It's our country we deserve better

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

So yesterday on Facebook I linked to this article on the Senate.  And posted a rather lengthy diatribe about it, most of which got cut off.  But what my semi-coherent rant led to was an important realization that I think should have bi-partisan appeal.

Every article about the government, Congress and Senate in particular focus on how things are out of control, or broken.  But here is what I think are the fundamental reasons for this, and some thoughts on resolving them:

1. Perpetual election cycle

In our 24 x 7 News cycle coupled with the immense power of the almighty dollar in elections virtually any politician feels like they always have to campaign, or raise money.  I think the real solution for this would be Term Limits, cut off the career politicians at the knees, make the aspire to another office, or go home.

2. Fear of doing something

Right now, especially in the Senate, that perpetual election cycle has resulted in career politicians who have no fear about making speeches, stating positions, etc. but do fear actually having to make a stand and actually make a concrete stand with a vote.  Because speeches are speeches, just words and articles etc.  But a real vote for or against something is something their opponent can use against them.  This has helped create a cycle of Senators spending all of their time engaging in parliamentary games, because no one really cares in an election if you voted against cloture to end discussion of an amendment to a bill, that doesn't really mean anything.  So our representatives spend their time engaging in constant legislative sleight of hand, and then claim to be doing something, when the reality is they haven't actually accomplished a thing that really can be shown on record.

3. Our Constitution provides for a Representative Democracy

Not a pure Democracy, we have elected representatives who we elect, then ask them to do what we want, but in the end, ideally, they will do what they feel best represents the people who elected them.  The problem is that when you combine the perpetual election cycle and the fear of doing something, these representatives never do anything on their own any more.  Instead every action they take is based on what the latest poll/lobbyist message/angry phone call or email/news story indicates they should do.  So more paralysis, instead of legislators actually legislating, they just wait to see where the perceived wind is blowing.

My Ideal

The people we elect are free to do what they think is best for us, the voters who elected them.  And if that means taking a stand and voting against something I would respect that more than someone who just spent all their time gaming a system and as a result never actually had to take a stand and actually vote.  I might heartily disagree with a Rand Paul politically, but if he gets elected in Kentucky I at least know he is not the type to be afraid to stand up in the Senate and vote on an actual bill instead of procedure after procedure.

How do we get that back?  How do we end this type of frozen paralyzed, broken 'government'?

•  First, as I said before: Term limits, end the days of career Washington politicians who go from unelected assistant, then to the House, and then the Senate until they die or finally get voted out.  
• Second, reverse Citizens United, restore real hard campaign finance reform, find a way to allow campaigns to occur without having millions of dollars.  
• Third, break the lobbyist system, force our elected representatives to have to work, and not spend all their time listening to lobbyists who have the money to gain access.  
• Fourth, take advantage of technology, in this era of webcasts, voice over IP, and web meetings, why should Congressmen even have to be in Washington?  Let them attend meetings etc. remotely so they can be at home, listening to the people who elected them, instead of in the never never land of Washington D.C. bureaucrats.

Again, in my view all of this is bi-partisan, because I think all of these things would help both parties in forcing our Congressmen to represent the people they are elected to represent, not the lobbyists and bureaucrats that really run Congress.