cleanout Congress

[Cowtown]

[Collected via e-mail, October 2011]

Warren Buffett, in a recent interview with CNBC, offers one of the best quotes about the debt ceiling:

"I could end the deficit in 5 minutes," he told CNBC. "You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for

re-election."

The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote, for 18 year olds, took only 3 months & 8 days to be ratified! Why? Simple! The people demanded it. That was in 1971... before computers, e-mail, cell phones, etc.

Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took 1 year or less to become the law of the land... all because of public pressure.

Warren Buffet is asking each addressee to forward this email to a minimum of twenty people on their address list; in turn ask each of those to do likewise.

In three days, most people in The United States of America will have the message. This is one idea that really should be passed around.

Congressional Reform Act of 2011
1. No Tenure / No Pension.
A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.

2. Congress (past, present & future) participates 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 the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.

3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.

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

5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/12. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen. Congressmen 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.

If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people then it will only take three days for most people (in the U.S.) to receive the message. Maybe it is time.

THIS IS HOW YOU FIX CONGRESS!!!!!

Read more at http://www.snopes.com/politics/quotes/buffett.asp#XDJfwGRJAIIuGG8U.99

[enfield]

They're ignoring the Constitution now!  What good would an amendment do?

 

WE need to put honorable people in Congress, and remove them when they prove dishonorable or incompetent.

[Jonnin]

heh, amusing.  On the flipside, lame ducks are dangerous.   If the *entire* congress were unable to be re-elected, they would have a REASON TO UNITE  and work together.  That could be good --- they might fix the deficit or budget, possibly.   It could be very, very, very bad --- what might they do to mess everything up royally since they are out of a job anyway.... ???!!!!

[Ramjo]

If it could work, I would be all for it. Like Jonnin said though, do it at the wrong time and we could have a catastrophe on our hands.

[Worriedman]

If it could work, I would be all for it. Like Jonnin said though, do it at the wrong time and we could have a catastrophe on our hands.

We have a catastrophe on our hands now...

[Jonnin]

eh also I would change it so that they are not replaced if some % of the deficit is reduced on their term.   I mean, the first congress to tackle it could cut the debt by a soild amount and still be forced to be replaced by buffet's rule, or their changes could take some time to reverse the numbers.  You cant undo 50+ years of damage in 2 years.