Joey’s Take: A New Contract

You may remember 1994’s Contract With America with its sweeping reforms to shrink government, cut taxes and revive entrepreneurship. Well, it’s time to put out a new contract – a Contract on Congress that goes after the representatives and senators who are holding our nation’s prosperity hostage to their own political agenda.

This contract would:

1. Require a balanced budget constitutional amendment that would be strictly enforced. No more “pay it forward a few generations” or “pay as you go when you feel like it.”

2. Limit ALL bills to one item and 5,000 words. If it can’t be expressed in 20 pages, it’s not ready for a vote. Bills must be written in plain English, and they can’t be amended or stuffed with unrelated business.

We all heard Nancy bragging yesterday about the new inclusion of student loans in the deformed health care bill. How many more trees are the greenies going to cut down just to print this massive abortion of legislation?!

The sad thing is that some parts of the health care bill would have easily passed a year ago had they not been bundled into this colossal mess, and many Americans would have already benefited from the changes.

3. Practice zero tolerance on congressional misconduct and ethical breaches. No more cover-ups, slaps on the wrist, looking the other way, or saying “but he did it too.” Violators, and their offices, would be subject to the same laws as the rest of us, and the cases against them should be heard in a court of law – not a select committee of partisans and cronies.

4. Limit Congress to two 60-day sessions a year, and adjust congressional pay accordingly. Think of the money we would save.

5. Ban all taxpayer-funded political travel – for the president, his staff and Congress.

6. Make Congress live by the rules it imposes on others. For instance, if other government employees can’t fly first class or by private plane on the taxpayer’s note, then a senator or representative can’t either. (Reps and senators need to be reminded that they are government employees.)

7. Enforce the constitutional separation of powers.

I may be a dog, but even I know it’s way past time for us to make Congress an offer it can't refuse.

I’m Joey. And I endorse this Contract on Congress.

Joey's Take: Putting limits on Congress

Campaigning has been fun these past few days – what with all the snow and ice. Watching the folks slipping and falling has made me appreciate being four-footed. I’ve had no problem getting around. And watching Congress slipping and falling all over the place to try to get “meaningful” legislation passed has made me realize even more how much we need a sure-footed dog on Capitol Hill.

When I’m elected, one of the things I’ll push for is a limit on how long Congress can meet each year. It seems to me they are wasting all too much time and money passing bills we didn’t even know we needed. If we’ve managed to survive 220 years as a nation without a law on how loud commercials can be, we probably don’t need the law. (Yes, loud commercials are annoying. But even I know that’s what the mute button on the remote is for.) Instead of being distracted by the noise on TV, Congress needs to focus on setting a budget that doesn’t break the bank.

Then there’s the healthcare joke that’s making its way around Capitol Hill. I’ve got to admit, I’m still waiting for the punch line. Perhaps that's the joke.

What gets me is how oblivious these “leaders” are to the obvious. One reason so many people don’t have insurance these days is that they don’t have jobs. Arff! Get the economy rolling (I don’t mean adding more government jobs) and a lot of these healthcare issues will take care of themselves.

You know, had Congress taken a commonsense approach to healthcare, the legislation would have passed ages ago, the president would be relaxing in Hawaii, all the senators could be home with their families or mistresses and we would have the peace of mind that comes with knowing we – and our hard-earned money – are safe from congressional shenanigans for at least a few weeks.

Next year I know what I'm putting on my Christmas wish list -- relief from too much government.

Merry Christmas!