Warren Buffet, in a recent interview with CNBC, offered one of the best quotes about the debt ceiling:
“I could end the deficit in five minutes,” he told CNBC. “You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election”. Meanwhile, here is his answer to reform of the whole institution:
Current rates of pay, voted for themselves, regardless of effectiveness or even any knowledge:
Salary of retired US Presidents .. . . . .. . . . . .. $180,000 FOR LIFE
Salary of House/Senate members .. . . . .. . . . $174,000 FOR LIFE This is stupid
Salary of Speaker of the House .. . . . .. . . . . $223,500 FOR LIFE This is really stupid
Salary of Majority/Minority Leaders . . .. . . . . $193,400 FOR LIFE Ditto last line
Average Salary of a teacher . . .. . . . .. . . . . .. .. $40,065
Average Salary of a deployed Soldier . . .. . . .. $38,000
Congressional Reform Act of 2016
- No Tenure / No Pension: A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they’re out of office.
2. Congress (past, present, & future) participates in Social Security. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund would be move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds to flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.
3. Congress will 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 its 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/women are void effective 12/1/16. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen/women. Congress 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), then go home and go back to work.
The 26th Amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds) took only three months and eight days to be ratified! Why? Simple! The people demanded it. That was in 1971 – before computers, e-mail, cell phones, etc.
Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took one (1) year or less to become the law of the land – all because of public pressure.
In three days, most people in The United States of America will have this message, that is, if you would be good enough to send it to your friends. This is one idea that really should be passed around.