On Oct 14, 2011, at 1:23 PM, Mugsy Lunsford wrote: > Was handed this by an OWS IRC moderator today, he's got a point:
Didn't I just debunk all this a few months back? Check Snopes for this....most of this is not real, is based on ancient information or is simply infeasable. It sounds all high-minded and looks like it should be inscribed in a flowing hand on parchment, but in the end it's still nonsense. > > 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. > There is no such thing as tenure, (we call 'em elections) Congress members do not collect pay when 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. > <http://www.snopes.com/politics/socialsecurity/pensions.asp> This is in place now, and has been since 1983. > 3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do. This is in place now. Anyone can buy an IRA or Roth IRA. Government employees have a range of retirement plans offered, as do most people. > > 4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay > will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%. > This, per article 5 of the Constitution, simply requires Congress to pass such a law. This legislation is one of those ones that are sponsored every session for untold sessions, and has yet to be passed. Elect people who will do this. > 5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the > same health care system as the American people. > This might be doable, except that a large majority of Americans get their health insurance from their employers...one of the key Republican plans to enrich their patrons in the insurance business is to dump ALL Americans into the individual market. > 6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people. There are a few constitutionally mandated exceptions to this but otherwise Congress IS subject to the same laws as the rest of us. > > 7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/12. > The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen. What contracts? > 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. They're called Elections. If we want a true 'citizen legislature' we want purely publicly funded elections with short defined electoral seasons, no longer than a month or two. Right now, in the post-Citizens United world campaigning and fundraising never ceases, and elective office is effectively auctioned off to the highest bidder. (and more to the point, no, the founders did NOT envision 'citizen legislators', as if we should elect joe from Harry's bar down the street to represent us. Congress has ALWAYS been the province of the wealthy elite...heck in the founders time it was only the wealthy elite who could vote at all) -- Bruce Johnson University of Arizona College of Pharmacy Information Technology Group Institutions do not have opinions, merely customs -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "StrataList-OT" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/stratalist-ot?hl=en.
