Congressional Reform Act of 2011

Got an email recently that I thought I'd share. It lists some proposals that could be combined into an actual Amendment to the Constitution. Here they are:

1. Term Limits: 12 years max. (Some possible options: A. Two Six-year Senate terms, B. Six Two-year House terms, C. One Six-year Senate term and three Two-Year House terms)

2. No Tenure / No Pension: Members of Congress receive a salary while in office but that salary ends when they leave office.

3. Congressinal members (past, present & future) are to participate in Social Security: All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately.

All future funds flow into the Social Security system and Congress participates with all Americans.

4. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan: Just as all Americans do.

5. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise: Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

6. Congress loses their current health care system: Members will participate in the same health care system as the American people.

7. Members of Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

8. All contracts with past and present members of Congress are void effective 1/1/12: The American people did not make the contracts that the members of Congress enjoy. Congressional members made all these contracts for themselves. 

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.

 I gotta admit, the proposals sounds great to me. The chances of them being implemented is probably quite slim. Logistics aside, I know, as well as you, that our current Congress (as a whole) would NEVER agree to these.

In my opinion, career politicians need to go...