What to Do About Representatives That Aren’t Representing You

For at least the last 100 years, probably more, the representatives of each state, both Senators and Representatives alike, have been separating themselves from the reliance of the State and their constituency. If you are thinking that you are not properly being represented in Washington or your own State Capitol, odds are, that you are correct. In politics like elsewhere, the Golden Rule applies. He who has the gold, makes the rules.
The essence of political life is re-election. To extend their stay in Political Life, the politician must have campaign funds. The largest contributors have the ears of the Politician. The Politician is obliged to keep the coffers full. He/she become obligated to those contributors. They will use fund raising events, Pac’s, Internet Donations, fund raising consultants, party donations and well known party people to help them stump for not only the votes but also for the contribution. Now don’t blame the politician, this is the reality in current times. It takes truckloads of money to run a campaign for the state government. It takes boatloads of money to become a US Representative or Senator. Obama is said to have spent over 650 million dollars to run his election. This is how Lobbyists, Special Interest Groups, and Political Non Profits become so important. These people direct money to favorable candidates.
Once the politician gets elected, there are numerous benefits available to them paid for by the citizenry. Along with a sizeable salary, they receive money for office expenses, travel expenses, free mail, fact finding missions, healthcare, special consideration for the schooling of their children, etc. They also get to vote for their own pay raises.
If you don’t understand why they can’t hear you by now; think of it this way. We elect professional beggars to live a life of ultimate welfare. There are numerous campaign reform laws, all written by people who depend on campaign funding. I have some suggestions.
First and most important, become actively involved in the political process. Garner information on your Senators and Representatives, both in the State and the Federal levels. There is much information out there in the public domain. Collect it and connect the dots. Get a list of the contributors, Collect what bills they sponsor, how they voted on each bill, check on the government contracts and who are they awarded to. Did one of the major contributors get the contracts? Are there any no bid contracts awarded to one of the contributors? What lobbyists courted their vote? What special interest groups are trying to influence their vote? If you can get access to his staff and befriend them, it may take a while, but you can find out if they bend the laws to suit their own agenda. When you have information to share, start an e-letter or a blog. Put an ad out there for information for a book about the politician’s significance to the state or country. You will get glowing references and some not so glowing remarks. Remember to check the facts and have duplicate verifications, before you publish.
At the state level, you can work for a recall vote for your elected officials. This is your right. It might not be a law in your state, but it is the right of the citizenry to recall an official who they feel has abused public trust. No Lawmaker really wants a recall law. It will take enough petitioners to get it on the ballot. Make sure that the petition is inclusive of all elected Officials, State and Federal and Municipal to reclaim your right.
The Federal Level will be harder to get back. Here’s why. The state doesn’t pay those guys in Washington. All of the population does. Here are some suggestions, however. First, change the Campaign Finance Laws. This could be simply done, but it will be a fight. Let’s look at what they need money for. They will claim getting their message out. OK, I‘ll buy that. Let the FCC get involved. The FCC is in place to regulate the airwaves. The Airwaves or radio, and television signals are controlled by the FCC but are owned by the American People. It could be this simple. Each candidate gets one minute per hour, no more, no less. It would be free. The time allotted would be a 100% write off of the stations taxes.
The same could be done with the printed ads. No more than 4 or 6 Column inches in each publication per edition. They can’t buy any more, period.
Now what about the internet? We will get to that in a moment.
On the Federal level, there needs to be a complete revamp of compensation and campaign donations. First, limit the universe of contributors. Let’s look at how this can be done.
1. Eliminate Federal Matching funds.
2. Limit contributions to voters that will be in his constituency.
3. In cases of business, one corporation equals one legal entity or one vote.
4. No Foreign Contributions, including Native American Tribal Contributions (Something that John McCain kept in McCain-Feingold).
5. Only one Campaign donation collection fund. Not the multiple ones they have now. And it will be audited monthly for the contributors.
6. Corporate donations are allowed, however that corporation cannot be involved or awarded any Government contracts
7. If an industrial, labor, lobbying firm or other nonprofit group wishes to contribute to a candidate, they may, but that candidate can’t vote or debate any legislation that would affect the contributory group to avoid conflict of interest.
8. Before the candidate becomes a candidate, they must take a constitutional test to demonstrate their knowledge of the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Now for compensation. We have to recover the idea that our representatives work for the people of the State that elected them. These are my suggestions.
1. End the Federal Retirement Program. Close it out. Whatever funds are in there give out to those members who put it there according to their contributions. Remove the ability to keep full pay for the rest of their lives for serving one term.
2. States would pay their reps directly. The States would decide when they would get a raise.
3. Let the states decide which trips the US reps should take and the perks they receive.
4. Appoint a separate Ethics Board at the State level for oversight. It would have to include former elected officials, at least one police officer Lieutenant or greater and regular citizens. This board would have the ability to Judge the Ethics violation and to recommend appropriate response including coordinating with States Attorneys for any criminal activity.
This would only be a beginning. All bills would have to be published both on line and in print in their legislative language for the public to voice the concerns of the constituency for a period of at least 30 days before either house could have a Final vote.
In the final analysis Our Representatives and Senators must learn that the position is not just to make law, but to resist encroaching Government from affecting the Constituency. Stay Vigilant.