This is what I'd like to see happen with both the Congress and the Senate:
On average, the Senate is in session for 140 days a year, often times members don't show up and either don't vote or cast absentee votes.
On average, Congress is in session 130 days a year, often times members don't show up and either don't vote or cast absentee votes.
So, why are we paying these people again? Much less buying multimillion dollar jets to fly them around for personal reasons? They could all work part to full-time jobs in addition to being in the Senate or Congress and we could save a boat load of cash each year by cutting their pay to reflect the amount of days they ACTUALLY work. If they don't show up, they don't get paid for that day plain and simple.
Or, we could make them work like it is a real job, and require them to show up or they get fired. Give them 2-3 weeks vacation every year, remove their expense accounts, their free jet rides, and their freedom from arrest. Then we'll see who really wants to be in government. My guess is the people who truly care about this country would stick around and work for a change, and the others, well good riddance.
Some people will claim that in the off-time senators and congressmen (and women) are going around promoting policy change and making appearances at functions, and blah blah blah . . . that's NOT what we pay them to do. If we need to hire some people to go around and represent the government, so be it, but the reason we have the Senate and Congress are to establish policy for the good of the people. The reason we have so many reps is because one person's idea of 'good for the people' may not be the same as another, thus we need the conflicting viewpoints to establish an overall picture of what exactly for 'the good of the people' means.
One of the main problems I have with government representatives is that they are all rich people, and quite frankly rich people tend to lose touch with reality. They will claim to be on the side of the common man, but they have no idea what its like to be the common man.
Alright, my rant is over for now, thanks for letting me vent a little.
Drew