Lisa’s reforms

In case you missed it, Lisa R., in the post about lawmakers passing bills without reading them, proposed this list of congressional reforms:

This is my plan for the U.S. Congress:

1) Congress should meet every other year; when not in session, members must return to their home states/districts to work and to live with the laws they’ve enacted and among the people against, er, FOR whom they’ve enacted said laws.

2) Members of Congress shall receive a small stipend on which to live while in session. Taxpayers can negotiate with Motel 6 for a special group rate for members’ lodging while in Washington, D.C. Members will drive their own cars to Washington and be responsible for getting themselves to and from their meetings.

3) Proposed bills CANNOT be more than 100 pages in length, and they MUST be published in every public venue for citizens to read and discuss NO LESS THAN two (2) weeks prior to a vote. During the time between proposal of said bill and the vote, members shall travel to their respective constituencies to personally present and discuss the bill with citizens. Any travel expenses incurred may be reimbursed with a $100 per diem (for travel days ONLY) with the approval of a Citizen Czar (criteria to be proposed, discussed and generally bantied about at a later time.)

4) Congressional expense accounts and fringe benefits will be revisited and trimmed down to a respectable size so that members do not behave as mini-kings representing their mini-kingdoms but more as citizens representing their neighbors.

5) Incentive bonuses such as a Christmas ham or a WalMart gift card will be possible based on performance during a regular session.

6) Stocks (NOT a reference to Wall Street portfolios) will be erected to public squares for those members who fail to perform the duties of their offices properly and with integrity.