Congress wants earmarks, bribery by another name.

CONGRESS NEEDS TO MAKE CHANGES, EARMARKS IS NOT ONE OF THEM

TRADING OR BUYING VOTES SHOULD BE A FELONY

Congress in their infinite wisdom is claiming that the answer to a more bipartisan congress is to renew the practice of earmarks. This is were the powers that be can induce someone to vote for their bill by offering money or approval of projects in the congressman or senators state. Sometimes it is a trade, you vote for my bill and I will vote for your bill. It is just a form of bribery, plain and simple. It should be illegal, a felony and prosecuted in full. It is not in the best interests of the country.

Now how about some real reforms, why do elected officials operate under a system of seniority, why should one senator or congressman have more power than my senator or congressman. Just because his state keeps reelecting him because he brings home the bacon. It is never mentioned in the constitution that one elected official has more power than any other. House speaker and Senate leaders should be elected by secret ballot. Nominees for these positions and committee chairs should also be put up by secret ballot. This is real democracy. We keep hearing about preserving democracy, but they hypocritically don't want any such thing.

Seniority is an evil and should be unconstitutional. Representatives and senators are under great pressure to support these people and if they don't they will be punished in some way.  Do the citizens of this country believe the seniority system is in the best interest of the country?  Is this how democracy works? Would the Senate and House members vote for this, if given the opportunity? It would be a lot harder for special interests to influence legislation.  This one reform would change a lot about our government. 

Another possible reform is providing representatives an office in their district and this is where they would work. They are to be representatives of their districts to Washington, not representatives of Washington in their district. Congress would convene for 2 30 day sessions a year, mostly just for final voting on legislation. They would be provided housing during their session. All work on legislation would be done at home on zoom or other electronic means. What legislation to be addressed at the next session would be voted on at the end of a session. No voting on legislation in the same session as introduced. This would give representatives time to listen closely to their citizens. This would allow for more bi-partisanship and a more responsive legislature to their voters. It would make representatives more exposed to their district, instead of constantly exposed to the lobbying and elitist mentality of Washington.

Back to earmarks, why not give every representative $1 million annually to be spent on worthy projects in their district. This is only $50 million, a pittance in today's federal budget. Then the taxpayers could look at their representatives priorities. All this money would be the same for all representatives and it would not require a bribe to get it. 

Earmarks will not increase bipartisanship in the government, but it will be legalizing corruption. Eliminating the corrupt seniority system will go a long way in enhancing democracy and also would likely encourage bipartisanship.