I propose that we change the way we select representatives to serve in the House of Representatives.
Instead of filling it with duly elected people from each state, why not make it like jury duty? Fill the House randomly with registered voters every two years, and you know we'll eliminate the money puppets. Once you've served in the House of Representatives, you're done - you will not be asked to serve again. We couldn't do worse than 36 randomly selected people from the state of Texas, for example. It would be far better than the current group. I would hate to lose Eddie Bernice Johnson and Marc Veasey, for example. They've done great work. But on the other hand, we'd lose Steve Stockman. That's a win right there.
Maybe this is a pipe dream. But I can think of no better way to make sure that each state is fairly represented in the House. No mysterious campaign contributions, no lobbyists (what's the point of buying off somebody who'll be gone in two years?) Just people trying to make the life of the people in their state better. That's what a government is supposed to do.
Boy, this current crop of House Representatives are terrible. I don't think it's ever been this bad. Maybe it was worse back in the old days when you could have a brawl on the House floor. But a blow to the head would be preferable to a trans-vaginal ultrasound. Or yet another defunding of a non-existent ACORN.
Here's the way I see this working:
All people who are registered to vote are eligible to become a Representative. Most of us have served on juries, or have at least been in the vor dire process to eliminate jurists. (Being liberal, female, college educated and with a bad neck from whiplash, I doubt I'll ever be on a jury!) The jurors take their job seriously. Being registered to vote makes you more likely to care, as you've opted to participate in the political system.
Session length is six months (January 3rd at noon until July 31, unless special circumstances prevent it.) Each Congress lasts for two years. Once the two years are up, you have served and will not be called again to serve.
If you are selected to be a Representative, there would be certain protections extended to you. For example, you would not lose your job, and the income generated as a Representative must be at least as much as you would make in your regular job. Many people won't be able to serve because of family obligations or health conditions. There should be some incentive for people to want to serve, such as free health care for life for them and their families.
The only hurdle that I see is that we currently require all our Representatives to be in a big room and shout at each other. This isn't much better than 1858. At least we have air conditioning and indoor plumbing now. And no dueling. There's got to be a secure way for our Representatives to participate in federal government without being in Washington, D.C. the entire time. I don't know what that would be - terminals that are installed in each home (thanks, Diebold!) or some sort of cloud computing that would require password access. Perhaps even retinal scans and biometric data to ensure that there's no fraud.
All I know is that we've got to do something different. Our system of checks and balances is out of balance, and the thumb on the scales is the House of Representatives.