Part Time Work...Full Benefits!

Many are looking for a job that offers benefits. Most part-time positions do not provide any kind of insurance or retirement, though, which may explain why part-time work is about all that’s available. But, like most other rules, there appears to be one exception and it’s a doozy: Congressional representative.

The Republican leadership in the House recently approved the 2012 schedule. It totals 109 days and, should you think I’m playing partisan politics, the Democratic leadership scheduled only 104 in 2008. Now, if this accurately represents the amount of work required of our representatives, why, then, do we provide them with such a high level of pay and benefits?

Oops! We don’t give it to them, do we? No, they give it to themselves. Could this be why the electorate seems so displeased with Washington? A safe bet, to be sure, and that’s why I’m asking you to peruse the following legislative proposition:


The Congressional Reform Act of 2011:


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

Some may have seen this proposal as a forwarded email. I did, and I forwarded it to twenty people as requested. Nope, I don’t like forwards much, but this one seemed more than deserving. The problem lies in finding enough votes in Congress to support something that would severely limit the luxuries currently enjoyed.

It turns out that there is a way of bypassing Congress altogether: a Constitutional Convention. Should two-thirds of the state legislatures call for such a Convention, and three-fourths of the states subsequently pass the proposal, it then becomes law. And maybe this would change the way Washington has done business for most of our adult lives.

I’ve never asked my readers to pass my columns along to others, but this idea needs to be circulated to create the impetus needed for it to reach maturity. Feel free to cut it and paste should you wish to keep me out of the conversation. Regardless, I think it is in our own best interests to pass this idea along. So tell a friend (or two).