Buffett and the Congress

This has been going around the Internet lately.  What do you think? The following idea from Warren Buffett perhaps explains his great success.  He puts forward a truly simple idea to solve the U.S. fiscal crisis.  He gets right to the root of the problem, and his suggestions might indeed push things in the right direction.   In a recent interview with CNBC, Warren Buffett offered the following about the debt ceiling: “I could end the deficit in 5 minutes," he told CNBC. "You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election." The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds) took only 3 months and 8 days to be ratified!  Why?  Simple!  The people demanded it. That was in 1971, before computers, e-mail, cell phones, etc.  Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven took 1 year or less to become the law of the land, all because of public pressure. And what about the following proposal, perhaps also from Buffet? Congressional Reform Act of 2011 1) No Tenure / No Pension.  A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when out of office.  2) Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security.  All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately.  All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people.  It may not be used for any other purpose. 3) Congressmen can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.  4) Congress will no longer vote itself a pay raise.  Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%. 5) Congress loses its current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.  6) Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.  7) All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/12.  The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen. Congressmen made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their terms, then go home and back to work. To me, these are not bad ideas.  If our elected officials had to experience what the average American does, and not get to set themselves up as the elite with better treatment, perhaps we would get some problems solved. In regards to my post of yesterday, I do not think that the above is a simple solution to all of our ills, but it does get one thinking about the cause and effect of action, or non-action.  I do not think that many of the points above are feasible, but it does give the impetus to look for how we can have reasonable change that is good for the country, and not just a small segment of it. Take care.