Vigilance must be constant

During WWII 200 federal Congressman voted themselves an exception to the war rationing all of us had to participate in. Once discovered, this federal law was rescinded. Come one, come all, so to speak.

Now I hear my military retirement benefits may be retroactively changed to reflect the terrible economic situation in the USA today. I can even live with that these days, as long as I think the decision makers are applying these rules to themselves, too. Hence the vigilance.

Two more thoughts. My military retirement benefits were an incentive to stay in when I though seriously about getting out. I won't bore you with the details. Now I can imagine some years in the future when we can't retain enough Americans for the military to defend us. A line I borrow is that while we may recruit an American, we retain his family. Sounds like a future problem for future politicians to vote on in a conventional way of thinking. But how about a Plan B, like think ahead, consider our priorities, our ability to pay, and vote for people who will represent this?

Last, here is a Plan C that appealed to me, warts and all.

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 and 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 took one year or less to become the law of the land, all because of public pressure.

This is one idea that really should be passed around.

Congressional Reform Act of 2011
1. No Tenure / No Pension. A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives noPay when they're out of office.
2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security. 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.
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 its 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. Congress made these contracts for itself.
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.

Vigilance must be constant, and come one, come all.