We need reform in this country. And it needs to start with CONGRESS.

[Horse with no Name]

We are entrusting these elected people in Congress to make laws for US and spend OUR money--yet they really have NO accountability to us.

Now...the problem is that they are all for the most part wealthy. THEY don't have to abide the same laws that create for us BUT mostly, THEIR children do not have to suffer from their bad policies.
Only ours. Their grandparents don't have to worry where the next meal is coming from or if they are going to have healthcare because of THEIR bad policies. Ours do.

Where have we the people gone wrong in this aspect? WHY do we pay them well above the average salary of the working person in this country along with cadillac benefits that NONE of us have anymore?

We surely need reform in this country. It needs to start in Congress. Before they come for our paychecks--they need to deal with theirs first. They ALL need paycuts to the point of what is the average pay scale in the country. They need their insurance benefits cut AND they need to contribute more--just like we have to.

[Donnachaidh]

1. Clean it out

get rid of the corporate whores.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

2. + 1,000,000 n/t

[TheKentuckian]

3. That is the only way. Some people expect that some day will come when then will fix themselves.

Why on earth does anyone think these clowns would pass election reform, run out the lobbyists, set up instant run offs, or anything that reduces their power or the influence of their sponsors?

[bobbolink]

18. Please stop denigrating clowns. That is an honorable profession.

:hi:

[TheKentuckian]

26. Fair enough. Clowns do their jobs and are seldom millionaires.

[bobbolink]

27. Well, sometimes they inadvertently scare llittle kids, but.... ^_^

Its possible they are unionized, too.

And then there are the rodeo clowns who often save the butts of daredevils. :)

But my faves are the Koshare... the Indian clowns, who are also like the jesters of the middle ages and point out what the culture is doing that is wrong.



Somehow I can't imagine the ones you were referring to as doing anything nearly this productive. :)

:hi: :yourock:

[upi402]

10. That says it all

Along with your avatar
:thumbsup:

[arrestblankfein]

14. we have to fix our election systems in order to throw the bastards out!

But we do not have to wait until then.

We can start making Congress work for us by demanding they hold blankfein accountable!

Goldman Sachs Blankfein Lied Under Oath to Congress- What would Republicans Do?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x894739


We need to ignore the corporate media, and start making our own history like they are in Wisconsin, but everywhere.

Remember Folks, FDR did not accomplish all he did UNTIL We the People put the pressure on.

Maybe Obama has a little FDR in him....but he needs to be forced to do the right thing.

[patrice]

4. An easy place to begin would be with paper ballots, marked by hand, and counted in public, on

a national voting holiday/CELEBRATION that begins on a Friday morning and ends the following Tuesday morning.

[truedelphi]

29. Hear! Hear! n/t

[opihimoimoi]

5. The Bagger movement in politics have been counterproductive....vote them OUT

Never ever vote GOP

They will fool you everytime...

[rhett o rick]

6. We know what the problem is. What we dont know is the solution. nm

[RegieRocker]

11. You're using the solution. The reform starts with us.

[rhett o rick]

23. We need organization. We need a name for the movement. We need leaders.

We should be taking advantage of the WI momentum. A Facebook Page and website would be a good start but I dont see anyone stepping forward.

[RegieRocker]

25. I respectfully disagree. The internet is the means, we are the way.

This country needs a unbought hero. Sane and life smart. A giver not a taker. This country needs a monumental change. A new way to toss out all that is bad in politics.

[SDuderstadt]

7. "They ALL need paycuts to the point of what is the average pay scale in the country"

Unless you want to ensure that only wealthy people can afford to serve in Congress, this is a monumentally bad idea.

[Horse with no Name]

8. Isn't that what we have now?? n/t

[SDuderstadt]

9. No n/t

[Bluenorthwest]

13. 2/3 of the Senate are Millionaires. Last year, 100 House

members 'earned' over a million while 'serving' in Congress. And there's this-The median U.S. family has a net worth of about $120,000. For the average member of the U.S. House of Representatives, it's $666,000.

[SDuderstadt]

16. Please provide a source for that...

and you do understand the difference between average and median, right?

[Bluenorthwest]

12. Why is that, exactly? If others work jobs in DC for less

then why does Congress need salaries pushing 175k a year, plus expenses, staff, and golden benefits? Why would 'only the wealthy' turn down a flat 100k? Can't live on that? Everybody else does, and less.
The fact is almost the entire Senate are multi-millionaires, and so is most of the House. Few of them need the money, and anyone who would not wish to 'serve' for a reasonable compensation is probably not worth having. It is not intended to be a way to earn a living. Much less a life long free ride.

[SDuderstadt]

15. "It is not intended to be a way to earn a living"

WTF?

What, specifically, do you think they get in the way of "expenses"? Why wouldn't they have staff? What, specifically, are their "golden benefits"? How many professions do you know that require the occupants to maintain two separate households.

I'm hardly arguing they are underpaid, but they are far from overpaid, given the demands of the job and what they could make in a comparable private sector job.

http://www.thecapitol.net/FAQ/payandperqs.htm

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[inna]

19. we live in a kleptocracy, period.

(and remind me, what usually happens to those?...

Of course, we are in uncharted territories right now, since our particular kleptocracy happens to be THE most powerful and dangerous system that has ever existed, certainly capable of taking down the entire planet with it when it's finally forced to go.)

[Odin2005]

20. It needs to start on the street.

The elites will do nothing unless they are afraid of revolt.

[white_wolf]

21. I think this would be a great idea.

I don't expect it to happen though, Congress makes the rules and they aren't going to cut their own pay, they serve only themselves and their corporate masters, not the people.

[deaniac21]

22. That bill will never be written, much less get out of comittee if it

was.

[opihimoimoi]

24. Easy...never vote for the GOPers...esp the Baggers who have been snookered by dick armney. koch bros

[bdamomma]

28. Agreed Congress is our biggest culprit

we need to clean it up and get dead wood out.