Big Brother Isn't Just a Show on CBS

Health Care!

It's what the government thinks you need! So here they come to force it upon you. The U.S. House of Representatives (an ironic title since a recent poll only had 25% of respondents thinking the current bill should be passed) passed an unconstitutional bill which mandates all citizens of this great country be covered by health insurance. Sure, there are other aspects of this bill which are debatable and possibly beneficial. But, those are not the things which are going to make this entire exercise a total waste of time. The wholly unconstitutional mandate will get this bill (if it passes the Senate with the mandate still intact) hung up in the courts. So, I want to know why our "representatives" are wasting our tax dollars to such a degree as to spend months developing and debating something which will never become law.

Our government loves wasting our tax dollars. That, at least, is clear to me. What I don't know is why we keep letting them do it. They vote themselves pay increases, then don't read any of the bills they vote on. They make sure they don't have term limits, and then spend entire years campaigning. We are their bosses. So why don't we do our jobs and make sure they do theirs?

Here is my proposal: All Congressional pay is to be based upon votes registered. No vote no pay. There will be a base. About $30,000 should do. Then, each vote they make will give them a bonus, I'm comfortable with $50 per vote. Since congress votes on thousands of bills each year, this could work out to a hefty pay check. But it won't. The reason is I would also require a test be taken before a vote can be registered. The test would judge simply whether the congressmen have an understanding of all aspects of the bill. Guessing would be punished like the good old SAT. But BW, how will we pay for all the tests to be produced? Simple. Eliminate one staff position from each Senator and Representative. That will pay for most of the staff needed to produce the tests, the rest will be covered by the decrease in pay for the congressmen themselves because most of them won't vote enough to match their current salaries. Voting with the actual leaning of the country should be rewarded too. That one I haven't worked out the logistics of yet because polling is so easily misleading and misused.

This proposal would make a Congressional seat a little less cushy. That brings up another way Congress wastes our money: The need to be in the same place at the same time. No more. Telecommuting is the only way. No more flying all over on our dollar. With today's technology there is no reason to be physically there. Twitter could cover a simple "Yea" or "Nay" and more involved debates could be conducted via Skype. Putting this into place is not only cost effective, it's a green policy. I know they do some things in committees which are classified, and those committees would need to continue to meet in person, but most things our representatives do are public record and therefore need not be encrypted.

These things are a start, but one more thing will get our representatives to represent us better. And this is the least radical of all the ideas set forth here. Term limits. Term limits take lobbies down a few notches and put Congress back in the service of the people instead of special interests. I have had people tell me that the opposite is true and lobbies gain more power if there are term limits. They are idiots. It's that simple. Ask Big Oil if they want term limits imposed on the Senators they have in their pockets. Their answer will make the need for term limits very clear.

None of this will happen, not because it shouldn't, but because Congress won't let it. It's their decision, not ours. I know I wouldn't vote myself out of a job. Would you?