Your congressman just got a raise

sharkmansix · Post by **sharkmansix** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 9:13 am

...or even more money as a TV analyst.

bassjones · Post by **bassjones** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 9:21 am

Sankofa wrote:
bassjones wrote:I'm not really talking about term limits so much as putting a legal, permanent end to career politicians.
The trouble being, even when they leave office, they move down the street and use their connections to earn even more money as lobbyists.

And I'd write a law that prohibits anyone who served in office from being a lobbyist. Some lobbyists do serve an important role - speaking for people's interests is a legitimate role in a representative form of government. The system is a mess, but there is a legitimate role for lobbyists - on every issue and for every side. The problem lies with the Jack Abramoff's of the world who use bribery as a tool of lobbying - and lobby both sides of the same issue, depending who gives him the most money to dole out for 'favors'.

=^-..-^= · Post by **=^-..-^=** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 12:09 pm

bassjones wrote:and let's not forget "campaign finance reform", otherwise known as the incumbent protection bill.

And actually, I think Souder would be fine. He's very intelligent and is not one of the "silver spoon" congressmen - Al Gore, Ted Kennedy, etc...

Also, I'm not really talking about term limits so much as putting a legal, permanent end to career politicians. The founding fathers never envisioned full-time, career politicians who stay in office for 40-50 years. All of them were lay people who took some time away from their regular careers to serve their country, but then went back to being blacksmiths, farmers, shop owners, etc... That's the model I'd like to see followed. Go serve a couple of years, then come home and do something truly important - like getting a job.

The Founding Fathers didn't envision a lot of things, like 14+ cabinet departments. I'm afraid that government of the nation has gotten a little more complex for the 'blacksmith' to be able to do it properly. Just write your Congressman, wait for their reply, and see the number of specific solutions they are working on to address that issue - it is mind-boggling. We need trained professionals in those positions if we want them not to get run over or left out of the loop, and we have to pay them professional salaries to get them to run.

As far as Souder and our other two guys, everyone thinks their Congressmaen are OK - it's the other states with yahoos.