Here's an idea!
When a company falls on difficult times, one of the things that seems
to happen is they reduce their staff and workers. The remaining
workers must find ways to continue to do a good job or risk that
their job would be eliminated as well.
Wall street, and the media normally congratulate the CEO for making
this type of "tough decision", and his board of directors gives him a
big bonus.
Our government should not be immune from similar risks.
Therefore:
Reduce the House of Representatives from the current 435 members to
218 members. Reduce Senate members from 100 to 50 (one per State).
Then, reduce their staff by 25%.
Accomplish this over the next 8 years (two steps/two elections) and
of course this would require some redistricting. Some Yearly Monetary
Gains Include:
$44,108,400 for elimination of base pay for congress. (267 members X
$165,200 pay/member/ yr.)
$97,175,000 for elimination of their staff. (estimate $1.3 Million in
staff per each member of the House, and $3 Million in staff per each
member of the Senate every year)
$240,294 for the reduction in remaining staff by 25%.
$7,500,000,000 reduction in pork barrel ear-marks each year. (those
members whose jobs are gone. Current estimates for total government
pork earmarks are at $15 Billion/yr)
The remaining representatives would need to work smarter and improve
efficiencies. It might even be in their best interests to work
together for the good of our country!
We may also expect that smaller committees might lead to a more
efficient resolution of issues as well. It might even be easier to
keep track of what your representative is doing.
Congress has more tools available to do their jobs than it had back
in 1911 when the current number of representatives was established.
(telephone, computers, cell phones to name a few)
Note:
Congress did not hesitate to head home when it was a holiday, when
the nation needed a real fix to the economic problems. Also, we have
3 senators that have not been doing their jobs for the past 18+
months (on the campaign trail) and still they all have been accepting
full pay. These facts alone support a reduction in senators &
congress.
Summary of opportunity:
$ 44,108,400 reduction of congress members.
$282,100, 000 for elimination of the reduced house member staff.
$150,000,000 for elimination of reduced senate member staff.
$59,675,000 for 25% reduction of staff for remaining house members.
$37,500,000 for 25% reduction of staff for remaining senate members.
$7,500,000,000 reduction in pork added to bills by the reduction of
congress members.
$8,073,383,400 per year, estimated total savings. (that's 8-BILLION
just to start!)
Big business does these types of cuts all the time.
If Congresspersons were required to serve 20, 25 or 30 years (like
everyone else) in order to collect retirement benefits, tax payers
could save a bundle. Now they get full retirement after serving only
ONE term.
IF you are happy with how Congress spends our taxes, delete this
message.
Otherwise, send it on.
