Accountable]

You promoting unwieldy government.... right.

Right. Always have. Don't you think the amendment process of our Constitution is unwieldy?
eta: actually it's not the gov't so much as the legislative process.

 

[Minor Axis]

Right. Always have. Don't you think the amendment process of our Constitution is unwieldy?
eta: actually it's not the gov't so much as the legislative process.

"Unwieldy" has always been considered the superior method for all things human. :smiley24: BTW, you have a problem of raising taxes to pay for our foreign adventures and a draft? What do you propose instead?

 

[Accountable]

"Unwieldy" has always been considered the superior method for all things human. :smiley24: BTW, you have a problem of raising taxes to pay for our foreign adventures and a draft? What do you propose instead?

Draft is slavery, and war is far too easy for us. We need to make it more difficult than simply agreeing to raise taxes.

 

[Minor Axis]

Draft is slavery, and war is far too easy for us. We need to make it more difficult than simply agreeing to raise taxes.

Are you kidding?? If taxes were going to be raised to finance Iraq/Afgan, there would have been a political firestorm. I bet we would not have gone to war.

Ok, so how do you say we make things more difficult? I don't think you have an answer for this other than objecting. And I object to your characterization of the draft being slavery. Listen, the last two wars have been fought with a volunteer army using credit. Telling lies and fabricating circumstances, THAT was the definition of easy. A draft or two years of National service if you prefer, spreads the pain without any doubt. You get a widespread group of parents across the spectrum worrying about their kids and you'll see more thought go into such an adventure.

 

[BadBoy@TheWheel]

First thing is to finally declare the Federal Reserve Act unconstitutional, becuase it absolutely is. Reinstate Glass-Stegall and take control back from the banks.

Until you gain control of the banks again, why does the rest matter? Every dollar coming out of the Fed has interest attached to it. We'll never pay it off.

Tell them to get fucked. No more Fed bailout money. Once you give the government money, it's theirs.

 

[Accountable]

Are you kidding?? If taxes were going to be raised to finance Iraq/Afgan, there would have been a political firestorm. I bet we would not have gone to war.[/quote]I'm saying it's not enough.

Ok, so how do you say we make things more difficult? I don't think you have an answer for this other than objecting.

Correct. I haven't put a lot of thought into it, but it's definitely worth discussing.

And I object to your characterization of the draft being slavery.

Why? What else is it when you force someone to perform under penalty of imprisonment or death? You think tossing a little money into the mix pays off the immorality of it?

Listen, the last two wars have been fought with a volunteer army using credit. Telling lies and fabricating circumstances, THAT was the definition of easy.

Agreed, but you seem to think there's a connection between volunteer force and credit. That confuses me.

A draft or two years of National service if you prefer, spreads the pain without any doubt. You get a widespread group of parents across the spectrum worrying about their kids and you'll see more thought go into such an adventure.

That's not justification for enslavement.

 

[Minor Axis]

I'm saying it's not enough.

Correct. I haven't put a lot of thought into it, but it's definitely worth discussing.

Why? What else is it when you force someone to perform under penalty of imprisonment or death? You think tossing a little money into the mix pays off the immorality of it?

Agreed, but you seem to think there's a connection between volunteer force and credit. That confuses me.

That's not justification for enslavement.

*When it's a volunteer force, just the volunteers are dieing and for the most part, the attitude is "it's some unknown them". The general populace is detached from the people who are suffering. If you want more involvement by our citizens, institute a no-loophole draft. That will get them involved in the decision to go to war.
*If you believe in fiscal responsibility taxes have to pay for our wars, not credit.
*National service is not slavery. I think you are in the minority in this opinion.