Is there anybody out there who thinks that The U.S. Congress is
doing a good job?
I didn’t think so.
Is there anybody out there who has the audacity to presume that he
or she has a way of fixing Congress?
Yup!
ME! (Actually, Warren Buffet, but that will come up a bit later in
this post.)
However, before I go into the details on how to fix the problems
which we call Senators and Congressmen and Congresswomen, we need to
identify said problems.
The main problem, to my way of thinking, is that our
representatives have lost touch with the people. They are divorced
from the everyday person.  They don’t feel our pain. 
They don’t understand our trials. They don’t live in our world.
There is a great crevasse that separates us from them. This
crevasse was consciously created by them, and we let them do it.
By writing and passing the appropriate laws and procedures, our
Congress-folk have created for themselves a social class that is
different from the ones that the rest of us inhabit, and they are
above us, and almost completely untouchable.
Jefferson and Adams never conceived of career politicians running
the government. They saw political careers as short stints in which
men would go to the Capitol for a few years and represent their
constituents.  Then, these folks would come back home and
continue with their regular, normal lives, and live as equals among
the people that they had represented.
That vision, as we all know, is not a reality in our times. When
folks get elected to federal office today, their main goal is to STAY
in that federal office until retirement.
And why not? It’s a pretty good life!!!
Let’s look at their lot with as unbiased of a lens as is
possible for this very biased man.
Congressional salaries
Got any idea what your Congressman or Senator makes a year?
$174,000 annually. When is the last time you saw an annual salary of
$174,000?  That’s $14,500 a month.  $3625 a week.
Not bad, huh?
That kind of money would sure make balancing the old household
budget a lot easier, wouldn’t it?
And how come they make that much? Well, they voted for it, that’s
how.
And, periodically, somebody in Congress gets the silly notion in
their heads that it’s time for them to get a raise.  So the
entire Congress votes on it.
How many times do you think those raises have been turned down?
Did you ever have a job where you told your employer how much he
was going to pay you?
I NEVER had a job like that!
And if I ever did, you can bet your bottom dollar that I would do
EVERYTHING IN MY POWER to make sure that I kept that job!
Then, of course, there’s the lobbyists who line our
representatives’ pockets if they promise to vote certain ways on
certain bills.  Even EASIER money, right?
Now, I would bet that most of us (the little people) have
household budgets, right? And I would bet that a good portion of
those budgets go to health care issues such as doctor’s bills,
prescription costs and health insurance premiums.
What do you pay a month for your health insurance? Do you know
what most Congress-folk pay?  A little over $300.
You see, each member of Congress get to choose between ten
different health care plans. (Most Americans don’t get a choice.
They have to go along with the one that their employer offers to
them.) The most popular one is Blue Cross Blue Shield, which covers a
family for $1030 per month.  Out of that, the taxpayers shell
out $700.
For these guys, a visit to the doctor costs $20.  Generic
prescriptions cost $10.  Immunizations are free. There are no
limits.
Lawmakers also get preferential treatment at Washington’s
federal medical facilities, and, if they choose, they can take
advantage of the their own private doctors, nurses, pharmacy 
and medical technicians that are located in an office right there
between the House and Senate Chambers!
Last year, We, The People paid a $15,000,000 tab for federal
workers’ health care insurance.
Pension Plan
And how’s that pension plan of yours doing these days?
Oh! That’s right! Most Americans don’t have pension plans any
more! They have 401K’s, or personal investments, or nothing at all.
Well, Congressmen and women all have pensions if they’ve been in
office for five years or more.
Contrary to popular belief, as of 1984, they pay into Social
Security. Before 1984, they did not, and they weren’t eligible to
receive Social Security benefits. Because of this, members of
Congress were covered by the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS).
Members elected after 1984 are covered by the Federal Employees’
Retirement System (FERS), and they pay 1.3% of their salaries into
that fund.  (The taxpayers foot the rest of the bill, of
course!)
A representative’s pension is based on the number of years
served and the average of the highest three years of his or her
salary.  That amount cannot exceed 80% of his or her final
salary.
A representative can begin receiving his/her pension after the age
of 50 as long as he/she has served twenty years.  OR they
can begin receiving their pension any time after turning 62 or
serving for 25 years.
As of Oct.1, 2006, the U.S. pays 413 retired Members of Congress a
pension.  290 of them retired under the CSRS plan, and they
receive an average of $60,972 per year. 123 Members retired under
both the CSRS and FERS plans, and their average annual pensions are
$35,952.
Not bad, huh?
Wouldn’t you like to have a pension of $35,000 a year for the
rest of your life?

***
Now, just the other day, my wonderful wife sent an email that
included the following plan put forth by Warren Buffett. (I also just
read a blog post on the same topic my missywuzhere. I figure that I
would publish it also, since I think it carries enough merit to be
repeated as often as possible.
Here it is:
 
Warren Buffett, in a recent interview with CNBC, offers
one of the best quotes about the debt ceiling: "I could end the
deficit in 5 minutes," he told CNBC. "You just
pass a
law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP,
all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election".
The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds)
took only 3 months & 8 days to be ratified!
Why? Simple!
The people demanded it. That was in 1971 - before computers,
e-mail, cell phones, etc.
Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took one (1)
year or less to become the law of the land - all because of public
pressure.
Warren Buffet is asking each addressee to forward this E-mail to a
minimum of twenty people on their address list; in turn ask each of
those to do likewise.
In three days, most people in The United
States of America will have the message. This is one idea that really
should be passed around.
*Congressional Reform Act of 2011*_
1.No Tenure / No Pension.
 A Congressman/woman collects a
salary while in office and receives no pay when they're out of office
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.
3.Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all
Americans do.
4.Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise.

Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.
5.Congress loses their current health care system and participates
in the same health care system as the American people.
6.Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the
American people.
7.All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void
effective 1/1/12. 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.
If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people then it will
only take three days for most people (in the U.S.) to receive the
message.
Don't you think it's time?