CONGRESSIONAL REFORM

 

1

TERM LIMITS 

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No person shall serve more than twelve years in the United States Congress, in the Senate or in the House or bodies combined. There shall be allowed no more than six 2 year terms in the House and no more than two 6 year terms in the Senate or any combination thereof, not to exceed twelve years in Congress as a whole. This shall also apply to the non-voting members of the House.

 

Any former or current member of The House or Senate, whether having served a total of 12 years or any number of years less - either through term limits, electoral defeat or for any health, personal or professional reason or  issue or who is currently still seated - may NOT run for elected office on either the state or local level, including all territories and Washington D.C.  Former members may run for President and no former President or Vice President may run for election for House or Senate. If a current member of The House decides to run for Senate, or a member of The Senate decides to run for The House, they may not simultaneously seek re-election to their current office and no Governor or Legislative body of any state may appoint a replacement, however they may appoint a nominee for the election to occur if no primary has been scheduled.

 

No former elected official may be appointed to any cabinet position or appointed as a judge on the local, state or federal level or for any other government job on the local, state or federal level, or for any job where taxes are used to supplement salary, bonuses or any other form of financial gain.  No former member may serve as a paid advisor or receive any remuneration for any political service or for any type of government work or any federal civil service job, nor shall they serve as any paid member of any corporate board, for charity or for profit or work for any firm that profits from lobbying or public relations for a term no less than twelve years after leaving office. 

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2

AGE LIMITS

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Our nation has been in the hoary grip of an extended adolescence that is neither fruitful nor meaningful. It has only bled further upward through the decades. There is, now, no acceptance of senescence and eventual demise. There is no belief in the inevitable downward spiral that is both physical and mental by varying degree. Sixty is not the new forty and forty is not the new thirty and thirty never was nineteen or twenty and like it or not, eighty is crazy and damned near dead. And just to score the point, life expectancy in the U.S. is currently 77.28 years, but for the sake of a cheeseburger and fries, let's round down to 75. Age is ever onward and upward until the aging is no more. The path of old age is one of dissolution and confusion until the breath of death breezes across the brow. 

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And although the wise and honest amongst us hold these truths to be self-evident, the politically ambitious never do. There is a certain functionless depravity to any aged politician that can only be summed up as ageless ambition, a wicked thing of eternal youth, dangerously grasped in the death grip of a dying hand - and this is a most perilous combination - the risk lies in the desperation of the ever aging political mind and the inevitable incontinence of logical thought. So, let us not be soiled by the mortal coil of Maxine Waters or Mitch McConnel, nor let us forget Pelosi, Clyburn or King. Please remember Chuck Schumer and Grassley and Risch. Keep in mind Blumenthal and Bernie,  Markie and Durbin. There's Rosa DeLauro, Anna Eshoo and Virginia Foxx, too. Let us always be wary of the Machiavellian mind in its final sunset. And so, let this order be put forth and forever followed on pain of being Peter Panned and Captain Hooked: 

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NO PERSON, HAVING BEEN DULY ELECTED OR APPOINTED, TO THE U.S. HOUSE OR SENATE, MAY SERVE ANY FULL TERM BEYOND THEIR 72nd BIRTHDAY. 

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3

QUALIFICATIONS

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All Members of Congress  must be natural born citizens of the United States and no Member of Congress may have dual citizenship.

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All Members of Congress must have resided within their State for the previous 10 years excepting military or government service. 

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All Members of Congress must be 35 years of age.

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No Member of Congress may have any prior criminal conviction for any felony or have had any felony conviction expunged as part of a suspended sentence, probationary period, or defered adjudication or as part of any deal pertaining to any felony committed as a juvenile.  

No Member of Congress may have any other conviction for public intoxication, possession of any illegal substance or driving while under the influence. Any convictions for any act of rioting/civil disorder/unlawful assembly/insurrection or disorderly conduct are disqualifying. 

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4

CONGRESSIONAL PAY REFORM 

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No salary of any House Member or Senator shall ever exceed the median income of the United States by more than 10%. An appropriate 401k plan will be offered while employed with a government match of 100 percent. And of course, members will receive due credit for social security. Health Insurance will be provided by the Affordable Care Act. There will be no retirement, no pension, and no other benefits or monies provided after Congressional service is completed through either term limits or electoral defeat. All stocks, bonds and other investments will be placed in a blind trust while member is in Congress and no stock trading is to be allowed. All trading by immediate family members must be reported. As a part of pay reform  the Ban Congressional Stock Trading Act must pass. To ensure its' passage, please contact your House Representative and your Senators.  And although the ban on Congressional stock trading is not yet law, the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act is and has been since 2012.  Please see CapitolTrades to keep an eye on any House or Senate Member.

