THE WRONG DIRECTION:

Our process of government is broken. The current process obscures accountability, serves only special interests, and is a disservice to the American people.  Congress passes legislation that only benefits themselves and the people who fund their campaigns.

Most people assume that our elected Representatives and their staff actually read the bills before they vote on them. They don't.

Many people assume that our lawmakers limit legislation to a single topic at a time. They don't do that, either.

Most people assume that our elected Representatives actually write legislation. Increasingly, they don't.

Most people assume that Congress follows rules concerning what our federal government should and shouldn’t do. They don’t anymore.

Congress passed the $787-million stimulus bill in less than 18 hours. The stimulus bill was 1,073 pages, 1,494 pages if the explanatory statement is included with it. Yet the House of Representatives passed the bill less than 14 hours after it was completed. The Senate followed suit less than three hours after that. American citizens were told they would have days to review the legislation before it was voted on—but intensive digging only came up with a hand-marked version of the legislation after it was too late.

Congress creates legislation to benefit itself. The 457B retirement plan for government employees does not have a 10-percent early withdrawal penalty tax that is imposed on private citizens’ plans, like the 401K.

Even more shocking, members of Congress get an automatic pay raise every year. They have to vote to withhold their own pay increase.

TOWARDS AN OPTIMISTIC FUTURE:

As your Congressman, I will return ethical government to Washington and return control to the people. I will support the following four bills:

1. The Read the Bills Act which mandates that Congress should read legislation before it votes on it.
2. The One Subject at a Time Act which mandates that Congress limit legislation to one subject per bill.
3. The Write the Laws Act which would require Congress to write laws and be accountable for their results, not delegate rulemaking authority to unelected bureaucrats and corporate lobbyists.
4. The Enumerated Powers Act which would require all legislation to specify the Constitutional authority upon which it is based.

A renewed emphasis on ethical government is critical for our future. These are not partisan proposals, but they are a radical change to the way Washington operates. Can we make this change? Can we afford not to?