Congress Duty!
Is everybody else as tired of the crap that goes on in Congress as I am? When members of Congress spend more time posturing for their parties than they do representing their states?
It doesn't seem like there's any way to change the system. Term limits, campaign reform - nothing seems to work. But, I've thought of a way...
Congress duty! That's right, congress duty. Think of it like jury duty - only for congress. One day, you get a letter in the mail, and you find you're on the hook for a term in Washington, D.C., representing the citizenship of your state. You'd get the salary, and all the benefits (good health insurance!) of being a congressman.
Similar to serving in the National Guard, your job would be waiting when you got back.
Sound far fetched? Think about it - you trust 12 of your peers in a jury trial with your life - why not trust your fellow man to represent your state in the national government?
Of course, we'd want some qualifications. High school education at a minimum, college would be preferred.
The beauty of this is that there's no federal constitutional issues - each state is allowed to select members of Congress by whatever means they choose (remember, when the country started out - legislators weren't elected, they were appointed). So, if one or more states started to do this, all that would have to change would be that state's rules for choosing members of Congress.
The down side of this is that the chances of getting on committees would be virtually zero, so the power of the representative would be limited. But, if enough states started to do this, that would be less of an issue.
So, next time you get that summons for jury duty, remember that it's only for a few weeks. Congress duty would be for a few years. Kind of puts it into perspective, doesn't it?
It doesn't seem like there's any way to change the system. Term limits, campaign reform - nothing seems to work. But, I've thought of a way...
Congress duty! That's right, congress duty. Think of it like jury duty - only for congress. One day, you get a letter in the mail, and you find you're on the hook for a term in Washington, D.C., representing the citizenship of your state. You'd get the salary, and all the benefits (good health insurance!) of being a congressman.
Similar to serving in the National Guard, your job would be waiting when you got back.
Sound far fetched? Think about it - you trust 12 of your peers in a jury trial with your life - why not trust your fellow man to represent your state in the national government?
Of course, we'd want some qualifications. High school education at a minimum, college would be preferred.
The beauty of this is that there's no federal constitutional issues - each state is allowed to select members of Congress by whatever means they choose (remember, when the country started out - legislators weren't elected, they were appointed). So, if one or more states started to do this, all that would have to change would be that state's rules for choosing members of Congress.
The down side of this is that the chances of getting on committees would be virtually zero, so the power of the representative would be limited. But, if enough states started to do this, that would be less of an issue.
So, next time you get that summons for jury duty, remember that it's only for a few weeks. Congress duty would be for a few years. Kind of puts it into perspective, doesn't it?
posted by Douglas Bullard | 10:20 PM
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