Things I'd like to see change in the federal government

I have this list that keeps growing, of things that need to change in our federal government. Are you listening President Obama? It is Time For A Change!

1. Congress gets a pay cut, there's no reason for anyone to make more than the president per year. The presidency pays $200,000 per year. That should be enough for anyone "serving the people".

2. Any law passed, is applied to all people, especially the ones passing the law. Currently congress has exempted themselves from many of the laws they make us follow. Fair play people!

3. If you lie to the public you serve, you loose your office and can never run again. Lier Lier pants on your fired!

4. Never bail out any company for any reason! If a business man fails, he fails, goes out of business and that's that. End of story buddy! If the government just has to bail someone out, how about "the people". If the money spent on bailing out failed banks and the auto industry had been given to the individual people of this country, everyone would have had enough money to pay up or off their mortgage and buy new stuff from the companies that were in trouble which would have kept them afloat. Imagine that, no foreclosures would have happened. There would be far fewer Homeless people and jobs would still be around.

5. Congress should not listen to industries that make their money from "the people". Insurance companies are a perfect example of congress listening to money grubbers instead of the people. Health care went down the tubes when congress listened to the insurance companies instead of the doctors.

6. If you decided to become a lawyer, practice law, don't run for office. The main problem we have with congress is that most of them are lawyers. Which means they lie for a living, refer to item #3. My favorite slogan "Kill all the Lawyers", new ones can be educated for just the areas we really need them.

7. The people should be able to call for a Vote of No Confidence at any point in time. This should apply to; Congress, the President, the Supreme Court. A vote of no confidence would be followed by new elections to replace them.

8. Term limits should be "No more than two terms", once you've served those two terms, your done! If your in one office for both of your terms, you can not run for any other office, your through. You have done your service to the people and now go find a real job in the real world.

9. You don't retire from congressional service and get a pension, you asked to serve, ran for office and once your two terms are over, your done, kaput. There is no real profession of politics, you can't take courses in college labled "professional politics" that was made up by congressmen and lawyers. It is something you do out of your conviction to serve the people. I don't recall President Washington expecting any retirement when he left the presidency. Don't recall Davey Crockett doing so either.

10. We need a low, set limit on how much money anyone can spend to get elected. $1 million should be fair enough, if it takes more than that, perhaps it is a sign that you are not considered worthy of holding said office.

11. Under no circumstances what-so-ever can congress take money out of social security, medicaide, medicare, etc. These are programs designed to be there for the people who paid the money in for retirement, required by the federal government and it should be there. Twice congress has stolen from the people and used the money to fund other things. That's just wrong and should be terms for imediate firing and they should have to pay the money back out of their own pockets immediately with interest and penalties.

12. Company type taxes should not be allowed to be passed on to the buying public, that should be a cost of doing business, born by the company.

13. A flat percentage Income tax should be implemented, it would have no loop holes, no exemptions for any one, including the clergy. It would also be fair and those that make the most would pay the most. Also there should be a repeal of a state being allowed to impose a second Income tax or the federal Income tax should be repealed.

14. It should be required for all people to be responsible for themselves and congress should realize that it isn't their job to "Protect us from ourselves". We are supposed to have working brains and we are supposed to use them, let us do so, and if we F' up, oh well, better luck next time. Many laws are on the books to protect the stupid from themselves, let it go, if they kill themselves, it is better that they can't breed anyway.
Good example here is the seat belt law and the helmet law. It takes away the fundamental right to kill yourself through stupid human tricks. In the case of the helmet laws, a lot of times it is the very helmet that kills the person through a broken neck. Why? because most states have the law that requires you to wear one but there is no law that says the makers must continue to do research and development to make a safer helmet. Same is true of seatbelt/shoulder harness, ever see a racer using an over one shoulder rig? Hmmmmm what's wrong with that picture?

and the list will continue to grow. Of this I'm as sure as the wind will blow and the sun will shine.

I think I would run out of Forum to put all mine down :frog:

Mine is very simple. Public office is like jury duty. Everyone has to serve and you get paid $6 for doing it.

I hear ya Tony, but they pay that per day and I'm not really sure any of the current crop is worth that much pay.:lmao:

In view of the latest scandal, how about castration? :D

I don't like to get political on forums, it usually has no good result. that said, I will say that we need to add referendum to our current federal elections. each of your points could then be added to a ballot and see a vote.

there was a writer whose name I cannot remember who wrote that his fears were the inverse of Orwell's 1984. that rather than information being stifled it would be flooded and the general public would be unable to parse the pertinent from the deluge. Examples of this can be seen on AM sports talk radio stations, celebrity gossip tabloids and many other places; the average american has no idea who their congressman, senator or local rep is but is able to name sports statistics and celebrity factoids in endless fashion.

I will add that there are two integral links that have been broken down in america that at one time insured the proper function of society. First is education, a man with an abundance of information and no way to process it is no better off than a man without the information in the first place. The second link is by far the most contreversial topic in America, and I would venture to say that the vast majority of contreversy looms in the shadows of and the periphery of religion.
Whether or not you believe in God, there is argument to be made that it was the so called "freedom from religion" that coincides quite nicely with the data that shows increases in crime rates as well as decreases in "desireable" behavior patterns.
I won't offer a sermon here, but I think anyone would be hard pressed to follow the logical conclusion history and data and say that religion has not had a significant bearing.

I will also entertain any challenges to this in the proper forum if need be rather than here.