Bringing Congress back to Earth

With the great hope of midterm congressional revolution on everyone's mind, many ideas are floating around to restore accountability and sanity to the Capitol.

Along these lines, I keep receiving copies of a chain e-mail titled, "Congressional Reform Act of 2010."

Of course, we know there won't be any reform in Congress this year. The most we can hope is that next year's Congress will learn a lesson from this year's historic electoral drubbing of incumbents.

But let's take a look at the ideas expressed in this viral e-mail campaign:

Term limits: If the 2010 midterm election proves anything it is that term limits are already in the hands of the people – if only they use their prerogative to dump public servants who are no longer serving the public. I was a witness to term limits being put in place in California. Believe me, it was no panacea. The politicians who wanted to make a career out of politics simply found other offices to seek. Don't get me wrong: No one wants to see the return of "citizen-legislators" more than I do. But you can't get there artificially. It takes eternal vigilance by the people.

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No pensions: This is a no-brainer, as far as I am concerned. Why should members of Congress get paid by the people after they leave office? Members of Congress are well-compensated for what they do while in office. They often get rich while in office. Those who do not tend to get rich trading on their experience if and when they ever leave. They have every opportunity other members of society have to create their own retirement accounts. And if they have to do that like the rest of us, they might not be so inclined to raid our private retirement accounts with their unconstitutional redistributionist legislation. Furthermore, coinciding with this proposal is one that would require members of the House and Senate to participate in Social Security. After all, what's good for the goose is good for the gander, no?

No more voting yourself a pay raise: Congressional pay raises would be either equivalent to the rise of the consumer price index or 3 percent – whichever is lower.

No more elite health-care program: Members of Congress need to live with insurance coverage comparable to ordinary Americans. If you want to ensure nothing remains of Obamacare, just pass this requirement in January 2011.

Congress must abide by the laws they impose: This is the most important suggestion of all. It's a matter of common sense and the ultimate form of accountability. Congresses of the past have been notorious for exempting members from the laws they impose on the rest of us. It's immoral. It's unconstitutional. It's unjust. It's insane that we have allowed this practice to continue.

Serving in Congress should be an honor, not necessarily a career. The founders of this great nation envisioned citizen-legislators serving part-time, then going home and getting back to work. They did not envision a ruling class of elites who treated the people as their subjects – or, worse yet, as guinea pigs in their social experiments.

Clearly, judging from the pre-election polls, Americans have had enough. They are going to throw the bums out in record numbers this year. Those who constitute the next Congress of the United States had better heed the warning.