Push The Pigs Out of Bed

Politics frustrate me to no end. What should be a great system has turned into a power grab for personal benefit. Worse, the press loves the current system because it gives them hours and hours of problems to report about. I bet there are only a handful of politicians that are actually looking out for 'We the people'.

What frustrates me most is that 'We the people' could easily fix the system. We won't of course because most of us have bought into the two party system that basically makes it into an 'our team can beat your team' mentality. Great for the team leaders, not so great for those of us watching from the sidelines.

For what it's worth here are a few things I would change to insure a better government.

Term Limits: This, without a doubt, is the most important change that should be made. This would stop career politicians. This would stop power grabs. This would help curb corruption. Elected officials would get elected have a few years to do some good then fade back into the private sector or some other form of public service.

Equal Access: Every citizen should have the same access to an elected official as anyone else. That means no special meetings with lobbyist or special groups.

No Gifts: No paid for trips, no free dinners, no free airplane rides, no campaign contributions. No gifts at all.

Structured Campaigns: Set spending limits for each political race. Free and equal air-time on TV and radio. Equal amounts of newspaper ads. No outside groups campaigning for a candidate nationally.

No Party Power: Speaker of the House and Senate should be rotated between states every few months. Committee heads should be appointed the same way.

Equality for All: Elected officials have to abide by any and all laws the public is subject to. Like wise, their benefits should be equal to and no more than is available to the public. Social security and taxes not excluded.

Open Up the Field: I'm not sure how to accomplish this one but everyone would benefit from having more party choices than the two we have now.

I realize after all of these changes are implemented it would take a few years to close all the loopholes that pop up. I think it could work too. It couldn't be much worse than what we have now. I just don't understand how everyone can watch these pigs walking around on two legs and not be frustrated too.