This isn’t my idea, it’s Steve’s basically. I just added some of my own ideas. There has been a lot of talk about term limits to put a stop to the good old boy politics in Washington.
Let’s face it, Washington, D.C., is probably more corrupt today than Chicago. Our senators and representatives pay no attention to us.
They pay attention only to the lobbyists who shouldn’t be there in the first place.
It’s the old “You cross my palm with silver and I’ll stuff your pocket with greenbacks” game. A game perfected by those who have held office far too long. I am talking both parties here.
Here is the idea. We close down Washington and send them all home. Instead of living in Washington, they are all supplied with a computer, and that way they could live at home among their constituents. The only thing we would really need in Washington is a large server and enough technicians to run it. If a representative wants to present a bill, all he or she has to do is load it up on the e-mail and send it to the appropriate web page for Congress to read, and decide whether they want to pass it or not.
We would pay our representatives a good wage, bearing in mind that since they would be living at home, they wouldn't need nearly as much as they are making now. They would have the same health insurance that we have, and the same retirement benefit.
The president would still live in the White House and his cabinet could be housed in public housing built for that purpose. It would have to be just as good as the public housing we furnish for others.
You see, representing us in Washington shouldn’t be a plush job, it should be a job they would consider to be more like jury duty. That way most of our representatives wouldn’t want to make a career out of it and would be happy to consider term limits.
With a small portion of the money we would save, we could buy every bona fide American family a computer. They could be hooked up to the congressional server also, and that way they would know what’s going on.
To be certain everyone reads at least an abbreviated version of the bills, we have a test before every general election to make certain everyone has knowledge of what is going on in our government. We would be graded from A to F just like in the good old days.
If you get an A, your vote counts 100 percent. If you get a B, your vote will count 75 percent. If you get a C, you only get one half of a vote, and a D just 25 percent of a vote. In other words it would take four guys like you to get your candidate one vote. If you get an F, you flunk out. Voting in this country is a privilege and shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Instead of politicians trying to figure out how to give the vote to felons and illegals so they will get their vote in the next election, they should be sorting out the ones who shouldn’t be allowed to vote, and take away that privilege.
Along that line, I also think it’s time to make some effort to get the dead people off of the voting rolls in Chicago. The first thing you know our country will be a laughing stock instead of that shining city on a hill.
Perhaps in the sanctity of their own homes with their wives and kids looking on, politicians would vote their conscience instead of the party line. They might also be influenced by bumping into the people on the street who voted for them. There would be no arm twisting by the speaker or lobbyists because all lobbyists would be sent packing, and the speaker of the house would become a thing of the past.
It would be a felony to commit voter fraud and prison terms should be meted out accordingly. We need to straighten this country out and get the thumb of crooked politicians off of the scales of justice, and for crying out loud take off her blindfold so she can identify some of the scalawags. That blindfold was supposed to mean that justice was impartial but instead we are seeing too many cases where she is truly blind, and deaf to boot.
I believe we’re on to something here, but we will have to bring in new blood, because the old “Hacks” will never give up their way of life.
We may have to throw some of them out bodily. I’ve already got a lot of volunteers for that. There was also some mention of tar and feathers, but I don’t think we should use that remedy, because we would have to pluck too many poor chickens to tar and feather all of the ones that deserve it. Probably run out of tar, too.
I know this could never happen, because it makes too much sense, but just think of the possibilities.
• Joe Bowyer is a columnist for the Pharos-Tribune. He can be reached through the newspaper at
ptnews@pharostribune.com.
