2009/03/07

Fixing Congress

My friend Al says:
I don't have a blog for my various strange ideas, but you can post this if you like it.

Congress is out of touch. They are insulated from voters by the rich few who finance the campaigns. Here's a few ideas to get them back in touch.

* Take congress off the their health care package. Give them health care through Medicare (or make them buy their own on the open market). They don't get any more medical coverage after they lose their job (OK, they could qualify for COBRA).

* Take away the retirement program for congress and put them on social security. Right now, they don't pay into social security and they have their own retirement package.

* Put them on a pay for performance package. Their pay should be linked to the economic performance of the country. When the country runs a deficit, their pay gets cut. You could link it to GNP or some other indexes. They can then make choices knowing that the result will hit their wallet.

Three simple things that could really change the way congress works.

1 comment:

Big Al said...

I have to correct something. Congress started paying into social security in 1983, but only a small percentage. They only pay 6.3% (you pay 14%, or 28% if self employed). They pay into their own pension fund that includes a COLA increase that generally exceeds their salary after a few years.