I'm fairly new to politics. I have to admit I don't fully understand the process of how a bill becomes law, beyond Conjunction Junction shows when I was a kid. I always (with blind acceptance, I suppose), assumed a Congressman wrote the bill, and they voted on it. If he/she was from the House, they voted first, and then the Senate would make amendments and vote, then it went to the President.
I've been interested in politics since the health care bill passed. What is that, 2 years in March, or does it just feel that long? Now I realize a lot more goes into it than that simple explanation from my youth. First, I'm ashamed to admit that I have fallen asleep in my duty to be vigilant and watch the government. I know (now) that this happened under the Bush administration, and Clinton and Bush 1 and probably further back than that. It doesn't have a party.
So here is my new understanding of how a bill is passed in Congress:
First a Congressman writes it (we'll say it originated in the House of Representatives). The rest of the Congressmen in the House (some who don't like it at all) will add incentives to it so they can tolerate the bill. They want to make sure that their state gets something in return for signing off on this bill. If it was put up by a Democrat, then the Republicans will ask for more just so they can tolerate it, or so they can explain to the people in their state, "But WE'RE getting X out of this bill, even if we have to swallow the parts we don't like." Same for the other side. So, they finally decide on all the pork that's going into the bill, and now it looks nothing like the original one that was put forward. So they have to give it a good, and usually long name, to include the major points. Some things are hidden on purpose so no one knows unless they read it all. Things like subsidies for farmers, even though the bill was possibly a military bill.
Then they send it to the Senate. They read it on the floor of the Senate, and whatever party originated it, will add more pork to it so their state gets even more bennies from it. The other side will add even more pork so that they can go to their state and say, "We're fighting for you." Now the bill is even bigger. It's sort of like government in general...growing daily.
They don't tell the public about it at all, because they are ruling FOR us. Only those who can wade through thousands of bills even know it's about to be signed. And who has the time to read ALL of the bill(s) that are up for a vote?
Like I said, this is not a party thing. It's bipartisan.
What can we, as Americans do about this? We've made a start. We've woke up. We formed the Tea Party and told both parties that we would no longer elect anyone unless they were fiscal conservatives. We made great strides over the past election, if they were honest in what they said. I believe most of the ones that retained their seats were possibly just going with the flow of public sentiment. They are concerned with their career in politics. In my opinion, career and politics should not fall in the same sentence. Anyone left in the political arena for more than 3 terms has a chance of becoming corrupt. I think we should have term limits for 2 or 3 terms. There are some congressmen who have been there for longer than I've been alive (and that's 47 years).
Now, what can we do besides push for term limits? Their pay AND their pension should be based on how long they were in office. Why should a congressman that is kicked out due to elections (meaning he did a bad job) after one term get thousands of dollars for a pension just like a congressman who has been in for 47 years? And starting them out at what an 0-1 in the military gets might be incentive to get them to do a good job. By the way, an 0-1 would be a Leutenant Junior Grade in the Navy, I'm not sure what that would be in the other services. I'm willing to give them officer's pay, instead of enlisted because enlisted is SO low. Does that say something for our military?
And we should make it to where Congress is NEVER allowed to vote on their own pay increases. It should be put before the American people whether they get a pay raise or not. If public vote says they're doing a good job, they'll get raise. My husband doesn't get a pay increase just because the cost of living went up. As a matter of fact, I don't think he's gotten a raise in about 4 years. The last raise he got was because he threatened to leave, so they gave him a raise to keep him there. Why should the government be any different? And as far as that goes, it should include any government employee. Pay raises should not be automatic.
That would be a good start, along with NO PORK in any bill. And none of these frivolous bills. You know the ones: Some Senator or Congressman dies and they want to rename every federal building out there after him/her. Or they want to designate a day for pickle growers of America. We have enough days designated for different things. All that is, is because they think their voters want it. I have news for you, Congress: We don't want it! If we have to tighten our belts in our homes, YOU SHOULD TOO!
Lori Ann Smith
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