Congress - Lowest Approval Rating In History . . .. . . . .. . Do You Have A Solution ?

Question

Here's one that I thought of . Tell me what you think .
How about we begin posting (on this site and others) exactly what 'Work' Congress did for the day , a synopsis , each and every day . Then if they were wasting time , we could call , write and email our congressmen and demand they do their jobs . A daily log available to all to access .

My suggestion may or may not be the greatest but it may be worth a try . And at least I tried coming up with a solution rather than just complaining .

What Do You Think ?

Answer 1

have a limited term, just like the pres. that way they quit trying to get elected during their terms and succumbing to lobbyist.

Answer 2

I applaud the fact that you are engaged and would like to do something to cure the ills of a grid locked government but, I still think you're spinning your wheels.

'Deciding' if they were wasting time would be subjective.

I have two other solutions. Re-instate the draft. Every college student should be drafted into government service of some kind for at least three years. Military, Local municipalities, Congress, Senate, and every single major government agency to include.....State department, DOT, Treasury, Agriculture, Health and Human services, World Bank, CIA, FBI, Pentagon, Parks, EPA etc. If the candidate chooses to remain with the agency and is qualified, the government should pay that person's tuition, in full.
This will accomplish many things, not the least of which would be that we'll have educated people with demonstrated skills in the right positions.

My other simpler approach to sending a message to our legislators is on election day.

Register to vote. Go to the polling place. Sign in. Go into the booth. Register that you were there and vote for no one.

If 10% of voters showed up to vote for no candidate, that is what would lead the headlines the next day not who won.

There would be no 'speculation' over why people didn't show up to vote and perhaps it was because they were not satisfied with the choices. This way it would be a documented fact and the parties will be forced to change the way they do business.

Answer 3

Yes, I agree that the ratings are so low on the congress because there are still (almost half) are Republican. That will change in the next election, so don't fret about it. Whatever the 1or 2 democratic majority vote for now, Bush will veto anyway, so the next time after we Have a Democratic President and a larger Democratic majority in congress things will begin to get done. Until then, we can only hope for the best.

As for the inter-net synopsis, they would be flooded by emails, phone calls and letters> this would mean hiring more people to read them, and the Republicans would never allow that because it would employ people and cost money. Both are cardinal sins of the Republican party.

Answer 4

Sweep them out ALL of them.
If they can't work together for the good of the people time to send them packing.

When voters wake up and think more about this country than the pork their senator or reprsentative can bring to them is the time Congress will be a bit more in tune with the people.

One thing should be on the ballot are their pay raises.

They work for us. Our government is the only group I am aware of where the employee can vote on their own pay raises or just suggest a pay raise and still get it and not vote on it.

We are being taken to the cleaners under the mask of liberal vs conservative.

If anyone think it just one party or just one poltical view I am more than willing to provide examples.

Answer 5

I think we need to also try to elect some people from third parties. both the dems and gop have been disappointing people for years.

I think their votes should be publicly posted and they should have the option (not requirement) to explain why they voted that way.
then we could see how they are doing and why they are/aren't doing what the people want.

for instance: many bills get thrown out just because of the rhetoric used. people interpret them differently and don't vote. or they fear questionable language being put into the law.
they support the idea of the bill, but vote against it due to the wording.

Answer 6

I think that's a great idea! With as much as those guys get paid they sure seem to always be on holiday! I would love to see a play by play of their day. Since we're paying their salary I think that's the least they could do, actually prove that they're working. That's power to the people if I've ever heard it.

Answer 7

Congress' job is to enact laws, and since we have a few million too many laws, I'd like to see them do nothing but vote "yay" or "nay" on budgets and such.

Also, as far as putting Congress under a microscope to watch their every move, keep in mind that historically Congress could work backroom deals and "wheel and deal" like they should. Too much scrutiny dampens this.

I don't want a bunch of boy scouts and errand boys in Congress, I want real leaders who have the leeway to do their jobs.

Answer 8

by way of fact human beings purely desire to show palms... even nonetheless the sitting congress did not create the mess we are in. that's kinda like showing up late to a celebration and being blamed for the mess. anybody needs to bellyache with regard to the stimulus kit Obama prepare, yet those comparable acceptable wing commies do not desire to speak with regard to the seven hundred billion Bush threw away with extremely NO theory the place IT WENT. Oh, yet that OBAMA os uncontrolled. We does not be hurting lots in we had in basic terms left Iraq by myself.

Answer 9

The biggest thing they must do to start a turn around is to stop all earmarks and quit lying as Rob Emanuel is doing about that this was not part of the agenda by the incoming Democratic party.

Answer 10

I think people are too partisan to determine the definition of "work being done". The far-right Republicans will concentrate on looking for flaws in the Democrats, and vice versa. It will be hard to come up with an honest synopsis.

I think we need to hit them where it hurts most- in the wallet- in order to make any significant difference.

Answer 11

Oooh! A time study. Love it.! Then we 'pay them' for the actual amount of time spent working! Even at $500/hour your average member of congress would only actually earn about $250/week. Awesome~