Bring them home!!!????

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Dona Brown on February 10, 2010 at 5:27pm

Absolutely agree. But don't know that this would ever get "passed."

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Permalink Reply by Randi Brooks on February 10, 2010 at 5:36pm

If "We The People" raise enough heck we can get ANYTHING done!!!

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Permalink Reply by Linda W on February 10, 2010 at 9:17pm

Let 'em work from their home state via "Go to Meeting", the computer and telephone! No hoopla, no payola, no power - fewer opportunities to enslave constituents and spend our money!

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Permalink Reply by Sherry Phillips on February 10, 2010 at 9:19pm

I like this idea, Randi! There is something about DC that changes people. I think they start believing they are better than everyone else (especially those they represent). There is so much power in DC! I think for many who go there the power is intoxicating to the point of drunkeness. If they were home and constantly around the people they are sworn to represent, they may be better representatives of those people.

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Permalink Reply by Stan Capson on February 11, 2010 at 3:50am

I like the idea of having our national representatives closer to the people they represent. Being so far away can have a detaching effect on them. I do think that the ability to meet with other congressmen can be good as well. They could have times during the year where they get together to do votes or debates. I do think they get paid too much and spend too much time on things they should leave to the States to decide.

I really do believe the federal government has drifted away from their major responsibilities. For example: National Security, Military, Intelligence, (These three would fall under defending us from foreign and domestic threats), fiscal responsibility, protecting our constitutional rights, ensuring the rights of the states, and keeping the union together. The founding fathers meant for these to be the purpose of the federal government. The individual states can sufficiently take care of the rest of the legislation that the people want to take care of. Having our Federal representatives closer to us would help bring legislation back to a state level. Having all the legislation in Washington D.C. makes it feel far away. This would also leave the Federal Government with less money to irresponsibly spend since there would be less programs to fund. And this = less deficit. :)

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Permalink Reply by Enoch Wisner on February 11, 2010 at 6:31am

I like the goal, but I'm not sure of the means you suggest to meet it. Certainly, technology makes it possible for our elected officials to do a great deal of work from remote and decentralized locations. When it came to votes, however, there's something about being required to stand in the company of one's colleagues, in front of C-Span cameras for the nation to see, and speak one's yeas or nays.

Personally, I'd like to see the institution of a "voting law" - not one controlling the rights of citizens to vote, but forcing transparency of our delegates' votes. Such a law would require a public record of all parties given any manner of access to the delegate, his staff or (re)election campaign office if that party represents a group or interest of a given number of people, a given gross worth or having any business before the Senate involving the allocation or reallocation of any public funds at all. The public record of any such access would include the minutes of any discussion with the delegate, the delegate's staff or (re)election campaign office and complete reproductions of any correspondence of any kind with that delegate, delegate's staff or campaign office, and full disclosure of any moneys given or pledged to the delegate, his family, business interests, charities or campaign. Failure in any term of such a law would result in the delegate's immediate forfeiture of his office to an alternate, chosen by the rules, laws and constitution of his home state, which alternate must not belong to the forfeiting delegate's Party. The Constitution gives Congress the duty to police its own, but Congress can name a citizens' committee to investigate allegations of violations of this law, in Congress's name, without giving the people that power in violation of the Constitution. Given the forfeiture of a violating delegate's office to a delegate of another Party, the entire Party's caucus would have an interest in making sure that none of its members did violate this law.

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