We must address the way that congress behaves and we need to be able to hold them accountable to their positions as they were so elected. Most of the people who are sitting in office hardly listen to their constituency (and by that I am referring to the majority of those within their district, not their supporter base) and half the time, they refuse to perform their duties as congress people.

If you agree with at least 50% of what you are reading in this petition please sign it and pass a link to it on to everyone you can. If we gather enough sway in the country, we will be able to force this into law and rein congress in and get them back to work.

Congressional Reform Act of 2012

(as allegedly suggested by Warren Buffet)

No Tenure or Pension

A Congress-person collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they're out of office.

Congress-persons (past, present & future) are required to participate in Social Security as with any other American citizen.

All funds currently in the Congressional retirement fund will be moved to the Social Security system immediately.

All future funds are to be diverted into the Social Security system, and Congress will participate with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.

Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do and as above, will not be provided one.

Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care market as the American people.

Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose upon the American people. (Congress must obtain a police escort when rushing to a congressional meeting)*

All contracts with past and present Congress-persons are void effective 12/1/12. The American people did not make these contracts with those holding office. These contracts were created by those in office for their benefit and were agreed upon by those who benefit from them.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, in this spirit, Congress-persons should be limited to two terms, just as the President is so restricted.

* This caveat is included to facilitate the functioning of this rule due to the need of congress to occasionally be rushed into meetings etc.

In addition to Warren Buffet's solution as written above, I Propose a few simple rules be instituted to improve governmental efficiency and prevent the petty squabbling that we listen to everyday:

Congress is not allowed their normal session breaks until all issues laid forth on the table for the current year are dealt with.

Congress is not allowed to create a new law until they can show that there is not already a law or provision which deals with the given issue.

All laws currently on record must have their content translated into plain English and any future laws must be written in plain English going forward. These laws must then also be presented in a public place so that they are easily accessible.

All laws on record must be reviewed each congressional term, removing redundancies and outdated or obsolete laws. The United States needs to maintain these laws so that we do not fall into the same congressional congestion that befell the Byzantine Empire.

Although this seems petty, it should help with cooperation amongst Congress. Each member of congress is given an assigned seat which will not be next to a member of the same party unless the division of party in congress necessitates it.

The Congressional seat must be contingent on voting. If a congress-person refuses to vote in three consecutive voting sessions or in ten voting sessions total which affect their district, they forfeit their seat and a new congress-person must be elected.

Congress will not receive pay until a functional budget for the country is put into place for the year. All pay will at that time be back-dated.

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