A NEW COMMONWEALTHI am tired of corruption. I am tired of graft. I want it to stop NOW.
With the current problems of our state legislature it is time for every citizen of the Commonwealth to get mad as hell and tell our representatives that we are not going to take it anymore. We have to rise up and change the system.
It is time to replace our current political legislature with their personal agenda’s with a new citizen’s legislature. The first order of business is to get petitions signed to accomplish the following:
Cut the pay of every legislature member by 50%.
Cut the office expense allowance of each member by 50%.
Re-apportation all state districts using a straight edge and double the number of house districts. Doubling the number of House members will allow smaller districts where the average person will have a chance of personally knowing the person who represents them in Harrisburg. No Gerrymandering.
Do away with the Senate giving us a uni-cameral legislature.
Think of the savings we would have without any Senators.
Sell all cars that are supplied to legislature members or staff. They would be reimbursed for official use that was documented at the current IRS allowed deducible rate for official use of their own vehicle.
Cut per-diem rates to reflect staying in Red-Roof Inns and eating at Eat and Park. We don’t need a four star legislature and if they desire to stay or eat at that level they can pay for it out of their pocket.
Prohibit lobbyists from contacting any legislator except in his home district office. No contact would be allowed in Harrisburg except for the member representing that district. Limit the total gifts and campaign contributions of lobbyists to a very-very low limit.
Put one-half of the new house to work on current legislation. Use the other one-half to review all laws on the books and recommend which ones are no longer useful and should be either dropped entirely or re-written to fit the conditions of the current world situation.
Make the tax system equitable, even if a small increase in taxes is required to accomplish the needed changes, I, for one would be glad to pay a little more if, but only if it accomplishes a tangible and visible result. If we had the money that is now going lining someone’s pockets I think everything could be done with without any increase in taxes.
I know a lot of people who would gladly SERVE the Commonwealth for the new rate of pay. A lot of the current politicians who are making a career of the legislature would choose to find new careers.
A “Fumo law” should be passed. It can be called “Traitor of the Commonwealth” and the penalty should be life in prison without parole for anyone who steals from any public fund. My own choice of a penalty would be a firing squad within 24 hours but I don’t think the Supreme Court would let that happen.
Our Commonwealth could be a model for the other states. We should make our medical system and educational system the best of any state in the union. We could make our infer-structure world-class using Pennsylvania workers to create jobs for everyone in the Commonwealth. We could be the envy of the entire country.
Who knows, if we are successful it might even spread to Was
