Being in Congress Should Be More Like Jury Duty, And Less Like Luxury

Voting Day. Mid-terms. Ho-hum, right? Not so fast Elmo!

This election will determine the composition of the U.S. Congress. All 435 House seats are up and the key vote is obviously in the Senate, where Republicans are predicted to re-take control by one or two seats.

I’ve been following some of the opinion polling from Gallup, Pew and Rasmussen for our Powering America Radio show and have observed some interesting trends.

About 4 out of 10 people approve of President Obama’s performance. It’s lower for Congress at only 3 out of 10 think they are worth a toot. The two lowest opinions on Capitol Hill are those of Speaker of the House John Boehner and Nanci Peolsi, the House Minority Leader.

About half the country feels that incumbents should not be re-elected, but only 19% think that their representatives should be ousted. No matter how you do the math on that one, as long as that’s the viewpoint of most Americans, we’ll never resolve the inefficiency in Washington, D.C. Aaah, the power of the incumbency.

Personally, I think it’s bad enough that we, as a country, should take radical actions. What about term limits of 4 years for Congress, 6 for the Senate? Revoke all the cushy benefits these folks retain after they leave office, and make serving legislatively more akin to jury duty. You’re serving your country and your fellow citizens, but you’re not making a career out of it, getting ridiculously wealthy from it, and milking we the taxpayers for more perks after you go home. Get elected, serve an appropriate amount of time to make a difference, then go back to work. Thank you for your service. Next….

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Instead, we have this system that has created cable-news media stars, and retained incumbents so old they remember the Hoover Administration. We need new blood. Leaders. Non-career politicians who will do the best for the country, not for their longevity.

Regardless your perspective on the gridlock on Capital Hill, it still is our greatest right and freedom to go to the polls and cast a vote, and I hope you will today.

Powering America Radio is heard daily on the Wall Street Business Network at 4:00 Eastern and is co-sponsored by Crude Energy, LLC and Breitling Energy Corporation.