Come-upn’s for Politicians

Anybody who pays attention to politics is bound to be frustrated by the process, especially as it applies to the Federal Government. Naturally, this sentiment is not new. It is very common for the party out of power to seek ways to regain control.

But, that is the basic problem. Our country has been taken over by Parties and their leaders are more concerned with staying in power than doing what is right for the country.

Newly elected members go to Washington, and discover that all of their promises to “change” the government are not welcomed. They are assigned irrelevant roles on minor committees until they prove their willingness to tow the party line. Those running the committees decide what is to be discussed and new people are blocked out unless their philosophies are harmonious with the leaders; the career politicians.

All of this brings up an old topic about term limits. When the Congress was established it was intended to be a patriotic duty, much like the military. Members would go to the Congress for a few years, essentially for no compensation, just to serve their country.

Now they are paid enormous compensation packages and are influenced by large lobbying groups. They retire wealthy and with cushy retirement packages. They do not care about the people at home as much as staying in power.

Enough is enough!!! If we can limit the number of terms for the President, we can and should do the same thing for the Congress as well. I like a limit of 12 years for either House. That is two six-year terms for Senators and six two-year terms for Representatives.

They should be paid the same salary as the members of the military. In most cases that would mean $25,000 per year rather than $450,000. There should be very limited expense accounts and no housing or transportation allowances. The rest of us have to pay our expenses so they should too. Their retirement packages should be comparable to that of the military; minimal help with health care and burial packages. Ina case like that we would attract Patriots, not self-serving, power-crazed attorneys.

One of the many things that irk me is the way they exempt themselves of the very laws they impose on the rest of us. For example they raise taxes, but then they vote to give themselves a pay-raise, which off-sets their loss. None of the rest of us can do that. They are already making eight times as much money as the people they represent (not counting extravagant retirement plans and all of the side deals they make with lobbyists). Isn’t that enough?!

When they pass a health-care package, as an example, they should also be forced to use that plan, but no, they have a much better one than the rest of us do. They should have to abide by all of the laws the rest of us do. No special exemptions.

The bottom line here is the government has overpowered the people and that is a direct contradiction of what the founding fathers intended.

Long before there was an income tax system, Americans did more for their neighbors. For example, if somebody needed a barn, the community would get together and build one. When grandma got too old to take care of herself, she moved in with her kids and they all made the best of it. But now we all look to the government to solve our problems.

One of the primary reasons this has happened is many big-hearted people feel sorry for those who fall on bad times or cannot compete in an open market. When that group becomes legislators, they strive to “level the playing field” through social programs.

As far as I am concerned, that is the right sentiment, but the wrong approach. I once read the welfare program used 72% of every dollar they collected in taxes to administer the program, which left 28% for the actual recipients. That is a horrible waste of tax-payers money. A Republican Congress and a Democratic President (Clinton) made a good effort to fix that. They were on the right track.

We should be encouraging stronger families, more interaction with churches and non-profit organizations, more volunteering and better budgeting so that we can do more with our dollars.

We the people need to decide if we are going to help one another or cut each others throat, which then leads to the government steallng our money in the form of ever-higher taxes. Do we really want the government to tax us and then keep 3 out of every 4 dollars for themselves or should we be kinder and more generous with each other?

It all starts in Washington, where the legislators set the tone. By exempting themselves from the very laws they pass, they clearly set up a system of self-aggrandizement. Get all you can.

That is why I think it is time to reconsider term limits. I think that would attract a new breed of politician and that is what we need right now. We want people of honor and integrity who are there for the right reasons, and that is not perpetual self-promotion.

What say you?

Check out my Family Finances blog, currently discussing easy ways to build and improve credit.