While chasing down the rabbit trail that comprises my mental processes, this wild hare jumped out at me.
1. Term limits for politicians: two terms at any one political office, then they must leave and work at a minimum wage job at manual labor, with NO OTHER RESOURCES allowed for a period equal to whatever public office terms they have served, with NO money r benefits or perquisites whatsoever (including welfare or tax refunds or whatever) from ANY government source or any source dealing with any aspect of their former office. This would perhaps tend to focus their attention while in office a bit closer on the effects their policies have on common folk.
2. Every seven years, anyone in so-called “Civil Service” would be required to take two years off under similar circumstances.
3. ALL Civil Service employees and elective offices to have their retirements limited to EXACTLY whatever common folks might have–Social Security and retirement plans individuals have actually paid their own money into.
4. Health care? Whatever they can pay for themselves, either in cash or via self-funded health insurance.
5. Military gets a bye. There’s not a politician or Civil Service employee that’s worth the lowest, faithful grunt. No, not one. Period. Full stop. End of story. Some may be worthwhile, but until they volunteer to literally lay down their lives to defend the Constitution and their fellow citizens, politicians and Civil Service employees aren’t worthy to carry the slop bucket of the lowest-ranking, faithfully serving enlisted man.
It’d be a start.
Yes, it would be a start.
It’s too bad that it would probably take armed revolt to see it implemented. None of today’s crop of politicians are serious about the notion of term limits even when they pay lip service to it. As for having to live like the common man after “public service”, too many are of the opinion that they are uncommon men. It’s also too bad that such an armed revolt would probably be led by politically motivated people and that such a plan would be conveniently forgotten once victory had been achieved.
Sometimes I think our founders had altogether too much faith in either human nature or in the endurance of faith in a democratic or even a republican society.