REVOLUTION IN THE HOUSE

 

Establishment Republicans, Democrats and the Media all agree that chaos and disaster is now inevitable in the House of Representatives.

 

While it may appear to be very untidy, democracy is like that. They will settle on a leader and by next year all will be forgotten.

 

Reform in the House and Senate is long overdue.

 

First off, The SPEAKER  of the house was never meant to be the dictator of the House. The constitution did not provide for a seniority system. Why should house members with the most seniority be in line for all the top jobs.  Who ever decided that the house member who has been reelected the most has the most power. We have 435 Representatives each representing around 700,000 people.  The party with the majority gets to choose the speaker. But all members are equal.

 

All positions should be voted on by the full membership of their party by secret ballot.

 

The speaker has had the power to punish members who don't cooperate with him , by taking away committee positions  and leadership positions, This is not right. They are to represent their people back home, not the speaker or the party, establishment and well connected people only have to control the speaker to control congress.

 

Representatives are to represent their people in their district, not represent Washington to the people.

 

Same goes in the senate, Control the Senate leader and you can control the outcome of all legislation.

 

Of course the Speaker and Leader must have some power, but his job should be to represent the will of his Representatives or Senators , by persuasion not intimidation.

 

One other thing, any attempt to trade  votes for favors back home or, I'll vote for this if you vote for my pet project, should be illegal.   This should be a Felony, punishable by expulsion and maybe more. This is corruption plain and simple. This is more enforceable than ever before with everyone capable of recording these activities.

The Affordable Care Act was passed with Blatant Bribery and Extortion, they are so used to this corruption that they didn't even try to conceal it.

 

Let the representatives vote on what items they want to put on the agenda , debate and offer amendments,  vote on the outcome and if it passes send it to the senate,

 

Same in the Senate, then send it to the president, even if they know it will be vetoed, then attempt  a override, if not successful. Move on.

Voting should not be allowed unless the bill is complete and available for viewing of the public for 30 days.

All members should have to swear under oath that they have read the bill in its entirety before voting can commence.

Voting should be a 5 minute electronic vote, with 2 minute public view to ensure a correct vote.

They should do away with omnibus and comprehensive bills, intentionally designed to push through the bad with the good. Everything should be individual votes on individual items.

They have made some progress when they did away with earmarks, but there is much more to be done to regain the trust and confidence of the people.