Posted on 03/22/2013 8:34:06 PM PDT by Texas Fossil
Rep. Steve Pearce (R-N.M.) wants to create a "virtual Congress," where lawmakers would leverage videoconferencing and other remote work technology to conduct their daily duties in Washington from their home districts.
Under a resolution Pearce introduced on Thursday, lawmakers would be able to hold hearings, debate and vote on legislation virtually from their district offices.
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
Simple solution. Make fewer changes to laws. Do the voting when they are in session, but collect the votes until they are in session.
If Texas can go 2 years between sessions, governor can call a special session but it costs, then certainly the Fed Gov can too.
I agree with your concern over voting in person. But why must this be a continual thing, day after day. There are few earth shaking decisions that cannot be postponed a few weeks.
It could be made to work.
I never suggested voting via telecommute as this congressman did, but doing the work via telecommute. Away from DC most of the time.
Agreed.
That’s a good point. But it maybe a problem that already exists.
I really like your previous suggestion. They should use Texas as an example. It works for us really well.
Fine. cut their compensation and Bene’s.
Texas legislators only make $7000 bucks a year.
Congress could do well by America to shed a few bucks and for that matter so could the white hut.
The problem is not a shortage of government, but an excess of oppressive federal government.
Government is not the solution, it is the problem.
“The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and such Meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by Law appoint a different Day.” (date is changed)
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See, it says shall assemble at least 1 time. But nothing about duration or number of additional times.
Yeah, yeah, Yeah. I know.(I’m a Freeper).
I’d just like to see these guys have their pay cut.
They go on enough vacations and are out of session for so many things, we’d be better off if they only met once a year.
I dunno. I am but a mere peasant.
There is NO REASON Congress should be in session full time.”
They’re not by my definition. Full-time would be if they are on the House/Senate floor from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Most of them fly in sometime during the day on Monday and fly out on Friday morning. And then, of course, they have to leave by 3 in the afternoon “because of the traffic” and don’t come to work in the morning until 10 or so “because of the traffic”.
Truth be told I doubt if they are present in DC more than 20 hours a week and I’m sure that Congressmen like Pete Olson, who flies to DC every Monday, has more frequent flier miles racked up than any ten families.
I would like to see them stay full time all the time for 3 full months - maybe July, August and September - without returning home and then stay in their home district for the other 9 months. When they are not in DC, staff their office there with one person and increase to 2 the three months they are there. Our soldiers go without seeing their family for a whole lot longer than 3 months.
They are all the biggest wasters of time I have ever seen. No wonder so few of them have ever been able to hold down a job with a for profit organization.
Once upon a time, Congressmen spent half the year at home. They didn’t stay in DC through the summer until air-conditioning arrived.
This would never be done, because lobbyists need all the politicians in one place. It would cost too much to travel all over.
“No wonder so few of them have ever been able to hold down a job with a for profit organization.”
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By the nature of the organization, “for profit” organizations are efficient and productive and “not-for profit’ organizations are inefficient and largely non-productive.
congress is worse, they make the rest of the nation non-productive in the name of equality but actually for the sake of CONTROL.
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I worked many years for a privately owned company who’s President had a statement under the glass top of his desk that stated “Profit is not a 4 letter word”.
Sure it does. The military uses the web just like everyone else. I think they know how to make communications secure. But "privacy" should not exist for Congressional communications.....ALL conversations should be recorded, transcribed, and available to constituents. The Congressmen's offices should have 24/7 vidcams available on the web. The only privacy a congresscritter should have is when he/she is "on da throne". "Privacy" is a big part of the problem.
You don’t really believe that all congressional conversations are recorded do you?
Sure the law may require that, but that is not how it actually works.
Not a bit. I doubt that any are (at least legally). AFAIK, no law requires it. My point is that they "should" be.
I am of the same opinion about "public education". Every classroom should have two webcams...one at the front of the room viewing the students, and one at the rear of the room viewing the teachers, blackboards/visual apparatus. The idea that ANYTHING should be taught or said without the ability of parents to see it should be anathema. And if the kiddies knew that mommy and daddy might be watching them in class it would likely cut down on misbehavior.
If you are a "public servant" (officeholder) or public employee, you should HAVE no "privacy" other than for body functions. Your employers (us taxpayers) should be able to tune you in at any time and see what you are up to.
But the technology and laws are evolving in the exact opposite direction, with our nascent overlords (aka "public servants") able to view and access whatever we (taxpayers) might do (drones, GPS tracking, and God knows what else) without those devices/laws applying to themselves.
agreed.
If the technology would work for 10,000 congressfelons (the number required by your proposal of one representative per 30,000 citizens with a US population ~300,000,000), could it not be scaled up to allow all US citizens of voting age to, in effect, be our Congress?
I realize there are issues related to fraud and low information voting, but it's not like the present system is immune to them.
No good. They’ll cheat it somehow. They’re crooks.
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