I feel as if I am applying for the least popular job in the
world. As I speak to Mainers across the District, they consistently
tell me how disappointed they are with the performance of
Congress. These personal conversations mirror the historically
low approval ratings that national polls give Congress.
Recently, one Maine business owner took the conversation
a step further. He suggested that Congress is overpaid and
this overpayment results in a lack of motivation to solve
the problems that face the nation. In fact, Congress recently
gave themselves a 4% pay increase while simultaneously withdrawing
the funding for the border fence!
Now a Congressman’s annual salary is up to $175,000. Plus
the most attractive benefits package in the world. And the
most paid Holidays in the workforce. And the longest vacations
in the nation! My business-owner friend observed how once
in office, members of congress tend to have as much job security
as a tenured teacher. Also, consider how insulated a member
of congress is during a turbulent economic period – “Must
be nice,” the business owner said.
Members of congress, and many of the candidates for congress
in this 1st District race, seem more like the CEOs they often
complain about for over paying themselves. What makes their
position so hypocritical is that, while the private markets
actually require the participation of the investors, the board
members and the stockholders, members of Congress are allowed
to act unilaterally with our tax dollars, regardless of the
consequences for the company. In this case the “company” is
the United States of America.
In the real world, the worse a business performs the less
the executives make. This common sense formula, for some reason,
is not applied to government. How motivated toward success
can employees be who make a flat salary of $175,000 per year,
with benefits guaranteed for life, and more vacation time
than a college professor?! Imagine how completely different
a member of Congress’s performance might be if their pay was
attached to their performance. Since the Supreme Court has
already rejected the idea of federal term limits for congress,
perhaps performance-based pay is the next, best alternative.
I pledge that in my first term of Congress I will introduce
the following pieces of Legislation:
1) Performance-based Pay for Members of Congress – I will
introduce legislation that will reduce the pay for members
of Congress. This legislation will also eliminate the guaranteed
lifetime benefits of its members. How many of us, after having
a job for two years, qualify for a lifetime of benefits? This
legislation will show the true motivation of those holding
office, separating those who are there for service from those
who are there for show. It is time we were able to distinguish
between the career politician and the concerned public servant.
2) Earmarks – Instead of doling out money freely, members
of congress should be charged for each earmark they propose.
It is one thing to offer up endless lists of expensive gifts
for those in your District, another entirely to have your
pay docked for each one you propose.
3) Entitlement Spending – We are teetering on the brink of
economic collapse. For years we have heard members of congress
suggest that failure to curtail our entitlement spending will
bury us in record deficits. However, each term they fail,
and they fail not by a slim margin, but by ever-widening margins.
Yet somehow they are compensated nonetheless, and even grant
themselves a pay raise. As we spiral towards economic collapse,
they will be paid even more. This needs to be changed. Our
elected officials must feel the pain that the average American
taxpayer feels. I will introduce legislation that will allow
people to have the choice to invest their own savings toward
their retirement.
4) Border Fence Funding – In December funding for the border
fence was pulled from the budget. Illegal immigration continues
to strain our country financially and threaten our national
security. I will make it a priority to re-introduce legislation
to finance the border fence while addressing the larger issue
of illegal immigration crisis.
5) Education – We know for a fact that the quality of an
education is not directly related any involvement from the
federal Department of Education. More important by far is
the direct involvement of the parents. I will introduce legislation
that will encourage states to adopt school choice, provide
vouchers, develop charter schools and slowly return parents
rights to determine the education for their children, not
the Department of Education.
6) Reduce the Size of Government – Any plan to reform government,
create hope or bring about real change must focus first on
reducing the size and scope of, and our growing dependence
upon government. I will introduce legislation that begins
reducing the size of government by creating the U.S. Tech
Corp. Prior Presidents have encouraged our best and brightest
minds to tackle society’s greatest challenges, both at home
and across the globe. While honorable, these programs often
involved government offices. I will introduce legislation
that encourages our best and brightest students at the high
school level to integrate with the best and brightest minds
in Information Technology and business. Together the combination
of youth and experience will discover new and exciting ways
to make government more efficient by adapting the operational,
informational and technical efficiencies of business and applying
them to government. It is indeed time that we operate government
more like a business.
7) Making the Bush tax cuts permanent – This is a must. Very
simply, individuals who do not understand that tax cuts create
wealth should not be trusted with the authority to make decisions
that impact our national economy.
8) Repeal the Death Tax – Again, it is very simple. In my
opinion, elected officials who support taxing your wealth
on the occasion of your death should not be allowed to hold
office. It is an un-American concept. Taxing your property
when you die is anti-family, and is the equivalent of government-sponsored
theft.
9) Reduce Governments Carbon Footprint – Finally, I would
like to see the government begin to outsource itself. Many
of the functions performed by the typical government bureaucrat
can be done anywhere in the country by people with access
to a phone line and the Internet. There is no need to continue
the ‘last generation’ exercise of sending tens of thousands
of bureaucrats to and from D.C. everyday when most of these
functions can be seamlessly outsourced.
Both environmentalists and economists can agree that a smaller,
streamlined government will significantly reduce operational
costs and carbon emissions. In the modern economy, the real
world, businesses are getting smaller, faster and more efficient.
We can no longer afford to accept government as a perpetual
growth machine. We do not need to invent the model; companies
all over the world are already doing this.
I will submit legislation requiring the reduction of the
carbon footprint of government. As your Congressman, I will
fight to reduce the size of government, and subsequently its
influence in our daily lives, with new and modern ideas.
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