This must stop. We must find middle ground. Every election we hear our politicians promise to work together. They make the promise of bipartisan efforts in congress. But they seem to forget these words as soon as they set foot in Washington. We, as the average citizens, need to stop accepting this. We need to make it clear that our future depends on seriously addressing the problems that face us and enacting measures to solve these problems.
How can we do this? I am not sure. Some of the ideas I have have been voiced by others. There is a need for campaign reform. First of all, too much money is spent and wasted by people who are trying to gain political office. They get support from special interest groups and then are expected to pay back this support with policies that are favorable to these same groups. This system needs to change, and unfortunately, we are asking the people it benefits to change it.
Another change that I think would make a significant difference in how things are done in Washington would be term limits. I don�t think career politicians are good for the system. Once they have been in Washington for any amount of time, they start to loose touch with the real world. A career politician�s main drive seems to be the next campaign. They don�t accomplish radical changes because radical change is controversial and may lead to them not getting re-elected.
I am amazed that our congressional representatives in the House can ever accomplish anything. They are elected to two year terms. Almost as soon as they arrive in Washington, they need to start thinking about the next election. While this is a radical change, I propose that the term length for the US House of Representatives should be increased. If we combined term limits with fewer election cycles, maybe our congressional representatives would find more time to pass meaningful legislation.
Now on to the actual problems I have been wrestling with that have gotten me so fired up that I felt the need to sit down and write this ling letter.
The Federal Deficit and Debt