Strengthen Our Nation

The following recommendations are presented to do three things,
weaken the power of Congress, strengthen the sovereignty of
the states and increase the power of citizens.

They address the obstacles, trappings, partisanship, influences,
dictatorial power, corruptness and perpetual incumbency.

This list is an important starting point to return the power to the
states and the American people rather than leave it in the hands
of Congress and the Federal government.

As always, your feedback and suggestions are appreciated and you
are welcome to pass along to others who may be interested.
Anthony Bruno
Cary, NC

I. Terms, Compensation, and Representation:

1. Congressional terms will be changed to four years.

2. Each state legislature will determine the number of terms of their
    Congressional representatives.

3. A non-political independent board will set compensation, expenses
    and other benefits rather than Congress doing it for themselves.

4. Pensions for members of Congress will be eliminated.

5. Congressional districts needs to redrawn based on geography, population
    and practicality, without regard for race, or other political/partisan criteria.

II. Campaign Funding Changes:

6. Only individuals will be allowed to contribute to political contributions.

7. Campaign funds may not be transferred to other campaigns.

8. Unspent campaign funds cannot be retained after an election, and must be
    turned over to the Federal  Election Commission.

III. Legislative Process:

9. Only Congress will write legislation.

10. Each party will have an equal number of members on all committees.

11. The number of Congressional committees (over 150) and caucuses (over 250)
      will be reduced to eliminate redundancy.

12. No legislation can be voted on between election day and the new Congress    
     takes office.

III. Strengthen State Sovereignty:

13. Federal funds will not be withheld from states for any reason.

14. Each state will have the responsibility for education, and not be required to
      meet Federal standards.

15. Only the Interstate Highway system will fall under the authority of the Dept.     
      of Transportation.

16. Federal land within states, except for national parks and military installations
     will be deeded to the states and states will be compensated for land used by     
     the Federal government.

Tony, a couple of things:

1: How do you get this through Congress?

2: One of the important things I learned in running/controlling Computer Operations in Kingston, Poughkeepsie, and Dayton and later going back to audit them for compliance to Information System regulations (reasonable ones not bureaucratic) were:

Certain steps were taken to improve the Operation (sometimes it was even a person put in place to perform a certain function). Three managers later the manager would say, "what the hell are we doing that for?" and eliminate it. Only to find out when an auditor came along, the function was needed. So I'd recommend that any function taken away from Congress, be studied to determine why it was implemented in the first place.

An example comes to mind. Massachusetts back in the 1960's had a reputation of having the worst k thru 12 school system imaginable. People were leaving the State giving up jobs because they didn't want to send their kids to school there. Possibly the same was true in other States and people wanted the Federal Government to take control.

Now another example points out how screwed up our friends in Washington can be. A new skipper took over a small Naval Air Station in the Southwest. A conscientious guy he patrolled the base to get a good feel of what was under his command. He came upon a recreation room that had a watch posted outside the door. He asked the seaman why he was standing watch on a rec room. The seaman already nervous, since he seldom had conversations with Captains, said he didn't know, but that he had been on the base for over a year, and there was always a watch on the rec room  since he'd been there.

When the Captain got back to his office he directed one of his aides to find out why there was a Watch Posted on a recreation room in barracks XYZ.

The aide came back after reviewing the log that showed there had been a watch posted 18 months earlier and that watch had been relieved every four hours since that time.

"Why?" the Captain asked.

"Well sir," the aide replied trying not to laugh. "it seems that 18 months ago that recreation room was given a fresh coat of paint. The Chief of the Watch posted a guard on the room to make sure no one went in the room while the paint was drying. No one ever ended the watch or had the guts to ask why.

Bob