The Solution To Congress

... aka The Buffett Rule

sent to me by my dear friend Liz Bailey -

"Salary of retired US Presidents . . . . . . . . . . . $180,000 FOR LIFE

Salary of House/Senate members . . . . . . . . $174,000 FOR LIFE

Salary of Speaker of the House . . . . . . . . . . $223,500 FOR LIFE

Salary of Majority/Minority Leaders . . . . . . . . $193,400 FOR LIFE

Average Salary of a teacher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $40,065

Average Salary of a deployed Soldier . . . . . . . $38,000 ( I think we found where the cuts should be made! ).

Warren Buffet, 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.

[RL adds:  I heard another good quote the other day, from Nobel Prize-winning economist Joe Stiglitz: "The whole shutdown is nonsense.  Congress passes laws saying how much money should be spent; Congress passes laws saying how much revenue (i.e. taxes) should be raised. The difference between the two, is the deficit." 

In other words, Congress made the deficit.  My solution to the deficit is simple: Tax the rich and corporations. No problem. Why would the people not vote for that in millions, if politicians had the balls to offer it to them? Remember - `From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs'.]

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 email 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 2013

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 12/1/13. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen/women. 

Congress 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?

THIS IS HOW YOU FIX CONGRESS!

If you agree, pass it on. If not, delete.

You are one of my 20+ - Please keep it going, and thanks"

The Fight for your Social Security......

.... continues to gather momentum.

Here's the petition that Congressman Alan Grayson and other Reps are sending around.  It's simple and to the point - blunt even, which is appropriate.

Petition: "We Are Against Any and Every Cut to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits. Not today, not tomorrow, and not ever. No way, no how. Not on your life, and certainly not on mine. N-E-V-E-R. Sincerely, The American People"

As of 10.16 pm Friday, 2,368,239 citizens have signed the petition.  By tomorrow it may well be 3 million!

Grayson says "35 members of Congress have pledged to vote against legislation that cuts Social Security, Medicaid or Medicare benefits."

As always, he summarises the situation succinctly:  "Every few years, Wall Street Republicans come up with some new scheme to gut these programs. These attempts have always failed, because the voters shout out "NO," in big capital letters. So this time, the bad guys are changing their strategy - they are going to float out vague concepts like "entitlement reform" in the media, and then at the very last minute present an up-or-down vote on vicious cuts, while screaming that the end of the world is nigh. That way, Republicans can pretend that we simply have no choice but to cut these popular programs, without ever having to confess publicly that they are in favor of these cuts.

We, The People are going to have to work hard to prevent this. And we can't afford to wait until the last minute, so we're going to short-circuit this malevolent process now. The way to do that is to get politicians on record right now against cuts. But I can't do it alone; I need you to help me. What I need you to do is simple. E-mail your member of Congress asking whether he or she supports a cut in the cost-of-living increase for Social Security and veterans benefits. Then send me the response, so I can make it public. Over time, we'll compile a list of members of Congress and where they stand on these programs. Then, when the crisis moment of "you must vote for this or the world ends" comes, we'll be ready. We can then say, "You already promised your constituents you'd vote NO."

We've set up a website that allows you to ask your Member of Congress where they stand on cutting cost-of-living benefits.
So let's get your Member of Congress on the record. Click here:
http://www.CitizenWhip.com
In a week or so, we'll circle back with you and ask you to share with us the information you received from your Member of Congress. If he or she hasn't sent you anything, we want to know that as well.

Social Security is a promise, an obligation from all of us to all of us. Let's make sure that your Member of Congress sees it that way."

GMO's: Congress "Operates with the Same Awareness as a Flatulent Grandpa"

Jon Stewart's "Daily Show" nails it again!  Did you know that the slimy criminals who infest our halls of Government are allowed to amend our laws without even having to attach their names to their crimes?

"Wait!  They can do what?!?"

Watch the Clip below...

But first, while I'm on the subject of our useless leaders:  that habit that Obama-the-haha!-Socialist and the senile Harry Reid have, of not advancing any courageous measure whatsoever, on the excuse that they don't have enough votes to win (remember the Public Option on Healthcare?) - that habit that we all just assumed was the usual Dimmocratic habitual cowardice?  Well, that habit also has the consequence of never making them stand up and be on record for what they vote for or against.  Not to labor the point, but suppose you're a cowardly Dimm whose constituents are clamoring for Gun Control, but you're quietly stuffing your face at the NRA trough? Thanks to Obama's chickenshittery, you never have to say publicly what you stand for.

[Google apparently only allows us to link to YouTube videos, other sources are SOL.]

Watch on, Brothers and Sisters at this link....  http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-april-3-2013/you-stuck-what-where-now-