“If you don’t do your job in America, you don’t get paid. In Washington, D.C., there should be no difference”Senator Heller is a co-sponsor of the "No Budget, No Pay" act, a piece of legislation proposing that if Congress does not pass a budget and annual spending bills on time, then members of Congress should not get paid.
--- Senator Dean Heller (R-NV)
“Congress has never missed Christmas or Thanksgiving, and this reform will make sure we never miss Oct. 1, the beginning of our fiscal year, again. Deadlines work. Congress should, too.”The No Budget, No Pay Act is one of twelve proposals to make Congress do what they were elected to do, without the political game-playing that confuses and frustrates so many citizens.
--- Representative and No Budget, No Pay Sponsor Jim Cooper (D-TN)
"Twelve Ways to Make Congress Work" is the brainchild of a non-partisan group called "No Labels" that is dedicated to a simple proposition: it's time to make the government work.
The government in Washington is no longer capable of solving the very real problems facing America. Before every election, our politicians make promises about how they will fix our tax system. Our immigration laws. Our schools. Our budget issues. But after every election, these promises are crushed under the weight of the same poisonous rhetoric and hyper-partisanship.No Labels tries to avoid issues and instead focus on procedural obstacles. The budget and spending bills proposal is one example. Others include calling for a 'yes' or 'no' vote on presidential appointees within 90 days, allowing a majority of members to override committee chairs and bring bills to the floor for a vote, and requiring Congress to work three five-day work weeks per month in D.C.
We, the American people, are the collateral damage of this partisan warfare, saddled with debts we can’t afford and an economy that no longer creates enough good jobs with good pay.
The American people have had enough.
No Labels believes that common sense solutions exist for our national challenges. And we believe that our government should be capable of finding them.
While some of their proposals seem a little touchy-feely (e.g., bipartisan seating, to open lines of communication with members from the opposite party), overall there are some intriguing ideas. The only downside I can see is that a dysfunctional legislative body, such as we have now, may be a good thing. Improving the process to make it easier to pass bills just might fall into the category of "be careful what you wish for - you just might get it."
But in any event it's just one more sign of how fed up various factions of We the People are getting with our elected 'leaders.'
Check 'em out. They just might be on to something...
3 comments:
I still think that one way to keep Congress gainfully employed is to require that every piece of legislation have a mandatory expiration date. Examples: No Chile Left Behind - 5 years; Medicade - 5 years; Medicare - 5 years; Social Security - 5 years; etc. Now the obvious purpose of this is to keep Congress so damn busy that they can't do anything but reauthorize things that are actually good (at the time). I know we run a big risk, but think of it, it would keep those people from inventing a lot of new programs that don't do anything for anyone except their big friends in high places, aka Obamacare. I know, dream on McDuff!;-)
Pascvaks - here in Texas we have something called the Sunset Commission. Although not as good as a law-by-law expiration date, which I think is an excellent idea, it's function is to regularly assess the need for state agencies to continue to exist. It's not perfect, but it's a start.
CenTexTim - Youz guys always seems ta be a step or two ahead of the rest of us, must be the heat, or som'thin in the bubbie-q. (Like you said, it's a start, a great start!;-)
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