Congressional Reform to Prevent Corruption
Internet email chain letter
8/17/2023
* No Pension. Congress collects a salary while in office only.
* Congress participates in Social Security, and each elected official provides for their retirement.
* Congressional pay will rise by the CPI or 3%, whichever is lower.
* Congress participates in the same health care system as the American people.
* Congress must abide by all laws they impose on the American people.
* No insider trading.
Serving in Congress should not be a career. The Founding Fathers intended self-governance by “We the People.” Citizen-legislators should serve their terms and return to doing productive work in the private sector.
Prevention of Government Corruption:
By Thomas Lee Abshier, ND
8/18/2023
I believe corruption and anti-Biblical ideology is at the root of the decay of American society. We see a slow-motion collapse of our society as the blue/Democrat cities are overwhelmed by homelessness, crime, vandalism, and city center decay. As a nation, we were founded upon Biblical principles, which have been outlawed as a standard to be taught in school under the guise of the (false/untrue/non-existent) Constitutional provision for the “Separation of Church and State.”
Passing laws to subject lawmakers to the requirements of the laws they pass is a way of providing real feedback to legislators. This may be effective. They enact nation-destroying laws because legislators are pressured to benefit lobbyists (e.g., pharmaceutical industry, military contractors, and chemical manufacturers) and globalists (e.g., gun control, climate change, and illegal immigration). Some legislators may trade their influence for power, wealth, and pleasure. Their price may include loyalty to benefactors and the threat of losing prestige and position for non-delivery.
The power elite may manipulate those in legislative and administrative power for their benefit. Control of the people/nations by the wealthy, the ideologues, the greedy, the power-hungry, and the mighty has been a recurring theme throughout the history of civilized man. In the founding era, the republic was established to meld and moderate the various forces acting within society. Those forces include democracy, representative government, monarchy, military, and bureaucracy. The Founders staked their hopes on the government’s success in regulating societal conduct on the willingness of the citizen governors to moderate their actions of laws as enumerated in the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Declaration of Independence. The Founding documents were based on Biblical standards. Greatness will return to America when her legislators, laws, and citizens return to Godliness.
Moderating the legislators’ perks, pay, and power may reduce the distortion of laws for personal gain. But the ultimate righting force that must dominate society is the righteousness of a holy people. The people must be spirit-led, Bible-literate, dedicated to Godliness, informed, and involved in their self-government. When the people lead, the leaders will follow. The nation will heal when the God of the Universe guides the people’s hearts and minds.