montanadave
06-26-12, 08:38
So there's an e-mail making the rounds (again) referring to the "Buffett" amendment or a proposed 28th Amendment called the "Congressional Reform Act of 2011."
While referring to the proposed amendment as the "Buffett" amendment is a bit of a misnomer, as Warren Buffet didn't cook up the proposed amendment, one of the key provisions of the amendment did originate from a comment made by Buffett on CNBC, when he proposed fixing the federal deficit by passing a law which made any sitting member of Congress ineligible for reelection if the deficit exceeds 3% of GDP. (http://www.snopes.com/politics/quotes/buffett.asp)
Snopes reports this email actually surfaced back in 2009 and the current iteration is simply a retread. I searched for threads discussing this proposed amendment but came up empty. Regardless, I would be interested in what members think about the substance of the proposed 28th amendment. The version of the amendment I present below is excerpted from a copy of the e-mail chain letter reported by the Wall Street Journal originally printed in late 2011 (http://blogs.wsj.com/totalreturn/2011/10/28/the-warren-buffett-chain-letter/).
Congressional Reform Act of 2011
1. No Tenure / No Pension. A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.
2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.
3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.
4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.
5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.
6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.
7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/12. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen. Congressmen made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term’s [sic], then go home and back to work.
I realize this may be old news to some; for others, this may be the first time they've seen it. I'm just wondering why this has not gotten more traction, given the bipartisan disgust with Congress and its perpetually abysmal favorability ratings in national polls.
And, on a more informal note, I'm tired of this practice of referring to these elected humps as "Congressman X" and "Speaker Y" or "Governor Z" in perpetuity. They can use the honorific while in office, but when their term is up they go back to being Joe Citizen and get called Mister just like everyone else.
While referring to the proposed amendment as the "Buffett" amendment is a bit of a misnomer, as Warren Buffet didn't cook up the proposed amendment, one of the key provisions of the amendment did originate from a comment made by Buffett on CNBC, when he proposed fixing the federal deficit by passing a law which made any sitting member of Congress ineligible for reelection if the deficit exceeds 3% of GDP. (http://www.snopes.com/politics/quotes/buffett.asp)
Snopes reports this email actually surfaced back in 2009 and the current iteration is simply a retread. I searched for threads discussing this proposed amendment but came up empty. Regardless, I would be interested in what members think about the substance of the proposed 28th amendment. The version of the amendment I present below is excerpted from a copy of the e-mail chain letter reported by the Wall Street Journal originally printed in late 2011 (http://blogs.wsj.com/totalreturn/2011/10/28/the-warren-buffett-chain-letter/).
Congressional Reform Act of 2011
1. No Tenure / No Pension. A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.
2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.
3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.
4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.
5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.
6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.
7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/12. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen. Congressmen made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term’s [sic], then go home and back to work.
I realize this may be old news to some; for others, this may be the first time they've seen it. I'm just wondering why this has not gotten more traction, given the bipartisan disgust with Congress and its perpetually abysmal favorability ratings in national polls.
And, on a more informal note, I'm tired of this practice of referring to these elected humps as "Congressman X" and "Speaker Y" or "Governor Z" in perpetuity. They can use the honorific while in office, but when their term is up they go back to being Joe Citizen and get called Mister just like everyone else.