Changes I would like to see

[Salty]

1) if the Parties ( D & R's) want a majority/minority leader in the House and Senate - those individuals Should NOT be given extra wages from the government for those positions.
2) The Speaker of the House should be a (new) cabinet member - appointed by the President and approved by the House - IMHO - how can a man properly be the Speaker and still represent his district? (Yes, I realize this would take a Constitutional amendment)
3) The Veep should consistently exercise his constitutional duty as President of the US Senate
4) I would like to see the House increased to 500 members -
Currently a person represents about 690 thousand constituents, with 500, that would be about 600,000
5) I would like to see proportional representation in the House.
One extreme I saw in WV - with 5 Congressman - all five were of the political party.

 

[PreachTony]

1) if the Parties ( D & R's) want a majority/minority leader in the House and Senate - those individuals Should NOT be given extra wages from the government for those positions.

I think congressmen should be paid the average salary of an infantryman fighting the US Army. That might bring some of these people back down to earth.

2) The Speaker of the House should be a (new) cabinet member - appointed by the President and approved by the House - IMHO - how can a man properly be the Speaker and still represent his district? (Yes, I realize this would take a Constitutional amendment)

I don't really have any thoughts on the Speaker. Your idea is interesting, but honestly I'm not bothered with the current status quo.

3) The Veep should consistently exercise his constitutional duty as President of the US Senate

I like this idea. It's not like the VP is doing anything else...

My country has in its wisdom contrived for me the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived.

4) I would like to see the House increased to 500 members -
Currently a person represents about 690 thousand constituents, with 500, that would be about 600,000

I would advise caution when talking about expanding the scope of the federal government.

5) I would like to see proportional representation in the House.
One extreme I saw in WV - with 5 Congressman - all five were of the political party.

I don't get what you're going for here, Salty. What do you mean by "all five were of the political party?" Were they the same party. If I'm reading you right (which I might not be) it seems like you're calling for a type of affirmative action based on political affiliation.

 

[Salty]

I think congressmen should be paid the average salary of an infantryman fighting the US Army. That might bring some of these people back down to earth.

Tony, you are missing the point, I am not talking about how much they are paid, rather they should not get paid for a Non-government position.
To put it in your military perspective, suppose 30 E-1's join the Army the same day (thus the same DOR) - 10 RA, 10 ER, and 10 NG. Each of the three groups take a vote and select one man to be their leader during Basic. Should those three men get extra pay from the Army for the position they were elected to? If the 10 men want to pay their leader out of their own pocket - fine.

I don't get what you're going for here, Salty. What do you mean by "all five were of the political party?" Were they the same party. ...

Yes, they were - It should have read - "of the same political party"
Another words - if 35% of a State/Commonwealth is - say R's and 65% are D's then some 30-40 % of the congressman should be from that party.

****
back to the first point - to bring them back to Earth - Term limits would take care of that.

 

[PreachTony]

Tony, you are missing the point, I am not talking about how much they are paid, rather they should not get paid for a Non-government position.
To put it in your military perspective, suppose 30 E-1's join the Army the same day (thus the same DOR) - 10 RA, 10 ER, and 10 NG. Each of the three groups take a vote and select one man to be their leader during Basic. Should those three men get extra pay from the Army for the position they were elected to? If the 10 men want to pay their leader out of their own pocket - fine.

Ah, I see where you were going now. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[just-want-peace]

I would like to see the gov't get where the constitution says it ought to be, BUT, John Adams quote in my sig tells me that even then we would have a multitude of problems since we no longer fit his criteria!

 

[church mouse guy]

I disagree with all of your ideas and am opposed to each one of them. Things are bad enough now. I would like for my Congressman to be Speaker of the House. It would be a great improvement. But then this district does not need any pork from the feds.

On the size of the House, Sam Rayburn said decades ago that 435 was about the largest possible number that could be managed. I don't think that the Democrats will want to undo what they have done on that point and I doubt If the GOP cares either. They now have larger staffs and more field offices to offset the larger number of voters.