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5

PUBLIC TAX RETURNS

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All local, state and federal taxes paid by House and Senate members are to be made public on a dedicated website and each House member and Senator shall mail a copy of their local, state and federal tax filings to each member of their state or district. 

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6

REPEAL OF THE APPORTIONMENT ACT

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The People's House should represent the People. The House members are out of touch and lobbyists and special interest groups are a malicious stand-in for the rightful constituency. It's time to bring the Two Party Duopoly to heel. The minimum size of any Congressional district will not be less than thirty-thousand and the maximum size of any Congressional district will not exceed fifty-thousand.

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The Senate will also increase in size and the size of the Senate will be kept at the current ratio of 1:4.35. 

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Learn more about The Apportionment Act of 1929

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Learn more about Apportionment here www.thirty-thousand.org

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7

READING SPEED ALLOWANCE

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Any bill or measure or resolution, anything to be voted on by the Congress, introduced by either The House or The Senate or The President, will carry the word count and number of pages atop a header on each page. It will also include the total number of hours needed to read the document at the speed of 225 words per minute. The total number of hours will also be fixed into a measurement of days, weeks and months and even years if necessary on the same header of hours. No vote may be carried out on any matter that is not set into physical print and no vote may be carried out until the reading hours have been apportioned at a rate of one hour per day and such a number of days has passed. This will give The People an opportunity to read any Bill that Congress plans to vote on. Even more importantly, it will do the same for members of Congress. It is not too much to ask our House members and Senators to read a bill in its entirety before voting on it. To vote on a bill without reading the entire bill is a simple dereliction of duty that, in a perfect world, would result in immediate expulsion from the House or Senate.  

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8

THE OMNIBUS BILL

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​The Omnibus Bill is The Big Lie and The Big Bruise of Confusion. It is The Golden Calf of Apathy; the original bait and switch, lie of omission, and sleight of hand. It is both Congressional Avarice and Cowardice combined; the most misleading and most base bucket of homemade sin ever filled to the brim in the hallowed halls of our currently misguided Capitol and, by far, leads the race in malfeasance and coldest deception. 

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Each of the 12 Subcommittees of The Appropriations Committee will pass an individual budget and debate said budget on the open floor. No excuses. No exceptions. The Congress may not adjourn until a budget is passed, whether this be a full Bill or Continuing Resolution and neither House or Senate may adjourn for any reason while the Federal Government is shut down in part or in whole. As such, while the Federal Government remains in shutdown, partially or in whole, no member of Congress will receive payment. 

 

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9

  CONGRESSIONAL OFFICES   

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No member of Congress may lease any private space for a district office and no company, organization, party or individual shall provide such space. All office space will be provided by the federal government at no expense to either House member or Senator. Only unused government buildings will be used as office space, and such buildings must stand on land owned by the federal government. When no abandoned or unused federal building exists, room for said office shall be made at a local post office or other federal government building in working order. No Veteran's Hospital will be used for such a purpose and no building used by any Intelligence or Law Enforcement Agency, the Department of War, or any branch of the Military or NASA, will be used either. However, any office space under the aegis of the IRS will be given priority as proper offices for our Elected officials.   

 

No pendant, foreign flag or any banner of any cause - political or otherwise - may be displayed at any members office, either on the walls, the windows or the door or near the door or door frame or on a desktop or as a doormat. Neither shall they be used as a screen savers of any sort. One photo of family is permitted. This pertains to hallways, common areas and at Capital Building offices as well as any district office. Each office shall have an American Flag and State Flag both indoors and out, appropriately displayed according to the US Flag Code. 

 

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10

CONGRESSIONAL STAFFING

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No member of Congress shall have a staff exceeding seven members and no member of any Congressional Staff will be paid more than the median income of the United States. Housing will be provided at government expense on compounds designed specifically for our Congress, their families and their employees. All Congressional staff members are term-limited to no more than 12 years and may be employed only by the House Member or Senator who originally hired them. 

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11

CONGRESSIONAL HOUSING

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If there is any lesson to be learned, any history truly to take to heart, it is the historic success of HUD in providing wonderful housing to our citizens and the sheer brilliance of making that housing first rate and beyond compare anywhere in the world. May the Architecture of HUD forever inspire the human spirit and continue to offer an atmosphere of moral, academic and entrepreneurial excellence in housing projects across the land. As such, HUD will undertake the design of yet another housing project. This project will entail a series of compounds designed for both House and Senate members. Each compound will house a mix of Senators and House Members of Opposing Parties and provide family housing for all members throughout their legislative career as well as their staff members and their families. They may opt to live elsewhere at their own expense; however, no additional monies will be provided for housing assistance.

   

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