Congress and the Public - Kudos to Sarah Palin

In my last post entitled "Discussions With My Readership" I quoted Judge Edwin S. Bernstein Esq. of Boynton Beach Florida as pointing out that: “our basic problem is the influence that money has on elected officials.” A truer word could not be said, but it is not the fault of the Congress. It is the system that keeps every Congressman or Senator, beholden to those who finance their campaigns and in fear of those who will bankroll their opponents. We have seen this recently in the Republican primaries, where a number of “Independent Groups” who for whatever their reasons want the nomination to go to Mitt Romney unloaded on the surging Newt Gingrich and had his poll numbers down in a matter of days. $4,470,935 had been spent by these groups and other non-profits to oppose him (Gingrich) as of the end of last week. But just when all seemed lost for Gingrich, casino king and America’s eighth-richest person Sheldon Adelson has given $5 million to Winning Our Future, a political action committee that supports Gingrich’s campaign, according to The Washington Post. And the money comes just in time for the former Speaker of the House, who just placed fourth in the Iowa caucus. Gingrich’s Super PAC will reportedly use the money to run advertisements that directly attack Romney for destroying jobs and profiting from failed companies while at the head of private equity giant Bain Capital. See here.

This is in the Presidential race, but Congress is just as much if not more beholden to the deep pockets. Recent estimates reveal that many members spend anywhere from 25 percent up to 50 percent (and sometimes more) of their time fundraising. 

Whether that is the reason, or at least one of the reasons, that Congress is held in such low esteem is hard to tell from the polls. What we do know is that the public holds Congress in what can only be described as contempt. According to Gallup’s latest poll, 11% approve of the job Congress is doing and 86% disapprove. 

The reasons for this are many. But the gridlock, the gamesmanship, and the brinksmanship are certainly a major reason. Many, too many in my opinion, react with throw all the bums out, which strikes me as simplistic and downright foolhardy. The only way to reform a corrupt system is to spend the time to know what each and every member of Congress stands for and to be selective.

What we do know is that Republicans are not entirely unhappy with this result. They are anti-government, (being anti government used to be the purview of anarchists who were feared and hated, so much so that the Zacco and Venzetti case is a landmark of the hysteria surrounding that movement) and so a bad opinion of government serves their end. If gridlock, by filibustering, brings about a bad opinion of government, that serves their end. If governing badly creates hostility to government that serves their end, but of course, not if it costs them votes.

So let us examine more of the reasons for the contempt Congress is held in. Part of it is the result of a concerted campaign of lies intended to besmirch Congress. Thus I recently received an e-mail, (one of many in the same vain that I have received over the years.) I went through it – and found that almost every word was a lie and yet a good friend had forwarded it to me with approval. The public’s naiveté never ends.

I urge my readers to first read the e-mail in full without any comment from me. You can find it here. 

Now let me address the lies. The portions from the e-mail to which I have reference appear in italics. My comments thereon appear in bold letters.

How Can We Make This Happen?

Warren Buffett, 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. 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.

Most of the above was not said by Warren Buffett. He did say: “I could end the deficit in 5 minutes. 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" but it was said in jest. See here. What Buffet did say in all seriousness and it is very sound is, "the debt ceiling should be done away with, arguing it is nothing more than an “artificial limit” that ends up wasting time in Congress. See here.

As for eliminating the deficit, that is not so easily done. It was done under the Clinton Administration, but eight years of the Bush Administration’s tax cutting and unnecessary spending, ending in the greatest recession since the Depression of the ‘30s makes it a very difficult task. Ending the Bush Tax cuts would make a large dent, but would not do the job alone. Cutting alone would require doing away with Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the SEC, the Fed, the FDA and all the programs of Teddy Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson. As I have said before and will again, adjustments to Social Security and Medicare are absolutely necessary, but the draconian approach of doing away with these programs, as is proposed in the Ryan budget is neither necessary nor desirable. And As I have also said before the Ryan budget actually increases the deficit by $6 trillion. See here.

Now allow me to take the rest of lies one by one.

Congressional Reform Act of 2011    
    

 1. No Tenure / No Pension. A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives pay when they're out of office.

                                               

This is the law now.

2.  Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security.

                         

This is the law now.                                               

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.

                                               

The congressional Retirement system is no different than that given by most corporations to their employees and is the same as that given to all federal employees. Members of Congress receive retirement and health benefits under the same plans available to other federal employees. They become vested after five years of full participation. Members elected since 1984 are covered by the Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS). Those elected prior to 1984 were covered by the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). In 1984 all members were given the option of remaining with CSRS or switching to FERS. 

As it is for all other federal employees, congressional retirement is funded through taxes and the participants' contributions. Members of Congress under FERS contribute 1.3 percent of their salary into the FERS retirement plan and pay 6.2 percent of their salary in Social Security taxes. Members of Congress are not eligible for a pension until they reach the age of 50, but only if they've completed 20 years of service. Members are eligible at any age after completing 25 years of service or after they reach the age of 62. Please also note that Members of Congress have to serve at least 5 years to even receive a pension.

The amount of a congressperson's pension depends on the years of service and the average of the highest 3 years of his or her salary. By law, the starting amount of a Member's retirement annuity may not exceed 80% of his or her final salary. See here.

The Social Security Trust Fund is intact. It is invested in U.S. Treasury Securities, from where it collects interest and the Securities are the safest in the world.

3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.

That too is the current system.

4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

This too is the current law or something close to it. Congressional cost-of-living adjustments are calculated using a formula based on changes in private-sector wages and salaries as measured by the Employment Cost Index. However, Congress can refuse such raises. A bill nixing Congress' automatic 2011 pay raise was signed into law by President Barack Obama. The move marks the second consecutive year lawmakers have opted not to receive their automatic cost-of-living increase. The law governing congressional pay raises requires members to vote against getting a raise. Otherwise, the increase takes effect automatically. But keeping pay for members low is not desirable. Rich members don't need their salary at all, while it discourages people who are not rich from serving in the Congress.

5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

Members of Congress are covered by private insurance under the same system that covers all federal workers. Members of Congress have good health insurance by any standard, but it’s not free and not reserved only for them – and it’s not government insurance. House and Senate members are allowed to purchase private health insurance offered through the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, which covers more than 8 million other federal employees, retirees, and their families. 

6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

That is the law at present. Members of Congress are not exempt from any laws that apply to others. 

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.

There are no contracts with members, or past members of Congress. If there were any, their voidance by legislative fiat, like all contracts by anyone, would violate the due process clause of the Constitution.

Now there other valid reasons to be critical of Congress and I urge readers to demand of their representatives in both the House and the Senate to take action as recommended by Sarah Palin. Yes, I said Sarah Palin. Kudos to Sarah Palin for her totally valid demand for reform of the Congress, which was exposed by the TV program 60 Minutes. You can watch the relevant portion of that program here. 

And then read the article by Sarah Palin here.

Write to your members of Congress and ask them to act on Palin’s recommendation, which I think to our media’s discredit has not gotten the publicity, which it deserves. The media is only interested in politics as a sporting event.