My Dad is an amazingly intelligent man with a lot of wisdom and experience to draw from. He retired from the Marine Corps as a Colonel, after 20+ years as a decorated pilot. After "retiring", he started and ran many businesses, teach, and even managed to raise a family in there too. He can be kind of a dick on occasion, but he's earned the right and makes up for it with being supremely competent and helpful and generous.
Happy Father's Day Dad, I wish I could do more.
Dad writes constantly on a lot of subjects. Occasionally I get one of his essays to proof or comment on. I thought I would share one with you all.
Political Reform Act of 201x
HOW THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WILL REGAIN CONTROL OVER GOVERNMENT
The Act applies to all elected and appointed representatives of the American People, local, state, and federal, including the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of the federal government and their counterparts at local and state levels nationwide, and to all those engaged as government employees.
Article 1. Electees and appointees/hires are paid a salary only while in office and thereafter receive a lifetime pension only after a career of service. Such pensions are earned only after 20 years of government employment, just as is the case with law enforcement and military personnel for whom their retiree pension will accrue at the rate of 2.5% of their highest permanent government pay per year of
active duty as government employees.
Article 2. Electees and appointees/hires (past, present & future) participate in Social Security. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund and similar repositories at the local, state, and federal levels are moved to the Social Security system immediately.
Article 3. Electees cannot vote for, and appointees/hires cannot manage, their own compensation plans. All government employee compensation is frozen until five years after the Act becomes law, and will thereafter rise by the lower of CPI% or 3%.
Article 4. Electees and appointees/hires must participate in the same health care system as they’ve established and manage for the American People.
Article 5. Electees and appointees/hires will travel using conventional median-priced hotels and transportation resources, subject to augmentation only when security considerations justify the expense.
Article 6. Electees and appointees/hires, and all government employees other than military (which uses the Uniform Code of Military Justice as internal law) will be equally subject to (1) all laws, (2) enforcement, and (3) bureaucratic processes imposed upon the American People.
Article 7. Since the American People were never given an opportunity to vote upon agreements with electees and appointees/hires that govern the above issues, all existing contracts with such government employees, at the local, state, and federal levels, are void effective 12/31 of the year in which the Act becomes law.
Article 8. This Act cannot be modified or amended until five years after it becomes law.
Ways and Means Committee of the American People
a. A Committee of Americans will be created to (1) form a 501(c)3, (2) raise funds, and (3) retain a major law firm (the two largest in the world are Baker & McKenzie and DLA Piper) to file federal and state lawsuits demanding that politicians be treated like any other American and to carry the argument to the Supreme Court, if required. The above list is just a guide, and must be ratified by the Committee.
b. The Committee of Americans will establish a CROWDFUNDING project to raise enough money to start the process. Kickstarter and Indiegogo are good examples, and there are approximately 450 crowdfunding projects online.
c. Once the project develops inertia and public approval, certain big money sources (Buffett? Gates? Trump?) will be invited to support acceleration.