Congressional Reform Act of 2013

[Th-e]

http://www.petition2congress.com/8698/congressional-reform-a ct-2013/

Article 1. No Tenure / No Pension. A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they're out of office.

Article 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.

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

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

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

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

Article 7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void effective 12/31/13. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen/women. Congressmen/women 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.

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This article is designed to hold Congress accountable for its actions and make sure they don't exempt themselves from what the common people deal with. Allegedly, they exempted themselves from sequestration and were trying to exempt themselves from Obamacare.

It seems like a good idea, which should be spread around and used to get Congress back into cooperation. But at the same time, some people say that this act is a load of bull. It's not a reliable source, but I don't have the time to look up all the facts. This type of reform act has also been misattributed to Warren Buffett and has had some variations over the past few years.

If it is something we should pursue, then what would be the best way to spread the message?

As of now, there is no end in sight to the gridlock in Congress. Things could get ugly this Fall as we face another debt ceiling fight and farm bill issue. The latter could cause dairy prices to skyrocket after Sept. 30, while the former could cause default and wreck our country. Last minute deals are not guaranteed, as we have seen with sequestration and student loan interest rates. If we do nothing, a catastrophe is a realistic possibility.

Along with or aside from pushing the Reform Act, what else can we do to get these guys back to cooperation and ending this self-mutilation of our country?

We must stand up to our Congressmen and demand action.

[Korriken]

As much as I love that idea, good luck getting congress to agree on limiting itself.

[randomperson23]

It is a nice concept, but it sadly probably will not happen.

[Warforger]

At 7/10/13 06:04 PM, Th-e wrote: Article 4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

Unconstitutional as the Constitution quite clearly states it does.

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

Unconstitutional. Congressmen cannot be jailed for misdemeanors by the text of the Constitution itself.

Article 7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void effective 12/31/13. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen/women. Congressmen/women 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.

What are you referring to exactly?

[Camarohusky]

At 7/11/13 04:59 PM, Warforger wrote: Unconstitutional. Congressmen cannot be jailed for misdemeanors by the text of the Constitution itself.

Cite this please. I checked and the only mention of misdemeanors involves impeachment of executive branch officials.

[Iron-Hampster]

At 7/11/13 04:59 PM, Warforger wrote:

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

Unconstitutional. Congressmen cannot be jailed for misdemeanors by the text of the Constitution itself.

actually, the entire point of the constitution is so that the government has to abide by the same laws as everyone else.

[Warforger]

At 7/11/13 07:03 PM, Camarohusky wrote: Cite this please. I checked and the only mention of misdemeanors involves impeachment of executive branch officials.

Did you check Article 1 Section 6? You cannot jail Congressmen for jay walking or having a Prostitute. The reason being that these crimes are minor and a good excuse for the President to jail a Congressman he doesn't like. This would essentially give the Executive the power to jail everyone he doesn't like in Congress over minuscule accusations.

[Th-e]

At 7/11/13 04:59 PM, Warforger wrote:

At 7/10/13 06:04 PM, Th-e wrote: Article 4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

Unconstitutional as the Constitution quite clearly states it does.

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

Unconstitutional. Congressmen cannot be jailed for misdemeanors by the text of the Constitution itself.

Article 7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void effective 12/31/13. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen/women. Congressmen/women 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.

What are you referring to exactly?

For the whole unconstitutional thing, you should probably verify it by citing the parts of the Constitution.

As for Article 7, I am not the one referring to whatever these contracts are. Perhaps those contracts are ways they made themselves exempt from what we suffer through or give themselves special privileges.

Regardless of whether this act can be pushed through, we need to take action against Congress to end this gridlock. Consequences of continued gridlock will be more dire in the Fall, and Congress has its August recess.

I am currently being furloughed from my internship in a military facility. It adds insult to the fact that I have been forced to take a year and a half of extra college classes against my will because I can't get permanent employment with my Master's Degree in an engineering field, with a strong likelihood of further classes. I am only wrecking myself psychologically and financially by taking more college classes, and it does not help me gain employment. Congress is part of the reason I can't find a job!

We can't keep letting our elected officials harm us and our country. Yet it seems that nobody is standing up to them.