How about paying our bills FIRST then toward the end of the year we allocate money for parks, museums… all the items that are not necessary.
How about we stop stealing from citizens to spend their hard earned money for unnecessary things!
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Definitely need to start doing this. Or at least make sure the bills stacked together either have a set amount of pages or can only be stacked together if they follow a theme.
A no brained that should have been done from the getgo
You couldn’t explain it better.
This would force transparency and be easy to see exactly what our representatives are voting for. All the random spending that has been done for decades through various programs like USAID, NGOs and such would no longer be easily hidden from the taxpayers. Votes would be completely related to one recipient and accountability would not be able to be hidden by bills that are 1,000s of pages long.
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The only thing I am in opposition of is number of bills voted on per day. If perhaps we propose 10 and they are overwhelmingly excepted and get finished with in a few hours. We should be able to move onto more bills. Otherwise, I am in 100% agreement.
They need to be reading the bills. That is their job. A single. page followed by more detail.
Agreed, every item listed would make Congress much more likely to have the time to review, debate and vote on each bill without the bill being packed full of additional information which has nothing to do with the bill title.
I agree with this. All bills should be single issue. This will prevent political disruption through the mitigation of “pork”. I saw a comment of an executive summary, and thoroughly agree with this. In healthcare, we have to utilize a “QAPI” plan: Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement hitting 5 key factors:
- What is the problem?
- What systems are involved?
- How the plan will address the issues stated? (ROI, policy change, etc)
- How what is the expected timeframe of implementation?
- What is your monitoring tool for effectiveness with a revisit date?
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Many states require that bills be read in the well of the appropriate legistlative body; some require 3 readings. Bills are - or SHOULD BE - debated openly before votes, but I’m not sure that actually happens or when it happens if it does. I also don’t remember what happens if, upon passage in a lower body (house) it is sent to and amended by the upper house (senate). IIRC, amended bills are treated much the same as original bills and must be read again and passed again.
Only in Heaven will politicians be held to a QAPI construct. 
Every post I’ve read in this thread - and in most others - presumes that change can be effected by changing laws, ie, the US Code. While that CAN happen, reforms will never be passed by any government agency that is the target of those reforms; therefore . . .
REAL CHANGE CAN ONLY BE ACHIEVED BY AMENDING THE US CONSTITUTION.
Most who post here want constraints on government in one way or another but they refuse to address how their changes are to be accomplished. As stated above, only constitutional changes will have lasting effect. Every amendment to the US Constitution that has been passed thus far has originated in congress and either passed by that body or sent to the states for approval or rejection. Congress will never, ever do anything that limits their authority or power. That’s why the founders included Article V that contains the provision for conventions of states (CoS) to propose changes to limit the power and authority of congress.
If you want change, you’ will have to get your state and 33 others to agree on specific rules for calling a CoS which can then convene and debate and propose constitutional changes. So far, this pathway to change has never been tried in our history. Why? Because it is an arduous process that requires widespread attention and will attack or disrupt congressional operation. Congress has acted to propose widely accepted change for the very purpose of ensuring that their power is in no way diminished.
IMO, it is well past time to conduct a CoS and to propose - and pass - constitutional change that will limit the powers of congress, the judiciary, and even the presidency. Having posited those changes, however, caution must be taken to rifle-focus on what changes to make instead of shotgunning at a covey of issues.
What is the most important change that’s needed in our government?
My top priority is change to enforce fiscal responsibility. A balanced budget amendment with appropriate provisions for emergencies and limiting the government’s ability to increase tax rates or items taxed should be the first CoS convention topic, IMO. This amendment might also address timelines for budget proposals, debate, passage, and signing by the POTUS. In fact, I would say that SHOULD be part of such an amendment and should specify consequences - like being expelled from office - for failing to comply with the contraints. I would also like to see all pork removed, but that is perhaps too ambitious and is certainly worthy of its own discussion.
What say you? What is the most important change needed in our government?
We need to sunset all rules, regulations, policies and legislation! Not the constitution nor its amendments which already have a procedure to maintain and sunset as needed!
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It has been known for quite a while about how insanely long bills would include unmentioned goodies for the groups and lobbyists involved in the whole general operation. There is a documentary out there where politicians are answering no to whether they read bills before voting.
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I have often read that congress allows lobbyists and other entities to write bills that are then submitted to the congress. This practice should be proscribed. Every bill or act presented to congress must contain the proviso that the member presenting the bill must author it or co-author it with other membrers and that no party outside members of congress may participate in the wording of the text.
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