Congress is Obsolete, or How I Would Change America Into a True Democracy.

The car made horse and buggy obsolete.  The airplane made cross-country trips and intercontinental travel faster and safer.  The computer made working environments easier and more time efficient to manage.  The microwave has given the world a faster way, albeit not a more tasty alternative in my opinion, to eat meals.

Congress has been around for hundreds of years now.  The world has changed in leaps and bounds since it's inception.  Congress was initiated in a time when traveling around the country was very difficult for Americans.  The leaders of the new nation decided that in order for the people's voices to be heard in all decisions for the country, they would vote for and elect representatives from their area of the country and send them to Washington D.C. to represent them and their views as best they could.  They were elected for the people, by the people, and to vote on issues with how the majority of those people in their district would vote on different bills presented to the American people.

Representatives were sent from all corners of the country to this city of Washington D.C. and congress was born.  The people of the time put their faith in these people to represent them as best as they could.  Americans read what was going on in the world in newspapers and by word of mouth.  The people of the country relied on these elected officials to keep abreast on world issues, national issues, and to represent the local issues of the people that supported him back home.

While this idea of how a democracy could be run was effective and functional back in it's day, the very idea of having a congress today makes no sense and needs to be overhauled dramatically.  The new millennium has made way for an amazing array of technologies that make the very existence of congress non-essential.   If it is on a strict look at the reasons alone for why their is congress in the first place, there are a couple of important reasons as to why the theory of it was put in place in our system of governance to begin with.  One is what i explained earlier, the people needed to be represented according to the majority of what people in certain districts believed.  These people could not all be in Washington at the same time, and thus, needed to send somebody there to be their voice of reason.  Secondly, congress was a part of a three system checks and balance system that was to have no more or less power than the president and the supreme court.

Times have changed and both of these conditions can be preserved in a system of true democracy.  A system where all people will be represented fairly and the corruption of single individuals who are influenced by big business and lobbyists would become a thing of the past.  I am disgusted at the way that my vote is being represented in this country.  I am sick of turning on the news, or reading an article online, and hearing about a congressman who is being investigated for doing this, or how a congresswoman has done that.  I am sick of seeing how much money is required to run a political campaign, and since there is not term limits on congressmen, most of them take large amounts of money from corporations and usually return this favor throughout the course of their term.

I am sick of how i hear stories of how much a member of congress is worth before and after they arrive in Washington.  I am sick of how many of them end up afterwards being a member of a lobby group in Washington, or take high paying jobs at the corporations that contributed to their campaigns during their political days.  I am sick of how members of institutions were bailed out with taxpayer money and they continue to get money to this day as a means to stay viable and to be able to stay in business, but the leaders and executives of these companies receive bonuses given out to each other while nobody in congress pays this much mind unless it is just a soundbite on some tv interview where they are only on there for the publicity, and not to truly create action into the wrongdoings because they have been bought.  I am sick that nobody stands for anything anymore.  We have nobody to trust.  It doesn't matter if you are Republican or Democratic:  almost all politicians in washington are in washington for two reasons and that is to stay in Washington and make money.

Power and greed, power and greed.  It is who represents us today.  The sad truth is, is that the power and greed that those in power represent aren't even directed towards the people in their districts.  No, they are solely for themselves and the people are the ones who are suffering on a daily basis.  The very rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer, and the middle class is drifting into becoming new members of the proletariat.  When the congressmen that we elect are in the rich getting richer category, why should they really care about the rest of the country?  Do we really expect that morality would be something that these people have?  Where does this notion come from that so-and-so is a great leader and cares for me and the american people?  Can we really trust in someone we don't know that much and be that apathetic?

America has grown by leaps and bounds since she was born.  How can we put this much faith in those we vote for when so much is at stake and so much money can be made?  We don't have to anymore.

Congress is obsolete.  It is unnecessary.  It was a way to get things done.  It is not the only way to get things done.  Not anymore.  All voices can count.  The American people can be that other cog in the checks and balances scale on a much more intimate level.

We live in the age of technology.  Everyone can be anywhere in a click of a button.  The internet has changed the way the world thinks, reacts, and learns.  News is instantaneous.  Opinions are generated within seconds of something happening 10,000 miles away.  All of our thoughts and feelings can be expressed to the world if they want to see it on various social networking sites.  We can harness this power into creating a congress of the people, represented by all of the people.  There would no longer be a need for congressmen and women to clog the throats of democracy with stall tactics and filibusters.  There would be no more need for political campaigns, except for the president who represents us in foreign matters, which means that there would be no more abilities for corporations to buy into campaigns, and thus, be able to buy into laws that would benefit them and hurt the American people.

What i propose is a daily voting social website.  So far this year, the Senate has voted on 206 bills.  206 bills in 320 days.  That may seem like a lot of bills but it is less than 1 bill a day.  Some of these bills are to confirm politicians in different states, or in Washington.  We can truly make it the law of the land if we can manage to translate onto a social website that can be accessed by every television, telephone, computer, or wireless device in America.  Everyone has one of these in their possession.  If you don't then we can make hotlines available in any public library or school.  It isn't that hard to get to one of those devices.  The people would have the ability to vote on all issues presented and be able to present them themselves.

People would be able to vote by registering on the site by using their social security number and PIN number.  They could research any of the votes up for debate and vote on what they have knowledge on.  they would not have to vote on every bill presented and they don't have to vote at all, but they would have the ability to do so.  Any matter that they deem as important to them, they can have a voice and have a vote that mattered and know in good faith that their vote was not diluted in corruption or backroom handshakes.  If a vote is to confirm someone as a judge or what have you in certain states, then that vote would be just for people in the state that would be effected by the outcome.

Bills would be presented to the people by action from the people.  Bills would be written by leaders voted on by the people who would have term limits to no more than two terms of two years each and these leaders would present bills to those in his/her state first.  This will ensure that the country would not get flooded with bills and have too much information for them to process.  If a bill is deemed worthy to continue, the people in his/her state will pass it and it will go on to the national stage where all would vote on it.  The person elected to make these decisions will not be able to run their campaign with any political contributions from corporations and they will make up only bills that deal with national/state issues.  The president will enlist the help of cabinet members to keep an eye on foreign policy and present bills to the American people as to how we want to take action overseas.

All the bills would be presented to the people through the internet, television, and newspapers.  People would either go to the website and clear the security checkpoints that would be built for authenticity and vote, or they could call the voting hotline and speak to a representative, or an automated system.  All the votes would be recorded and you could see your voting history if you chose to.

This is my idea.  I am open to suggestions on how to make it better if you don't agree with all of it, or how things could be made better.  I believe that it would end corruption.  It may need some tweaks, but I believe that the basic premise of the plan would be groundbreaking and instrumental in changing the world and the face of American politics where everyone has a voice, and it would matter.  Why do we have to put blind faith into someone we don't really know when we can trust the one person we know better than anyone else?  The one person who we know will represent the people with dignity, honor, and honesty is the answer.  Ourselves.